Buddy Holly

"Buddy Holly" is the second single and fourth track from The Blue Album.
===Appearances===
* Weezer (The Blue Album) (1994)
* Buddy Holly (promo radio single - 1994)
* Buddy Holly (UK retail CD - 1994)
* Buddy Holly (UK retail cassette/UK retail 7" single (black vinyl) - 1994)
* Buddy Holly (Australian retail CD - 1994)
* Buddy Holly (Dutch retail CD - 1994)
* The Black Sessions (live) (promo EP - 1995)
* The Cornerstone Player 016 (acoustic) (promo compilation - 1999)
* Alone: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo (1993 demo) (2007)
* Not Alone: Rivers Cuomo & Friends Live at Fingerprints (live) (2009)
* Raditude ...Happy Record Store Day! (live at the NYC Hard Rock) (2010)
*Spotify Sessions (Live and Acoustic)
*The 30th Anniversary of Weezer (Live) (2024)
*Weezer (The Blue Album) (30th Anniversary Deluxe) (2024)
==Overview==
"Buddy Holly" is one the most-well known Weezer songs. It was originally written on June 25, 1993 alongside "In the Garage", after the band was signed to DGC.Historic event: 06/25/1993 by Karl Koch The demo for the song, released on Alone: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo, features a slower tempo. In the liner notes for Alone, Cuomo explained how he was inspired to write the song after a friend from his choir lent him a Korg keyboard:
"Buddy Holly" is the most oft-performed song in the Weezer catalog. Beginning in late 2000, an extended guitar intro was added, and continued to be performed through 2005. Rivers Cuomo has said that "Buddy Holly" is his favorite song to perform live.
===Single release===
"Buddy Holly" was the second single released from The Blue Album. Its initial cover art featured a photo of a very young Rivers Cuomo with a female friend. Apparently, the photo was used before gaining permission from this girl, and a search for her turned up fruitless. When Geffen realized they may be in an actionable position, they quickly changed the cover, and a photo of Cuomo and his brother Leaves was used instead. The incorrect cover only appears on promo copies of the single, except in Austrailia, who rushed a "Buddy Holly" single out so fast that it not only included the banned photo, but included none of the exclusive B-sides, instead simply including the LP version of "Holiday". Karl Koch would later say, "These Austrailians seem to rush into everything."
The retail single utilized live recordings from a November 1994 show in Rochester, New York as B-sides, along with the DGC Rarities version of "Jamie".
===Reception===
"Buddy Holly" is one of the most universally-loved and famous Weezer songs. The guitar fill at the end of the solo is one of the most notable moments in any Weezer song. Its music video was very significant in Weezer's career, winning awards and bringing the band a high level of visibility. The song was ranked as part of "The Very Best" by the Weezer songblog, Teenage Victory Songs. Allmusic.com gave "Buddy Holly" a 5 star rating and named it an "AMG Track Pick."
Weird Al approached the band during the Pinkerton era, asking to use a snippet of "Buddy Holly" in "The Alternative Polka." Cuomo turned Yankovic down, though he would eventually grant permission for use of "Beverly Hills" in "Polkarama."'Ask Al'. Midnight Star. July & August, 1996. weirdal.com.
The song was covered by parody group Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine for their 2003 album Tuxicity.
===Rhythm game appearances===
Due to it's high popularity, "Buddy Holly" has appeared in various rhythm games since it's release. The first notable appearance of the song in a rhythm game was the Playstation 3 version of SingStar, released on December 7, 2007. "Buddy Holly" would later go onto feature as downloadable content for Rock Band, releasing on December 18, 2007. The song also features in both Guitar Hero (iOS) and Rock Band (iOS). Notably, the song appears in the Harmonix game FUSER, and Fortnite Festival.
==Music video==
The music video, featuring the band spliced into a Happy Days set, was directed by Spike Jonze. The video combines new footage of the band, and old footage from the show, including many of its stars, such as Henry Winkler and Ron Howard. Also included, in a newly-shot speaking role, is Al Molinaro, who played Al Delvecchio on Happy Days. It was massively successful, and launched the band into mainstream fame. It was featured on the installation CD-ROM for Microsoft Windows 95 as well. In the commentary for the video on the Video Capture Device, the band members reveal that many of the backup dancers used in the video are friends of theirs, including Tony Maxwell of That Dog. According to an April 21, 1997 interview, Anna Waronker was also in the video, but her face is not visible"That Dog: Anna Waronker, Tony Maxwell, Rachel & Petra Haden Interview w/ Dan Kennedy April 21, 1997".
The video has won several awards, notably four awards at the 1995 MTV Video Music Awards, including prizes for Breakthrough Video and Best Alternative Video.
In a Riverpedia post from September 2020, Cuomo recounts a story watching Nirvana's video for "In Bloom" and admiring it. The video bears a number of similarities to Jonze's "Buddy Holly," including a TV personality introducing the band before the song, footage of the bands performing inter-spliced with footage of an audience that isn't actually there watching, and the band members giving a tongue-in-cheek 1950's style performance of the song.
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==Audio==
===Demo===
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===Notable performances===
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==Personnel==
*Rivers Cuomo – lead and rhythm guitar, lead vocals, handclaps
*Patrick Wilson – percussion
*Brian Bell – backing vocals
*Matt Sharp – bass guitar, backing vocals, synths
*Karl Koch – handclapsWeezine Issue 3 - Summer 1995
*Ric Ocasek – producer
==Lyrics==
What's with these homies dissin' my girl?
Why do they gotta front?
What did we ever do to these guys
That made them so violent?
Woo-hoo, but you know I'm yours
Woo-hoo, and I know you're mine
Woo-hoo, and that's for all of time
Woo-ee-oo I look just like Buddy Holly
Oh-oh, and you're Mary Tyler Moore
I don't care what they say about us anyway
I don't care 'bout that
Don't you ever fear, I'm always near
I know that you need help
Your tongue is twisted, your eyes are slit
You need a guardian
Woo-hoo, and you know I'm yours
Woo-hoo, and I know you're mine
Woo-hoo, and that's for all of time
Woo-ee-oo I look just like Buddy Holly
Oh-oh, and you're Mary Tyler Moore
I don't care what they say about us anyway
I don't care 'bout that
I don't care 'bout that
Bang! Bang! Knock on the door
Another big bang, get down on the floor
Oh no, what do we do?
Don't look now but I lost my shoe
I can't run and I can't kick
What's a matter babe, are you feelin' sick?
What's a matter, what's a matter, what's a matter you?
What's a matter babe, are you feelin' blue?
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh!
And that's for all of time
And that's for all of time
Woo-ee-oo I look just like Buddy Holly
Oh-oh, and you're Mary Tyler Moore
I don't care what they say about us anyway
I don't care 'bout that
I don't care 'bout that
I don't care 'bout that
I don't care 'bout that
Image:Buddy-Holly-lyrics.jpg|
File:Bluejap1995japbooklet6.jpg|Blue Album Japanese cd release, 1995
File:Bluejap1995japbooklet7.jpg|Blue Album Japanese cd release, 1995
==Known recordings==
==See also==
* Weezer (The Blue Album)
* List of Weezer songs
==References==
Category:Weezer songs
Category:Weezer singles
Category:Songs that appeared on the 4 and 5 Star Demos of Rivers Cuomo list
Category:Allmusic track picks
Category:Songs on Weezer (The Blue Album)
Category:Weezer songs that feature Karl Koch
Category:Weezer songs produced by Ric Ocasek
Category:Music videos directed by Spike Jonze
Category:Songs on Raditude ...Happy Record Store Day!
Category:Songs on Spotify Sessions
Category:Songs on Six Hits
Category:Songs on Alone: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo
Category:Self-produced Rivers Cuomo songs
Category:Alone series
Category:1994 releases