"Love Rollercoaster", sometimes rendered as "Love Roller Coaster", is a song by American funk/ R&B band Ohio Players, originally featured on their 1975 album ''

Honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...

''. It was composed by William Beck, Leroy Bonner, Marshall Jones, Ralph Middlebrooks, Marvin Pierce, Clarence Satchell, and James Williams. It was a number-one U.S. hit in January 1976, and was

certified gold Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

. In Canada, the song spent two weeks at number two. "Love Rollercoaster" was covered by American rock band

Red Hot Chili Peppers Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1983, comprising vocalist Anthony Kiedis, bassist Flea, drummer Chad Smith, and guitarist John Frusciante. Their music incorporates elements of alternative rock, funk ...

for the soundtrack of the 1996 animated movie ''

Beavis and Butt-Head Do America ''Beavis and Butt-Head Do America'' is a 1996 American adult animated comedy film based on the MTV animated television series ''Beavis and Butt-Head''. The film was co-written and directed by series creator Mike Judge, who reprises his roles fro ...

.''

Urban legend

The song has been the subject of a persistent

urban legend An urban legend (sometimes contemporary legend, modern legend, urban myth, or urban tale) is a genre of folklore comprising stories or fallacious claims circulated as true, especially as having happened to a "friend of a friend" or a family m ...

since its release. A primal scream is heard in the background fairly early in the song (between 1:24 and 1:28 on the single version, or between 2:32 and 2:36 on the album version). According to the most common legend, it was the voice of an individual being murdered live while the tape was rolling. Jimmy "Diamond" Williams described the innocent nature of the scream:

There is a part in the song where there's a breakdown. It's guitars and it's right before the second verse and Billy Beck does one of those inhaling-type screeches like
Minnie Riperton Minnie Julia Riperton Rudolph (November 8, 1947 – July 12, 1979) was an American singer-songwriter best known for her 1975 single " Lovin' You" and her four octave D3 to F7 coloratura soprano range. She is also widely known for her use ...
did to reach her high note or Mariah Carey does to go octaves above. The DJ made this crack and it swept the country. People were asking us, "Did you kill this girl in the studio?" The band took a vow of silence because you sell more records that way.

The legend appears to have evolved from an incidental comment made by an unidentified

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and E ...

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobile ...

during a radio broadcast, probably in late 1975 or early 1976. It spread and mutated in several variations, probably as a result of

Casey Kasem Kemal Amin "Casey" Kasem (April 27, 1932 – June 15, 2014) was an American disc jockey, actor, and radio personality, who created and hosted several radio countdown programs, notably ''American Top 40''. He was the first actor to voice No ...

having repeated it on the nationally syndicated radio show American Top 40 in early 1976.Graff, Gary, and Durchholz, Daniel. Rock 'n' Roll Myths: The True Stories Behind the Most Infamous Legends, p. 50-51. United States, Voyageur Press, 2012. The most common version of the legend was that the scream was from Ester Corbet, a model who appeared on the cover of the album (''Honey'') purportedly stabbed by a band member, manager or engineer during the recording sessions. Subsequent variations included an elaborate backstory involving the artwork on the album cover as a motive for the stabbing. Less common variations identified the "victim" as a band member's girlfriend or cleaning woman. The 1998 film "

Urban Legend An urban legend (sometimes contemporary legend, modern legend, urban myth, or urban tale) is a genre of folklore comprising stories or fallacious claims circulated as true, especially as having happened to a "friend of a friend" or a family m ...

" mentions the legend of this song.

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Red Hot Chili Peppers version

"Love Rollercoaster" was covered by American rock band

for the soundtrack of the 1996 animated movie ''

'', based on the iconic MTV

adult animated An adult is a human or other animal that has reached full growth. In human context, the term ''adult'' has meanings associated with social and legal concepts. In contrast to a " minor", a legal adult is a person who has attained the age of major ...

series '' Beavis and Butt-Head'', so it had a lot of diffusion on the channel in that time. It was released as a single in November 1996 through

Geffen Records Geffen Records is an American record label established by David Geffen and owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M Records imprint. Founded in 1980, Geffen Records has been a part of Interscope Geffen A&M since 1999 and h ...

, being particularly successful in the UK. For this version, an animated music video was made directed by Kevin Lofton. In the video, the members of the band are shown performing the song and riding together with other characters on a gigantic roller coaster, while playing some scenes from the film.

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In other media

The song was used, amongst other uses, in an advert for the Suzuki Jimny mini-SUV automobile,TV Ad https://www.tvadmusic.co.uk/2007/10/archive-q-to-z/ in the 2020 film '' Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey'', and in a promo for the Disney Epcot ride '' Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind'' ahead of its opening in 2022; the song, although not played outright, is also referenced to on ''

The Cleveland Show ''The Cleveland Show'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane, Richard Appel, and Mike Henry for the Fox Broadcasting Company. A spin-off of ''Family Guy'', the series centers on Cleveland Brown, his new wife Donna Tubbs, and ...

'', serving as the title for the show's 11th episode of its pilot season. It was also used in the 2006 horror movie ''

Final Destination 3 ''Final Destination 3'' is a 2006 American supernatural horror film directed by James Wong. A standalone sequel to ''Final Destination 2'' (2003), it is the third installment in the ''Final Destination'' film series. Wong and Glen Morgan, who ...

'', and was also used in 2004 action-adventure video game '' Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas'' as song for radio station Bounce FM.

References

{{Authority control 1975 singles 1975 songs 1996 singles Animated music videos Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Funk songs Geffen Records singles Mercury Records singles Warner Records singles Ohio Players songs Red Hot Chili Peppers songs Songs written for films Songs written for animated films Beavis and Butt-Head

Urban legend

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Red Hot Chili Peppers version

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

In other media

See also

References