Skinny Little Bitch Explained

Skinny Little Bitch
Cover:Hole Skinny Little Bitch.jpg
Type:single
Artist:Hole
Album:Nobody's Daughter
B-Side:Codine
Studio:Henson, Hollywood
Genre:Alternative rock, punk rock, hard rock
Label:Mercury
Producer:Michael Beinhorn, Micko Larkin
Prev Title:Be a Man
Prev Year:2000
Next Title:Pacific Coast Highway
Next Year:2010

"Skinny Little Bitch" is a song by the American alternative rock band Hole. It is the second track and lead single from the band's fourth studio album, Nobody's Daughter, and was released on March 12, 2010 on Mercury Records. Written by vocalist Courtney Love and lead guitarist Micko Larkin, "Skinny Little Bitch" was Hole's first single in a decade and first release not to feature founding member Eric Erlandson.

The song premiered on the New York radio station WRXP on March 3, 2010 and was released to American radio on March 9.[1] During the first week of its radio release, the song became the most added on alternative radio and the second most added on active rock in the United States.[2] A digital download of the single was officially made available on March 12 and a limited edition colored 10" was released as part of Record Store Day 2010 on April 17.

Two official music videos for "Skinny Little Bitch" have been released on Hole's official YouTube channel—a multi-camera version of the band's performance at SXSW in March 2010 and a shortened video of Love performing the song while getting a tattoo. Other plans for a music video, including an animation by Michael Mouris and a video featuring model Sasha Pivovarova, were considered but never received a greenlight from Mercury Records.

"Skinny Little Bitch" was added to the US Active Rock Charts at #32 making it the first song with lead vocals from a female to ever make the chart.

Release and reception

The track was described by NME as,

"a balls-out, low-down dirty rock song, and as fine a signature tune for the new Hole as you could imagine. Tapping the same lyrical vein as 'Samantha', it's The Stooges fronted by a Joan Jett re-imagined as the Bride Of Frankenstein. And it’s the sound of Courtney having fun."[3]

Promotion

"Skinny Little Bitch" was debuted live during Hole's reunion show at London's O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire on 17 February 2010. It was also played during two other European dates at Milan's Magazzini Generali, and Amsterdam's Paradiso on 19 February and 21 February 2010 respectively. On February 24, it was played alongside "Samantha" at the NME Awards at London's O2 Academy Brixton. The song was heard on an episode of Warehouse 13.

Music video

Talking about the music video, Love stated, "there will be a stunning video for SLB as long as the only model that you will all fall in love w that the band needs does it!." She later revealed the model to be Sasha Pivovarova, chosen because "shes the only look that can convey what the SLB goes through a lot of self torture."[4] [5]

However, Love has since stated that Mert and Marcus will direct the music video provided that Mercury greenlights the project, while also stating again that Sasha Pivovarova will take on the role of the "Skinny Little Bitch."[6]

On 7 April 2010, Hole's official YouTube channel released a multicamera mix of Hole's performance of "Skinny Little Bitch" at the SXSW music festival.[7] The performance is overdubbed with the single version of the song. Less than three weeks later, on 27 April, Hole released "the least expensive Courtney Love video ever", directed by Casey Neistat. It features Love singing "Skinny Little Bitch" while getting a tattoo and is less than two minutes in length.[8]

Track listing and formats

Digital download
  1. "Skinny Little Bitch" – 3:09
US 10" single (B0014258-11)
  1. "Skinny Little Bitch" – 3:09
  2. "Codine" – 3:57

Personnel

All personnel credits adapted from Nobody's Daughters liner notes.[9]

Hole
Guest musician
Technical personnel

Chart positions

Chart (2010)Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[10] 180
US Billboard Alternative Songs19
US Billboard Rock Songs29

Release history

RegionDateFormat
Ireland12 March 2010Digital download[11]
Belgium 15 March 2010
Czech Republic
Denmark
Finland
Italy
Canada 16 March 2010
Greece
Spain
Sweden
United States
Australia 19 March 2010
Switzerland
New Zealand 22 March 2010
Austria 23 March 2010
Germany
Japan 24 March 2010
United States13 April 2010Vinyl
Portugal 15 April 2010Digital download
France 19 April 2010
United Kingdom 26 April 2010

Notes and References

  1. Web site: AllAccess.com Alternative eWeekly. AllAccess. March 2, 2010. July 2, 2016.
  2. Web site: Skinny Little Bitch, most added song on alternative radio. 2010-03-15. 2010-04-11. Mel. courtney-love.org. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20101229215211/http://www.courtney-love.org/skinny-little-bitch-most-added-song-on-alternative-radio. 2010-12-29.
  3. Web site: The Return Of Hole - Part Two - The New Album Track-By-Track. 2009-06-18. 2010-03-18. Martin. Dan. NME.
  4. Web site: CourtneyLoveUK . 2010-03-18. 2010-03-18. Love. Courtney. Twitter.
  5. Web site: CourtneyLoveUK . 2010-03-18. 2010-03-18. Love. Courtney. Twitter.
  6. Web site: CourtneyLoveUK . 2010-04-11. 2010-04-11. Love. Courtney. Twitter.
  7. Hole. Facebook | Hole: Skinny Little Bitch SXSW Video https://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=379294974982 Retrieved from Facebook.com on May 11, 2010.
  8. Hole. Hole Official Website :: Nobody’s Daughter http://holerock.net/news_d.aspx?nid=6704 Retrieved from holerock.net on May 11, 2010.
  9. Nobody's Daughter. Nobody's Daughter. Hole. 2010. CD. Mercury Records. LC 00268.
  10. Web site: Hole chart history, received from ARIA on April 7, 2024. ARIA. Imgur.com. June 26, 2024. N.B. The High Point number in the NAT column indicates the release's peak on the national chart.
  11. Web site: 'Skinny Little Bitch' single - available digitally now!. 2010-03-16. 2010-03-18. Facebook.