Love Buzz

"Love Buzz"
Single by Nirvana
from the album Bleach
B-side "Big Cheese"
Released November 1988
Format 7"
Recorded June-September 1988 at Reciprocal Recordings in Seattle, Washington
Genre Grunge, noise rock
Length 3:35
Label Sub Pop
Writer(s) Robbie van Leeuwen
Producer Jack Endino
Nirvana singles chronology
"Love Buzz"
(1988)
"Blew"
(1989)
Audio sample
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"Love Buzz" is a single by Dutch rock band Shocking Blue. It was written by Robbie van Leeuwen and first released in November 1988.

Contents

Cover versions

Nirvana

The American grunge band Nirvana recorded a cover version of the song for its 1988 debut single, released on Sub Pop in the US. It was the first single in the Sub Pop Singles club. A slightly different mix of the song would also appear on Nirvana's debut album, Bleach. This version is missing a 10-second sound collage introduction put together by Kurt Cobain. "Love Buzz" was later released on Nirvana's Blew (EP) in the UK in December 1989.

In a 1989 review for British music magazine Melody Maker, Everett True wrote, "Nirvana are beauty incarnate. A relentless two-chord garage beat which lays down some serious foundations for a sheer monster of a guitar to howl over. The volume control ain't been built yet which can do justice to this three-piece!" True also made "Love Buzz" joint-US Single of the Week.[1]

An intense, violent performance of the song, recorded in Dallas, Texas, can be seen on Nirvana's 1994 home video Live! Tonight! Sold Out!!, with another 1990 performance from Olympia on With the Lights Out, and a further performance from 1991 on Live at the Paramount (video).

The Prodigy

The original Shocking Blue version was sampled for the song "Phoenix" by The Prodigy on their 2004 album Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned.

Lil' Kim

Elements of the original song were also sampled for the track "Kitty Box" by Lil' Kim which featured on her 2005 album The Naked Truth (Lil' Kim album).

Others

The track has also been covered by Hatcham Social on its free EP Party, released in 2008. A club mix of "Love Buzz" was released on Saint Thomas Records in 2009 by the Dallas psychedelic band Lithium X-Mas as a CD single.

References

Specific references:

  1. ^ True, Everett (2007). Nirvana: The Biography. Da Capo Press. ISBN 978-0-306-81554-6. p. 111.

General references: