Wild‐Eyed Southern Boys by .38 Special

Wild-Eyed Southern Boys, the fourth studio album from Jacksonville's .38 Special, came out on A&M with Rodney Mills producing, and it's the sound of a Southern rock band learning to love a radio hook. Donnie Van Zant and Don Barnes, who had started the band together in 1974, share the singing, Jeff Carlisi adds guitar alongside Barnes, Larry Junstrom holds down the bass, and Steve Brookins and Jack Grondin double up on drums, so the grooves land twice as hard.

The prize is "Hold On Loosely", the hit single that has stayed a classic rock staple ever since, all chiming riff and tightly wound chorus. The album reached number 23 in Canada, and a remastered CD with four bonus live tracks came out in September 2023.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.