Warren Zevon - Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School

1. Bad Luck Streak In Dancing School
2. A Certain Girl
3. Jungle Work
4. Empty-Handed Heart
5. Interlude No. 1
6. Play It All Night Long
7. Jeannie Needs A Shooter
8. Interlude No. 2
9. Bill Lee
10. Gorilla, You're A Desperado
11. Bed Of Coals
12. Wild Age

The majestic strings and successive gunshots that usher in the opening of “Bad Luck Streak In Dancing School” embody the contrasts between which Warren Zevon so skillfully moves on his fourth album – a record that brought his witty, neo-noir-inflected songwriting to a wider audience. Released in 1980 and created while the Chicago-born musician was struggling to overcome addiction issues and move beyond a failed marriage, the album reveals his interest in classical arrangements and his gift for sharp observation, wry humor and heartbreaking emotion. “Bad Luck Streak In Dancing School”, co-produced by Zevon and his longtime studio partner Greg Ladanyi, became a Top 20 album in no small part thanks to collaborations with top musicians such as Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt, Ben Keith, Waddy Wachtel, J.D. Souther, and Eagles members Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Joe Walsh and Don Felder!

Dedicated to crime novelist Ken Millar, who helped Zevon through his rehabilitation, “Bad Luck Streak In Dancing School” reveals the singer-songwriter at his most personal. Zevon combines this with two striking string interludes reminiscent of chamber music, reflecting his admiration for composer Igor Stravinsky, whom he once visited in Russia. Thematically, the newly divorced Zevon promises in the title track that he will change. The high, lonely-sounding song “Bed Of Coals”, written together with T Bone Burnett, reinforces that promise. And the stirring, piano-led ballad “Empty-Handed Heart” shows Zevon at his most conciliatory and tender. In the coda of the latter track, a beautifully sung descant by Ronstadt lifts the melody into another realm and confirms the deeply rooted complexity and refinement that run throughout Zevon’s entire body of work.

Together with his buddy Jorge Calderon, Zevon delivers one of his classic mercenary tales in “Jungle Work”. Dense and dark, the song radiates a fitting desperado atmosphere through a macho military-style chorus and forceful tones – intensified by Joe Walsh’s memorable lead-guitar work. For the socially critical “Gorilla, You’re A Desperado”, Zevon presents a melody that moves like a compressed accordion. Henley and Browne join in on the chorus, and the collective seems to dance its way through a vivid landscape shaped by the absurdity of rubber masks, humor and turmoil.

MFSL now presents “Bad Luck Streak In Dancing School” for the first time as an audiophile Hybrid SACD, with the best sound quality the album has ever had. This collectible reissue sets new standards for spatiality, transparency and dynamics. No previous version offers the warmth, clarity and impact of MoFi’s strictly limited Hybrid SACD, restricted to just 2,500 copies! Turn your amplifier all the way up and let this unforgettable 80s classic play all night long!