Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Infobox album
| name = Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School
| type = Studio album
| artist = Warren Zevon
| cover = Warren Zevon - Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School.jpg
| alt =
| released = {{start date|1980|02|15}}
| recorded = 1979
| studio = The Sound Factory, Hollywood, California
| genre = Rock
| length = 35:31
| label = Elektra
| producer = Greg Ladanyi, Warren Zevon
| prev_title = Excitable Boy
| prev_year = 1978
| next_title = Stand in the Fire
| next_year = 1980
| misc = {{Singles
| name = Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School
| type = Studio
| single1 = A Certain Girl
| single1date = 1980
| single2 = Jeannie Needs a Shooter
| single2date = 1980
| single3 = Gorilla, You're a Desperado
| single3date = 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 {{abbr|No.|number}} 57 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was Zevon's second and final hit on that chart.
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.{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1980/04/18/zevons-turning-point/a5f42691-0d9c-415d-93da-eaedf04f3953/|title=Zevon's 'Turning Point'|first=Boo|last=Browning|date=April 18, 1980|publisher=|access-date=January 28, 2018|via=WashingtonPost.com}}
Critical reception
{{Music ratings
| rev1 = AllMusic
| rev1score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}{{cite web|author=Mark Deming |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/bad-luck-streak-in-dancing-school-mw0000691297 |title=Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School – Warren Zevon | Songs, Reviews, Credits |publisher=AllMusic |date= |accessdate=October 23, 2015}}
| rev4 = Record Mirror
| rev4score = {{rating|4.5|5}}{{cite magazine|title=Linda Ronstadt: Mad Love / Warren Zevon: Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School |last=Gurr |first=Ronnie |date=23 February 1980 |magazine=Record Mirror |page=12}}
|rev2=Robert Christgau
|rev5=Rolling Stone
|rev3 = The Encyclopedia of Popular Music
|rev3score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite book|last=Larkin|first=Colin|author-link=Colin Larkin|title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music|year=2007|publisher=Oxford University Press|edition=4th|isbn=978-0195313734|title-link=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music}}
| rev6 = Uncut
| rev6Score = 8/10{{Cite magazine|title=How to buy Warren Zevon |magazine=Uncut |date=October 2023 |page=71}}
}}
Record World said of the single "Gorilla, You're a Desperado" that "Zevon paints a picturesque fantasy of LA upper middle class absurdity."{{cite magazine|magazine=Record World|date=May 17, 1980|accessdate=2023-02-20|title=Single Picks|page=16|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Record-World/80s/80/RW-1980-05-17.pdf}}
Track listing
All songs written by Warren Zevon, unless otherwise indicated.
{{Track listing
| total_length =
| headline = Side one
| title1 = Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School
| note1 =
| length1 = 3:00
| title2 = A Certain Girl
| writer2 = Naomi Neville
| length2 = 3:08
| title3 = Jungle Work
| writer3 = Jorge Calderón, Zevon
| length3 = 3:58
| title4 = Empty-Handed Heart
| note4 =
| length4 = 3:16
| title5 = Interlude No. 1
| note5 =
| length5 = 0:26
| title6 = Play It All Night Long
| note6 =
| length6 = 2:53
}}
{{Track listing
| headline = Side two
| title7 = Jeannie Needs a Shooter
| writer7 = Bruce Springsteen, Zevon
| length7 = 3:55
| title8 = Interlude No. 2
| note8 =
| length8 = 1:08
| title9 = Bill Lee
| note9 =
| length9 = 1:37
| title10 = Gorilla, You're a Desperado
| note10 =
| length10 = 2:47
| title11 = Bed of Coals
| writer11 = T-Bone Burnett, Zevon
| length11 = 5:04
| title12 = Wild Age
| note12 =
| length12 = 4:19
}}
Personnel
- Warren Zevon – 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
- JD 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
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
|+Sales chart performance for Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School !scope="col"|Chart (1980) !scope="col"|Position |
| scope="row"|Australian Albums (Kent Music Report){{cite book|last=Kent|first=David|author-link=David Kent (historian)|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992|edition=illustrated|publisher=Australian Chart Book|location=St Ives, N.S.W.|year=1993|isbn=0-646-11917-6|page=348}}
|align="center"|35 |
|---|
| {{album chart|New Zealand|46|artist=Warren Zevon|album=Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School|rowheader=true|accessdate=October 27, 2020}} |
| {{album chart|Billboard200|20|artist=Warren Zevon|rowheader=true|accessdate=October 27, 2020}} |
See also
- Letter to You, a 2020 Bruce Springsteen album, features a different song with a similar title, "Janey Needs a Shooter"
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Warren Zevon}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bad Luck Streak In Dancing School}}