"Hollywood (Down on Your Luck)" is a song by the

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

rock band

Thin Lizzy Thin Lizzy are an Irish hard rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. Their music reflects a wide range of influences, including blues, soul music, psychedelic rock and traditional Irish folk music, but is generally classified as hard rock or some ...

, written by guitarist

Scott Gorham William Scott Gorham (born March 17, 1951) is an American guitarist and songwriter who is one of the "twin lead guitarists" for the Irish rock band Thin Lizzy. Although not a founding member of Thin Lizzy, he served a continuous membership after ...

and bassist/vocalist

Phil Lynott Philip Parris Lynott (, ; 20 August 1949 – 4 January 1986) was an Irish singer, bassist, and songwriter. His most commercially successful group was Thin Lizzy, of which he was a founding member, the principal songwriter, lead vocalist and ba ...

, and released as a single in 1982. It was the only single to be released from their

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

album ''

Renegade Renegade or The Renegade may refer to: Aircraft *Lake Renegade, an American amphibious aircraft design *Murphy Renegade, a Canadian ultralight biplane design *Southern Aeronautical Renegade, an American racing aircraft design Games *'' Comman ...

''.Alan Byrne, "Thin Lizzy: Soldiers of Fortune", Firefly, 2004, p. 143

Single release

The opening track on Side 2 of ''Renegade'', "Hollywood (Down on Your Luck)" was released as a single in February 1982, over three months after the album which had been released the previous November.

Vertigo Records Vertigo Records is a record company with United Kingdom origins. It was a subsidiary of the Philips/Phonogram record label, launched in 1969 to specialise in progressive rock and other non-mainstream musical styles. Today, it is operated by Uni ...

refused to finance a promotional video for the song, which contributed to a relatively poor chart placing compared to past singles.Alan Byrne, "Philip Lynott: Renegade of Thin Lizzy", Mentor, 2012, p. 116 In the UK, "Hollywood" reached no. 53, which apart from the previous single, "Trouble Boys", which also reached no. 53, was the lowest chart placing for a Thin Lizzy single in the UK since "Wild One" failed to chart in 1975. In Ireland, the single did not chart at all, again the worst performance since the mid-1970s. It did, however, reach no. 24 on the US

Mainstream Rock Mainstream rock (also known as heritage rock) is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada. Format background Mainstream rock stations represent the middle ground between classic rock and active rock ...

chart.

Other countries and formats

"Hollywood" was released in various territories, all with the same picture sleeve or with a plain record company sleeve. In the UK a 7"

picture disc Picture discs are gramophone (phonograph) records that show images on their playing surface, rather than being of plain black or colored vinyl. Collectors traditionally reserve the term picture disc for records with graphics that extend at lea ...

was also released, in a plain plastic sleeve. The first 30,000 singles were picture discs and the remainder were black vinyl. In the Netherlands, the usual b-side "The Pressure Will Blow" was replaced with another track from ''Renegade'', "Mexican Blood". In Canada, the b-side of the single was "Girls", written by Lynott, former Thin Lizzy guitarist Brian Robertson and ex-

Rainbow A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows c ...

bassist

Jimmy Bain James Stewart Bain (19 December 1947 – 23 January 2016) was a Scottish musician, best known for playing bass guitar in the bands Rainbow and Dio. He also worked with Kate Bush and Thin Lizzy frontman Phil Lynott, co-writing on his solo alb ...

. "Girls" was not a Thin Lizzy recording, having previously appeared on Lynott's solo album ''

Solo in Soho ''Solo in Soho'' is the debut solo album by Irish rock singer Philip Lynott, released while he was still in Thin Lizzy. Current and former Lizzy members guested on the album, including Scott Gorham, Brian Downey, Snowy White, and Gary Moore. ...

''.

TV performance

The poor chart showing of the single was despite exposure on primetime television in the UK, when the band performed the single as guests on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

's Saturday evening show ''

Jim'll Fix It ''Jim'll Fix It'' is a British television series broadcast by the BBC between May 1975 and July 1994 and was devised and presented by Jimmy Savile and produced by Roger Ordish. The show encouraged children to write in a letter to Savile with a ...

'', on 9 January 1982. The show normally made arrangements for children to have their wishes granted but on this occasion, May Booker, a grandmother in her 70s, had asked if she could perform with Thin Lizzy. The song was slightly rearranged for the purposes of the TV performance, with Lynott singing slightly different lyrics, and Booker playing a keyboard solo that she had written herself. The band's regular keyboard player,

Darren Wharton Darren Leigh Wharton (born 25 December 1961) is a British keyboardist, singer and songwriter. He has fronted his own band, Dare, since 1985, but first came to attention as a member of Thin Lizzy. His son, Paris, is also a musician. Biography W ...

, performed alongside her. She also contributed backing vocals together with Wharton, Gorham and the band's other guitarist

Snowy White Terence Charles "Snowy" White (born 3 March 1948, Barnstaple, Devon) is an English guitarist, known for having played with Thin Lizzy (permanent member from 1980 to 1982) and with Pink Floyd (as a backing guitarist; he was first invited to tour ...

. Afterwards, Lynott and the show's host

Jimmy Savile Sir James Wilson Vincent Savile (; 31 October 1926 – 29 October 2011) was an English DJ, television and radio personality who hosted BBC shows including ''Top of the Pops'' and ''Jim'll Fix It''. During his lifetime, he was well known ...

presented Booker with the usual ''Jim'll Fix It'' medal, some Thin Lizzy memorabilia and a framed copy of the sheet music for her solo.Mark Putterford, "Philip Lynott: The Rocker", Castle, 1994, p. 224

Cover version

Warrant covered the song on their 2001 cover album, '' Under The Influence''. "Hollywood" was covered by

Adler's Appetite Adler's Appetite, previously Suki Jones, is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 2003. The band's current lineup consists of namesake and drummer Steven Adler, vocalist Ari Kamin, guitarists Michael Thomas and Alistair Jam ...

on their 2005 EP of the same name.

Personnel

–

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

–

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

– lead guitar *

–

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

* Brian Downey –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

References

{{authority control Songs about California Songs about luck Thin Lizzy songs 1982 singles Songs written by Phil Lynott 1981 songs Songs written by Scott Gorham Vertigo Records singles