Love Rollercoaster#Red Hot Chili Peppers cover
{{Short description|1975 single by Ohio Players}}
{{for-multi|The Cleveland Show episode|Love Rollercoaster (The Cleveland Show)|the Mims song|Guilt (album)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2022}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Love Rollercoaster
| cover = Love Rollercoaster - Ohio Players.jpg
| type = single
| artist = Ohio Players
| album = Honey
| B-side = It's All Over
| released = November 9, 1975
| genre = {{hlist|Funk{{cite web |url=https://digitaldreamdoor.com/pages/best_rb-funk.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100925122615/https://digitaldreamdoor.com/pages/best_rb-funk.html |title=100 Greatest Funk Songs |website=Digital Dream Door |date=August 7, 2008 |archive-date=September 25, 2010 |access-date=October 7, 2021 |url-status=live}}{{cite book|first=Alice|last=Echols|title=Hot Stuff: Disco and the Remaking of American Culture|chapter=I Hear a Symphony: Black Masculinity and the Disco Turn|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DzrvOAA2tvAC|date=March 29, 2010|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company|isbn=978-0-393-06675-3|page=22|archive-date=December 24, 2024|access-date=January 26, 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241224162034/https://books.google.com/books?id=DzrvOAA2tvAC|url-status=live}}|disco{{Cite podcast|url=https://slate.com/podcasts/hit-parade/2022/10/funk-gave-70s-pop-a-new-groove|title=Give Up the Funk Edition|website=Hit Parade {{!}} Music History and Music Trivia|publisher=Slate|last=Molanphy|first=Chris|date=October 15, 2022|access-date=October 31, 2022|archive-date=October 31, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221031054059/https://slate.com/podcasts/hit-parade/2022/10/funk-gave-70s-pop-a-new-groove|url-status=live}}}}
| length = {{unbulleted list|2:52 (single version)|4:50 (album version)}}
| label = Mercury
| writer = {{hlist|James Williams|Clarence Satchell|Leroy Bonner|Marshall Jones|Ralph Middlebrooks|Marvin Pierce|William Beck}}
| producer = Ohio Players
| prev_title = Sweet Sticky Thing
| prev_year = 1975
| next_title = Fopp
| next_year = 1976
}}
"Love Rollercoaster", sometimes rendered as "Love Roller Coaster", is a song by American funk/R&B band Ohio Players, originally featured on their 1975 album Honey. It was composed by William Beck, Leroy Bonner, Marshall Jones, Ralph Middlebrooks, Marvin Pierce, Clarence Satchell, and James Williams.{{cite web |first=Alex |last=Henderson |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/honey-mw0000262958 |title=Honey - Ohio Players | Songs, Reviews, Credits |website=AllMusic |access-date=February 2, 2016 |archive-date=March 9, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160309065637/http://www.allmusic.com/album/honey-mw0000262958 |url-status=live }} It was a number-one U.S. hit in January 1976, and was certified gold. In Canada, the song spent two weeks at number two.{{cite web |url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?&file_num=nlc008388.4081a&type=1&interval=50&PHPSESSID=g14snaqsk0codbtqdhq9c01l31 |title=Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada |website=Collectionscanada.gc.ca |access-date=February 2, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150227092823/http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?&file_num=nlc008388.4081a&type=1&interval=50&PHPSESSID=g14snaqsk0codbtqdhq9c01l31 |archive-date=February 27, 2015 |url-status=dead }} "Love Rollercoaster" was covered by American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers for the soundtrack of the 1996 animated movie Beavis and Butt-Head Do America.
Urban legend
The song has been the subject of a persistent urban legend since its release. A primal scream is heard in the background fairly early in the song (between 1:24 and 1:28 on the single version, or between 2:32 and 2:36 on the album version). According to the most common legend, it was the voice of an individual being murdered live while the tape was rolling. Jimmy "Diamond" Williams described the innocent nature of the scream:
There is a part in the song where there's a breakdown. It's guitars and it's right before the second verse and Billy Beck does one of those inhaling-type screeches like Minnie Riperton did to reach her high note or Mariah Carey does to go octaves above. The DJ made this crack and it swept the country. People were asking us, "Did you kill this girl in the studio?" The band took a vow of silence because you sell more records that way.{{Cite book |last1=White, Adam |title=The Billboard Book of Number One Rhythm & Blues Hits |last2=Bronson, Fred |publisher=Billboard Books |year=1993 |isbn=0823082857 |pages=188 |name-list-style=&}}
The legend appears to have evolved from an incidental comment made by an unidentified Berkeley, California disc jockey during a radio broadcast, probably in late 1975 or early 1976.{{cite news |date=May 18, 2003 |title=Years after its '70s heyday, band still riding a 'Love Rollercoaster'|url=https://www.southcoasttoday.com/story/lifestyle/2003/05/18/years-after-its-70s-heyday/50341302007/|access-date=June 22, 2022}}{{cite news|date=May 25, 2003|title=Ohio Players recount career roller coaster|url=https://www.chron.com/entertainment/music/article/Ohio-Players-recount-career-roller-coaster-2116686.php|access-date=June 22, 2022|archive-date=June 23, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220623015153/https://www.chron.com/entertainment/music/article/Ohio-Players-recount-career-roller-coaster-2116686.php|url-status=live}} It spread and mutated in several variations, probably as a result of Casey Kasem having repeated it on the nationally syndicated radio show American Top 40 in early 1976.Graff, Gary, and Durchholz, Daniel. Rock 'n' Roll Myths: The True Stories Behind the Most Infamous Legends, p. 50-51. United States, Voyageur Press, 2012. The most common version of the legend was that the scream was from Ester Cordet, a model who appeared on the cover of the album (Honey) purportedly stabbed by a band member, manager or engineer during the recording sessions. Subsequent variations included an elaborate backstory involving the artwork on the album cover as a motive for the stabbing. Less common variations identified the "victim" as a band member's girlfriend or cleaning woman.
The 1998 film Urban Legend mentions the legend of this song.
Charts
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
=Weekly charts=
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" |
| Chart (1975–1976)
!Peak |
|---|
| scope="row"|Canada Top Singles (RPM){{cite magazine |date=February 21, 1976 |title=RPM Top Singles |url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/028020/f2/nlc008388.4081a.pdf |magazine=RPM |access-date=March 21, 2016 |archive-date=March 13, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160313230112/http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/028020/f2/nlc008388.4081a.pdf |url-status=live }}
|2 |
| scope="row"|US Billboard Hot 100
|1 |
| scope="row"|US Hot Soul Singles (Billboard){{cite book |title= Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004|last=Whitburn |first=Joel |authorlink=Joel Whitburn |year=2004 |publisher=Record Research |page=437}}
|1 |
{{col-2}}
=Year-end charts=
{{col-end}}
Red Hot Chili Peppers version
{{Infobox song
| name = Love Rollercoaster" / "Lesbian Seagull
| cover = Loverollercoaster.jpg
| type = single
| artist = Red Hot Chili Peppers and Engelbert Humperdinck
| album = Beavis and Butt-Head Do America: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
| released = November 12, 1996https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Archive-RandR/1990s/1996/R&R-1996-11-08.pdf
| recorded =
| genre = * Funk rock
- alternative rock{{Cite web|url=https://www.spin.com/2016/08/96-best-alternative-rock-songs-1996/|title=The 96 Best Alternative Rock Songs Of 1996|date=August 31, 2016|access-date=February 23, 2022|website=Spin|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170520051218/https://www.spin.com/2016/08/96-best-alternative-rock-songs-1996/|archive-date=May 20, 2017}}
- rap rock
| length = * 4:37 (album version)
- 3:31 (single version)
| label = Geffen
| writer = * James Williams
- Clarence Satchell
- Leroy Bonner
- Marshall Jones
- Ralph Middlebrooks
- Marvin Pierce
- William Beck
| producer = * Sylvia Massy
- Red Hot Chili Peppers
| prev_title = Coffee Shop
| prev_year = 1996
| next_title = Scar Tissue
| next_year = 1999
}}
"Love Rollercoaster" was covered by American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers for the soundtrack of the 1996 animated movie Beavis and Butt-Head Do America, based on the iconic MTV adult animated series Beavis and Butt-Head, so it had a lot of diffusion on the channel in that time. It was released as a single in November 1996 through Geffen Records, being particularly successful in the UK.
For this version, an animated music video was made directed by Kevin Lofton. In the video, the members of the band are shown performing the song and riding together with other characters on a gigantic roller coaster, while playing some scenes from the film.
=Charts=
==Weekly charts==
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
!scope="col"|Chart (1996–1997) !scope="col"|Peak |
| {{single chart|Australia|19|artist=Red Hot Chili Peppers / Engelbert Humperdinck|song=Love Rollercoaster / Lesbian Seagull|rowheader=true|access-date=November 20, 2016|refname="Australian chart"}} |
| {{single chart|Flanders Tip|10|artist=Red Hot Chili Peppers|song=Love Rollercoaster|rowheader=true|access-date=November 20, 2016}} |
| {{single chart|Canadatopsingles|49|chartid=9792|rowheader=true|access-date=November 20, 2016}} |
| {{single chart|Canadarock|3|chartid=9795|rowheader=true|access-date=February 2, 2019}} |
| scope="row"|Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40){{cite news|url=https://timarit.is/page/2949779#page/n1/mode/2up|title=Íslenski Listinn Topp 40 (9.1. '97 – 15.1. '97)|newspaper=Dagblaðið Vísir|language=is|page=16|date=January 10, 1997|access-date=October 2, 2019|archive-date=June 4, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200604155953/https://timarit.is/page/2949779#page/n1/mode/2up|url-status=live}}
|3 |
|---|
| {{single chart|Ireland2|24|song=Love Rollercoaster|rowheader=true|access-date=July 18, 2019}} |
| {{single chart|New Zealand|35|artist=Red Hot Chili Peppers / Engelbert Humperdinck|song=Love Rollercoaster / Lesbian Seagull|rowheader=true|access-date=November 20, 2016|refname="New Zealand chart"}} |
| {{single chart|Scotland|6|date=19970614|rowheader=true|access-date=February 2, 2019}} |
| {{single chart|UK|7|date=19970614|rowheader=true|access-date=February 2, 2019}} |
| {{single chart|Billboardradiosongs|40|artist=Red Hot Chili Peppers|rowheader=true|access-date=November 12, 2019}} |
| {{single chart|Billboardalternativesongs|14|artist=Red Hot Chili Peppers|rowheader=true|access-date=November 20, 2016}} |
| {{single chart|Billboardpopsongs|22|artist=Red Hot Chili Peppers|rowheader=true|access-date=November 20, 2016}} |
- The Australian and New Zealand chart positions are for the double-A-sided single "Love Rollercoaster"/"Lesbian Seagull".
==Year-end charts==
=Release history=
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
!scope="col"|Region !scope="col"|Date !scope="col"|Format(s) !scope="col"|Label(s) !scope="col"|{{abbr|Ref.|Reference}} |
| scope="row"|United States
|November 1996 |Radio |rowspan="2"|Geffen | |
|---|
| scope="row"|United Kingdom
|June 2, 1997 |{{hlist|7-inch vinyl|CD|cassette}} |{{cite magazine|title=New Releases: Singles|magazine=Music Week|page=33|date=May 31, 1997}} |
In other media
The song was used, amongst other uses, in an advert for the Suzuki Jimny mini-SUV automobile,TV Ad https://www.tvadmusic.co.uk/2007/10/archive-q-to-z/ in the 2020 film Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey, and in a promo for the Disney Epcot ride Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind ahead of its opening in 2022; the song, although not played outright, is also referenced to on The Cleveland Show, serving as the title for the show's 11th episode of its pilot season. It was also used in the 2006 horror movie Final Destination 3, and was also used in 2004 action-adventure video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas as song for radio station Bounce FM. The song is used heavily in a scene from Beavis and Butthead Do America, where they are in a casino.
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Ohio Players}}
{{Red Hot Chili Peppers singles}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Animated music videos
Category:Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles
Category:Geffen Records singles
Category:Mercury Records singles