Get Lucky (Loverboy album)

Summary

Get Lucky is the second studio album by Canadian hard rock band Loverboy. It was released on October 7, 1981, by Columbia Records. The album reached number 7 on the Billboard 200 album chart, remaining on the chart for over two years, and has sold over 4 million copies in the United States. It featured the singles "Working for the Weekend", "When It's Over", "Lucky Ones", and "Take Me to the Top.”

Get Lucky
Studio album by
ReleasedOctober 7, 1981
Recorded1980–81
StudioMushroom Studios
GenreHard rock
Length40:15
LabelColumbia
ProducerBruce Fairbairn, Paul Dean
Loverboy chronology
Loverboy
(1980)
Get Lucky
(1981)
Keep It Up
(1983)
Singles from Get Lucky
  1. "Working for the Weekend"
    Released: October 1981
  2. "When It's Over"
    Released: 1982
  3. "Take Me to the Top"
    Released: 1982
  4. "Lucky Ones"
    Released: 1982
  5. "Jump"
    Released: 1982
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Record Mirror[2]
Rolling Stone[3]

According to Scott Smith's notes on the Greatest Hits album Big Ones, the song "Take Me to the Top" is actually the demo version "complete with out of tune bass" because the band couldn't quite capture the sound in the studio.

The album was re-released as a digitally remastered CD in July 2006 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of its original release. The remastered album features four bonus tracks, all of which were previously unreleased demos.

Artwork edit

The cover of the album depicts the posterior of someone wearing tight red leather pants, with a man's arm and hand in the foreground with index and middle finger crossed. The model wearing the leather pants was 13-year-old Tymara Kennedy, daughter of photographer David Michael Kennedy who shot the cover.[4] The photo credit on the album stated "Bottom by: T.K.", which was sometimes interpreted as the publishing shorthand for the term to come.[4] The use of red leather pants originated from Reno selecting a few items from a leather shop owned by the husband of the band manager's publicist.[5]

Until 2014, various claims about the identity of the person wearing the leather pants were made. These included Mike Reno, the band's lead singer, who "just went along with" such claims,[6] and Paul Dean, both of whom wore red leather pants during the concert tour for the album. At other times, both were ambiguous about the identity of the model.[4] In a 2012 interview, Reno stated that the model was the photographer's daughter,[7] a claim repeated in a 2013 interview.[8] CBC Music confirmed the identity of the model in an interview with Steven Keller in August 2014.[4] According to Kennedy, his stylist found only one pair of red leather pants while shopping in New York City before the photo shoot in 1981. They fit none of the band members or models on the set. At home later that day, his daughter returned from school, saw the pants, and asked to try them. They fit her, and Kennedy decided to use her as the model.[4]

It is unknown whose hand and arm are in the picture. According to a 2015 article in The Toronto Star newspaper, an "Argentinian male model, six foot five" was hired "on the basis of his big hands". Tymara Kennedy died in an automobile crash in 1993, with the cover to this album as her only modelling credit.

The cover was chosen as one of the 50 greatest Canadian album covers by CBC Music staff in 2014.[9]

The cover of American singer Joan As Police Woman's 2020 album Cover Two is an homage to this Loverboy album.[10]

Track listing edit

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Working for the Weekend"Paul Dean, Matt Frenette, Mike Reno3:41
2."When It's Over"Dean, Reno5:08
3."Jump"Bryan Adams, Dean, Frenette, Reno, Jim Vallance3:41
4."Gangs in the Street"Dean, Reno4:35
5."Emotional"Dean4:55
6."Lucky Ones"Dean, Reno, Scott Smith, Denise Thurlow3:51
7."It's Your Life"Dean, Frenette, Johnson, Reno, Smith4:05
8."Watch Out"Dean, Johnson4:02
9."Take Me to the Top"Dean, Johnson, Reno6:13

Bonus tracks on remastered edition

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
10."I Told You So (Demo)" 1:13
11."Boy Likes the Girl (Demo)" 4:32
12."Your Town Saturday Night (Demo)" 3:08
13."Working for the Weekend (Demo)"Paul Dean, Matt Frenette, Mike Reno3:47

Personnel edit

All information from the album booklet.[11]

Loverboy

Additional musicians

Production

  • Bruce Fairbairn – producer
  • Keith Stein – engineer, recording
  • Rob Porter – engineer, recording
  • John Berg – cover design
  • Bob Rock – mixing, engineer
  • Mike Fraser – mixing, engineer
  • George Marino – mastering
  • David Kennedy – photography

Charts edit

Chart (1981-1982) Peak
position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[12] 70
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[13] 8
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[14] 21
US Billboard 200[15] 7

Certifications edit

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[16] 3× Platinum 300,000^
United States (RIAA)[17] 4× Platinum 4,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References edit

  1. ^ AllMusic review
  2. ^ Smith, Robin (20 February 1982). "Review: Loverboy — Get Lucky" (PDF). Record Mirror. p. 11. ISSN 0144-5804. Retrieved 21 April 2021 – via American Radio History.
  3. ^ Rolling Stone review
  4. ^ a b c d e Kinos-Goodin, Jesse (14 August 2014). "Behind the behind". CBC Music. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  5. ^ Wardlaw, Matt (8 August 2012). "Loverboy's Mike Reno Explains Why He Can't Drink Wild Turkey". Ultimate Classic Rock. Townsquare Media. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  6. ^ Lindblad, Peter (July 2012). "Who wears the red leather pants in Loverboy?". Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  7. ^ Lindblad, Peter (23 December 2012). "Loverboy's Mike Reno is still 'Lovin' Every Minute Of It'". Goldmine. F+W Media. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  8. ^ Chance, Todd (23 July 2013). "Loverboy still 'Workin' For The Weekend' and ready to play WLAV concert". MLive Media Group. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  9. ^ Kinos-Goodin, Jesse (7 March 2014). "The 50 greatest Canadian album covers". CBC Music. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  10. ^ Phares, Heather. "AllMusic Review". AllMusic. Retrieved August 19, 2021.
  11. ^ (1981). "Get Lucky liner notes". In Get Lucky [CD booklet]. Columbia Records.
  12. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  13. ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 0434". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  14. ^ "Charts.nz – Loverboy – Get Lucky". Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  15. ^ "Loverboy Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  16. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Loverboy – Get Lucky". Music Canada.
  17. ^ "American album certifications – Get Lucky – Loverboy". Recording Industry Association of America.