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Cover of Wild‐Eyed Southern Boys by .38 Special
Cover: Wild‐Eyed Southern Boys

Song · .38 Special

“Hold On Loosely” by .38 Special

From the album Wild‐Eyed Southern Boys (1980)

“Hold On Loosely” by .38 Special appears on 84 radio countdowns from 27 stations between 1981 and 2026. It was first released in 1980 on the album Wild‐Eyed Southern Boys. Its best result is #12 on the WMGK Philly 500 (2024). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #149 classic rock song of all time.

84countdowns
27stations
#12best position
0#1 finishes
0top 10 finishes
1981–2026years charted

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Hold On Loosely

Video from YouTube (38 Special - Topic). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Hold On Loosely" led the charge as the first single from .38 Special's Wild-Eyed Southern Boys, and it's the sound of a band trimming its boogie down to fighting weight. Don Barnes sings lead and plays guitar alongside Jeff Carlisi, and the pair wrote it with Jim Peterik, who reckoned his opening riff was something like the Cars colliding with Lynyrd Skynyrd.

The spark was personal. Barnes was going through a rough stretch in his marriage and felt his wife wasn't backing his ambitions; he floated the title to Peterik, who finished the thought. Rodney Mills produced, with Steve Brookins and Jack Grondin doubling up on drums and Larry Junstrom on bass. It climbed to No. 3 on Billboard's Rock Tracks chart and No. 27 on the Hot 100, and on MTV's first day on air in 1981 it was the 13th video played.

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

RockLists rankings

Classic Rock

Hard Rock & Metal

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1981 24 KISW Seattle-Tacoma, WA KISW 25 Biggest Rock Songs from 1981 25

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1982 285 95.5 KLOS KLOS Memorial Day 500 (1982) 499
1994 839 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1994) 1000
1995 940 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1995) 1000
1996 936 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1996) 1000
1997 175 104.5 KZEP KZEP Memorial Weekend Top 500 (1997) 500
1997 318 100.7 WZLX WZLX Memorial 500 (1997) 499
1998 983 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1998) 1000
1999 970 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1999) 998
2002 307 92.3 KGON KGON Top 923 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2002) 923
2004 306 92.3 KGON KGON Top 923 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2004) 923
2011 157 97.9 The Loop The Loop Rock N Roll 500 (2011) 500
2011 264 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1100 Countdown (2011) 1100
2012 162 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2012) 500
2012 266 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1200 Countdown (2012) 1200
2013 65 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2013) 500
2013 396 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR CT 500 (2013) 500
2013 28 Big 100 BIG 500 Labor Day Countdown (2013) 500
2013 335 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Grand Jam 1000 (2013) 1000
2014 266 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX 1K Countdown (2014) 1000
2014 39 Big 100 BIG 1000 New Year's Countdown (2014) 1000
2015 334 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1007 Classic Rock Countdown (2015) 1007
2015 86 I-95 I-95 Memorial Day Weekend Top 500 (2015) 500
2016 72 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2016) 500
2016 213 Qfm96 Qfm96 Memorial Day 500 (2016) 500
2016 96 103.5 The Fox The Fox Memorial Day 500 (2016) 299
2016 157 102.9 The Whale 102.9 The Whale Hartford 500 (2016) 500
2017 268 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2017) 500
2017 347 97.9 The Loop 97.9 The Loop Top 540 Countdown (2017) 540
2017 71 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2017) 500
2018 253 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2018) 500
2018 73 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2018) 500
2019 446 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2019) 500
2019 421 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ 500 (2019) 500
2019 171 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2019) 500
2019 365 102.5 KZOK KZOK Top 1025 of 2019 1025
2019 211 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2019) 500
2019 271 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Big 500 (2019) 499
2020 441 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2020) 500
2020 151 Q105.7 Q105.7 Memorial Day 500 (2020) 499
2020 244 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2020) 500
2020 563 102.5 KZOK KZOK Classic Rock Top 1025 (2020) 1025
2021 631 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2021) 1043
2021 329 100.7 KSLX KSLX Arizona 500 (2021) 499
2021 221 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Big 500 (2021) 500
2021 460 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2021) 500
2021 387 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ 500 (2021) 500
2021 78 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2021) 500
2021 139 WCSX WCSX Rock & Roll 500 (2021) 499
2022 408 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2022) 1043
2022 254 100.7 KSLX KSLX Arizona 500 (2022) 500
2022 70 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Big 500 (2022) 500
2022 449 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2022) 500
2022 137 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2022) 500
2022 344 97.1 The River River 500 (2022) 500
2022 146 94.1 KRNA KRNA Memorial Day 500 (2022) 500
2022 366 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2022) 500
2022 36 WMGK WMGK Philly 500 (2022) 500
2022 263 102.5 KZOK KZOK Classic Rock Top 1025 (2022) 1025
2023 179 97.1 The Drive 97.1 The Drive Memorial Day Weekend Rock N Roll 500 (2023) 500
2023 581 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2023) 1043
2023 300 Qfm96 Qfm96 Memorial Day 500 (2023) 500
2023 414 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2023) 500
2023 425 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2023) 500
2023 153 KSHE 95 KSHE 95 Rock N' Roll 500 (2023) 500
2023 132 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2023) 500
2023 146 101.5 WPDH WPDH Top 1015 (2023) 1015
2023 62 WMGK WMGK Philly 500 (2023) 500
2024 12 WMGK WMGK Philly 500 (2024) 500
2024 917 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2024) 1043
2024 304 Qfm96 Qfm96 Memorial Day 500 (2024) 498
2024 243 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2024) 500
2024 75 KQRS KQRS KQ 500 (2024) 499
2024 283 KSHE 95 KSHE 95 Rock N' Roll 500 (2024) 500
2024 174 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2024) 499
2025 109 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2025) 500
2025 24 WMGK WMGK Philly 500 (2025) 500
2025 824 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2025) 1043
2025 298 Qfm96 Qfm96 Memorial Day 500 (2025) 498
2025 284 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2025) 500
2025 316 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2025) 500
2026 22 WMGK WMGK Philly 500 (2026) 500
2026 236 100.7 KSLX KSLX Arizona 500 (2026) 500
2026 270 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2026) 500

Also listed as: Hold on Loosely.

Charting alongside it in 1981

Best songs of 1981 →
  1. 1Start Me UpThe Rolling Stones
  2. 2Tom SawyerRush
  3. 3I Love Rock-N-RollJoan Jett
  4. 4Every Little Thing She Does Is MagicThe Police
  5. 5Jukebox HeroForeigner
  6. 6For Those About to RockAC/DC

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