VIA PRESS RELEASE | Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab (MoFi), the leader in high-fidelity audio reissues, is proud to reissue Warren Zevon’s Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School in audiophile sound for the first time on vinyl and as a Hybrid SACD. Available for order beginning August 14, MoFi’s numbered-edition 180g 45RPM 2LP Set (order HERE) and limited-edition Hybrid SACD (order HERE) present the gold-certified record with exceptional presence, detail, and ultra-quiet backgrounds.
The regal strings and successive gunshots that announce the start of Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School encapsulate the contrasts Warren Zevon deftly navigates on an album that further telescoped his witty, neo-noir songwriting to a broad audience. Recorded as the Chicago native struggled to overcome toxic addictions and advance from a soured marriage, the 1980 record showcases his interest in classical arrangements and knack for incisive observation, tongue-in-cheek fun, and heartbreaking emotion.
Sourced from the original analog master tapes (1/4″ / 15 IPS Dolby A analog master to DSD 256 to analog console to lathe), pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing, and housed in a Stoughton gatefold jacket, Mobile Fidelity’s numbered-edition 180g 45RPM 2LP set presents Zevon’s fourth album in audiophile sound. MoFi’s hybrid SACD is also sourced from the original analog master tapes, housed in mini-LP-style packaging, and strictly limited to 2,500 numbered copies.
Co-produced by Zevon and longtime studio partner Greg Ladanyi, Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School benefits from key collaborations with ace 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.
Listeners will experience wide instrumental separation, dynamic depth, and the naturalism that elevates the body and tenor of Zevon’s vocals. Everything from the .44 Magnum that Zevon fired into a barrel of sand to capture percussive effects at the beginning of the title track to the variety of slide, pedal, lap-steel, and electric guitars used throughout comes through with engaging clarity.
Dedicated to crime-fiction author Ken Millar and distinguished by a back cover that famously features a pair of ballet shoes resting alongside a machine gun and spent bullets, Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School often reveals the singer-songwriter at his most personal. Thematically, the title song finds the then-newly divorced Zevon pledging to change, while the T Bone Burnett co-written “Bed of Coals” extends that commitment. The sweeping piano-based ballad “Empty-Handed Heart,” featuring a descant gorgeously sung by Ronstadt, witnesses Zevon at his most conciliatory and tender despite the fact the subject of his affection has moved on.
Those characteristics are also present on the Top 20 record’s rowdier fare. Partnering with Jorge Calderon, Zevon delivers a classic mercenary tale on “Jungle Work,” featuring Walsh on lead guitar. For the socially biting “Gorilla, You’re a Desperado,” Henley and Browne join on the chorus.
In addition to industry friends, Zevon draws major-league pitcher Bill Lee into the mix by way of a namesake tribute where harmonica substitutes for Lee’s off-the-cuff remarks, while the Bruce Springsteen co-write “Jeannie Needs a Shooter” makes a permanent mark via push-pull riffs and Walsh’s guitar lines. Zevon lets loose on a snappy rendition of Allen Toussaint’s “A Certain Girl” and sends out the closing “Wild Age” with delirious excitement.
