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Cover of Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell by Social Distortion
Cover: Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell

Song · Social Distortion

“Bad Luck” by Social Distortion

From the album Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell (1992)

“Bad Luck” by Social Distortion appears on 41 radio countdowns from 12 stations between 1992 and 2022. It was first released in 1992 on the album Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell. Its best result is #22 on the 91X Top 91 Songs of 1992. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #66 alternative song of 1992 and #398 alternative song of all time.

41countdowns
12stations
#22best position
0#1 finishes
0top 10 finishes
1992–2022years charted

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Social Distortion - Bad Luck

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"Bad Luck" led off Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell, Social Distortion's fourth studio album, as its first single in 1992, and it's the band's cowpunk swagger at full strut. Mike Ness wrote it, words and music, and it rolls like a hot rod with a busted muffler: a greasy, rockabilly-tinged riff, a stomping beat and a chorus built for a whole bar to holler along to.

Dave Jerden produced it for Epic, and Andy Wallace engineered and mixed it, which means the guitars hit big and clean without losing any of the grit. It's punk rock that grew up listening to country and never apologized for either.

It made number 2 on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart, the best debut showing any Social Distortion single had managed, and none of their singles has charted higher since.

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

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1992 99 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1992 107
1992 22 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 1992 91
1992 64 Live 105 San Francisco, CA Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 1992 105
1992 99 Q101 Chicago, IL Q101 Top 101 Songs of 1992 101
1992 46 WHFS Washington, DC / Baltimore, MD WHFS Top 99.1 Songs of 1992 100

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1996 291 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1996) 500
1999 299 KROQ KROQ Top 300 Most Requested Songs of the '90s (Labor Day 1999) 300
1999 252 WHFS WHFS Top 500 Songs of the '90s (December 1999) 500
1999 423 91X 91X Fat 500 Songs of All-Time (July 1999) 500
1999 766 Q101 Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1017
1999 403 WFNX WFNX Top 500 Songs of All-Time (June 1999) 500
1999 483 CD101 CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 2000
2000 485 CD101 CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) 2001
2001 467 CD101 CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) 2002
2002 324 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2002) 500
2002 467 CD101 CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) 2003
2002 100 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) 2002
2003 216 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2003) 500
2003 467 CD101 CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) 2004
2003 90 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) 2044
2004 493 107.7 The End The End Original Alternative 500 (May 2004) 500
2004 467 CD101 CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 2005
2005 221 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2005) 500
2005 470 CD101 CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 1994
2005 37 The Edge KEDJ Top 103 on Independent Radio 103
2006 254 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 2006) 500
2006 457 Live 105 Live 105 500 Co-Op Countdown (Memorial Day 2006) 500
2006 208 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2006) 499
2007 125 KROQ KROQ Top 500 Most Requested Songs of the '90s (Labor Day 2007) 500
2007 178 CD101 CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) 2008
2008 209 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 2008) 500
2008 156 CD101 CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) 2009
2009 393 Live 105 Live 105 Memorial 500 Song List (2009) 500
2009 162 CD101 CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) 2010
2010 179 CD101 CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) 2011
2011 186 CD101 CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) 2011
2013 196 CD101 CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) 2012
2014 195 CD101 CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) 2013
2020 352 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2020) 420
2021 364 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2021) 420
2022 365 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2022) 420

Charting alongside it in 1992

Best songs of 1992 →
  1. 1Friday I'm in LoveThe Cure
  2. 2Under the BridgeRed Hot Chili Peppers
  3. 3DriveR.E.M.
  4. 4OneU2
  5. 5JeremyPearl Jam
  6. 6TomorrowMorrissey

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