Werewolves of London

Warren Zevon wrote this with guitarist Robert "Waddy" Wachtel. When Zevon was working with The Everly Brothers, he hired Wachtel to play in their backing band. At one point, Phil Everly asked them to write a dance song for the Everly Brothers called "Werewolves Of London." Wachtel and Zevon were good friends and were strumming guitars together when someone asked what they were playing. Zevon replied, "Werewolves Of London," and Wachtel started howling. Zevon came up with the line, "I saw a werewolf with a Chinese menu in his hand," and they traded lyrics back and forth until they had their song. (Thanks to the good people at warrenzevon.com for this info.)

Zevon had this song written long before it was released in 1978. After putting out an album in 1970, he took work writing jingles and became The Everly Brothers' bandleader. His good friend Jackson Browne championed him and started performing "Werewolves Of London" in 1975, always explaining that the song was written by Zevon. Browne convinced his label, Asylum, to sign Zevon, and they did, pairing them in the studio with Browne producing. They didn't record "Werewolves Of London" for Zevon's first Asylum album, Warren Zevon, in 1976, because Browne - already a savvy industry veteran with three albums under his belt - knew that Zevon's more outlandish songs like "The French Inhaler" and "Desperados Under The Eaves" wouldn't make it to his second Asylum album, so they had to record them while they had the chance. Meanwhile, Browne's label pushed him to record "Werewolves," but he refused, knowing it was quintessential Zevon. Browne returned to produce Zevon's next album, Excitable Boy, and this time they included "Werewolves Of London."

According to legend, a Werewolf is a man who turns into a wolf when there is a full moon. The only way to kill one is to shoot it through the heart with a silver bullet.