Love Rollercoaster

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title: "Love Rollercoaster" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1975-singles", "1975-songs", "1996-singles", "animated-music-videos", "billboard-hot-100-number-one-singles", "geffen-records-singles", "mercury-records-singles", "ohio-players-songs", "red-hot-chili-peppers-songs", "beavis-and-butt-head"] description: "1975 single by Ohio Players" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_Rollercoaster" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary 1975 single by Ohio Players ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox song"]

Field	Value
name	Love Rollercoaster
cover	Love Rollercoaster - Ohio Players.jpg
type	single
artist	Ohio Players
album	Honey
B-side	It's All Over
released	November 9, 1975
genre
length
label	Mercury
writer
producer	Ohio Players
prev_title	Sweet Sticky Thing
prev_year	1975
next_title	Fopp
next_year	1976
::

| name = Love Rollercoaster | cover = Love Rollercoaster - Ohio Players.jpg | type = single | artist = Ohio Players | album = Honey | B-side = It's All Over | released = November 9, 1975 | genre = | length = | label = Mercury | writer = | producer = Ohio Players | prev_title = Sweet Sticky Thing | prev_year = 1975 | next_title = Fopp | next_year = 1976

"Love Rollercoaster", sometimes rendered as "Love Roller Coaster", It was a number-one U.S. hit in January 1976, and was certified gold. In Canada, the song spent two weeks at number two. "Love Rollercoaster" was covered by American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers for the soundtrack of the 1996 animated movie Beavis and Butt-Head Do America.

Urban legend

The song has been the subject of a persistent urban legend since its release. A scream is heard in the background fairly early in the song (between 1:24 and 1:28 on the single version, or between 2:32 and 2:36 on the album version). According to the most common legend, it was the voice of an individual being murdered live while the tape was rolling. Jimmy "Diamond" Williams described the innocent nature of the scream: ::quote There is a part in the song where there's a breakdown. It's guitars and it's right before the second verse and Billy Beck does one of those inhaling-type screeches like Minnie Riperton did to reach her high note or Mariah Carey does to go octaves above. The DJ made this crack and it swept the country. People were asking us, "Did you kill this girl in the studio?" The band took a vow of silence because you sell more records that way. ::

The legend appears to have evolved from an incidental comment made by an unidentified Berkeley, California disc jockey during a radio broadcast, probably in late 1975 or early 1976. It spread and mutated in several variations, probably as a result of Casey Kasem having repeated it on the nationally syndicated radio show American Top 40 in early 1976. The most common version of the legend was that the scream was from Ester Cordet, a model who appeared on the cover of the album (Honey) purportedly stabbed by a band member, manager or engineer during the recording sessions. Subsequent variations included an elaborate backstory involving the artwork on the album cover as a motive for the stabbing. Less common variations identified the "victim" as a band member's girlfriend or cleaning woman.

The 1998 film Urban Legend mentions the legend of this song.

Charts

Weekly charts

::data[format=table] | Chart (1975–1976) | Peak position | Canada Top Singles (RPM) | US Billboard Hot 100 | US Hot Soul Singles (Billboard) | |---|---|---|---|---| | 2 | | | | | | 1 | | | | | | 1 | | | | | ::

Year-end charts

::data[format=table]

Chart (1976)	Rank	Canada Top Singles (RPM)	US Billboard Hot 100
39
30
::

Red Hot Chili Peppers version

| name = Love Rollercoaster | cover = Loverollercoaster.jpg | type = single | artist = Red Hot Chili Peppers | album = Beavis and Butt-Head Do America: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack | A-side = "Lesbian Seagull" (by Engelbert Humperdinck) | released = | recorded = | genre =

• Funk rock
• alternative rock
• rap rock | length =
• 4:37 (album version)
• 3:31 (single version) | label = Geffen | writer =
• James Williams
• Clarence Satchell
• Leroy Bonner
• Marshall Jones
• Ralph Middlebrooks
• Marvin Pierce
• William Beck | producer =
• Sylvia Massy
• Red Hot Chili Peppers | prev_title = Coffee Shop | prev_year = 1996 | title = Love Rollercoaster | next_title = Scar Tissue | next_year = 1999 | misc = {{Extra chronology | artist = Engelbert Humperdinck | type = singles | prev_title = Moonlight Angel | prev_year = 1993 | title = Lesbian Seagull | year = 1996 | next_title = Release Me / Gotta Get Release | next_year = 1998

"Love Rollercoaster" was covered by American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers for the soundtrack of the 1996 animated movie Beavis and Butt-Head Do America, based on the iconic MTV adult animated series Beavis and Butt-Head, so it had a lot of diffusion on the channel in that time. It was released as a single in November 1996 through Geffen Records, being particularly successful in the UK.

For this version, an animated music video was made directed by Kevin Lofton. In the video, the members of the band are shown performing the song and riding together with other characters on a gigantic roller coaster, while playing some scenes from the film.

Charts

Weekly charts

::data[format=table] | Chart (1996–1997) | Peak position | Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40) | |---|---|---| | 3 | | | ::

Year-end charts

::data[format=table]

Chart (1997)	Position	Australia (ARIA)	Canada Rock/Alternative (RPM)	Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40)	UK Singles (OCC)	US Modern Rock Tracks (Billboard)	US Top 40/Mainstream (Billboard)
83
45
94
119
74
72
::

Release history

::data[format=table]

Region	Date	Format(s)	Label(s)	Ref.	United States	Australia	United Kingdom
November 12, 1996	Contemporary hit radio	Geffen
January 12, 1997	CD
June 2, 1997
::

In other media

The song was used, amongst other uses, in an advert for the Suzuki Jimny mini-SUV automobile, in the 2020 film Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey, and in a promo for the Disney Epcot ride Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind ahead of its opening in 2022; the song, although not played outright, is also referenced to on The Cleveland Show, serving as the title for the show's 11th episode of its pilot season. It was also used in the 2006 horror movie Final Destination 3, and was also used in 2004 action-adventure video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas as song for radio station Bounce FM. The Red Hot Chili Peppers version is used heavily in a scene from Beavis and Butthead Do America, where they are in a casino.

References

References

1. (August 7, 2008). "100 Greatest Funk Songs".
2. Echols, Alice. (March 29, 2010). "Hot Stuff: Disco and the Remaking of American Culture". [[W. W. Norton & Company]].
3. Molanphy, Chris. (October 15, 2022). "Give Up the Funk Edition". [[Slate (magazine).
4. Henderson, Alex. "Honey - Ohio Players | Songs, Reviews, Credits".
5. "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada".
6. (1993). "The Billboard Book of Number One Rhythm & Blues Hits". Billboard Books.
7. (May 18, 2003). "Years after its '70s heyday, band still riding a 'Love Rollercoaster'".
8. (May 25, 2003). "Ohio Players recount career roller coaster".
9. Graff, Gary, and Durchholz, Daniel. Rock 'n' Roll Myths: The True Stories Behind the Most Infamous Legends, p. 50-51. United States, Voyageur Press, 2012.
10. (February 21, 1976). "RPM Top Singles".
11. Whitburn, Joel. (2004). "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004". Record Research.
12. "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada".
13. "Top 100 Hits of 1976/Top 100 Songs of 1976".
14. (August 31, 2016). "The 96 Best Alternative Rock Songs Of 1996".
15. (January 10, 1997). "Íslenski Listinn Topp 40 (9.1. '97 – 15.1. '97)". [[DV (newspaper).
16. "1997 ARIA Singles Chart". [[Australian Recording Industry Association.
17. "RPM '97 Year End Top 50 Alternative Tracks".
18. (January 2, 1998). "Árslistinn 1997 – Íslenski Listinn – 100 Vinsælustu Lögin". [[DV (newspaper).
19. "Najlepsze single na UK Top 40–1997".
20. (December 26, 1997). "Best of '97: Modern Rock Tracks".
21. (December 26, 1997). "Best of '97: Top 40/Mainstream Singles".
22. (November 8, 1996). "New Releases".
23. (May 31, 1997). "New Releases: Singles".
24. TV Ad https://www.tvadmusic.co.uk/2007/10/archive-q-to-z/

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