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Holiday Road
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Wikipedia article
"'Holiday Road'" is a 1983 single written, composed, and recorded by American guitarist/singer Lindsey Buckingham. The song was written for the 1983 film 'National Lampoon's Vacation.' "Holiday Road" was also used in the sequels 'National Lampoon's European Vacation' (1985), 'Vegas Vacation' (1997) and 'Vacation' (2015). While the song peaked at only No. 82 on the 'Billboard' Hot 100 chart during its original release, it has since become one of Buckingham's best known songs.
Buckingham released a live version of the song on his 2008 album 'Live at the Bass Performance Hall.'
In July 2015, a remastered edition of "Holiday Road" was re-released, both on the 'Vacation' soundtrack album and as a digital download along with "Dancin' Across the USA" from the original 'National Lampoon's Vacation' soundtrack.
Cover versions and usage
The song has been covered by pop punk bands Limp, the Aquabats, Whippersnapper, Matt Pond PA, and Dirt Bike Annie. The indie rock band the Walkmen performed a version of the song in November 2010 for 'The A.V. Club' Holiday Undercover series. In 2015, country group the Zac Brown Band covered the song for the soundtrack to the sequel 'Vacation'.
In 2013, "Holiday Road" was adopted as the unofficial playoff victory song of the 2013 Chicago Blackhawks, who went on to win the Stanley Cup on June 24, the 30th anniversary of the song's release.
In 2014, the song was used as the music on television advertising for Teletext Holidays, a British travel agency. The song appears under the closing credits of 'National Lampoon: Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead', a 2015 American documentary film directed by Douglas Tirola about the magazine and its related franchises and influence. A version of the song with rewritten lyrics was used in Honda television commercials in 2017.
A parody of the song, "History Road", is used as a segment intro on the comedy podcast Dynamic Banter, hosted by Mike Falzone and Steve Zaragoza. The parody was made by and features the voice of their friend Owen Carter.
Personnel
*Lindsey Buckingham guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, percussion, drum programming, vocals
Charts
References
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