Buddy Holly (song)

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"Buddy Holly"
"Buddy Holly" cover
Single by Weezer
from the album Weezer (The Blue Album)
Released September 7, 1994
Format CD
Recorded August-September, 1993 at Electric Lady Studios, New York City
Genre Alternative
Length 2 min 39 s
Label DGC Records
Producer(s) Ric Ocasek
Chart positions
Weezer singles chronology
"Undone (The Sweater Song)"
(1994)
"Buddy Holly"
(1995)
"Say It Ain't So"
(1995)

"Buddy Holly" is a popular single by Weezer. It was released as a single in 1995 and appeared on the self-titled debut album in 1994. The lyrics reference '50s singer, Buddy Holly, and actress, Mary Tyler Moore.

Contents

[edit] Music video

"Buddy Holly" music video
Enlarge
"Buddy Holly" music video

The music video for "Buddy Holly" was directed by Spike Jonze. It portrayed Weezer performing at the original Arnold's Drive-In diner from the popular '70s television show, Happy Days. The video combined contemporary footage of the band with clips from the show. Happy Days cast member Al Molinaro made a cameo appearance in the video. Al makes in a plug for his home town, Kenosha, Wisconsin, in the introduction. The video also features brief cameos by some members of the band That Dog as dancers at Arnold's.

The innovative video scored four awards at the 1995 MTV Video Music Awards, including prizes for Breakthrough Video and Best Alternative Video. It was also voted #497 in the List of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. The "Buddy Holly" music video was included on the Microsoft Windows 95 CD-ROM.

[edit] Looking "just like Buddy Holly"

Rivers Cuomo is known for wearing thick-rimmed glasses, as did Buddy Holly. Weezer are often considered to be pioneers of fashion in the geek world, as one of its standards is the wearing of square glasses like Cuomo's. Ironically, Cuomo was not wearing his signature glasses in the video for the song. Weezer also inspired a small flourish of 'geek chic' fashion, making it popular to wear articles of clothing usually associated with geekdom, such as sweater vests. Oddly enough, as popular as this song was when it was released, the fashion trend that the song, and Weezer, inspired did not take effect until several years after the song was released.

The song was written because of Rivers Cuomo's frustration of his fellow bandmates always making fun of his eccentric Korean then-girlfriend.[citation needed] References to this can be found in the lyrics "Your tongue is twisted, your eyes are slit" and "what's with these homies dissin' my girl" and later he goes to say he doesn't care what they say about her.

[edit] Trivia

  • The two people on the cover are Rivers Cuomo and a childhood friend he's wished to contact, to no avail, after using this photograph for the single.
  • Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine covered this as a Lounge style on his 2002 album "Tuxicity".
  • The single was released on what would have been Buddy Holly's 58th birthday.
  • British band Biffy Clyro covered this song for a CD of covers given away with Kerrang! magazine in June 2006
  • The video was distributed in AVI format on Windows 95 CDs as bonus content. The Windows 95 OSR/2 CD included a MPEG version of the video in addition to the AVI version.

[edit] External links

Weezer
Brian BellRivers CuomoScott ShrinerPatrick Wilson
Former members: Jason CropperMatt SharpMikey Welsh
Discography
Albums: Weezer (The Blue Album)PinkertonWeezer (The Green Album)MaladroitMake Believe
Extended plays and live albums: The Good LifeThe Lion and the WitchWinter Weezerland