Celebrity Skin (song)
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| "Celebrity Skin" | ||||
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| Single by Hole | ||||
| from the album Celebrity Skin | ||||
| B-side | Best Sunday Dress, Dying | |||
| Released | September 1, 1998 | |||
| Format | CD single, 7" | |||
| Recorded | 1997 | |||
| Genre | Alternative rock | |||
| Length | 2:42 | |||
| Label | Geffen | |||
| Writer(s) | Courtney Love, Eric Erlandson, Billy Corgan | |||
| Producer | Michael Beinhorn | |||
| Hole singles chronology | ||||
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"Celebrity Skin" is the tenth single by the American alternative rock band Hole, released on September 1, 1998 by Geffen Records. It is the debut single from their third studio album of the same name and is Hole's most commercially successful single, being the only one to reach #1 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart. In October 2011, NME placed it at number 126 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".[1]
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[edit] Background and history
The song was written and recorded in 1997 after Hole's reported hiatus in 1996 due to frontwoman Courtney Love's rising movie career. Love claims that co-writer Billy Corgan wrote the song's main guitar riff and the opening lyrics "oh make me over" during his time at the Celebrity Skin sessions.[2] The lyrics contain references to Dante Gabriel Rossetti's poem A Superscription, and William Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice, and Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night ("My name is 'Might-Have-Been"), as well as the song sharing the name of an indie American pornographic magazine and a short-lived punk rock group from Los Angeles. Love joked on Later... with Jools Holland in 1995 that the song was entitled "Celebrity Skin" "'cause [she] touched a lot of it."[3]
It was also used in the film American Pie, but did not appear on the soundtrack, as well as being featured in the video games Rock Band and Sing Star as a playable track and downloadable content. The song received two Grammy nominations for Best Rock Song, losing to "Uninvited" by Alanis Morissette and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, losing to "Pink" by Aerosmith.
[edit] Track listing
UK CD single GED 22345[4]
- Celebrity Skin (Courtney Love, Eric Erlandson, Billy Corgan) - 2:42
- Best Sunday Dress (C. Love, E. Erlandson, Kat Bjelland) - 3:05
- Dying (original demo version) (C. Love, E. Erlandson, B. Corgan) - 3:44
Japanese CD single MVCF-12012
- Celebrity Skin (C. Love, E. Erlandson, B. Corgan) - 2:42
- Reasons To Be Beautiful (C. Love, E. Erlandson, Melissa Auf der Maur, Charlotte Caffey, Jordon Zadorozny) - 5:19
- Dying (original demo version) (C. Love, E. Erlandson, B. Corgan) - 3:44
US Promo CD SAM 157CD
- Celebrity Skin (C. Love, E. Erlandson, B. Corgan) - 2:42
[edit] Music video
Recorded in mid-1998, the video, directed by Nancy Bardawil, features the band performing the song on a stage with women wearing purple gowns falling slowly from the ceiling. They begin to lift their skirts as they amble around the stage. There are also many close-ups of Courtney Love and Melissa Auf der Maur. The video was shot in black and white with the footage colorized in post-production.
[edit] Charts
| Chart (1998) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canadian RPM Alternative 30 | 1 |
| UK Singles Chart | 19 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 85 |
| US Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks | 4 |
| US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks | 1 |
| Preceded by "Inside Out" by Eve 6 |
Billboard Modern Rock Tracks number-one single October 10, 1998 November 7, 1998 |
Succeeded by "Slide" by Goo Goo Dolls "Slide" by Goo Goo Dolls |
| Preceded by Got the Life by Korn |
Canadian RPM Rock/Alternative 30 number-one single October 19–26, 1998 |
Succeeded by "Got the Life" by Korn |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.nme.com/list/150-best-tracks-of-the-past-15-years/248648/page/3
- ^ Love, Courtney. VH1: Behind the Music: Courtney Love (Part 12)
- ^ Love, Courtney. Later... with Jools Holland on May 5, 1995.
- ^ Petterson, Therese. * d i s c o g r a p h y * http://vintagestars.com/river/DiscographyCelebritySkin.html Retrieved on April 10, 2010.
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