"Love Potion No. 9" is a song written in 1959 by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. It was originally performed by The Clovers, who took it to #23 on the US charts that year. On the R&B chart, The Clovers version also peaked at #23.

History

The song describes a man seeking help to find love, so he talks to a Gypsy who determines, by means of palmistry, that he needs "love potion number 9". The potion, an aphrodisiac, causes him to fall in love with everything he sees, kissing whatever is in front of him, eventually kissing a policeman on the street-corner, who breaks his bottle of love potion.

In one recorded version of the ending of the song, The Clovers used the alternative lyrics:

That version was used for the sound track to the film "American Graffitti" (1973)

The "kissing a cop" lyric led to the song being banned by some radio stations. The lyrics also have the narrator describe himself as being "a flop with chicks since 1956"; later recordings of the song have often changed the year to suit the year of recording or the age of the performer. A notable exception is the Australian alternative rock band Tlot Tlot's recording, which leaves the year in the song as 1956. It also uses the alternative Love Potion No. 10 lyrics.

Love Potion No. 9 may refer to:

Love Potion No. 9 is a 1992 film starring Sandra Bullock and Tate Donovan.

Plot

Paul Matthews (Tate Donovan) is a lonely biochemist with a crush on his unavailable co-worker, biologist Diane Farrow (Sandra Bullock). His friends take him to a gypsy on 34th and Vine named Madame Ruth (Anne Bancroft). After reading his palm and seeing absolutely no romance in his life, Ruth gives him a small amount of Love Potion No. 8 on a piece of paper. As a scientist, Paul has doubts and ends up throwing it in the trash when he gets home. Around this time, Paul's friends buy him the services of Marisa, but all they do is talk.

His cat gets into the trash and eats some of the potion; then it meows and attracts all the other cats in the neighborhood. When Paul sees the results, he takes it to Diane, and they find out the "scientific" properties of it. After analyzing it, they decide to use themselves as human test subjects. Diane ends up attracting an Italian car mogul and the prince of England, ending up getting a makeover in the process, while Paul has a string of hookups with women in bars, supermarkets, cars, sorority houses, and female dormitories (notably Balch Hall at Cornell University).

Love Potion #9 is an album by jazz organist Johnny "Hammond" Smith recorded for the Prestige label in 1966.

Reception

The Allmusic site awarded the album 3 stars stating "Since there is less than half-an-hour of music here and nothing unexpected occurs, this is just an average outing, although it should please jazz organ fans".

Track listing

All compositions by Johnny "Hammond" Smith except as indicated

Personnel

Production

References