Years ago when I first heard Love Buzz I’d always assumed that it was a Nirvana original (it was released as their debut single in 1988). It would be a few years later that I would discover otherwise and stumbling upon Shocking Blue’s Venus (so good) subsequently introduced me to this band and it was then that I heard Love Buzz…I’d never imagined that this track that I’d heard decades later was actually first released 1969!
Written by Robbie Van Leeuwen of Dutch psych band Shocking Blue, Love Buzz appeared on the band’s At Home LP. Needless to say I absolutely love both versions and couldn’t pick a favourite out of the two if I tried..I mean who would have thought a grunge rock version of an old 60’s psych song would work so well..but then we are talking Nirvana!
In a 1989 review for British music magazine Melody Maker, Everett True wrote of the song, “Nirvana are beauty incarnate. A relentless two-chord garage beat which lays down some serious foundations for a sheer monster of a guitar to howl over. The volume control ain’t been built yet which can do justice to this three-piece!” True also made Love Buzz joint-US Single of the Week describing Nirvana’s Love Buzz single as a “Limited edition of 1,000; love songs for the psychotically disturbed”. ...no wonder I love it so! Check out the original above..
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