{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2023}} {{Infobox song | name = Back Street Luv | cover = Back street luv cover.jpg | alt = | type = single | artist = Curved Air | album = Second Album | B-side = Everdance | released = 18 June 1971<ref>''Melody Maker ad- 19 June edition''</ref> | recorded = | studio = | venue = | genre = Art rock | length = 3:36 | label = Warner Bros. | writer = Darryl Way, Sonja Kristina, Ian Eyre | producer = Colin Caldwell, Curved Air | prev_title = It Happened Today | prev_year = 1971 | next_title = Sarah's Concern | next_year = 1972 | misc = {{External music video|header=Performance video|{{YouTube|82tcFeK_pkg|"Back Street Luv" on BeatClub (1971)}}}} }}
"'''Back Street Luv'''" is a song by British rock band Curved Air, written by band members Darryl Way, Sonja Kristina, and Ian Eyre. It was included on the ''Second Album'' and released as a single in June 1971 by Warner Bros. Warners also released it as a single in the Netherlands, Germany, France and Portugal. In 1975 a live version appeared on ''Curved Air – Live'' and was released as a single in the UK by Deram, but it failed to make any commercial impact.<ref name="Tapestry">Joynson, Vernon (1995). [http://alextsu.narod.ru/borderlinebooks/us6070s/index.html ''The Tapestry of Delights''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110825082620/http://alextsu.narod.ru/borderlinebooks/us6070s/index.html |date=25 August 2011}}. London: Borderline Books.</ref>
Rock music critic Dave Thompson called the song "one of the band's own finest moments" and "also one of the crucial singles of the early 1970s".<ref name="allmusic_second">{{cite web| author = Dave Thompson| date = | url =http://www.allmusic.com/album/second-album-r34485| title = Second Album| publisher = www.allmusic.com| accessdate = 13 August 2010}} …''It's also one of the crucial singles of the early 1970s.''</ref>
In 1997, Salad covered the song on the Childline charity album.<ref>{{cite web | author = | date = | url =http://www.allmusic.com/album/childline-r260378 | title = Childline | publisher = www.allmusic.com | accessdate = 20 July 2011}}</ref>
== Track list == {{tracklist | total_length = | writing_credits = | lyrics_credits = | music_credits = | title1 = Back Street Luv | length1 = 3:36 | title2 = Everdance | length2 = 3:06 }}
==Personnel== ===Original studio version=== * Sonja Kristina — vocals * Francis Monkman — EMS VCS 3, Hohner Pianet, guitar, Hammond organ * Ian Eyre – bass * Florian Pilkington-Miksa — drums
(Darryl Way, though the chief writer of the song's music, does not play on the original recording.)
===''Beat-Club'' performance, 1971=== * Sonja Kristina — vocals, percussion * Darryl Way – electric piano * Francis Monkman — Hammond organ, guitar, keyboards * Ian Eyre – bass * Barry de Souza — drums<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.curvedair.com/francis.html |title=Francis Monkman |access-date=15 November 2024 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090810124355/http://www.curvedair.com/francis.html |archive-date=10 August 2009 }}</ref>
===Live version from Curved Air – Live, 1975=== * Sonja Kristina – vocal * Darryl Way – VCS3, electric piano * Francis Monkman – guitar, organ * Phil Kohn – bass * Florian Pilkington-Miksa – drums
===Live version from Alive, 1990=== * Sonja Kristina – lead vocal * Darryl Way – synthesizers, backing vocal * Francis Monkman – guitar, bass * Florian Pilkington-Miksa – drums
== Album appearances == {{div col}} * 1971 — ''Second Album'' (3:36, WEA International)<ref>[https://www.allmusic.com/song/back-street-luv-mt0011415596#appearsOn Back Street Luv]. – www.allmusic.com.</ref> * 1971 — ''Second Album'' (5:56, Collectors' Choice Music) * 1975 — ''Live'' (3:47, Repertoire) * 1976 — ''Best of Curved Air'' (Warner Bros.) * 1994 — ''Progression'' (Alex Records) * 1995 — ''Journey to the Edge: Progressive Rock Classics'' (3:35, Music Collection) * 1995 — ''The No. 1 70s Rock Album'' (3:40 Alex) * 1995 — ''Progressive Pop: Inside the 70s'' (3:50, See For Miles Records) * 1999 — ''Rock Festival'' (Insight) * 2000 — ''Alive, 1990'' (4:26, Mystic Records) * 2006 — ''Absolute 70s'' (Crimson Productions) * 2006 — ''Classic Rock Presents Prog Rock'' (3:37, Gut-Active) * 2006 — ''Good Morning Vietnam 2'' (3:50, Disky) * 2006 — ''My Sounds Rock'' (Disky) * 2007 — ''Head Full of Rock'' (3:36, EMI) * 2007 — ''The Prog Rock Album'' (3:38, Crimson Productions) * 2007 — ''The Sound of the 70s'' (3:35, Warner Strategic Marketing) * 2008 — ''The Best of Curved Air'' (Repertoire) * 2008 — ''Legendary Rock'' (3:48, MP Records) * 2010 — ''The Old Grey Whistle Test'' (3:33, Rhino) {{div col end}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Curved Air}}
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Category:1971 singles Category:Curved Air songs Category:1971 songs Category:Warner Records singles