"Werewolves of London" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Warren Zevon, written by Zevon, LeRoy Marinell and Waddy Wachtel. It first appeared on Excitable Boy (1978), Zevon's third studio album, then it was released as a single by Asylum Records in March 1978, becoming a Top 40 US hit, the only one of Zevon's career, reaching No. 21 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in May.[1]
| "Werewolves of London" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Warren Zevon | ||||
| from the album Excitable Boy | ||||
| B-side | "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner" | |||
| Released | March 1978 | |||
| Recorded | 1977 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 3:27 | |||
| Label | Asylum | |||
| Songwriter(s) | LeRoy Marinell, Waddy Wachtel, Warren Zevon | |||
| Producer(s) | Jackson Browne, Waddy Wachtel | |||
| Warren Zevon singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Music video | ||||
| "Werewolves Of London" on YouTube | ||||
Inspired by Phil Everly, it includes Fleetwood Mac's Mick Fleetwood on drums and John McVie on bass.
Background and recording
editThe song began as a joke by Phil Everly (of the Everly Brothers) to Zevon in 1975, over two years before the recording sessions for Excitable Boy.[2] Everly had watched a television broadcast of the 1935 film Werewolf of London and "suggested to Zevon that he adapt the title for a song and dance craze."[2] Zevon played with the idea with his band members LeRoy P. Marinell and Waddy Wachtel, who wrote the song together in about 15 minutes, all contributing lyrics that were transcribed by Zevon's wife Crystal. However, none of them took the song seriously.[2]
Soon after, Zevon's friend Jackson Browne saw the lyrics and thought "Werewolves of London" had potential and began performing the song during his own live concerts. T Bone Burnett also performed the song, on the first leg of Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue tour in the autumn of 1975.[3] Burnett's version of the song included alternate or partially improvised lyrics mentioning stars from classical Hollywood cinema, along with mentions of vanished labor leader Jimmy Hoffa, and adult film stars Marilyn Chambers and Linda Lovelace. "Excitable Boy" and "Werewolves of London" were considered for, but not included on, Zevon's second album Warren Zevon in 1976.[4]
According to Wachtel, "Werewolves of London" was "the hardest song to get down in the studio I've ever worked on."[5] However, Wachtel "laid down his solo in one take."[6] They tried at least seven different configurations of musicians in the recording studio before being satisfied with McVie and Fleetwood's contributions.[2] Bob Glaub and Russ Kunkel were among the several musicians who auditioned; Zevon rejected them because he thought their playing was "too cute". Although 59 takes were recorded, Browne and Zevon selected the second take for the final mix.[7] Wachtel recalled that the session began in the evening and went into the next morning.[8] The protracted studio time and musicians' fees led to the song eating up most of the album's budget.
The song's lyrics "He was looking for the place called Lee Ho Fook's / Gonna get a big dish of beef chow mein" refer to Lee Ho Fook, a Chinese restaurant that was at 15 Gerrard Street in London's Chinatown, which is in the West End of London.[9][10] It closed in 2008. Egon Ronay's Dunlop Guide for 1974 discussed the restaurant and said it served Cantonese cuisine.[11] In concerts, Zevon would often change the line "You better stay away from him, he'll rip your lungs out, Jim / I'd like to meet his tailor", to "And he's looking for James Taylor".[12]
Over Zevon's objections, Elektra Records chose "Werewolves of London" as the album's first single (he preferred "Johnny Strikes Up the Band" or "Tenderness on the Block").[2] The song was a quick hit, staying in the Billboard Top 40 chart for over a month.[13]
Personnel
edit- Warren Zevon – piano, vocals
- Mick Fleetwood – drums
- John McVie – bass
- Waddy Wachtel – guitars
Reception and legacy
editBBC Radio 2 listeners rated it as having the best opening line in a song: "I saw a werewolf with a Chinese menu in his hand".[14]
Zevon later said of the song, "I don't know why that became such a hit. We didn't think it was suitable to be played on the radio. It didn't become an albatross. It's better that I bring something to mind than nothing. There are times when I prefer that it was "Bridge Over Troubled Water", but I don't think bad about the song. I still think it's funny."[15] He also described "Werewolves of London" as a novelty song, "[but] not a novelty the way, say, Steve Martin's "King Tut" is a novelty."[2]
The song had a resurgence in popularity in 1986 due to its use in a scene in The Color of Money, where Tom Cruise dances and lip-syncs to the song in a scene in which Cruise "displayed the depths of his talents at the billiards game of 9-ball."[16]
After Zevon's death in 2003, Jackson Browne stated that he interpreted the song as describing an upper-class English womanizer: "It's about a really well-dressed, ladies' man, a werewolf preying on little old ladies. In a way it's the Victorian nightmare, the gigolo thing."[2]
Charts
edit
Weekly chartsedit
|
Year-end chartsedit
|
Certifications
edit| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom (BPI)[26] | Silver | 200,000‡ |
|
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
Samples and other versions
edit- The Grateful Dead covered the song in a number of live concerts in 1978, one of which was released on Red Rocks: 7/8/78. The group resurrected the song for Halloween night concerts in 1985, 1990, and 1991.[27]
- David Lindley performed the song live in concert with Jackson Browne before it was released by Zevon. Lindley adapted the lyrics, taking some ideas from Burnett's version, and released the song on the 1988 album, Very Greasy by Lindley and his band El Rayo X.[28]
- Adam Sandler provided a version for the tribute album, Enjoy Every Sandwich: The Songs of Warren Zevon (October 2004).[29][30][31] Sandler also performed it on the Late Show on December 15, 2004.[32]
- American pop-rocker Masha covered the song for a Three Olives Vodka ad campaign in 2014.[33][34][35]
- Dexy's Midnight Runners song "One of Those Things" has a riff taken from "Werewolves of London". For the 1997 re-release of the album Don't Stand Me Down, Kevin Rowland admitted in the liner notes that he had used the riff and consequently Zevon and his co-writers, LeRoy Marinell and Waddy Wachtel, were given writing credits on the song.
- Kid Rock sampled this song in 2008 (and Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama", which has a similar riff) on "All Summer Long" and credits Zevon as a songwriter.[36]
- In 2017, Italian comedy-rock band Elio e le Storie Tese made an Italian version of this song, "Licantropo Vegano" ("Vegan Werewolf"); the difference with the original version is that the werewolf is vegan and the song is based in Milan, and not in London.[37]
References
edit- ^ "Warren Zevon - Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved July 4, 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g George Plasketes (June 15, 2016). The Secret Inspiration Behind Warren Zevon’s ‘Werewolves of London’, Medium.com, accessed July 30, 2018
- ^ "The Rolling Thunder Revue - Werewolves Of London". Pastemagazine.com. Retrieved September 22, 2018.
- ^ Zevon, Crystal. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead: The Dirty Life and Times of Warren Zevon, p. 112.
- ^ Zevon, Crystal. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead: The Dirty Life and Times of Warren Zevon, p. 138.
- ^ Browne, David (April 12, 2013). "The Knights of Soft Rock". Rolling Stone. No. 1180. p. 58.
- ^ Chilton, Martin (October 30, 2020). "Werewolves Of London: Behind Warren Zevon's Howlingly Funny Song". Dig!. Retrieved September 4, 2023.
- ^ Partridge, Kenneth (May 13, 2020). "Werewolves of London: How The Everly Brothers and a B-Movie from 1935 Inspired Warren Zevon's Monster Hit". Mental Floss. Retrieved September 4, 2023.
- ^ Wooldridge, Max (2002). Rock 'n' Roll London. New York: Macmillan Publishers. p. 38. ISBN 0-312-30442-0. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
- ^ Self, Will (2001). Feeding Frenzy. London: Viking Press. p. 252. ISBN 978-0-670-88995-2. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
- ^ Robards, Terry (March 21, 1974). "Michelin Guide Invades Britain, But It's No Star-Filled Journey". The New York Times. Archived from the original on August 9, 2020. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
- ^ Zollo, Paul (November 1, 2020). "Behind the Song: Warren Zevon's "Werewolves of London"". American Songwriter. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (2009). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits (9th ed.). United States: Billboard Books. p. 726. ISBN 978-0-8230-8554-5.
- ^ Vine, Jeremy (May 2004). "Greatest Opening Song Line – The Winner!". BBC Radio 2. Archived from the original on December 8, 2013. Retrieved October 22, 2014.
- ^ Stephen P. Wheeler. "Warren Zevon: Your Guide Through Transverse City". Rock's Backpages.(Subscription required.)
- ^ Brad Steiger, The Werewolf Book: The Encyclopedia of Shape-Shifting Beings, 2011, p. 315.
- ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970-1992. St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
- ^ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. July 17, 2013. Retrieved July 7, 2019.
- ^ "flavour of new zealand - search rianz". Flavourofnz.co.nz. Retrieved August 13, 2022.
- ^ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
- ^ "Cash Box Top 100 5/20/78". Tropicalglen.com. Retrieved August 13, 2022.
- ^ "Werewolves of London". Officialcharts.com. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
- ^ "Kent Music Report No 236 – 1 January 1979 > National Top 100 Singles for 1978". Kent Music Report. Retrieved January 8, 2022 – via Imgur.com.
- ^ "Top 200 Singles of '78 – Volume 30, No. 14, December 30 1978". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. July 17, 2013. Retrieved March 8, 2018.
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (1999). Pop Annual. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. ISBN 0-89820-142-X.
- ^ "British single certifications – Warren Zevon – Werewolves of London". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved May 19, 2023.
- ^ "Grateful Dead - Tour Statistics". Setlist.fm. Retrieved July 27, 2018.
- ^ "LINDLEY EL RAYO-X EASY, BREEZY 'GREASY'". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
- ^ Deming, Mark. "Enjoy Every Sandwich: The Songs of Warren Zevon – Various Artists | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved December 14, 2016.
- ^ Lifton, Dave (September 3, 2013). "Adam Sandler, 'Werewolves of London' –- Terrible Classic Rock Covers". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved December 19, 2016.
- ^ Peisch, Will (October 30, 2015). "7 Spooky Bangers and Monster Mash-Ups". The Dartmouth. Retrieved December 19, 2016.
- ^ Plasketes, George (May 23, 2016). B-Sides, Undercurrents and Overtones: Peripheries to Popular in Music, 1960 to the Present. Rutledge. p. 194. ISBN 978-1-31717-113-3.
- ^ "AdWeek – Ad of the Day: Masha Sings a Sultry Remake of 'Werewolves of London' for Three Olives Vodka". Adweek.com. December 4, 2014. Retrieved December 4, 2014.
- ^ Elliott, Stuart (December 8, 2014). "Ads Imply This Vodka Has a Real 'Bite'". The New York Times. Retrieved December 19, 2016.
- ^ Lukovitz, Karlene (December 2, 2014). "Three Olives Unleashes 'Werewolves in London' 12/02/2014". MediaPost. Retrieved December 19, 2016.
- ^ Sisario, Ben (October 2, 2008). "Kid Rock, Longtime Holdout, Goes Digital With Rhapsody". MediaPost. Retrieved October 13, 2018.
- ^ Marvaldi, Selena (October 19, 2017). "Elio e le Storie Tese: ultimo concerto e ultimo singolo Licantropo Vegano". Chemusica.it (in Italian). Retrieved January 9, 2023.
