"Hold On Loosely" is a song by American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

38 Special 38 Special may refer to: * .38 Special The .38 Special, also commonly known as .38 S&W Special (not to be confused with .38 S&W), .38 Smith & Wesson Special, .38 Spl, .38 Spc, (pronounced "thirty-eight special"), or 9x29mmR is a rimmed, cent ...

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. 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 A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

to be played on the day that MTV debuted in 1981.

Don Barnes Richard Donald Barnes (born December 3, 1952) is an American rock vocalist and guitarist and one of the founding members of the Southern rock band 38 Special. Barnes performed lead vocals on nearly all of the group's biggest hits, including " ...

sang lead vocals on the song.

Origin

Barnes going through a difficult time in his marriage, lamented that his wife was not being more supportive of his career aspirations. He presented a seed idea for a song to co-writer

Jim Peterik James Michael Peterik ( ; born November 11, 1950) is an American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the founder of the rock band Survivor, as vocalist and songwriter of "Vehicle" by the Ides of March, and as co-writer of the anthem " ...

, asking what he thought of the title "Hold On Loosely", to which Peterik came back with, "...but don't let go". For the music, Peterik described the song's opening riff as "Like

the Cars The Cars were an American rock band formed in Boston in 1976. Emerging from the new wave scene in the late 1970s, they consisted of Ric Ocasek ( rhythm guitar), Benjamin Orr (bass guitar), Elliot Easton (lead guitar), Greg Hawkes (keyboards), ...

meets

Lynyrd Skynyrd Lynyrd Skynyrd ( ) is an American rock music, rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida. The group originally formed as My Backyard in 1964 and comprised Ronnie Van Zant (lead vocalist), Gary Rossington (guitar), Allen Collins (guitar), Larry Ju ...

or something". Taking inspiration from "

Just What I Needed "Just What I Needed" is a song by American rock band The Cars from their self-titled debut album (1978). The song, which first achieved radio success as a demo, took inspiration from the Ohio Express and the Velvet Underground. The song is sun ...

" by the Cars, Jeff Carlisi wrote the famous riff to the song.

In popular culture

The song was used in the Season 1 episode of '' The Middle'' titled "The Break-Up"''.'' It was used in Season 1, episode 6 of Better Call Saul. It was also used in the movie ''Without A Paddle''.

References

External links

* 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-stub