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Song · Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

“You Got Lucky” by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

“You Got Lucky” by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers appears on 69 radio countdowns from 25 stations between 1982 and 2026. Its best result is #49 on the KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1982. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #72 alternative song of 1982.

69countdowns
25stations
#49best position
0#1 finishes
0top 10 finishes
1982–2026years charted

Watch

Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers - You Got Lucky

Video from YouTube (TomPettyVEVO). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers made "You Got Lucky" the first single from Long After Dark in 1982, and it was an odd one for Petty: synthesizers carry the song's frame, not guitars. Mike Campbell wrote it with Petty, starting from a drum loop he'd built in his own studio; in the studio they rebuilt the loop by recording the drummer, cutting the tape into a ring and running it around the room over mic stands, then played the song over it.

The guitar solo was Petty's idea, a twangy, tremolo-arm surf sound in the spirit of Ennio Morricone and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Jimmy Iovine produced with Petty, Shelly Yakus engineered, and the song spent three weeks at 1 on Billboard's Top Tracks chart at the end of 1982.

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

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

Classic Rock

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1982 49 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1982 107

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1997 134 100.7 WZLX WZLX Memorial 500 (1997) 499
1997 308 104.5 KZEP KZEP Memorial Weekend Top 500 (1997) 500
2002 356 92.3 KGON KGON Top 923 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2002) 923
2002 465 100.7 WZLX WZLX Memorial 500 (2002) 500
2004 373 92.3 KGON KGON Top 923 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2004) 923
2011 279 97.9 The Loop The Loop Rock N Roll 500 (2011) 500
2011 306 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1100 Countdown (2011) 1100
2012 308 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1200 Countdown (2012) 1200
2012 306 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2012) 500
2013 312 Big 100 BIG 500 Labor Day Countdown (2013) 500
2013 494 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR CT 500 (2013) 500
2013 242 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2013) 500
2014 377 Big 100 BIG 1000 New Year's Countdown (2014) 1000
2015 333 102.9 The Whale 102.9 The Whale Hartford 500 (2015) 500
2015 236 I-95 I-95 Memorial Day Weekend Top 500 (2015) 500
2016 252 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2016) 500
2016 816 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1007 Countdown for 2016 1007
2016 136 Qfm96 Qfm96 Memorial Day 500 (2016) 500
2016 149 102.9 The Whale 102.9 The Whale Hartford 500 (2016) 500
2017 264 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2017) 500
2017 344 97.9 The Loop 97.9 The Loop Top 540 Countdown (2017) 540
2018 261 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2018) 500
2018 419 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2018) 500
2019 322 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Big 500 (2019) 499
2019 266 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ 500 (2019) 500
2019 976 102.5 KZOK KZOK Top 1025 of 2019 1025
2019 188 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2019) 500
2019 448 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2019) 500
2019 307 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2019) 500
2020 317 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2020) 500
2020 146 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ 500 (2020) 500
2020 892 102.5 KZOK KZOK Classic Rock Top 1025 (2020) 1025
2020 417 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2020) 500
2020 258 Q105.7 Q105.7 Memorial Day 500 (2020) 499
2021 598 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '80s 909
2021 988 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2021) 1043
2021 378 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Big 500 (2021) 500
2021 70 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ 500 (2021) 500
2021 225 100.7 KSLX KSLX Arizona 500 (2021) 499
2021 262 WCSX WCSX Rock & Roll 500 (2021) 499
2022 465 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2022) 500
2022 300 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2022) 1043
2022 261 94.1 KRNA KRNA Memorial Day 500 (2022) 500
2022 139 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Big 500 (2022) 500
2022 232 102.5 KZOK KZOK Classic Rock Top 1025 (2022) 1025
2022 316 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2022) 500
2022 397 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2022) 500
2022 141 100.7 KSLX KSLX Arizona 500 (2022) 500
2022 417 97.1 The River River 500 (2022) 500
2023 830 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 850 Songs of the 1980s 850
2023 925 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2023) 1043
2023 212 KSHE 95 KSHE 95 Rock N' Roll 500 (2023) 500
2023 195 Qfm96 Qfm96 Memorial Day 500 (2023) 500
2023 446 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2023) 500
2023 386 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2023) 500
2023 261 101.5 WPDH WPDH Top 1015 (2023) 1015
2024 476 KQRS KQRS KQ 500 (2024) 499
2024 689 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2024) 1043
2024 468 KSHE 95 KSHE 95 Rock N' Roll 500 (2024) 500
2024 204 Qfm96 Qfm96 Memorial Day 500 (2024) 498
2024 282 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2024) 500
2024 275 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2024) 499
2025 252 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2025) 500
2025 903 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2025) 1043
2025 197 Qfm96 Qfm96 Memorial Day 500 (2025) 498
2025 314 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2025) 500
2026 321 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2026) 500
2026 451 100.7 KSLX KSLX Arizona 500 (2026) 500

Charting alongside it in 1982

Best songs of 1982 →
  1. 1Town Called MaliceThe Jam
  2. 2Rock the CasbahThe Clash
  3. 3Should I Stay or Should I Go?The Clash
  4. 4Promised You a MiracleSimple Minds
  5. 5TemptationNew Order
  6. 6I Ran (So Far Away)A Flock of Seagulls

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