Warren Zevon :: “Bad Luck Streak In Dancing School” - Asylum Records
Coming straight off the harmonious high of the late legend’s 1978 masterpiece, “Excitable Boy”, the mad man maestro known to many as Warren Zevon, followed up the instantaneous classic with 1980s “Bad Luck Streak In Dancing School” with vigorous volume and a heroic appetite for volunteering precious man hours into the poetic void of sobriety. For the last decade, Zevon rode a peculiar wave of genius paranoia and monumental mastery of the muse in the early days of his career. With a highly misunderstood debut back in 1969 entitled “Wanted Dead, Or Alive", Zevon struggled with the grip-less jungle gym of the music industry as a solo artist and instead allowed his unparalleled talents to be absorbed by becoming a songwriter player, touring musician, session player, jingle composer, musical coordinator, and all around secret weapon before piercing the adolescent atmosphere the following decade with the unlimited powers of unpredictable prowess and enormous enigma.
“Bad Luck Streak In Dancing School”, is a melodic memoir of memory and broken glass reflective of both a man in the throes of career, artistic pursuit, the full collapsing of an economy built on unforgivable greed and the almighty autonomy of addiction. Zevon began recording sometime in 1979 with the help of his close and dear friends Jackson Browne, Don Henley, Joe Walsh, Linda Ronstadt and countless others, in order to help bring the musician’s 4th studio album to life in a way that felt more community orientated than ever before. With an unforgettable track list featuring numbers such as “Jungle Work”, “Gorilla, You're a Desperado", “Empty-Handed Heart" and the sweet serenading hymn of the A-side’s epic ender, "Play It All Night Long", Zevon officially entered the more sophisticated maturity of a now seasoned veteran in the sometimes holographic world of music, where his voiced shined through the complexed chromosomes of past, present and future lullabies dipped in lysergic absurdity.
“The reason I put the skull with my glasses on every album is because it reminds me not to take myself seriously. Most people do take themselves seriously in this job, but so as long as I have that skull wearing my glasses beaming back at me from my luggage tags and shit, it tends to remind me before it’s too late, that I better lighten up a little bit”
Dedicated to the infamous mystery writer, Ken Miller, known to many by his poetic pseudonym, Ross MacDonal, successfully helped in aiding Zevon on his preliminary path to sobriety, which landed successfully for the time being, and in return, produced not only a fresh start to life for the young musician, but an album that stands as some of his finest work since that of the mid to late 70s run. Having passed just a few years after the release of the album, “Bad Luck Streak In Dancing School” has become this visceral statement on the more abstract elements that ultimately make society and government this shapeless deity measured only in financial status, as well as a modern sculpture leaning someplace quiet and socially sacred, while engulfed in a secondhand smoke aura. Zevon manages to effortlessly manifest the tonality of his instrumentation behind both the piano and guitar by smothering all the "isms" of life, science and philosophy with his outstandingly perfected wit and the near-death experience of his holy humor.
Beloved by many, including his close friends, such as David Letterman, Jackson Browne, Bruce Springsteen, the late and great Hunter S. Thompson, Don Henley and countless others, Zevon’s memory has only grown richer since his untimely passing over two decades and a great man once said, “Enjoy Every Sandwich”, and that’s sincerely all we can do in this life.
