"Werewolves of London" is a rock song performed by American singer-songwriter Warren Zevon. It was composed by Zevon, LeRoy Marinell and Waddy Wachtel and was included on ''

Excitable Boy ''Excitable Boy'' is the third studio album by American musician Warren Zevon. The album was released on January 18, 1978, by Asylum Records. It includes the single "Werewolves of London", which reached No. 21 and remained in the American Top 40 ...

'' (1978), Zevon's third solo album. The track featured Fleetwood Mac's Mick Fleetwood and John McVie on drums and bass respectively. The single was released by Asylum Records and was a top 40 US hit, the only one of Zevon's career, reaching No. 21 on the

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online stream ...

that May.

Background and recording

The song began as a joke by Phil Everly (of The Everly Brothers) to Zevon in 1975, over two years before the recording sessions for ''Excitable Boy''.George Plasketes (June 15, 2016)
The Secret Inspiration Behind Warren Zevon’s ‘Werewolves of London’
Medium.com, accessed 30 July 2018 Everly had watched a television broadcast of the 1935 film '' Werewolf of London'' and "suggested to Zevon that he adapt the title for a song and dance craze." Zevon, Marinell and Wachtel played with the idea and wrote the song in about 15 minutes, all contributing lyrics that were transcribed by Zevon's then-wife Crystal. However, none of them took the song seriously. Soon after, Zevon's friend Jackson Browne saw the lyrics and thought "Werewolves of London" had potential and began performing the song during his own live concerts. T Bone Burnett also performed the song, on the first leg of

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

's Rolling Thunder Revue tour in the autumn of 1975. Burnett's version of the song included alternate or partially improvised lyrics mentioning stars from classical Hollywood cinema, along with mentions of vanished labor leader Jimmy Hoffa, and adult film stars Marilyn Chambers and Linda Lovelace. "Excitable Boy" and "Werewolves of London" were considered for but not included on Zevon's self-titled second album in 1976. According to Wachtel, "Werewolves of London" was "the hardest song to get down in the studio I've ever worked on." However, Wachtel "laid down his solo in one take." They tried at least seven different configurations of musicians in the recording studio before being satisfied with McVie and Fleetwood's contributions. The protracted studio time and musicians' fees led to the song eating up most of the album's budget. Lee Ho Fook in London's Chinatown, 2008

The song's lyrics "He was looking for the place called Lee Ho Fook's / Gonna get a big dish of beef chow mein" refer to Lee Ho Fook, a Chinese restaurant on 15 Gerrard Street in London's Chinatown, which is in the

West End of London The West End of London (commonly referred to as the West End) is a district of Central London, west of the City of London and north of the River Thames, in which many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government build ...

Egon Ronay Egon Miklos Ronay (24 July 1915 – 12 June 2010) was a Hungarian-born food critic who wrote and published a famous series of guides to British and Irish restaurants and hotels in the 1950s and 1960s. These guidebooks are credited with raisin ...

's Dunlop Guide for 1974 discussed the restaurant and said it served Cantonese cuisine. In concerts, Zevon would often change the line "You better stay away from him, he'll rip your lungs out, Jim / I'd like to meet his tailor", to "And he's looking for James Taylor". Over Zevon's objections, Elektra Records chose "Werewolves of London" as the album's first single (he preferred "Johnny Strikes Up the Band" or "Tenderness on the Block"). The song was a quick hit, staying in the ''Billboard'' Top 40 chart for over a month.

Personnel

* Warren Zevon –

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

, vocals * Mick Fleetwood – drums * John McVie – electric bass * Waddy Wachtel –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

Reception and legacy

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...

listeners rated it as having the best opening line in a song. Zevon later said of the song, "I don't know why that became such a hit. We didn't think it was suitable to be played on the radio. It didn't become an albatross. It's better that I bring something to mind than nothing. There are times when I prefer that it was " Bridge Over Troubled Water", but I don't think bad about the song. I still think it's funny." He also described "Werewolves of London" as a novelty song, " utnot a novelty the way, say, Steve Martin's " King Tut" is a novelty." The song had a resurgence in popularity in 1986 due to its use in a scene in '' The Color of Money'', where Tom Cruise dances and lip-syncs to the song in a scene in which Cruise "displayed the depths of his talents at the billiards game of

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." After Zevon's death in 2003, Jackson Browne stated that he interpreted the song as describing an upper-class English womanizer: "It's about a really well-dressed, ladies' man, a werewolf preying on little old ladies. In a way it's the Victorian nightmare, the gigolo thing."

Chart history

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Samples and other versions

* The Grateful Dead covered the song in a number of live concerts in 1978, one of which was released on '' Red Rocks: 7/8/78''. The group resurrected the song for Halloween night concerts in 1985, 1990, and 1991. * The Flamin' Groovies included a cover of this song in their 1979 album ''

Jumpin' in the Night ''Jumpin' in the Night'' is the sixth studio album by The Flamin' Groovies, released in 1979. It was produced by Cyril Jordan and Roger Bechirian. Track listing Personnel ;Flamin' Groovies * Cyril Jordan Cyril Jordan (born August 31, 1948 ...

''. * David Lindley and El Rayo-X released the song on the 1988 album ''

Very Greasy ''Very Greasy'' is an album by the American musician David Lindley, with El Rayo-X, released in 1988. It was Lindley's third studio album with the band. The album peaked at No. 174 on the ''Billboard'' 200. Lindley supported it by touring with ...

''. * Adam Sandler provided a version for the tribute album, '' Enjoy Every Sandwich: The Songs of Warren Zevon'' (October 2004). Sandler also performed it on the ''Late Show'' on 15 December 2004. * American pop-rocker Masha covered the song for a

Three Olives Vodka Three Olives Vodka is a brand of vodka produced and distilled in the United Kingdom and imported to the United States by Proximo Spirits. History Three Olives Vodka was founded by Guillaume Cuvelier in London in 1998, * Dexy's Midnight Runners song "One of Those Things" has a riff taken from "Werewolves of London". For the 1997 re-release of the album Don't Stand Me Down, Rowland admitted in the liner notes that he had used the riff and consequently Zevon and his co-writers, LeRoy Marinell and Waddy Wachtel, were given writing credits on the song. * Kid Rock sampled this song in 2008 (and Lynyrd Skynyrd's " Sweet Home Alabama", which has a similar riff) on " All Summer Long" and credits Zevon as a songwriter. * In 2017, Italian comedy-rock band Elio e le Storie Tese made an Italian version of this song, Licantropo Vegano (Vegan Werewolf); the difference with the original version is that the werewolf is vegan and the song is based in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ...

, and not in London.

References

{{Authority control 1978 singles 1978 songs Asylum Records singles Black comedy music Halloween songs Songs about London Songs about werewolves Songs written by Warren Zevon Warren Zevon songs