Werewolves of London

"Werewolves of London" is a song composed by LeRoy Marinell, Waddy Wachtel, and Warren Zevon and performed by Zevon. Included on Zevon's album Excitable Boy, it featured accompaniment by bassist John McVie and drummer Mick Fleetwood of Fleetwood Mac. The title reference is to the first Hollywood motion picture about lycanthropy, entitled Werewolf of London. The song is memorable for its humorous and macabre lyrics, and the refrain featuring a howling "a-ooo!!"

Impact

It reached No. 21 on The Billboard Hot 100 in 1978, Zevon's highest-ranking single, and remained on the chart for 12 weeks. Though it was not a No. 1 single, the song had great cultural impact. There is also a striking similarity to the accompaniment of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama". The Grateful Dead covered the song multiple times in concert shortly after the original was released. The song was also featured in the 1986 film The Color of Money. Additionally, there was a Canadian baseball team named after the song, The London (Ontario) Werewolves, from 1999 to 2000. There is a band called Werewolves of London, presumably named after the song. In 2003, they released a CD that included a cover of the song. It was mentioned by David Naughton and Griffin Dunne on the DVD commentary for An American Werewolf in London that there is no clear reason why John Landis did not incorporate this song into the soundtrack for the film. Although it may be due to the fact that the title of the song does not have the word "moon" in it, which all of the songs on the film do. ("Blue Moon", "Bad Moon Rising" and "Moondance").

Lee Ho Fook, a Chinese restaurant in London which is mentioned in the song.

In April 2004, a poll of listeners to the Jeremy Vine show on BBC Radio 2 selected the first verse as number one in a competition for "The Greatest Opening Song Line." [1] That opening line is:

Lee Ho Fook's is a real Chinese restaurant, along Gerrard Street, in London's Chinatown.^[1] Another famous, and similar, lyric from the song comes a bit later:

The song also references horror actors Lon Chaney and Lon Chaney, Jr., and in an alternate version (found on the expanded Excitable Boy release, and later on the Preludes - Rare and Unreleased Recordings double CD) other actors including Jack Nicholson. Warren Zevon also did a version of the song called "Werewolves of Bryn Mawr."

Covers

• In 1975, T Bone Burnett and members of Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue played the then-unreleased song on several dates, including Dec. 4, 1975 at the Montreal Forum, available for listening through WolfgangsVault.com. That version includes the Jack Nicholson reference, as well as Patty Hearst, Frank Sinatra, Rick Danko, Linda Lovelace, Marilyn Chambers, Sammy Davis Jr. and Jimmy Hoffa among others.
• In 1988, David Lindley and El-Rayo X did a reggae flavored cover on their album Very Greasy.
• In 1990, The Black Velvet Band covered the song for the compilation album Rubáiyát.
• In 2002, British alternative band Doves reinterpreted the song as a b-side titled "Hit The Ground Running".
• Since 2005, the rock band The Golden Ticket have made the song a highlight of their live show.
• In 2006, indie rock band Magnolia Electric Co. covered the song.
• In 2006, Jimmy Buffett covered this song on the soundtrack for the movie Hoot. Although only a small portion of the song appeared in the movie, the entire song is on the soundtrack album. He has also performed it in concert a few times.
• On 17th September 2006, Australian Idol finalist Bobby Flynn covered the song during the 2nd Finals Week (Rock) segment of the competition.
• Adam Sandler performed the song on the David Letterman show, singing and playing guitar. He also recorded the song for the tribute album Enjoy Every Sandwich: Songs of Warren Zevon.
• The Grateful Dead covered this song a number of times, often on Halloween and once as an encore on July 8, 1978 at Red Rocks Amphitheatre.
• Kid Rock samples the song on his 2007 cd Rock And Roll Jesus. The song is called "All Summer Long" and also samples Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet home Alabama".
• In November of 2007, Widespread Panic covered the song for the 45th time since the band started in 1985 (www.everydaycompanion.com)

In popular culture

• Author Kelley Armstrong created a character in her book Bitten that she attributes directly to this last line.
• It is the at-bat song for Seattle Mariners left fielder Raúl Ibáñez.
• Fleetwood Mac's rhythm section, John McVie (bass) and Mick Fleetwood (drums) play on the song.
• In an episode of The Larry Sanders Show, Zevon appears as himself and express his disdain for having to always play "Werewolves of London" on television appearances.
• In "The Color of Money," Tom Cruise shoots pool while the song is playing in the background.
• A short-lived Frontier League baseball team based in London, Ontario was named for the song - the team was called the London Werewolves.
• It is played as the "goal song" by the Phoenix Coyotes of the National Hockey League.

See also

• Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner

References

• Lyrics and chords
• Grateful Dead cover information
• Werewolves of London, the band

1. ^ http://www.london-eating.co.uk/5175.htm London Eating's page on Lee Ho Fook's.