Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School

Template:Use mdy dates {{safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst-infobox||$params=italic_title,name,type,longtype,artist,cover,border,alt,caption,released,recorded,venue,studio,genre,length,language,label,director,producer,compiler,chronology,prev_title,prev_year,year,next_title,next_year,misc|$extra=italic_title,longtype,border,caption,language,director,compiler,chronology,year,misc|$aliases=italic title>italic_title,Italic title>italic_title,Name>name,Type>type,image>cover,Cover>cover,Border>border,Alt>alt,Caption>caption,Longtype>longtype,Artist>artist,Released>released,Recorded>recorded,Venue>venue,Studio>studio,Genre>genre,Length>length,Language>language,Label>label,Director>director,Producer>producer,Compiler>compiler,Chronology>chronology,Misc>misc|$flags=override|$B={{#ifeq:{{#invoke:Is infobox in lead|main|[Ii]nfobox [Aa]lbum}}|true|{{#if:Template:Has short description | |{{#if: Template:Start date | Template:Short description}}}}}}{{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}Template:Template otherTemplate:Category handlerTemplate:Main other{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Infobox album with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y|italic_title |type |name |image |cover |border |alt |caption |longtype |artist |released |recorded |venue |studio |genre |length |language |label |director |producer |compiler |prev_title|prev_year|next_title|next_year|chronology|year|misc}}{{#if:{{#invoke:String|match|error_category=Music infoboxes with Module:String errors|A|1=Excitable Boy1978Stand in the Fire1980Studio albumBad Luck Streak in Dancing SchoolWarren Zevon - Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School.jpgWarren ZevonTemplate:Start date1979The Sound Factory, Hollywood, CaliforniaRock35:31ElektraGreg Ladanyi, Warren Zevonx|2=</?t[drh][ >]|nomatch=}}|Template:Main other}}Template:Main other}} 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 Template:Abbr 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Critical reception

In an essay on the album, journalist James Campion would note Zevon's desire to escape from traditional rock arrangements and embrace his classical music training; comparing Zevon's string arrangements in the album to an unpublished symphony Zevon would work on throughout his life.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Campion also noted the unusual instrumentation in the album achieved by Zevon firing a .44 Magnum (the same pistol that had been featured in the centerfold art of Excitable Boy) into a barrel of sand inside the recording studio to achieve the short rapid percussion noises at the start of the album's title track.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The album title was derived from both Zevon's practice of ballet to keep in shape and a quip Warren made about "bad luck streak in dancing school" after falling off stage in Chicago during a 1978 show.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Record World said of the single "Gorilla, You're a Desperado" that "Zevon paints a picturesque fantasy of LA upper middle class absurdity."<ref name=rw>Template:Cite magazine</ref> 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."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> "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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

"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.”<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Track listing

All songs written by Warren Zevon, unless otherwise indicated. Template:Track listing Template:Track listing

Personnel

• Warren Zevon – organ, synthesizer, bass guitar, guitar, harmonica, piano, keyboards, vocals, string arrangements, .44 magnum pistol
• 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"
• Leland Sklar – bass guitar
• 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"
• 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

Template:Album chartTemplate:Album chart

Sales chart performance for Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School

Chart (1980)	Position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)<ref name=aus>Template:Cite book</ref>	35

See also

• Letter to You, a 2020 Bruce Springsteen album, features a different song with a similar title, "Janey Needs a Shooter"
• General Admission, a 2015 Machine Gun Kelly album that samples "Play it All Night Long" on the track "All Night Long"