"Lucky" by Greg Kihn

Song#:  2221
Date:  02/16/1985
Debut:  72
Peak:  30
Weeks:  12
Genre:  Rock, Blue-Eyed Soul



Pop Bits:  Kihn's ninth studio album, 1984's Kihntagious, did not come close to meeting expectations. It disappeared quickly after its two singles failed to reach the Pop chart (however, "Reunited" got to #9 at Rock). He needed to reverse the downward trend and came up with his next punned "Kihn" titled album, Citizen Kihn. This first single got things started and it did do better than the singles from his previous effort. It cracked the Pop Top 30 and got to #24 at Rock. Oddly, it did best on the Dance chart getting to #16. While it wasn't a major hit, the song did well enough to push the album to #51, which was a big improvement over the #121 peak of Kihntagious. The song seemed to signal that Kihn was back, but unfortunately it would end up being is last to reach the Pop Top 40.

ReduxReview:  I think this track is an overlooked gem from the time. It sounds similar to some of the blue-eyed soul acts that were coming out of the UK at the time. It's a sleek jam that hooks you in with its groovy bass line and chorus. It's a shame it didn't do better on the charts. I'd definitely list this as one of his best songs. The track showed that Kihn had some gas left in the tank, but unfortunately he was running on fumes.

ReduxRating:  7/10

Trivia:  The failure of the Kihntagious album not only affected Kihn, but also his long-time label, Beserkley. Founded and run by Matthew King Kaufman, Beserkley signed Kihn in 1976 and released all of Kihn's albums through to Kihntagious. Kaufman served as producer on all of them as well. However, by the 80s, Kihn was the only act signed to the Beserkley and when Kihntagious tanked, it hit the label hard. In the aftermath, Kaufman decided to dissolve Beserkley and let Kihn get signed to a major label that could support him. Kihn signed on with EMI America. Kaufman would remain with Kihn in the producer role. Also with the new label came a name change. The "Band" was dropped and Citizen Kihn was solely credited to Greg Kihn. It was his first album since 1978 to be billed as such.

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