Malibu (song)

"Malibu"
Single by Hole
from the album Celebrity Skin
B-side "Drag", "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue"
Released November 1998 (1998-11)
Format CD single, 7"
Recorded 1997 (1997)
Genre Alternative rock, power pop
Length 3:49
Label Geffen
Writer(s) Courtney Love, Eric Erlandson, Billy Corgan
Producer Michael Beinhorn
Hole singles chronology
"Celebrity Skin"
(1998)
"Malibu"
(1998)
"Awful"
(1999)

"Malibu" is the eleventh single by American alternative rock band Hole, and the second from their third studio album Celebrity Skin, released in November 1998. The song was written by vocalist and rhythm guitarist Courtney Love, guitarist Eric Erlandson, and The Smashing Pumpkins' Billy Corgan, who contributed to several songs on the album.

"Malibu" was one of the band's most commercially and critically successful songs, peaking at number three on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart, and garnering a Grammy nomination in 1999.

Contents

Background and history

Love wrote the lyrics to the song about her late husband Kurt Cobain's stay at a rehabilitation clinic in Malibu, California while receiving treatment for his heroin addiction prior to his suicide in 1994. The single also includes "Drag," an outtake from Celebrity Skin which was replaced by "Malibu." The song was nominated for a Grammy Award[1] in the Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal field, losing to "Put Your Lights On" by Santana. The single was certified Gold in Australia in 1999, with sales in excess of 40,000.

Track listing

Australian and American release GED 22369

  1. Malibu (Courtney Love, Eric Erlandson, Billy Corgan) - 3:53
  2. Drag (C. Love, E. Erlandson, Melissa Auf der Maur, Jordon Zadorozny) - 4:32
  3. It's All Over Now, Baby Blue (Bob Dylan) - 3:19

UK release GFSXD 22369[2]

  1. Malibu (C. Love, E. Erlandson, B. Corgan) - 3:53
  2. Celebrity Skin (live) (C. Love, E. Erlandson, B. Corgan) - 2:59
  3. Reasons To Be Beautiful (Live) (C. Love, E. Erlandson, M. Auf der Maur, J. Zadorozny, Charlotte Caffey) - 5:36

US promotional CD PRO-CD-1241

  1. Malibu (C. Love, E. Erlandson, B. Corgan) - 3:53

Music video

Directed by Paul Hunter, the music video for "Malibu" was shot in the eponymous city on a beach. The video features burning palm trees and the band performing the song. Eric Erlandson is also seeing waxing a surfboard, who joked "it's Marilyn Manson, I wasn't there."[3] It also alludes to Baywatch and features lifeguards holding plastic dolls while Courtney Love walks in to the ocean.

Chart positions

Chart (1998/99) Peak
position
US Billboard Hot 100 81
US Mainstream Rock Tracks 16
US Modern Rock Tracks 3
US Adult Top 40 37
UK Singles Chart 22
Australia 11
NZ RIANZ Top 40 38

References

  1. ^ The Envelope - LA Times
  2. ^ Petterson, Therese. * d i s c o g r a p h y * http://vintagestars.com/river/DiscographyMalibu.html Retrieved on April 12, 2010.
  3. ^ Erlandson, Eric. * v i d e o t a l k * http://vintagestars.com/river/VideoTalk.html Retrieved on April 12, 2010.