Hold On Loosely
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| "Hold On Loosely" | |
|---|---|
| Single by 38 Special | |
| from the album Wild-Eyed Southern Boys | |
| Released | February 1981 |
| Recorded | 1979–1980 |
| Genre | |
| Length | 4:40 (album version) 3:58 (7" version) |
| Label | A&M |
| Songwriter(s) | Don Barnes, Jeff Carlisi, Jim Peterik |
| Producer(s) | Rodney Mills |
"Hold On Loosely" is a 1981 rock song by 38 Special and the first track from their fourth studio album Wild-Eyed Southern Boys.
Release[]
Released as the lead single from the album, the song reached No. 3 on the Billboard Rock Tracks chart, and No. 27 on the Billboard Hot 100.[2] It later appeared on their 1987 compilation album Flashback: The Best of 38 Special and their 1999 live album Live at Sturgis. It was the 13th music video to be played on the day that MTV debuted in 1981.[3] Don Barnes sang lead vocals on the song.
Origin[]
Don Barnes[4] was going through a difficult time in his marriage, lamenting that his wife was not being more supportive of his career aspirations. He presented a seed idea for a song to cowriter Jim Peterik, asking what he thought of the title "Hold On Loosely", to which Peterik came back with, "...but don't let go".[5] For the music, Peterik described the song's opening riff as "like the Cars meets Lynyrd Skynyrd or something".[4] Taking inspiration from "Just What I Needed" by the Cars, Jeff Carlisi wrote the famous riff to the .38 Special song.
In Popular Culture[]
- In 2015, the song was featured in the television drama series Better Call Saul (Season 1, Episode 6 "Five-O").
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b Clark, Jeff (7 June 2016). "38 Special bring thrill of 'Hold on Loosely' to Hard Rock Live". Sun Herald. Sun Herald. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (2013). Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles, 14th Edition: 1955-2012. Record Research. p. 837.
- ^ Daniel Rubin, "Blinq: After 25 years, do you still want your MTV?" Philadelphia Inquirer, August 1, 2006 – via HighBeam Research (subscription required).
- ^ Jump up to: a b Wardlaw, Matt. "How Survivor's Jim Peterik Helped .38 Special + Sammy Hagar Write Big Hits". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
- ^ 38 Special's Don Barnes talks Hold on Loosely, Decades TV Network (YouTube channel, uploaded Nov 16, 2018)
External links[]
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- 38 Special (band) songs
- 1981 songs
- 1981 singles
- A&M Records singles
- Songs written by Jim Peterik
- Songs written by Don Barnes
- 1980s rock song stubs