Out There!: "Lucky Number" by Lene Lovich

You could analyze any genre of music and determine who were the artists that truly influenced it. Heavy metal can be attributed to Black Sabbath and Deep Purple. Disco can be attributed to Donna Summer. Boy Band Pop can be traced back to the Jackson Five. New wave can be attributed to Blondie and The Talking Heads. And cheesy 80's music can be attributed to Lene Lovich. Wait, who is Lene Lovich, you might ask? Well, before Cyndi Lauper, Bow Wow Wow, and Dale Bozio from Missing Persons came along, there was Lene Lovich. She is the genius behind the classic tune, Lucky Number, a song recorded in 1979 that was probably the first to actually sound like a typical 80's tune.

Lene Lovich was an American singer based in the UK whose style was mixing quirky sounds with new wave and punk. She might have been kind of like the female version of Frank Zappa. Her most famous song, Lucky Number, was released in 1979 and it has gone overlooked by club DJ's. It's your typical 80's new wave tune with a memorable whoo whoo whoo whoo chant in the chorus. Very upbeat! Although the song was a big hit in England, it failed to chart in the U.S. Most music fans probably have no recollection of this track, but I am confident it could have been a big hit in the clubs if more attention was given to the tune. I didn't even know about this song until my brother shared it with me. Since it never was a Billboard chart hit and pretty damn obscure, I wasn't sure I even needed it. I probably had it for about two years until it caught my attention one day while falling in and out sleep during a nap. But now after listening to it a few times, I have fallen in love with the tune. Since I've probably heard the classic 80's new waves tunes so many damn times over the last twenty years, it's nice to enjoy a song that's fresh since it wasn't a radio smash while also never receiving exposure on MTV. Lene Lovich was ahead of her time, but is never given credit when people talk about the influences of new wave. Yet in this music guy's estimation, Lucky Number was to 80's new wave music like what Smells Like Teen Spirit from Nirvana was to grunge music. In fact, if you watch the video below, you could argue that she was kind of like the 70's version of Lady Gaga! Who knows, maybe a cover of this song will be on Gaga's next album?

WHOO WHOO WHOO WHOO!! My lucky number's One!

Ladies and gentlemen.... Lucky Number from Lene Lovich