Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School

Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Warren Zevon. The album was released on February 15, 1980, by Elektra Records. Three singles were released from the album, one of which charted: "A Certain Girl" (a cover of a song previously recorded by Ernie K-Doe and The Yardbirds) reached No. 57 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was Zevon's second and final hit on that chart.

Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School
Studio album by
Warren Zevon
ReleasedFebruary 15, 1980 (1980-02-15)
Recorded1979
StudioThe Sound Factory, Hollywood, California
GenreRock
Length35:31
LabelElektra
ProducerGreg Ladanyi
Warren Zevon
Warren Zevon chronology
Excitable Boy
(1978)		 Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School
(1980)		 Stand in the Fire
(1980)
Singles from Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School
  1. "A Certain Girl"
    Released: 1980
  2. "Jeannie Needs a Shooter"
    Released: 1980
  3. "Gorilla, You're a Desperado"
    Released: 1980
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Robert ChristgauB−[2]
Rolling Stone(positive)[3]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[4]

"Play It All Night Long" is a bracing take on the presumed bleak realities of white southern rural poverty, or "country living". Its sardonic reference to Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama" in the chorus signals that Skynyrd's glorification of southern life is the target of Zevon's dark caricature, while also suggesting that such music can bring some degree of escape, if not transcendence, to an otherwise intolerable existence.[5]

The term "dancing school" has been used as a euphemism for a brothel since the mid-17th century.[6]

The album was dedicated to Ken Millar (1915–1983), a friend of Zevon's who was better known for writing mystery novels under the name Ross Macdonald.[7]

Track listing

All songs written by Warren Zevon, unless otherwise indicated.

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School" 3:00
2."A Certain Girl"Naomi Neville3:08
3."Jungle Work"Jorge Calderón, Zevon3:58
4."Empty-Handed Heart" 3:16
5."Interlude No. 1" 0:26
6."Play It All Night Long" 2:53
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
7."Jeannie Needs a Shooter"Bruce Springsteen, Zevon3:55
8."Interlude No. 2" 1:08
9."Bill Lee" 1:37
10."Gorilla, You're a Desperado" 2:47
11."Bed of Coals"T-Bone Burnett, Zevon5:04
12."Wild Age" 4:19

Personnel
  • Warren Zevon[8] – organ, synthesizer, bass guitar, guitar, harmonica, piano, strings, keyboards, vocals
  • Jorge Calderón – guitar on "A Certain Girl"; backing vocals on "Jungle Work"
  • David Lindley – lap steel on "Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School" and "Play It All Night Long"; guitar on "Wild Age"
  • Rick Marotta – percussion, drums, vocals, bells, Syndrums
Additional personnel
  • The Sid Sharp Strings – strings
  • Jackson Browne – guitar, slide guitar on "Gorilla, You're a Desperado"; backing vocals on "A Certain Girl", "Play It All Night Long" and "Gorilla, You're a Desperado"
  • Don Felder – guitar on "A Certain Girl"
  • Glenn Frey – harmony vocals on "Bill Lee" and "Wild Age"
  • Don Henley – harmony vocals on "Wild Age" and "Gorilla, You're a Desperado"
  • Ben Keith – pedal steel guitar on "Bed of Coals"
  • Linda Ronstadt – descant on "Empty-Handed Heart"; backing vocals on "Bed of Coals"
  • Leland Sklar – bass guitar
  • J.D. Souther – backing vocals on "Gorilla, You're a Desperado" and "Bed of Coals"
  • Waddy Wachtel – lead guitar on "A Certain Girl"; guitar on "Empty-Handed Heart"
  • Joe Walsh – lead guitar on "Jungle Work" and "Jeannie Needs a Shooter"
Technical
  • Ernie Sheesley, Niko Bolas, Serge Reyes – engineers
  • Jimmy Wachtel – cover
  • George Gruel, Jimmy Wachtel, Michael Curtis – photography

Charts
Sales chart performance for Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School
Chart (1980) Position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[9] 35
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[10] 46
US Billboard 200[11] 20

See also
  • Letter to You, a 2020 Bruce Springsteen album featuring his rendition of "Janey Needs a Shooter"

References
  1. Mark Deming. "Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School – Warren Zevon | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved October 23, 2015.
  2. "CG: warren zevon". Robert Christgau. Retrieved October 23, 2015.
  3. "Warren Zevon: Bad Luck Streak In Dancing School : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone". Rolling Stone. March 6, 1980. Archived from the original on February 18, 2009. Retrieved October 23, 2015 – via Web.archive.org.
  4. Larkin, Colin (2007). Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195313734.
  5. Cichran, Jeff. "Warren Zevon: Play it All Night Long". Like the Dew. Jeff Cochran. Retrieved February 8, 2020.
  6. "dancing academy" in Jonathan Green, Cassell's Dictionary of Slang, 2nd ed., 2006.
  7. Browning, Boo (April 18, 1980). "Zevon's 'Turning Point'". Retrieved January 28, 2018 – via WashingtonPost.com.
  8. http://www.45worlds.com/i/1b2f2ca151de466e509
  9. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 348. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  10. "Charts.nz – Warren Zevon – Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
  11. "Warren Zevon Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
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