Love Potion No. 9 (song)

"Love Potion No. 9"
Song

"Love Potion No. 9" is a song written in 1959 by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. It was originally performed by the Clovers.

The song describes a man seeking help finding love, so he talks to a gypsy, who determines through palm reading that he needs "love potion number 9". The potion causes him to fall in love with everything he sees, kissing whatever is in front of him, eventually kissing the policeman on the corner, who breaks his bottle. In an alternate version of the ending of the Clover's song, they recorded the alternate lyrics:

"I had so much fun, that I'm going back again,

I wonder what happens with Love Potion Number Ten?"

That version was used on the soundtrack to "American Graffiti".

Some radio stations banned the song, due to the lyrics involving "Kissing a cop".

The song has since been covered by numerous artists. A partial list:

• The Clovers (1959)
• The Searchers (1963), a U.S. No. 3 hit in 1965
• Ronnie Dio and the Prophets (1964)
• Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass (1965)
• The Ventures (February 1965)
• Paolo Bracci (in Italian, as "Non Ho Dormito Mai") (1965)
• Nancy Sit (1967)
• The Coasters (1959, 1971)
• Elkie Brooks (1976)
• Hurriganes (1978)
• The Nylons (1982)
• Tygers of Pan Tang (1982)
• Southern All Stars (1990)
• Neil Diamond (1993)
• Rockapella
• ACDC
• The Alley Cats
• The White Stripes
• Flotsam and Jetsam
• MDC
• Gary Lewis & The Playboys
• Art Murphy and Hard Road (1976)(Canada)
• The Dead Billies (1996)(Brazil)
• Beau Nasty (1989)
• Robert Plant (2008)
• Giuliano Palma & the Bluebeaters (2009)(Italy)
• Thaddeus Quince and the New Originals

In Popular Culture

• The recording by the Clovers features in the film American Graffiti (1973).

• It was featured in the movie of the same name.

• It also appeared in the musical Smokey Joe's Cafe.

• As a pop-culture reference, it is found in the animated film, Shrek 2. The bottle of love potion that the Fairy Godmother gives to the King of Far Far Away has IX (the number nine in Roman numerals) on the side of it.

• The Sims game series features a "Love Potion 8.5", that is probably a reference to both this song and the movie.

Parodies

• In 2008, Paul Shanklin recorded a version for The Rush Limbaugh Show called "Love Client No. 9," in which Bill Clinton is portrayed as describing the Eliot Spitzer prostitution scandal and lamenting that Eliot Spitzer did not call him for advice on how to get away with it.[1]

• The Capitol Steps also did a parody called "Polonium-209", which referred to the alleged murder of Alexander Litvinenko using the aforementioned element.

• Xhol Caravan recorded a version in 1970 retitled "Love Potion 25" with the lyrics now referring to LSD.

External links

• M3u sampler of the song