Love Shack
Encyclopedia
"Love Shack" is a single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

 by rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

 band The B-52's
The B-52's
The B-52's are an American rock band, formed in Athens, Georgia in 1976. The original line-up consisted of Fred Schneider , Kate Pierson , Cindy Wilson , Ricky Wilson , and Keith Strickland . Following Ricky Wilson's death in 1985 Strickland switched to guitar...

. Originally released in 1989
1989 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1989.-Events:*January 14 – Paul McCartney releases Снова в СССР exclusively in the USSR...

 from their album Cosmic Thing
Cosmic Thing
Cosmic Thing is the fifth studio album by New Wave band The B-52's, released in 1989. It contains the singles "Love Shack" and "Roam", which remain two of their most popular tunes...

, the single was the band's biggest hit song and first million-copy seller. It was also the band's first song to reach the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

Top 40 charts
Billboard charts
The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine...

, peaking at number three, also reaching number two on the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

, and was number one for eight weeks in Australia
ARIA Charts
The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...

 and also number one on the US Modern Rock Tracks
Modern Rock Tracks
Alternative Songs is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in Billboard magazine since September 10, 1988. It lists the 40 most-played songs on modern rock radio stations, most of which are alternative rock songs...

 chart.

Produced by Don Was
Don Was
Don Was is an American musician, bassist and record producer.-Life and career:Was was born in Detroit, Michigan. He graduated from Oak Park High School in the Detroit suburb of Oak Park, then attended the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor but dropped out after the first year...

, the song's inspiration was a cabin around Athens, Georgia
Athens, Georgia
Athens-Clarke County is a consolidated city–county in U.S. state of Georgia, in the northeastern part of the state, comprising the former City of Athens proper and Clarke County. The University of Georgia is located in this college town and is responsible for the initial growth of the city...

, complete with tin
Tin
Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn and atomic number 50. It is a main group metal in group 14 of the periodic table. Tin shows chemical similarity to both neighboring group 14 elements, germanium and lead and has two possible oxidation states, +2 and the slightly more stable +4...

 roof, where the band conceived "Rock Lobster
Rock lobster
Jasus edwardsii, the southern rock lobster, red rock lobster, or spiny rock lobster, is a species of spiny lobster found throughout coastal waters of southern Australia and New Zealand including the Chatham Islands. This species is commonly called crayfish or crays in New Zealand and in Māori...

," a single from their first album. B-52's singer Kate Pierson
Kate Pierson
Catherine Elizabeth "Kate" Pierson is an American vocalist and one of the lead singers and founding members of The B-52's. One of the multi-instrumentalists in the band, Pierson played guitar, bass and various keyboard instruments...

 lived in the cabin in the 1970s, and the cabin existed until 2004, when it burned down. "Tin roof...rusted," wailed by lead singer Cindy Wilson
Cindy Wilson
Cynthia Leigh Wilson is a vocalist and a founding member of new wave rock band The B-52s.- Career :...

, was originally an outtake added to the track, and is perhaps the song's most memorable line. It has come to mean many things to different listeners. The now famous drag queen RuPaul
RuPaul
RuPaul Andre Charles , best known as simply RuPaul, is an American actor, drag queen, model, author, and singer-songwriter, who first became widely known in the 1990s when he appeared in a wide variety of television programs, films, and musical albums. Previously, he was a fixture on the Atlanta...

 can be seen dancing in the music video. The song was a comeback of sorts following the band's decline in popularity in the early 1980s coupled with the death of their guitarist, Ricky Wilson
Ricky Wilson (American musician)
Ricky Helton Wilson was an American instrumentalist, singer-songwriter, and musician. He was best known as the original guitarist and founding member of New Wave rock band the B-52s...

, in 1985.

The song received a number of accolades following its release. Named as one of the 365 Songs of the Century
Songs of the Century
The "Songs of the Century" list is part of an education project by the Recording Industry Association of America , the National Endowment for the Arts, and Scholastic Inc. that aims to "promote a better understanding of America’s musical and cultural heritage" in American schools...

 in 2001, the video for the song received an award from MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....

 as the Best Group Video, and was named the Best Single of 1989 by Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...

. Additionally, it was ranked #243 in Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...

's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. In 2006, it was also named as one of VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the 80s, placing at #40.

Track listing

The single release contained various tracks depending on the country it was released in. The United States had a b-side of "Roam," a song that would later reach number three as well, and other countries had singles with either "Channel Z
Channel Z (song)
"Channel Z" is a single by The B-52's from their 1989 album Cosmic Thing. The song was about a fictional radio station whose motto was "Channel Z: All static, all day, Forever!". Television sets of the era typically had two analog channel selector dials, one for VHF band and one for UHF. The UHF...

" or a live version of "Rock Lobster
Rock lobster
Jasus edwardsii, the southern rock lobster, red rock lobster, or spiny rock lobster, is a species of spiny lobster found throughout coastal waters of southern Australia and New Zealand including the Chatham Islands. This species is commonly called crayfish or crays in New Zealand and in Māori...

" as the b-side. In 1998 and 1999, the single was released again with a number of remixes, including one by DJ Tonka
DJ Tonka
DJ Tonka , is an electronic music artist. He is also known as Tonka, Chip Tunes, and Thomastic.-Career:...

, but the re-release did not chart in the United States, although it did enter the United Kingdom charts.

U.S. 12" single / CD maxi-single

  1. "Love Shack" (12" Remix) – 8:00
  2. "Love Shack" (Remix/Edit) – 4:07
  3. "Channel Z" (12" Rock Mix) – 6:24
  4. "Love Shack" (12" Mix) – 6:10
  5. "Love Shack" (A Capella) – 3:56
  6. "Love Shack" (Big Radio Mix) – 5:31

Charts

End-of-year chart (1990) Position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 78

In popular culture

  • It was the first publicly ripped and played song in the iTunes software.
  • The Simpsons
    The Simpsons
    The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...

    episode E-I-E-I-(Annoyed Grunt)
    E-I-E-I-(Annoyed Grunt)
    "E-I-E-I-" is the fifth episode of the eleventh season of the American animated sitcom The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 7, 1999. In the episode, inspired by a Zorro movie, Homer begins slapping people with a glove and challenging them to duels...

    features the B-52's performing a version of this song entitled "Glove Slap".
  • "Weird Al" Yankovic
    "Weird Al" Yankovic
    Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic is an American singer-songwriter, music producer, accordionist, actor, comedian, writer, satirist, and parodist. Yankovic is known for his humorous songs that make light of popular culture and that often parody specific songs by contemporary musical acts...

     used part of the song in the polka medley for his album Off the Deep End
    Off the Deep End
    Off the Deep End is the seventh studio album by "Weird Al" Yankovic, released in 1992. This album was the first album self-produced by Yankovic, after six albums with Rick Derringer. Recorded between June 1990 and January 1992, the album was a follow-up to the unsuccessful soundtrack to Yankovic's...

    .
  • Alvin and the Chipmunks
    Alvin and the Chipmunks
    Alvin and the Chipmunks is an American animated music group created by Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. in 1958. The group consists of three singing animated anthropomorphic chipmunks: Alvin, the mischievous troublemaker, who quickly became the star of the group; Simon, the tall, bespectacled intellectual;...

     and The Chipettes
    The Chipettes
    The Chipettes are a fictional group of anthropomorphic chipmunk singers first appearing on the cartoon series Alvin and the Chipmunks in 1983. In this and related materials, the Chipettes served as female featured characters in their own right, starring in numerous episodes...

     covered the song for their 1996 album Club Chipmunk: The Dance Mixes
    Club Chipmunk: The Dance Mixes
    Club Chipmunk: The Dance Mixes is a music album by Alvin and the Chipmunks and was released by Sony Wonder. The album was released on October 6, 1996 and contains cover versions of popular pop/dance songs, oldies and a Spanish version of "Macarena"...

    .
  • On the 2009 CMT Music Awards
    CMT Music Awards
    The CMT Music Awards is a fan-voted awards show for country music videos and television performances. The awards ceremony is held every year in Nashville, Tennessee, and broadcast live on CMT. Voting takes place on CMT's website, CMT.com.-History:...

    , country duo Sugarland performed the song along with the B-52's. The song appears on Sugarland's live album, Live on the Inside
    Live on the Inside
    Live on the Inside is a live DVD/CD set from country music duo Sugarland. It is their first live CD/DVD set and their fourth album overall. It was released on August 4, 2009, exclusively at Wal-Mart stores, and debuted at number one on both the U.S...

    .
  • Alvin and the Chipmunks
    Alvin and the Chipmunks
    Alvin and the Chipmunks is an American animated music group created by Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. in 1958. The group consists of three singing animated anthropomorphic chipmunks: Alvin, the mischievous troublemaker, who quickly became the star of the group; Simon, the tall, bespectacled intellectual;...

     covered the song again for their 2007 and 2009 video games Alvin and the Chipmunks
    Alvin and the Chipmunks (video game)
    Alvin and the Chipmunks is a video game based on the film of the same name. The game was released on December 4, 2007 and was the first release by short-lived video game company Brash Entertainment. It follows The Chipmunks as they play their way from small venues to massive crowds at Burning Munk...

    and Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel
    Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (video game)
    Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel is a video game based on the movie of the same name. Voices are provided by Ross Bagdasarian Jr. and Janice Karman reprising their respective roles.- Song List :All of the songs from both the Wii and DS version...

    .
  • The song was mixed with Britney Spears
    Britney Spears
    Britney Jean Spears is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album...

     popular song Toxic (song)
    Toxic (song)
    "Toxic" is a song by American recording artist Britney Spears, co-written and produced by Bloodshy & Avant, from her fourth album, In the Zone. It was released on January 12, 2004, by Jive Records as the second single from the album. After trying to choose between " Boom Boom" and "Outrageous" to...

     and became a popular mashup appropriately titled, Toxic Love Shack.

See also

  • Number one modern rock hits of 1989
    Number one modern rock hits of 1989
    These are the Billboard magazine Modern Rock Tracks number one hits of 1989....

  • List of number-one singles in Australia during the 1980s
  • List of number-one singles of 1990 (Ireland)
  • List of number-one singles in 1990 (New Zealand)
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK