Love Potion No. 9 (song)
{{Short description|1959 song}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Love Potion No. 9
| cover =
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = The Clovers
| album =
| B-side = Stay Awhile
| released = July 1959{{cite magazine |title=Reviews of This Week's Singles |magazine=Billboard |date=August 3, 1959 |page=39 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2goEAAAAMBAJ&dq=the+clovers+love+potion+9&pg=PA39}}
| recorded = June 8, 1959
| studio = Capitol (New York City)
| venue =
| genre = Doo-wop
| length = {{Duration|m=2|s=02}}
| label = United Artists
| writer = Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller
| producer =
| prev_title =
| prev_year =
| next_title =
| next_year =
| misc = {{External music video|header=Official Audio|{{YouTube|qTjs7a9l0hM|"Love Potion No. 9"}}}}
}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Love Potion Number Nine
| cover = Love_Potion_Number_Nine_-_The_Searchers.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = The Searchers
| album = Meet the Searchers
| B-side = Hi-Heel Sneakers
| released = November 1964
| recorded =
| studio = Pye Studios, London, England
| venue =
| genre = Rock and roll
| length = {{Duration|m=2|s=05}}
| label = Kapp KJB-27
| writer = Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller
| producer = Tony Hatch
| prev_title = When You Walk in the Room
| prev_year = 1964
| next_title = What Have They Done to the Rain
| next_year = 1964
| misc = {{External music video|header=Official Audio|{{YouTube|4Q4rl0jFwGE|"Love Potion No. 9"}}}}
}}
"Love Potion No. 9" is a song written in 1959 by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. It was originally performed by the Clovers, who took it to No. 23 on the US as well as R&B charts that year.[http://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-clovers-p3925/charts-awards/billboard-singles The Clovers' charting singles] Retrieved February 7, 2012.{{cite book |title= Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004|last=Whitburn |first=Joel |author-link=Joel Whitburn |year=2004 |publisher=Record Research |page=124}} It reached #20 in Canada.{{cite web|url=http://chumtribute.com/59-11-09-chart.jpg| title=CHUM Hit Parade - November 9, 1959}}
The Searchers recorded it in 1964 and reached No. 3 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and No. 2 on Cash Box during the winter of 1965.{{cite web |url=http://tropicalglen.com/Archives/60s_files/19650123.html|title=Cash Box Top 100 1/23/65 |website=tropicalglen.com|access-date=23 August 2018}}
Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass recorded an instrumental version for their 1965 album Whipped Cream & Other Delights.{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AjUHjEYCfo | title=Love Potion No. 9 | website=YouTube | date=14 September 2020 }}
The Coasters released their take in December 1971 with "D.W. Washburn" on the B-side. It reached No. 76 on the Billboard Pop chart and No. 96 on the Cash Box chart.
It is also track 1 on the studio album Two Days Away, released in 1977 by Elkie Brooks and produced by the song's writers Leiber and Stoller.
History
The song describes a man seeking help to find love. He enlists the help of a Romani person who determines, by means of palmistry, that he needs "love potion number nine". The potion, an aphrodisiac, causes him to fall in love with everything he sees, kissing whatever is in front of him, eventually kissing a policeman on the street corner, who reacts by breaking his bottle of love potion.
In the LP release, at the ending of the song the Clovers used the alternative lyrics:{{cite web|url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc19763/m1/ |title=Show 14 - Big Rock Candy Mountain: Rock 'n' roll in the late fifties. [Part 4] : UNT Digital Library |last=Gilliland
|first=John
|year=1969
|author-link=John Gilliland
|work=Pop Chronicles
|publisher=Digital.library.unt.edu
|format=audio
|access-date=2011-04-30}}
{{Poem quote|I had so much fun that I'm going back again,
I wonder what'll happen with Love Potion Number Ten?}}
This version was used in the film American Graffiti and released on the LP version of the soundtrack, but replaced by the single version on the CD release.
The song was the basic premise of the 1992 film of the same name starring Sandra Bullock and Tate Donovan.
Charts, The Searchers
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" |
| Chart (1965)
! Peak |
|---|
| {{single chart|Canadatopsingles|6|artist= The Searchers|song=Love Potion Nr. 9|chartid=5573|chart date=January 18, 1965|accessdate=November 25, 2020}} |
| New Zealand (Lever Hit Parade)[http://www.flavourofnz.co.nz/index.php?qpageID=search%20lever&qsongid=1096#n_view_location Flavour of New Zealand, 11 February 1965]
| style="text-align:center;"|4 |
| {{single chart|Billboardhot100|3|artist=The Searchers |accessdate=June 10, 2018}} |
| US Cash Box Top 100
|style="text-align:center" | 2 |
| {{single chart|West Germany|23|artist= The Searchers|song=Love Potion Nr. 9|songid=71923|year=1965|accessdate=June 10, 2018}} |
Later versions
The heavy metal band Tygers of Pan Tang recorded "Love Potion No. 9" in 1982. Their version charted in the UK, reaching No. 45 in 1982.{{cite web|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/search/singles/love-potion-number-9/ |title=Official Charts Company |website=Officialcharts.com |date=1982-03-27 |access-date=2020-07-13}} Punk band MDC released their version of the song on their 1989 album Metal Devil Cokes{{Cite web |title=MDC - Metal Devil Cokes {{!}} Releases {{!}} Discogs |url=https://www.discogs.com/master/306587-MDC-Metal-Devil-Cokes |website=Discogs|date=1989 }} The White Stripes covered it live at the Gold Dollar in Detroit, Michigan, on July 14, 1997, including the alternative ending lyrics; this version was released in 2012 on the EP "Live On Bastille Day".{{Citation |title=The White Stripes - Live On Bastille Day |url=https://www.discogs.com/master/1680440-The-White-Stripes-Live-On-Bastille-Day |language=en |access-date=2022-12-29}} In 2016 the song was performed by John Cooper Clarke and Hugh Cornwell for BBC 6 Music Live.Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211205/TRof0M1IJ1I Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20161018201125/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRof0M1IJ1I&gl=US&hl=en Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRof0M1IJ1I| title = John Cooper Clarke & Hugh Cornwell - Love Potion #9 (6 Music Live 2016) | website=YouTube| date = 18 October 2016 }}{{cbignore}} It was released as a single by indie rock band The Wallies in November 2019 and has also been covered by punk rock group The Queers on their 2021 album Reverberation.{{Cite web |title=REVERBERATION, by The Queers |url=https://officialthequeers.bandcamp.com/album/reverberation |access-date=2023-08-28 |website=The Queers |language=en}} Rockapella also covered the song.
This song also gained popularity in Vietnam as US-based singer Nguyễn Hưng covered it in Vietnamese in 1998.
References
{{The Searchers}}
{{The Clovers}}
{{The Coasters}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Love Potion No. 9 (Song)}}
Category:Gary Lewis & the Playboys songs
Category:Song recordings produced by Tony Hatch
Category:Songs written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller
Category:The Searchers (band) songs