Songoftheday 8/11/20 - Mary go down on the merry-go-round all is fair on the fair ground, love go slow love go fast licorice twist gonna whip your ass...

 

 

"Love Rollercoaster" - Red Hot Chili Peppers

from the album Beavis and Butt-head Do America (Original Soundtrack) (1996)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: ineligible to chart

Billboard Hot 100 Airplay peak: #40 (one week)

Weeks in the Airplay Top-40: 1

 

Today's song of the day comes from the Californian alternative rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, whose 1995 album One Hot Minute landed three radio hits, one of which reached the top-40 on the pop airplay chart ("My Friends") and one that peaked one notch below that mark ("Warped").  However the toll of fame and money got to them, with both lead singer Anthony Kiedis and guitarist Dave Navarro addicted to drugs. In the break between albums that would end up spanning four years (and shedding Navarro in the process), the Peppers contributed a song to the animated movie Beavis and Butthead do America, featuring the mentally and culturally stunted boys from the MTV show that was enjoying runaway success. It was a remake of a funk-rock classic from the Ohio Players, whose "Love Rollercoaster" topped the pop and R&B chart in America in 1976...

 For the Red Hot Chili Peppers version, they infused some new rapped lyrics to the funk base, which was guitared up like three notches. The music video was animated as well by series creator Mike Judge, and featured the band on the titular ride...

Since the Peppers' version of "Love Rollercoaster" wasn't released as a commercial single, it was kept from placing on Billboard magazine's official Hot 100 pop chart. However the song got enough radio love to pop into the top-40 of the airplay component of the tally for a single week in January of 1997. It also went to #14 on the Alternative Rock format chart as well. Internationally, the single (that was put out) did quite well, reaching the top-40 in Iceland (#3), the UK (#10), Belgium (#10F), Australia (#19), Ireland (#24), and New Zealand (#35). The Beavis and Butthead Do America soundtrack, since it was the only place to buy the RHCP version in stores, sold quite well. Another track from the set, LL Cool J's interpolation of Rufus & Chaka Khan's "Ain't Nobody", was put out in stores, and just missed the pop Top-40 at #46, while getting to #27 on the R&B list. Also, Ozzy Osbourne's "Walk On Water", climbed to #28 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock radio chart. 

Up tomorrow: We get introduced to Sporty, Scary, Baby, Ginger, and Posh.