This MedLibrary.org supplementary page on Centerfold (song) is provided directly from the open source Wikipedia as a service to our readers. Please see the note below on authorship of this content, as well as the Wikipedia usage guidelines. To search for other content from our encyclopedia supplement, please use the form below:
Related Sponsors
 |
This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details. (April 2008) |
 |
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2008) |
| “Centerfold” | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
|||||
| Single by The J. Geils Band from the album Freeze Frame |
|||||
| Released | November 5, 1981 | ||||
| Recorded | 1980 | ||||
| Genre | Rock | ||||
| Length | 3:36 | ||||
| Label | EMI | ||||
| Writer(s) | Seth Justman | ||||
| Producer | Seth Justman | ||||
| The J. Geils Band singles chronology | |||||
|
|||||
"Centerfold" was a hit for The J. Geils Band. The song is about a man who is shocked to discover that his High School crush did a centerfold spread for a male-oriented magazine. The song could be a reference to actress Angel Tompkins relationship with Peter Wolf.
It was released in the Fall of 1981, and eventually went to number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in February 1982, and stayed there for six weeks and also reached number one on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart for three weeks, and on the ARIA Chart in Australia. It was the first single released from the band's 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 change the single's title to "Centerfold".citation needed
In February 1983, a year after the song hit #1 in the US Billboard Hot 100, "Centerfold" peaked at #3 in the UK Top 40, earning The J. Geils Band their only major hit single in the UK, although follow-up "Freeze-Frame" was also a minor UK hit.
The song lists at #52 on Billboard's All Time Top Songs.[1]
Contents |
Music video
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 sweatshirts as a Cheerleading outfit resembling a 1980s style dress. After Wolf is knocked out by the girls with books, a party is going on with the cheerleaders and the video ends with Wolf running out of the school with four of the girls doing cartwheels.
For a long time it was believed that MTV veejay Martha Quinn appeared in the video, but it was just one of the dancers that bore a striking resemblance to her.
Cover versions
The song was also covered by German speed metal band Tankard on 1993's Stone Cold Sober.
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 2004 album Let There Be Rockgrass.
An English Ska-punk band called 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 in February 1999.
The English rock group Status Quo covered this song on their 2003 cover album Riffs.
On Shwayze's 2008 self-titled album "Shwayze", they did a cover title "Angel is a Centerfold".
In Popular Culture
Centerfold was played in The Office episode Customer Survey. Dwight Schrute, focused on the fact that there is a conspiracy as to how badly he and Jim Halpert did on their reports, plays it blatantly loud on his car stereo. Pam Beesly, who is secretly tucked away in Jim's ear via Bluetooth begins humming it afterward.
References
| Preceded by "I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)" by Daryl Hall and John Oates |
Billboard Hot 100 number one single February 6, 1982 - March 13, 1982 |
Succeeded by "I Love Rock 'N Roll" by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts |
 |
This 1980s pop song-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 11 November 2008, at 03:43.
Wikipedia Authorship and Review
Wikipedia content provided here is not reviewed directly by MedLibrary.org. Wikipedia content is authored by an open community of volunteers and is not produced by or in any way affiliated with MedLibrary.org.
Wikipedia Usage Guidelines
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article on "Centerfold (song)".
The URL for this specific entry is:
All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details). Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.