Randy Newman – I Love L.A.

I cannot believe I’ve never posted a Randy Newman song. I first heard of him through Short People, and that is not counting the countless covers I’ve heard of his songs covered by other people.

Being a Dodgers fan, I get a little extra kick out of hearing this song. The Dodgers play I Love L.A. after they win at Dodger Stadium, so when I hear those opening notes, I automatically associate it with something good happening. It’s hard for me to separate the song from baseball now. A Dodgers win followed by Randy Newman is a pretty good combination.

Randy Newman released this song in 1983 on his album Trouble in Paradise. Newman grew up in Los Angeles, but this being Randy Newman, the song isn’t quite the straightforward love letter that the title suggests. He genuinely loved the city, but he was also poking fun at it. The beautiful weather, convertibles, and palm trees are all there, but so are the less glamorous parts of Los Angeles. Newman was always good at writing from the viewpoint of a character who might not completely understand what he was revealing about himself.

The song reportedly grew partly from a conversation Newman had with Don Henley. Henley suggested that Newman should write a song about the city. Newman also had an earlier unreleased song called Something to Sing About that dealt with some of the same ideas about wealth and the Southern California lifestyle. Those ideas eventually helped develop into I Love L.A.

There is some serious talent playing on the recording. Steve Lukather plays lead guitar, Jeff Porcaro is on drums, David Paich plays organ, Nathan East is on bass, and Waddy Wachtel plays rhythm guitar. Lindsey Buckingham and Christine McVie are among the backing singers. That’s quite a collection of musicians for a song that sounds so loose and simple when you first hear it. Lenny Waronker and Russ Titelman produced it.

I Love L.A. wasn’t a big hit when it was originally released. It didn’t even make the Billboard 100, although the video received plenty of airplay on MTV. The song gradually became much bigger than its original chart position. It was used in connection with the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and eventually became something close to an unofficial anthem for the city.

The video helped sell the song. Newman cruises around Los Angeles in a red convertible while the scenery mentioned in the song passes by. Like the song itself, it’s difficult to tell exactly where the celebration ends and the joke begins. I think that’s part of the reason it has lasted. You can hear Newman having some fun with the place he loves. And…

I love L.A.

Especially after the Dodgers win.

I Love L.A.

Hate New York City
It’s cold and it’s damp
And all the people dressed like monkeys
Let’s leave Chicago to the Eskimos
That town’s a little bit too rugged
For you and me you bad girl

Rollin’ down the Imperial Highway
With a big nasty redhead at my side
Santa Ana winds blowing hot from the north
And we as born to ride

Roll down the window, put down the top
Crank up the Beach Boys, baby
Don’t let the music stop
We’re gonna ride it till
We just can’t ride it no more

From the South Bay to the Valley
From the West Side to the East Side
Everybody’s very happy
‘Cause the sun is shining all the time
Looks like another perfect day

I love L.A. (we love it)
I love L.A. (we love it)
We love it

Look at that mountain
Look at those trees
Look at that bum over there, man
He’s down on his knees
Look at these women
There ain’t nothing like ’em nowhere

Century Boulevard (we love it)
Victory Boulevard (we love it)
Santa Monica Boulevard (we love it)
Sixth Street (we love it, we love it)
We love L.A.

I love L.A. (we love it)
I love L.A. (we love it)
I love L.A. (we love it)

Discover more from PowerPop... An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Unknown's avatar

Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

44 thoughts on “Randy Newman – I Love L.A.”

    1. It’s music to my ears Jim…in more ways than one because of the Dodgers tie in… really before this one…Short People is the only one I knew…then I started to find out all the songs he wrote that other people covered…which is a great many.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  6. It’s an interesting song because it sounds like a tourist board jingle but it and the video have enough snark to make you think maybe he’s being just a tad sarcastic. Then again his one real hit, ‘Short People’ was meant as social satire but few got that.
    I think most younger people only know him from ‘Toy Story’ music

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    1. Yes…a good comparison would be Short People…man that made people mad back then LOL…but he sings in the bridge:

      Short people are just the same
      As you and I
      (A fool such as I)
      All men are brothers
      Until the day they die
      (It’s a wonderful world)

      But everyone ignored that!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  7. i am a Randy Newman fan, have been since his second album was released. And I love “I Love LA.” I am amazed at the information you have about it. I’ve never known who was playing on the track, and it never mattered. Now that I do know, I merely nod my head. I didn;t know about the other song you mention when talking about him and Henley.

    I think my favorite Randy Newman album is the third one, Randy Newman live at I believe the Bitter End in NYC. Just Randy, the piano, the snarkiness and some of the greatest songs I’ve ever heard. Some are hilarious, such as Maybe I’m Doing It Wrong (“Maybe I’m doing it wrong/I don’t seem to be getting what everyone’s getting/Maybe I’m doing it wrong.”) Bet No One Ever Felt this Bad, which I believe was recorded by both Linda Ronstadt and Three Dog Night, is one of the saddest songs I’ve ever heard. You Got A Friend In Me is an anthem to the bright, professional happy song that Randy (and Lyle Lovett) are capable of, but there’s a miraculous dark side equally as powerful in many of his songs. I never cared for, but always loved (if that contradiction makes any sense) Mama Told Me Not To Come. But when Nilsson sang “Simon Smith and his Dancing Bear” it bares open the soul. And literally hundreds of other great songs.

    I got a pair of tickets to see Randy and James Taylor at what was then called the Universal Ampitheatre. I got a guy to work to provide transportation. He was somewhat short in size. That was the first time I heard “Short People.” He ragged me about it all the way home.

    There is a cabaret show that puts his songs together, long before Toy Story and I Love LA. I don’t remember the title, although I think it might have been called Maybe I’m Doing It Wrong. It played at the Roxy on the Sunset Strip for a month or so. My wife and I had the delight of taking my parents. A wonderful time for all of us.

    Randy has a long and great history. There are a tremendous number of great songs penned by Mr. Newman. Much more than I Love LA. or You Got A Friend In Me. Well worth investigating.

    Thanks Max

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Yes he has better songs than this…but you know exactly why I picked this one first…I just watched them win last night!
      OH that is great about the short guy! I’m not a giant either…5.7 on a good day. That had to be a good show and the cabaret show sounds great.
      I think it’s interesting how he compliments and then jabs…

      Like

      Reply

  8. By the way, the video for the song is in itself, absolutely perfect. Not the Dodger victory lap, that has nothing to do with the song although the idea that I Love LA is a victory lap for anything shows how the song has taken on a life of its own.

    Yes, all those places shown in the video exist. That is Victory Boulevard, Century Boulevard and Santa Monica Boulevard. Tim Newman directed the video, and it is clear that every single shot was thought out before being done. Some of it is impossible, such as the motorcycle cops singing “I Love LA.” But it is the same realism as the various shots of pretty girls’ boobs where there is obviously no silicon involved.

    That’s what makes the video so great.

    By the way, it isn’t just the Dodgers that have taken on the song. That’s Max’s take on it, and not inappropriate. But you’ll notice there are no sports in the video. Sports is a different part of LA, not excluded, just not the part of LA that Randy is taking aim at.

    Again, Max, thanks.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. I agree….it was years before the Dodgers took this song on. You were right about contrasts….that is what Randy does…
      I need to check out his albums…the one I remember the most is Born Again…when he does a parody of KISS on the cover and the song about an ELO fan…

      Like

      Reply

  11. Love how that sports/music tie-in usually evolves, ie ‘Sweet Caroline.’ He’s a clever sardonic son-of-a-satirist songwriter of a guy; I like that. He has a magical ear for melody too.
    (I was reading Mark. E. Everett’s/Eels bio and in his younger days he and a car load of his associates were riding around playing ‘Rednecks’ and he sadly realised most of the car didn’t know it was satire!)
    One I’ve always liked is ‘Rider In The Rain’ which I recommended my older brother play when he was driving/relocating from Santa Monica (yes, he lived there in one of his better off spells) to Phoenix, Arizona.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. He is that kind of writer…one of the best out there.
      That sounds about right with people singing those kinds of songs…Newman makes you pay attention or else.
      I’ve always wanted to see Santa Monica…always. I hope one day I will be able to.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. I liked SM- errrrrr, I liked Santa Monica I’d better say. My Dad was managing appartments there, otherwise the family woulda been living out somewhere under the LA Airports flight path!
        When we were walking around heading off towards Venice beach the kids saw Mathew Perry/Chandler Bing in passing. It made their trip.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. LOL… You have lived in a lot of places…it sounds like you could have ended up in Canada or America…or the UK…
        Oh that is cool…out there I guess it’s more common. I’ve seen a few but not many.

        Liked by 1 person

  12. I haven’t heard this in a while. One of the bright spots of the 80s. I’m aware of his writing, but haven’t heard that much of his versions. I don’t know why I had it in my head that he was from New Orleans. How did a song that Henley suggested slip through?

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  13. Born Again, in my opinion, is one of Randy’s lesser albums.

    The first album, entitled either Randy Newman or Randy Newman Discovers Something New Under the Sun, features some great songs:  “Love Story (You and Me)”, “Bet No One Ever Hurt This Bad”, “Living Without You”, “Cowboy”, “The Beehive State”, “I Think It’s Going to Rain Today” and “Davy the Fat Boy”.  “Cowboy” was written for Midnight Cowboy and is probably the best of the songs submitted for that movie, even though Nilsson’s version of “Everybody’s Talking” got the nod.  “Love Story” earned a place in my heart with the lyric (long before it was socially correct, and the way Randy wrote the lyric was NEVER socially correct, talking about the son they’d have, got to be straight cuz we don’t want a bent one.  I have always loved the simplicity of the Dirt Band’s version of “Living Without Out.”  “Davy the Fat Boy” was Newman’s set closer for a long, long time, for perfect reasons.  And I swear ”I Think It’s Going To Rain Today” and “Bet No One Ever Hurt This Bad” will break your heart.

    12 Songs, the second album, was Randy with a rock band, the rock band lead by Ry Cooder.  It was a rock album, even if the songs were, in my opinion, not as strong as the songs on the first album.  Underneath The Harlem Moon is not composed by Randy, but it clearly fits in his repertoire.  “Yellow Man” and “My Old Kentucky Home” have always been forged together as a unit. 

    Randy Newman Live was recorded at The Bitter End, originally intended as a radio promo until word got out just how good it is.  Randy and the piano.  That’s all you needed.  It starts perfectly with “Mama Told Me Not To Come,” a song that is far from perfect yet a perfect introduction to Randy.  Then “Tickle Me” a song I don’t think he otherwise recorded and very clearly a throwaway that is treasured by those that know it.  The song is about, well, there’s nothing to do so why don’t you tickle me.  Similarly, Maybe I’m Doing It Wrong is a throwaway about, well, exactly what the title says.  Perfect Randy Newman.

    And then there is Sail Away.  A cohesive collection of individual masterpieces, this is Randy’s finest hour.  A song about pollution, Burn On, when the Cayuhoga River burned from pollution.  Dayton, Ohio 1903, a song that beautifully turns nostalgia on its head as only Randy can do.  He Gives Us All His Love, along with “God’s Song (That’s Why I Love Mankind”) has Randy taking on bible thumpers with a humor that is irrefutable and irresistible.  And then there is “Sail Away,” a sales pitch made to the folks of Africa to come to America.  A sales pitch for slavery.

    (And that’s not all of the great tunes on this album.  But this post is already way too long.  This album also featured Randy’s recordings of Political Science (Let’s Drop The Big One), Lonely At The Top (a song written for Frank Sinatra but Sinatra didn’t records it), t record it), “Last Night I Had A Dream,” “You Can Leave Your Hat On,” and “Simon Smith and the Amazing Dancing Bear.”)

    The next album is Good Old Boys, a concept album, of sorts.  It is about racism.  It opens with Rednecks, a song we should all hear at least once because that’s all the chorus needs to forever live on in your memory.  Naked Man is weird, but I love it.  Birmingham is as much a song to the city as an expression of the singer’s love of his dog.  “Marie” is one of the best love songs.”  And then there is Guilty, a song that is such a great tribute to Ray Charles that Charles shines through even clearer on the first released version of the song by Bonnie Raitt.

    The next album, Little Criminals, opened with Short People.  It features the most haunting of Randy’s songs, Sigmund Freud’s Impersonation of Albert Einstein in America.”  My father, never a rock fan, loved the arrangement and instrumentation of “Rider On The Rain.” 

    Born Again was next.  Like I have previously said, my least favorite Randy Newman album.  It’s as if “Its Money That I Love” is supposed to be taken seriously.  Trust me, it is  not.

    Trouble In Paradise has I Love L.A.  That in itself is enough.  Particularly backed with “My Life Is Good.”

    Dixie Flyer never got the attention from me as earlier albums.  I mean, you can’t expect every album to be Sail Away.  It has Tom Petty all over it.  It is a strong record but Sail Away makes “strong record” not enough, which I realize isn’t fair to Newman.

    The three Soundbook releases give us the opportunity to look at Newman with the vantage that these are not new songs.  But they are incredible ones.  The third has a recording of “I Love To See You Smile,” a tune Randy wrote for the Parenthood movie that stands as a favorite of mine.

    They let us look at the various sides of Randy.  And lead to the singular conclusion that in a century that features some of the greatest songs ever written, Randy is one of the best songwriters we have.

    Like

    Reply

  15. I actually got the “Trouble in Paradise” album on CD sometime during the second half of the ’80s. I believe my German music buddy Gerd brought it to my attention. At the time, we sill played together in a band. I dug “I Love L.A.” right away. I recall a bunch of other neat tracks, such as “Christmas in Cape Town” and “The Blues” featuring Paul Simon on vocals. I haven’t listened to that album in ages!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      1. I primarily know specific songs rather than entire albums by Randy Newman. Another album I’ve listened to and like as well is the follow-on to “Trouble in Paradise.” It came out in 1988 and is titled “Land of Dreams.” There are a bunch of intriguing guests on it, such as Tom Petty, Mark Knopfler and Jeff Lynne.

        Liked by 1 person

  17. You and your Dodgers, Max…I wish you’d just come over to the dark side and be a Phillies fan. I like this song, whether it is being used as a tourist pitch or a stand-alone performance. My most “contact” with Mr. Newman has been with his theme song for the show “Monk,” which joined the series at the outset of Season 2. One of those weird instances where you had an instrumental theme for the first season, and then out of nowhere Randy’s song came along. I recall when it arrived fans were very divided about canning the original theme song. That being said, Newman’s “It’s A Jungle Out There” won an Emmy, so it is hard to say it was not well received!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a comment