Centerfold (song)
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| "Centerfold" | ||||
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| Single by The J. Geils Band | ||||
| from the album Freeze Frame | ||||
| B-side | "Rage In the Cage" | |||
| Released | September 13, 1981 | |||
| Format | Vinyl record (7") | |||
| Recorded | 1980 | |||
| Genre | New Wave, synthrock | |||
| Length | 3:36 | |||
| Label | EMI | |||
| Writer(s) | Seth Justman | |||
| Producer | Seth Justman | |||
| The J. Geils Band singles chronology | ||||
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Centerfold is a single released by The J. Geils Band from their album Freeze Frame. The song is about a man who is shocked to discover that his high school crush appeared in a centerfold spread for a men's magazine.[1] The singer can't decide between his anger and his lust.[1] The song could be a reference to singer Peter Wolf's relationship with actress Angel Tompkins, who appeared in a 1972 issue of Playboy magazine.[citation needed]
It was released in autumn 1981, and eventually went to Number 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in February 1982, and stayed there for six weeks. It was the first single released from the album Freeze Frame and was an early staple on MTV. The band's lead singer Peter Wolf revealed on In the Studio with Redbeard that "Angel in Blue" was going to be the album's first single. Then during the Angel in Blue video shoot, Peter got a call from the president of EMI America Records suggesting that the band release Centerfold as the first single from Freeze Frame instead.[citation needed]
In February 1982, after the song hit #1 in the US, Centerfold peaked at number three in the UK Top 40, earning The J. Geils Band their only major hit single in the UK, although follow-up Freeze-Frame was a minor hit.
The song lists at #52 on Billboard's All Time Top Songs.[2]
The song appears in the music video game Rock Band 3.
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Music video [edit]
The music video was directed by organist Seth Justman's brother. The "school" where the video was shot had a girls' dance school on the floor above; the girls from the school were the ones appearing in the video.
The music video starts out with Peter Wolf going to the classroom and looking through a magazine which he mentions his girlfriend is in. Some girls then start dancing in a line wearing slips. Afterwards, more girls appear in the whole classroom in negligees dancing, smiling, and playing patty cake. Wolf then hands a couple of uniforms to two of the girls. Later on, the girls appear in cheerleading sweatshirts resembling a 1980s style dress. After Wolf is knocked out by the girls with books, a party begins with the cheerleaders. The video ends with Wolf running out of the school in the company of four girls doing cartwheels.
Cover versions [edit]
The song was covered by German speed/thrash metal band Tankard on 1993's Stone Cold Sober.
Logorrheic indie rock band Nothing Painted Blue covered Centerfold on the bonus 7" that shipped with vinyl versions of their 1998 album The Monte Carlo Method.
The ska-punk band Against All Authority covered the song which featured on a split 7" record with Less Than Jake as did Hayseed Dixie on their 2002 album A Hillbilly Tribute to Mountain Love.
English Ska-punk Spunge also covered this song on their album, That Should Cover It!, also released in 2004.
German Europop group Captain Jack has also covered this song; "Centerfold (130BPM move it remix)" can be found on the game Dance Dance Revolution SuperNOVA.
A cover version by Adam Austin was a minor UK hit single, peaking at #41 in the UK Singles Chart in February 1999,[3] although the verse lyrics were altered and only the chorus lyric remained from the original version. The then 21-year-old British glamour model Katie Price appeared in the promotional video of this version.
The English rock group Status Quo covered this song on their 2003 cover album Riffs.
Shwayze and Cisco Adler recorded a cover entitled "Angel Is a Centerfold".
Music parodist Robert Lund released a Larry Craig-themed parody of this song, entitled "(My Men's Room Date's a) Senator", which was included on his CD Politicked Off.[4]
Also the German fun-metal band J.B.O. made a cover of this song, but their version is translated to German. The song is called "Mei Alde is im Playboy drin", which means "My Wife is in Playboy".
Insane Clown Posse performs a mashup of "Centerfold" and their song "Down with the Clown" from The Great Milenko album on tours. The song features the lyrics of "Down with the Clown" against the instrumental of Centerfold.
Chart performance [edit]
| Chart (1981–1983) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canadian Singles Chart | 1 |
| Netherlands Singles Chart | |
| New Zealand Singles Chart | |
| Swedish Singles Chart | |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 1 |
| UK Singles Chart | 3 |
Year-end charts [edit]
| Chart (1982) | Position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 5 |
See also [edit]
- List of number-one singles in Australia during the 1980s
- List of RPM number-one singles of 1982
- List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 1982 (U.S.)
- List of number-one mainstream rock hits (United States)
References [edit]
- ^ a b Dean, M. (2003). Rock N Roll Gold Rush: A Singles Un-Cyclopedia. Algora. p. 330. ISBN 9780875862071.
- ^ "Billboard Hot 100 Chart 50th Anniversary". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2011-10-22.
- ^ http://www.chartstats.com/release.php?release=26831
- ^ "politicked-off.com New Robert Lund CD Politicked Off! Robert Lund & His Special Interest Groupies". Spaff.com. Retrieved 2011-10-22.
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