Back Street Luv

"Back Street Luv"
"Back Street Luv"
Single by Curved Air
from the album Second Album
B-side	"Everdance"
Released	July 1971
Genre	Art rock
Length	3:36
Label	Warner Bros
Songwriter(s)	Ian Eyre, Sonja Kristina, Darryl Way
Producer(s)	Colin Caldwell, Curved Air
Curved Air singles chronology
Performance video
	"Back Street Luv" on BeatClub on YouTube

"Back Street Luv" is a song by British rock band Curved Air, written by band members Ian Eyre, Sonja Kristina and Darryl Way. It was included on the Second Album and released as a single in July 1971 by Warner Bros.^[1] It reached number 4 in the UK Singles Chart on 18 September.^[2] Warners also released it as a single in the Netherlands, Germany, France and Portugal. In 1975 a live version appeared on Curved Air – Live and was released as a single in the UK by Deram, but it failed to make any commercial impact.^[1]^[3]

Rock music critic Dave Thompson called the song "one of the band's own finest moments" and "also one of the crucial singles of the early 1970s".^[4]

In 1997, Salad covered the song on the Childline charity album.^[5]

Track list

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Back Street Luv"	3:36
2.	"Everdance"	3:06

Personnel

Original studio version

Sonja Kristina — vocals
Francis Monkman — EMS VCS 3, Hohner Pianet, guitar, Hammond organ
Ian Eyre – bass
Florian Pilkington-Miksa — drums

(Darryl Way, though the chief writer of the song's music, does not play on the original recording.)

Live version from Curved Air – Live, 1975

Darryl Way – VCS3, electric piano
Sonja Kristina – vocal
Phil Kohn – bass
Florian Pilkington-Miksa – drums
Francis Monkman – guitar, organ

Live version from Alive, 1990

Darryl Way – synthesizers, backing vocal
Sonja Kristina – lead vocal
Florian Pilkington-Miksa – drums
Francis Monkman – guitar, bass

Editions

1971 — Second Album (3:36, WEA International
1971 — Second Album (5:56, Collectors' Choice Music)
1975 — Live (3:47, Repertoire)
1976 — Best of Curved Air (Warner Bros.)
1994 — Progression (Alex Records)
1995 — Journey to the Edge: Progressive Rock Classics (3:35, Music Collection)
1995 — The No. 1 70s Rock Album (3:40 Alex)
1995 — Progressive Pop: Inside the 70s (3:50, See For Miles Records)
1999 — Rock Festival (Insight)
2000 — Alive, 1990 (4:26, Mystic Records)
2006 — Absolute 70s (Crimson Productions)
2006 — Classic Rock Presents Prog Rock (3:37, Gut-Active)
2006 — Good Morning Vietnam 2 (3:50, Disky)
2006 — My Sounds Rock (Disky)
2007 — Head Full of Rock (3:36, EMI)
2007 — The Prog Rock Album (3:38, Crimson Productions)
2007 — The Sound of the 70s (3:35, Warner Strategic Marketing)
2008 — The Best of Curved Air (Repertoire)
2008 — Legendary Rock (3:48, MP Records)
2010 — The Old Grey Whistle Test (3:33, Rhino)^[6]

References

^ ^a ^b "Back Street Luv". www.discogs.com. 1971. Retrieved 13 August 2010.
^ "Back Street Luv UK Charts". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 13 August 2010.
^ Joynson, Vernon (1995). The Tapestry of Delights Archived 25 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine. London: Borderline Books.
^ Dave Thompson. "Second Album". www.allmusic.com. Retrieved 13 August 2010. …It's also one of the crucial singles of the early 1970s.
^ "Childline". www.allmusic.com. Retrieved 20 July 2011.
^ Back Street Luv. – www.allmusic.com.