Single:
Chuck E.’s in Love entered the Australian singles chart* on 21 May 1979 and peaked at #15. It was #91 on the Top 100 of 1979.
Album:
The song is on Rickie Lee Jones which entered the Australian albums chart* on 23 April 1979 and peaked at #1.
Songwriter:
Rickie Lee Jones
Producers:
Lenny Waronker, Russ Titelman
Record label of Australian release:
Warner Bros
*Kent Music Report / Australian Chart Book. See About.
Songfacts:
The subject of this folksy love song is Chuck E. Weiss, who was good friends with Tom Waits. In 1977, Weiss was working as a dishwasher at the Troubadour in Los Angeles when Rickie Lee Jones performed there. She and Waits became an item, and the three of them spent a lot of time together, often drinking and taking drugs.
One night, Waits got a call from Weiss, who explained that he was in Denver and had taken up with a girl (who happened to be his distant cousin). When he hung up the phone, Waits told Jones, “Chuck E.’s in love,” and she seized on those words.
Read more: www.songfacts.com/facts/rickie-lee-jones/chuck-es-in-love
Lyrics:
How come he don’t come and PLP with me
Down at the meter no more?**
And how come he turn off the TV?
And he hang that sign on the door?
Click for full lyrics
**Regarding the line, “How come he don’t come and PLP with me down at the meter no more?”: PLP stands for “public leaning post,” a phrase meaning a friend you can count on.
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