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"Ladies and Gentlemen" is a song by American rock band
Saliva Saliva (commonly referred as spit or drool) is an extracellular fluid produced and secreted by salivary glands in the mouth. In humans, saliva is around 99% water, plus electrolytes, mucus, white blood cells, epithelial cells (from which ...
. It was released in November 2006 as the first single off their fifth studio album ''
Blood Stained Love Story ''Blood Stained Love Story'' is the fifth studio album by American rock band Saliva which was released on January 23, 2007. This is their first album with rhythm guitarist Jonathan Montoya after the departure of Chris D’Abaldo. The song "Ladies ...
'' (2007). The song received negative reviews from critics. "Ladies and Gentlemen" peaked at numbers 2 and 25 on both the ''Billboard''
Mainstream Rock Mainstream rock (also known as heritage rock) is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada. Format background Mainstream rock stations represent a cross between classic rock, active rock and alternativ ...
and
Alternative Songs Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks between 1988 and 2009, and Alternative Songs between 2009 and 2020) is a music chart published in the American magazine ''Billboard'' since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-play ...
charts respectively, and is also the band's best-selling single, being
certified Gold Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...
by the
Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
(RIAA) in 2010. An accompanying
music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...
for the song, directed by Stephen Penta, features two women boxing each other in a ring while lead singer
Josey Scott Joseph Scott Sappington (born May 3, 1972) is an American musician, best known as the former lead vocalist of the rock band Saliva. In addition to Saliva, Scott co-wrote and performed "Hero" (which was used as one of the theme songs to the 200 ...
plays the role of an announcer, trainer and referee throughout the video.


Background

Lead singer Josey Scott said the band was trying to write "a song that was filled with dynamics that we knew the sporting community would love and video games and movies would love." After having written 9 or 10 songs for the album already, Scott was brainstorming with producer
Bob Marlette Robert Roy Marlette (born December 7, 1955) is an American record producer, recording engineer, mixer, and songwriter. His production, writing and mixing credits include Black Sabbath, Marilyn Manson, Rob Zombie, Shinedown, Seether, Saliva, Lyn ...
. Scott told the producer, "What if I do the verses like a circus announcer? Remember when you were a kid and you go to the circus and the ringmaster comes out? 'Ladies and gentlemen'." Scott thought Marlette would ridicule him for the idea, but Marlette thought it was brilliant. Scott also said the pre-chorus lyric, "Welcome to the show", was emulating
Def Leppard Def Leppard are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Since 1992, the band has consisted of Rick Savage (bass, backing vocals), Joe Elliott (lead vocals), Rick Allen (drummer), Rick Allen (drums), Phil Collen (guitar, ...
, and he put the word "boom" in the chorus because the last time Saliva said "boom" in a song ("
Click Click Boom "Click Click Boom" is a song by the American rock band Saliva. It was released in 2000 as the lead single from their second album '' Every Six Seconds'' . The song was put on the 2001 Clear Channel memorandum. However, no actual lyrical changes w ...
"), it was licensed for several sports arenas, video games, and movie trailers.


Critical reception

"Ladies and Gentlemen" garnered negative reviews from
music critic '' The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of m ...
s. ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...
''s
Christian Hoard Christian David Hoard is an American music journalist and music editor for ''Rolling Stone''. A 2000 graduate of the University of Michigan, he began his career as a music journalist writing for the ''Michigan Daily''. He later moved to New York Ci ...
criticized the song for being "crappy arena metal". ''
PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, ...
'' contributor Andrew Blackie found it "painfully unnecessary", describing it as " third-rate downtuned distortion-fest, the verses aren’t so much sung as ''spoken''... in a monotonous swagger." Conversely, Clark Collis of ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...
'' praised Saliva for infusing the song with a "bright, leavening pop sensibility."


Music video

Directed by Stephen Penta, the video takes place in a ring where two former
Suicide Girls SuicideGirls is an online community website that revolves around pin-up photography models known as the Suicide Girls. The website was founded in 2001 by Selena Mooney ("Missy Suicide") and Sean Suhl ("Spooky"). Most of the site is accessible ...
models are boxing each other, while lead singer Josey Scott is playing "multiple roles including announcer, trainer and referee."


Uses in media

The song was the official theme song for the
World Wrestling Entertainment World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...
pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program ...
,
WrestleMania 23 WrestleMania 23 was a 2007 professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was the 23rd annual WrestleMania and took place on April 1, 2007, at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan, held for wrestle ...
. In an interview with WWE.com, frontman Josey Scott stated that the song was written with the event in mind for WWE, saying "That's what we wrote it for. We wrote it for our friends at WWE". It was also used on the
NFL Network NFL Network (occasionally abbreviated on-air as NFLN) is an American sports-oriented pay television network owned by the National Football League NTP and is part of NFL Media, which also includes NFL.com, NFL Films, NFL Mobile, NFL Now and N ...
during coverage of
Super Bowl XLI Super Bowl XLI was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion 2006 Indianapolis Colts season, Indianapolis Colts and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion 2006 Chicago Bears season, Chicag ...
and the
BBC HD BBC HD was a high-definition television channel owned by the BBC. The channel was initially run as a trial from 15 May 2006 until becoming a full service on 1 December 2007 before its discontinuation on 25 March 2013. It broadcast only during ...
channel's Christmas 2008 promotional advertisement, which showcased some of the movies and TV shows the channel was showing during the Christmas period. It was also used the theme for the 2007 annual
AST Dew Tour The Dew Tour is an extreme sports circuit organized by Coalition 375 LLC, an alliance of elite action sports experts. History The tour was announced in late 2004, and made its debut in Louisville, KY in June 2005. The tour then made stops in ...
, Universe of Entertainment commercials for the
Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...
PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE). It is the successor to the PlayStation 2, and both are part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. The PS3 was first released on ...
and the television spots for the 2009 film ''
Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the Star Trek: The Original Series, series of the same name and became a worldwide Popular culture, pop-culture Cultural influence of ...
''.
NHRA The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) is a governing body which sets rules in drag racing and hosts events all over the United States and Canada. With over 40,000 drivers in its rosters, the NHRA claims to be the largest motorsport sanction ...
has also used the
song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...
for their
Drag Racing Drag racing is a type of motor racing in which automobiles or motorcycles compete, usually two at a time, to be first to cross a set finish line. The race follows a short, straight course from a standing start over a measured distance, mos ...
since 2007. The song has also appeared in the 2008 film ''
Jumper Jumper or Jumpers may refer to: Clothing *Jumper (sweater), is a long-sleeve article of clothing; also called a top, pullover, or sweater **A waist-length top garment of dense wool, part of the Royal Navy uniform and the uniform of the United St ...
''. It was the song featured in the
Calgary Flames The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The ...
opening video in 2008-09 NHL season, as well as for the first NHL Winter classic in 2008 in Buffalo, New York. The song was also used as the theme song for the
2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...
Sharpie 500 at
Bristol Motor Speedway Bristol Motor Speedway (formerly known as the Bristol International Raceway from 1978 to 1996 and as the Bristol International Speedway from 1961 to 1978) is a oval Oval track racing#Short track, short track in Bristol, Tennessee. The track ha ...
. The song is used as the background music to the intro video for the
Ohio State Buckeyes men's ice hockey Ohio ( ) is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the west, and Michigan to the northwest ...
2010 season during home games. The syndicated radio program The Rick and Bubba Radio Show also has been known to use the song as a bumper after the commercial break. The song was used during the landing of the
C-130 The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed Corporation, Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 w ...
plane "Fat Albert" at the naval air base in
Belle Chasse, Louisiana Belle Chasse ( ) is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, United States, on the west bank of the Mississippi River. Belle Chasse is part of the Greater New Orleans metropolitan area. The ...
, during the N'Awlins air show of May 2011. The song is the opening theme song for the
MLB Network MLB Network is an American television sports channel dedicated to baseball. It is primarily owned by Major League Baseball, with TNT Sports (United States), TNT Sports, Comcast's NBC Sports Group, Charter Communications, and Cox Communications h ...
show ''
Intentional Talk ''Intentional Talk'' is an hour long (during the regular season) and a 30-minute-long (during the offseason) talk show shown live Monday-Friday at 5:00 ET (during the regular season) or at 3:30 ET (during the offseason) on MLB Network. Hosts S ...
'' starting with the April 4, 2016 episode.


Charts and certifications


Weekly charts


Certifications


References

{{authority control 2006 singles 2006 songs Saliva (band) songs Island Records singles Song recordings produced by Bob Marlette Songs written by Bob Marlette Songs written by Josey Scott