a bit of earth angel detective work…
So, I’m listening to my good ol’ iTunes DJ (dutifully renamed from “Party Shuffle” for some reason) and “Earth Angel, by Weezer” comes on…
I’m not sure where (ahem) I got this song from, but it got me wondering.. damn, this is a good song, but is that really Rivers singing? I mean, the album listed in the ID3 tags is “Rare,” but I’m not able to actually find any reference to this recording anywhere.. Well, imeem has a copy, but that just means that this person got it from the same place I did..
Weezer – Earth Angel (Platters cover) – Punk Ska Covers
And.. that one is even worse.. I mean, Earth Angel is NOT a Platters song (it’s originally by the Penguins), and that song is definitely not Punk Ska.
So.. I dig a little deeper.
A search on YouTube turns up this same version of the song, now attributed to the Temptations:
Uh.. ok. This is clearly not the Temptations..
Seeqpod? They think that this version is sung by The Temptations and Buddy Holly.
So, I ask shazam, on my iPhone — that has to be a good way, right?
Shazam identifies this song as Earth Angel, by Bones Howe, from the Back to the Future Soundtrack. Aha! That’s a little better. And that’s why this version sounds so familiar, right?
But.. who the F is Bones Howe? Voila, thanks Wikipedia, he was the music supervisor for Back to the Future. Ok, that makes sense, but I don’t think he actually sang the song did he?
More digging lands me at the Amazon page for the soundtrack, where the song is listed as “Earth Angel – Marvin Berry.” Uh, great. Marvin Berry, of course, was the fictional character from the movie (he was supposedly Chuck Berry’s cousin). I mean Marvin Berry & the Starlighters may have a mySpace page and all, but considering that they describe themselves as “a swing band in Hill Valley, California” it’s clear that they’re more fictional than real.
Ugh.. so yah, I still don’t know who actually sang this track, since according to the internet, it was sang by Weezer, The Temptations, Buddy Holly, Bones Howe, or Marvin Berry.
Yah, if it’s on the internet it must be true.
May 20th, 2009 at 9:02 pm
GRR! I was trying to organize my iTunes (finding album artwork for songs I have) and thought I was going crazy! I guess there is no “real” artist… -_- and this version doesn’t exist on iTunes.
June 16th, 2009 at 8:43 pm
dude, you’re so right!
I did basically the same thing and couldn’t get the version I wanted from Back to the Future. The singer was really good, i gotta be honest.
So that version is definitely by the Weezzers, right?
This is almost as bad as researching on Asotin County (WA). It’s not posible with the web as your tool.
July 9th, 2009 at 9:49 am
ive managed to track this song as far as harry waters Jr as the actual guy that sung the song. The version we’re all after was done for the film by him, although their are many other versions out there! hope this helps at all.
April 8th, 2010 at 5:56 am
I’m glad to know that I am not the only one in this pickle. I want the FILM version as my wedding song and am having a hell of a time finding it. The one on the BTTF soundtrack is not the one used in the film.
Very frustrating!
August 19th, 2010 at 9:54 pm
I enjoyed reading your post, im looking forward to read more of your entry, thanks.
November 27th, 2010 at 11:23 am
Weezer started in the early 90′s Back to the future was out in 1985 Rivers was born in 1970 That would have made him 15 years old at that time I kinda dought it was him
December 18th, 2011 at 7:17 pm
Wow. I just went through the same thing trying to find my fav version of Earth Angel. Did similar searches, finding the same mislabled files, and all kinds of versions by other people….but it was the version from Back to the Future that was my favorite by far! And yep, Marvin Berry and the Starlighters.