Love Rollercoaster

For The Cleveland Show episode, see Love Rollercoaster (The Cleveland Show). For the Mims song, see Guilt (album).

"Love Rollercoaster"
Single by Ohio Players
from the album Honey
B-side"It's All Over"
ReleasedNovember 9, 1975
Genre
Length
LabelMercury
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Ohio Players
Ohio Players singles chronology
"Sweet Sticky Thing"
(1975) 		"Love Rollercoaster"
(1975) 		"Fopp"
(1976)

"Love Rollercoaster", sometimes rendered as "Love Roller Coaster",[4] 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.[5] 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.[6] "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.[7]

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.[8][9] 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.[10] The most common version of the legend was that the scream was from Ester Corbet, a model who appeared on the cover of the album (Honey) purportedly stabbed by a band member, manager or engineer during the recording sessions.[10] Subsequent variations included an elaborate backstory involving the artwork on the album cover as a motive for the stabbing.[10] Less common variations identified the "victim" as a band member's girlfriend or cleaning woman.[10]

The 1998 film Urban Legend mentions the legend of this song.

Charts

Red Hot Chili Peppers version

"Love Rollercoaster"
Single by Red Hot Chili Peppers
from the album Beavis and Butt-Head Do America: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
ReleasedNovember 1996
Genre
Length
  • 4:37 (album version)
  • 3:31 (single version)
LabelGeffen
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Red Hot Chili Peppers singles chronology
"Coffee Shop"
(1996) 		"Love Rollercoaster"
(1996) 		"Scar Tissue"
(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

Chart (1996–1997) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[15] 19
Belgium (Ultratip Bubbling Under Flanders)[16] 10
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[17] 49
Canada Rock/Alternative (RPM)[18] 3
Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40)[19] 3
Ireland (IRMA)[20] 24
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[21] 35
Scotland (OCC)[22] 6
UK Singles (OCC)[23] 7
US Radio Songs (Billboard)[24] 40
US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[25] 14
US Pop Airplay (Billboard)[26] 22

Year-end charts

Chart (1997) Position
Australia (ARIA)[27] 83
Canada Rock/Alternative (RPM)[28] 45
Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40)[29] 94
UK Singles (OCC)[30] 119

Release history

Region Date Format(s) Label(s) Ref.
United States November 1996 Radio Geffen
United Kingdom June 2, 1997
  • 7-inch vinyl
  • CD
  • cassette
 [31]

In other media

The song was used, amongst other uses, in an advert for the Suzuki Jimny mini-SUV automobile,[32] 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.

See also

References

  1. ^ "100 Greatest Funk Songs". Digital Dream Door. August 7, 2008. Archived from the original on September 25, 2010. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
  2. ^ Echols, Alice (March 29, 2010). "I Hear a Symphony: Black Masculinity and the Disco Turn". Hot Stuff: Disco and the Remaking of American Culture. W. W. Norton & Company. p. 22. ISBN 978-0-393-06675-3.
  3. ^ Molanphy, Chris (October 15, 2022). "Give Up the Funk Edition". Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia (Podcast). Slate. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
  4. ^ a b "RPM Top Singles" (PDF). RPM. February 21, 1976. Retrieved March 21, 2016.
  5. ^ Henderson, Alex. "Honey - Ohio Players | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved February 2, 2016.
  6. ^ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Archived from the original on February 27, 2015. Retrieved February 2, 2016.
  7. ^ White, Adam & Bronson, Fred (1993). The Billboard Book of Number One Rhythm & Blues Hits. Billboard Books. p. 188. ISBN 0823082857.
  8. ^ "Years after its '70s heyday, band still riding a 'Love Rollercoaster'". May 18, 2003. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
  9. ^ "Ohio Players recount career roller coaster". May 25, 2003. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
  10. ^ a b c d 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.
  11. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 437.
  12. ^ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Archived from the original on February 27, 2015. Retrieved February 2, 2016.
  13. ^ "Top 100 Hits of 1976/Top 100 Songs of 1976". Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved February 2, 2016.
  14. ^ "The 96 Best Alternative Rock Songs Of 1996". Spin. August 31, 2016. Archived from the original on May 20, 2017. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
  15. ^ "Red Hot Chili Peppers / Engelbert Humperdinck – Love Rollercoaster / Lesbian Seagull". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved November 20, 2016.
  16. ^ "Red Hot Chili Peppers – Love Rollercoaster" (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved November 20, 2016.
  17. ^ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 9792." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved November 20, 2016.
  18. ^ "Top RPM Rock/Alternative Tracks: Issue 9795." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
  19. ^ "Íslenski Listinn Topp 40 (9.1. '97 – 15.1. '97)". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). January 10, 1997. p. 16. Retrieved October 2, 2019.
  20. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Love Rollercoaster". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved July 18, 2019.
  21. ^ "Red Hot Chili Peppers / Engelbert Humperdinck – Love Rollercoaster / Lesbian Seagull". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved November 20, 2016.
  22. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
  23. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
  24. ^ "Red Hot Chili Peppers Chart History (Radio Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  25. ^ "Red Hot Chili Peppers Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved November 20, 2016.
  26. ^ "Red Hot Chili Peppers Chart History (Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved November 20, 2016.
  27. ^ "1997 ARIA Singles Chart". ARIA. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
  28. ^ "RPM '97 Year End Top 50 Alternative Tracks". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
  29. ^ "Árslistinn 1997 – Íslenski Listinn – 100 Vinsælustu Lögin". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). January 2, 1998. p. 25. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
  30. ^ "Najlepsze single na UK Top 40–1997" (in Polish). Archived from the original on June 4, 2015. Retrieved July 2, 2019.
  31. ^ "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. May 31, 1997. p. 33.
  32. ^ TV Ad https://www.tvadmusic.co.uk/2007/10/archive-q-to-z/