"Love Buzz" | |
---|---|
Song by Shocking Blue | |
from the album At Home | |
Released | 30 September 1969 |
Recorded | 1969 |
Studio | Sound Push Studios, Blaricum, Netherlands |
Length | 3:40 |
Label | Pink Elephant |
Songwriter(s) | Robbie van Leeuwen |
"Love Buzz" is a song by Dutch rock band Shocking Blue. It was written by Robbie van Leeuwen and first released on the group's 1969 album At Home . The original song is notable for its psychedelic rock style and its extensive use of the sitar, played by Leeuwen.
"Love Buzz" was covered by Nirvana, released as their debut single in 1988.
"Love Buzz" | ||||
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Single by Nirvana | ||||
from the album Bleach | ||||
B-side | "Big Cheese" | |||
Released | November 1988 | |||
Recorded | June 30, 1988 | |||
Studio | Reciprocal Recordings, Seattle, Washington [1] | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 3:35 3:45 (with intro) | |||
Label | Sub Pop | |||
Songwriter(s) | Robbie van Leeuwen | |||
Producer(s) | Jack Endino | |||
Nirvana singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Bleach track listing | ||||
11 tracks
| ||||
Audio sample | ||||
American rock band Nirvana recorded a cover version of the song for its 1988 debut single,released on Sub Pop in the USA. It was described by Sub Pop as being "heavy pop sludge". [2]
It was the first single in the Sub Pop Singles Club and was limited to 1000 numbered copies. A Sub Pop invoice indicates that 1200 sleeves were made,the other 200 having a red slash instead of a number. [3]
It was made single of the week in Sounds by John Robb,which was the first mention of the band in the UK press. [4] [5]
The single was reviewed in the 2 December 1988 issue of CMJ ,in which it stated "Nowhere else are you gonna hear such a teeth-rattling Seattle sludgemeister demolition job. Nirvana mixes things up good and choppy,including all the ingredients for primal rock greatness". [6]
In a 1989 review for British music magazine Melody Maker ,Everett True wrote,"Nirvana are beauty incarnate. A relentless two-chord garage beat which lays down some serious foundations for a sheer monster of a guitar to howl over. The volume control ain't been built yet which can do justice to this three-piece!" True also made "Love Buzz" joint-US Single of the Week. [7] True also described Nirvana's "Love Buzz" single as a "Limited edition of 1,000;love songs for the psychotically disturbed". [8]
A slightly different mix of the song would also appear on Nirvana's debut album, Bleach . This version is missing a 10-second sound collage introduction put together by Kurt Cobain. "Love Buzz" was later released on Nirvana's Blew EP in the UK in December 1989. This was the song's first release in the UK after being substituted by "Big Cheese" on the British release of the Bleach album. [9] [10]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Love Buzz" | Robbie van Leeuwen | 3:45 |
2. | "Big Cheese" | Kurt Cobain | 3:42 |
Total length: | 7:27 |
A live performance in Olympia, Washington from 1990, which was drummer Dave Grohl's first live concert with Nirvana, [11] was released on the DVD of the Nirvana rarities boxset With the Lights Out in 2004.
A live performance from October 19, 1991, at Trees in Dallas, Texas, can be seen on Nirvana's 1994 home video Live! Tonight! Sold Out!! in which frontman Kurt Cobain got into a fight with a bouncer. [12] [13] On Live! Tonight! Sold Out!!, after the fight is stopped, the second half of the song is shown from a concert which took place on November 25, 1991, at the Paradiso, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
A live performance from October 31, 1991 at the Paramount Theatre, Seattle, Washington, was released on the Live at the Paramount DVD and Blu-ray, and on the 20th anniversary "Super Deluxe" box set of the Nevermind album in 2011.
Three live performances were released on the 30th anniversary "Super Deluxe" box set of the Nevermind album in 2021. These were from November 25, 1991, at the Paradiso, Amsterdam, Netherlands, February 1, 1992, at the Palace, Melbourne, Australia, and February 19, 1992, at the Nakano Sunplaza, Tokyo, Japan. [14]
A live performance from August 30, 1992 at the Reading Festival, Reading, England was released on the DVD Live at Reading in 2009, but was cut from the CD version.
In 2012, a Dutch episode of Classic Recordings about Shocking Blue's album At Home featured a rare interview with guitar player Robbie van Leeuwen [15] and clips of Nirvana's live performance of the song at the Paradiso, Amsterdam. Shocking Blue bassist Klaasje van der Wal was proud of the fact that Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic once called him a bass god in a blog, while it was said that Van Leeuwen was informed about the Nirvana cover during a visit to Hilversum in the Netherlands. Apparently, he had listened to Bleach in a shop, returned it to his friend without having purchased the album and explained that he did not buy it because he thought the cover was inferior.
As the "Love Buzz" single was released in November 1988, Nirvana were announced in their first year of eligibility as being part of the 2014 class of inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on 17 December 2013. In 2017, to mark what would have been Kurt Cobain's 50th birthday, the Phonographic Performance Limited released a list of the top twenty most played Nirvana songs on the TV and radio in the UK in which "Love Buzz" was ranked at number fourteen. [16]
In February, 2021, it was reported that a Nirvana "Love Buzz" single that sold for $3,998.99 was the 99th most expensive item ever sold on the Discogs website. [17] In August, 2021, Nirvana's "Love Buzz" topped Ultimate Guitar's list of the Top 10 Grunge Covers that Beat the Originals. [18] [19] In December 2022, a "Love Buzz" single sold at auction for £2,600 in the United Kingdom. [20]
The track has also been covered by Hatcham Social on the free EP Party, released in 2008. A club mix of "Love Buzz" was released on Saint Thomas Records in 2009 by the Dallas psychedelic band Lithium X-Mas as a CD single. British/German singer/songwriter Anika covered "Love Buzz" on her 2013 self-titled EP. In 2018, Israeli musician Itay Burg released an electro ethnic rock version in Hebrew on his album Katan Bamaarechet. Italian band Veeblefetzer included a version of "Love Buzz" on their album More in 2019.
The original Shocking Blue version was sampled in the song "Phoenix" by Liam Howlett of The Prodigy on the 2004 album Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned .
Elements of the original song were also sampled for the track "Kitty Box" by Lil' Kim, on her 2005 album The Naked Truth .
Hip hop artist k-os also sampled the track in the song "Uptown GirL" from the album Yes! in 2009.
The song was sampled by the Danish rap group Malk De Koijn, in the song "5 øres ting" from the 2011 release Toback to the Fromtime.
The Shocking Blue version was sampled by Necro for the title track on his 2010 album Die!. [21] [22]
Nirvana was an American rock band formed in Aberdeen, Washington, in 1987. Founded by lead singer and guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic, the band went through a succession of drummers, most notably Chad Channing, before recruiting Dave Grohl in 1990. Nirvana's success popularized alternative rock, and they were often referenced as the figurehead band of Generation X. Despite a short mainstream career spanning only three years, their music maintains a popular following and continues to influence modern rock culture.
Bleach is the debut studio album by American rock band Nirvana, released on June 15, 1989, by Sub Pop. After the release of their debut single "Love Buzz" on Sub Pop in November 1988, Nirvana rehearsed for two to three weeks in preparation for recording a full-length album. The main recording sessions for Bleach took place at Reciprocal Recording in Seattle, Washington between December 1988 and January 1989. It is the only Nirvana album released on the Sub Pop label and their only studio album to feature drummer Chad Channing.
With the Lights Out is a box set by the American rock band Nirvana, released on November 23, 2004. It contains three CDs and one DVD of previously rare or unreleased material, including B-sides, demos, and rehearsal and live recordings. The title comes from the lyrics of Nirvana's 1991 single "Smells Like Teen Spirit". The box set was planned for release in 2001, but was delayed by a legal battle with Courtney Love, the widow of Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain. As of 2016, With the Lights Out had sold 546,000 copies in the US.
"In Bloom" is a song by American rock band Nirvana, written by vocalist and guitarist Kurt Cobain. It appears as the second track on the band's second album, Nevermind, released by DGC Records in September 1991.
"Lithium" is a song by the American rock band Nirvana, written by vocalist and guitarist Kurt Cobain. It appears as the fifth track on the band's second album Nevermind, released by DGC Records in September 1991.
"Drain You" is a song by American rock band Nirvana, written by vocalist and guitarist, Kurt Cobain. It is the eighth track on their second album, Nevermind, released in September 1991. The song was released as a promotional single in late 1991, and also appeared as a b-side on UK retail editions of the first single from that album, "Smells Like Teen Spirit".
"Blew" is a song by American rock band Nirvana, written by vocalist and guitarist Kurt Cobain. It is the first song on the band's debut album Bleach, released in June 1989 by Sub Pop.
"Something in the Way" is a song by American rock band Nirvana, written by vocalist and guitarist Kurt Cobain. It is the 12th song on their second album, Nevermind, released in September 1991. It is the final listed song on the album, although most copies of Nevermind also feature the hidden track "Endless, Nameless", which occupies the same track as "Something in the Way" and begins after approximately 10 minutes of silence.
"On a Plain" is a song by American rock band Nirvana, written by vocalist and guitarist, Kurt Cobain. It is the 11th track on their second album, Nevermind, released in September 1991.
"About a Girl" is a song by American rock band Nirvana, written by vocalist and guitarist Kurt Cobain. It is the third song on their debut album, Bleach, released in June 1989.
"Negative Creep" is a song by the American rock band Nirvana, written by vocalist and guitarist, Kurt Cobain. It is the seventh song on their debut album Bleach, released in June 1989.
"Polly" is a song by the American rock band Nirvana, written by vocalist and guitarist Kurt Cobain. It is the sixth song on their second album Nevermind, released by DGC Records in September 1991.
"Been a Son" is a song by the American rock band Nirvana, written by vocalist and guitarist Kurt Cobain. It was originally released on the Blew EP in November 1989, which charted at number 15 on the UK Indie Singles chart.
"Endless, Nameless" is a song by the American rock band Nirvana, written by vocalist and guitarist Kurt Cobain, bassist Krist Novoselic, and drummer Dave Grohl. It is the 13th and final song on the band's second studio album, Nevermind, released in September 1991.
Nirvana: Live! Tonight! Sold Out!! is a live video by the American rock band Nirvana, directed by Kevin Kerslake, and released on November 15, 1994, on VHS and laserdisc. It was re-released on DVD on November 7, 2006.
"Breed" is a song by the American rock band Nirvana, written by vocalist and guitarist Kurt Cobain. It is the fourth song on their second studio album, Nevermind, released in September 1991.
Nevermind, It's an Interview is the only officially released interview CD of American grunge band Nirvana. It was only a promotional release and was never commercially available. Released in limited-edition form worldwide in 1992 by Geffen Records, written, produced and engineered at WFNX Boston by Kurt St. Thomas and Troy Smith, (authors of Nirvana: The Chosen Rejects,. The original interview sessions were recorded by St. Thomas the night of Nirvana's first appearance on NBC's Saturday Night Live in 1992. It contains over an hour of audio interview with live and studio recordings. The reason for its production was for radio stations world-wide to have a Nirvana interview to play because at that time the band was so popular that it was not possible for them to visit all the radio stations that were playing their music. Copies of the CD are rare and have become collectors items. However, for a limited time, the entire CD was included at the end of the iTunes version of With the Lights Out, Nirvana's posthumous box set. It is listed as:
Live at Reading is a live CD/DVD by American rock band Nirvana, released on November 2, 2009. It features the band's headlining performance at the Reading Festival in Reading, England, on August 30, 1992. Bootlegged for years, the new issues present the performance for the first time mastered and color corrected.
"Dive" is a song by the American rock band Nirvana, written by vocalist and guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic. It was released as the B-side to the band's second single, "Sliver" in September 1990. The same version was re-released as the opening track on the compilation album The Grunge Years in 1991, and again on the Nirvana rarities compilation, Incesticide, in December 1992.
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