Love Is Strange
{{short description|1956 single by Mickey & Sylvia}}
{{About|the Mickey & Sylvia song|other uses|Love Is Strange (disambiguation)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2014}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Love Is Strange
| cover = Mickey & Sylvia Love is Strange 78.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Mickey & Sylvia
| album =
| B-side = I'm Going Home
| released = {{Start date|1956|11}}{{cite magazine |date=November 24, 1956 |title=Reviews of New R&B Records |magazine=Billboard |volume=68 |issue= 47 |page=48 |editor1-first=Paul |editor1-last=Ackerman |editor1-link=Paul Ackerman |access-date=March 4, 2011 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hQoEAAAAMBAJ&q=%22Groove+0175%22&pg=PA48}}
| recorded = October 17, 1956[http://www.discogs.com/viewimages?release=1088180 "Love is Strange" b/w "Love is a Treasure"] by Mickey & Sylvia. RCA Victor 45 RPM (447-0599).
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = {{hlist|Rock and roll|rhythm and blues}}
| length = {{Duration|m=2|s=52}}
| label = Groove
| writer = Bo Diddley (as Ethel Smith)
| producer = Bob Rolontz
| prev_title = No Good Lover
| prev_year = 1956
| next_title = There Oughta Be a Law
| next_year = 1957
| misc = {{External music video|header=Audio|{{YouTube|5SwMB9v1pQ4|"Love Is Strange"}}}}
}}
"Love Is Strange" is a crossover hit by American rhythm and blues duet Mickey & Sylvia, which was released in late November 1956 by the Groove record label.
The song was based on a guitar riff by Jody Williams and was written by Bo Diddley under the name of his wife at the time, Ethel Smith; it was recorded by Bo and Buddy Holly, among others.
Background and recordings
At a concert at Howard Theatre in Washington, D.C. Mickey and Sylvia heard Jody Williams play a guitar riff that Williams had played on Billy Stewart's debut single "Billy's Blues".{{AllMusic |class=artist|id=p21444|tab=biography|label=Jody William's Biography|first=Bill|last=Dahl|access-date=March 4, 2011}} "Billy's Blues" was released as a single in June 1956 .{{cite magazine |date=June 16, 1956 |title=Reviews of New R&B Records |magazine=Billboard |volume=68 |issue= 24 |page=44 |editor1-first=Paul |editor1-last=Ackerman |editor1-link=Paul Ackerman |access-date=March 4, 2011 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gQoEAAAAMBAJ&q=%22Chess+1625%22&pg=PA44}} Sylvia Robinson claims that she and Mickey Baker wrote the lyrics, while Bo Diddley claims that he wrote them.
The first recorded version of "Love Is Strange" was performed by Bo Diddley, who recorded his version on May 24, 1956 with Jody Williams on lead guitar. This version was not released until its appearance on I'm a Man: The Chess Masters, 1955–1958 in 2007.{{cite AV media notes |title=I'm a Man: The Chess Masters, 1955–1958 |others=Bo Diddley |year=2007 |type=CD liner |publisher=Hip-O Select |id=B0009231-02 |location=United States}} Mickey & Sylvia's version was recorded several months later on October 17, 1956. A second Mickey & Sylvia studio recording, recorded some years after, featured now-legendary drummer Bernard "Pretty" Purdie on his first paid session gig.{{cite web|url=http://jazztimes.com/articles/65908-mickey-baker-a-tough-customer-who-never-lost-his-edge |title=Jazz Articles: Mickey Baker: A Tough Customer Who Never Lost His Edge - By Tom Reney — Jazz Articles |website=Jazztimes.com |access-date=2016-08-22}}Bernard " Pretty " Purdie, Let The Drums Speak!,2014, page 55.{{cite web|last=Gershuny |first=Diane |url=http://www.drummagazine.com/features/post/bernard-purdie-the-session-legend/ |title=Bernard Purdie: The Session Legend - DRUM! Magazine - Play Better Faster |date=January 16, 2013 |publisher=DRUM! Magazine |access-date=2016-08-22}}
Charts and accolades
"Love Is Strange" peaked at #1 on Billboard magazine's most played by jockeys R&B Singles chart on March 6, 1957 and #11 on the Hot 100.{{cite web |url={{AllMusic |class=artist|id=p13669|tab=charts-awards/billboard-singles|pure_url=yes}} |title=Charts & Awards: Mickey & Sylvia – Billboard Singles |work=AllMusic |publisher=Rovi Corporation |location=United States |access-date=March 4, 2011}} In 2004 "Love Is Strange" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for its influence as a rock and roll single.{{cite web |url=http://www.grammy.org/recording-academy/awards/hall-of-fame#l |title=Grammy Hall of Fame (Letter L) |work=Grammys |publisher=National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences |location=United States |access-date=March 4, 2011}}
Cover versions
= Full covers and adaptations =
=Samplings=
Part of the song was sampled for the 2012 Pitbull hit "Back in Time" from Men In Black 3.
In popular culture
The song was featured in the 1987 film Dirty Dancing and included on the soundtrack, which is one of the best-selling albums of all time.
The spoken part is parodied by Eric Bloom and Buck Dharma of Blue Öyster Cult in a live recording of "7 Screaming Diz-Busters" on their 1975 album On Your Feet or on Your Knees:
Bloom: I know Lucifer so well I call him by his first name!
Dharma: What do you call him?
Bloom: I call him, hey Lu!
Dharma: And if he don't answer?
Bloom: I say, hey Lu... lover boy...
The song is parodied in the 1973 New York Dolls song "Trash", where singer David Johansen quotes "Oh how do you call your loverboy? ... Trash!" then later uses the same melody for several bars.
The song is "covered" by the fictional Scottish band "The Majestics" in the BBC Television series Tutti Frutti (1987), starring Emma Thompson, Robbie Coltrane, Maurice Roeves, Jake D'Arcy and Stuart McGugan.
The spoken part is referenced by Lou Reed at the end of his song "Beginning of A Great Adventure" on his 1989 album New York. He had married Sylvia Morales in 1980.
The song appears also in the Dennis Potter 1993 TV miniseries Lipstick on Your Collar where Mickey and Sylvia become the two main characters.{{Cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107423/reference|title=Lipstick on Your Collar (TV Mini-Series 1993) |website=IMDb.com|access-date=April 28, 2021}}
It also gained a following after appearing in Deep Throat (1972). The song was also played in the Terrence Malick film Badlands (1973){{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069762/?ref_=ttsnd_snd_tt|title=Badlands (1973)|website=IMDb.com|access-date=2016-08-22}} and in Martin Scorsese's 1995 film Casino when Robert De Niro sees Sharon Stone for the first time. The song also is played in the 2000 HBO hit show The Sopranos, season two, episode 6 ("The Happy Wanderer"). It can also be heard playing in the second episode of The Wire.{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2778190/|title=Mickey & Sylvia : Soundtrack|website=IMDb.com|access-date=2016-08-22}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Buddy Holly}}
{{The Everly Brothers}}
{{Buck Owens}}
{{Kenny Rogers}}
{{Dolly Parton songs}}
{{authority control}}
Category:American rhythm and blues songs
Category:American rock-and-roll songs
Category:Mickey & Sylvia songs
Category:Male–female vocal duets
Category:Songs released posthumously
Category:Groove Records singles
Category:Reprise Records singles
Category:Songs written by Sylvia Robinson