Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School

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Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School
Warren Zevon - Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School.jpg
Studio album by
Warren Zevon
ReleasedFebruary 15, 1980 (1980-02-15)
Recorded1979
StudioThe Sound Factory, Hollywood, California
Genre Rock
Length35:31
Label Elektra
Producer Greg 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

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.

Contents

The album was dedicated to Ken Millar (1915–1983), popularly known as mystery writer Ross Macdonald, who had assisted Zevon in fighting through substance abuse addiction and successfully completing related treatment. [1]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [2]
Robert Christgau B− [3]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [4]
Record Mirror Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [5]
Rolling Stone (positive) [6]
Uncut 8/10 [7]

Record World said of the single "Gorilla, You're a Desperado" that "Zevon paints a picturesque fantasy of LA upper middle class absurdity." [8] In 2024 Far Out Magazine praised "Play it All Night Long" as a reaction to the perceived feud between "Southern Man" by Neil Young and "Sweet Home Alabama" by Lynyrd Skynyrd, by stating: "Zevon’s ‘Play It All Night Long’ was his tongue-in-cheek way of basically saying, “Who cares? It’s a pointless feud, and both songs suck anyway." [9] "Play It All Night Long" has been covered by alternative country band Drive-By Truckers who released the track in 2009's The Fine Print: A Collection of Oddities and Rarities , including elements of Zevon's "Ain't That Pretty At All" along with modified lyrics referencing Zevon's death due to cancer in 2003. [10]

"Jeannie Needs A Shooter" would draw attention for being developed based on the title of a then unreleased demo track from Bruce Springsteen's Born to Run sessions, with Zevon once describing the track by stating "there may be a whole other version of a song recorded with good musicians, and then I toss it out because I hear a whole other song with the same title.” [11] In 2020 Springsteen released his finished track "Janey Needs A Shooter" on his album Letter to You drawing comparisons between Springsteen's and Zevon's differing songs. [12]

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 Neville 3:08
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

Additional personnel
Technical

Charts

Sales chart performance for Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School
Chart (1980)Position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report) [13] 35
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [14] 46
US Billboard 200 [15] 20

See also

References

  1. ↑ Browning, Boo (April 18, 1980). "Zevon's 'Turning Point'" . Retrieved January 28, 2018– via WashingtonPost.com.
  2. ↑ Mark Deming. "Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School – Warren Zevon | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved October 23, 2015.
  3. ↑ "CG: warren zevon". Robert Christgau. Retrieved October 23, 2015.
  4. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0195313734.
  5. ↑ Gurr, Ronnie (February 23, 1980). "Linda Ronstadt: Mad Love / Warren Zevon: Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School". Record Mirror . p. 12.
  6. ↑ "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.
  7. ↑ "How to buy Warren Zevon". Uncut . October 2023. p. 71.
  8. ↑ "Single Picks" (PDF). Record World. May 17, 1980. p. 16. Retrieved February 20, 2023.
  9. ↑ Scanlon, Kelly (November 3, 2024). "Warren Zevon shut down the feud between Neil Young and Lynyrd Skynyrd: "Play that dead band's song"". faroutmagazine.co.uk. Retrieved October 17, 2025.
  10. ↑ Davidson, Andy (June 10, 2024). "For the Sake of the Song: The Drive-By Truckers "Play It All Night Long"". americana-uk.com. Retrieved October 17, 2025.
  11. ↑ Reid, Graham (September 1, 2008). "WARREN ZEVON INTERVIEWED (1992): Tales from the dark side". elsewhere.co.nz. Retrieved October 23, 2025.
  12. ↑ Potter, Jordan (September 15, 2023). "The Bruce Springsteen reject that became a Warren Zevon hit". faroutmagazine.co.uk. Retrieved October 23, 2025.
  13. ↑ 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.
  14. ↑ "Charts.nz – Warren Zevon – Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
  15. ↑ "Warren Zevon Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
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