"I Should Be So Lucky" is a 1987 song performed by

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n recording artist and songwriter

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter and actress. She is the highest-selling female Australian artist of all time, having sold over 80 million records worldwide. She has been recognised for reinve ...

from her debut studio album '' Kylie'' (1988). Released on 29 December 1987 by

Mushroom Records Mushroom Records was an Australian flagship record label, founded in 1972 in Melbourne. It published and distributed many successful Australian artists and expanded internationally, until it was merged with Festival Records in 1998. Festival Mu ...

and

PWL Records Pete Waterman Entertainment (PWE) is the production company one-time pop and dance record label owned by British pop mogul Pete Waterman. The label, originally PWL (Pete Waterman Limited), is most famous for being the home of hit record pro ...

, the song became a worldwide breakthrough hit; its image of Minogue on the front cover was shot by

David Levine David Levine (December 20, 1926 – December 29, 2009) was an American artist and illustrator best known for his caricatures in ''The New York Review of Books''. Jules Feiffer has called him "the greatest caricaturist of the last half of the ...

. The song was written and produced by

Stock Aitken Waterman Stock Aitken Waterman (abbreviated as SAW) are an English songwriting and record production trio consisting of Mike Stock, Matt Aitken, and Pete Waterman. The trio had great success from the mid-1980s through the early 1990s. SAW is considere ...

for Minogue, and they went on to produce Minogue's first four studio albums. The song received positive reviews from contemporary music critics, although some dismissed the lyrical content. Despite this, it received commercial attention around the world, topping charts in countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, and Germany, and peaked in the top ten in countries including New Zealand and Japan, and on the Dance charts in the U.S. British magazine ''

Classic Pop Traditional pop (also known as classic pop and pre-rock and roll pop) is Western pop music that generally pre-dates the advent of rock and roll in the mid-1950s. The most popular and enduring songs from this era of music are known as pop standards ...

'' ranked it number 11 in their list of "Top 40 Stock Aitken Waterman songs" in 2021.

Recording and development

After the success of her debut single "

Locomotion Locomotion means the act or ability of something to transport or move itself from place to place. Locomotion may refer to: Motion * Motion (physics) * Robot locomotion, of man-made devices By environment * Aquatic locomotion * Flight * Locomo ...

" in Australia, Minogue traveled to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

to work with

, a successful British writing and production team. They knew little of Minogue and had forgotten that she was arriving; as a result, they wrote "I Should Be So Lucky" in forty minutes while she waited outside the recording studio. Mike Stock wrote the lyrics for the song in response to what he had learned about Minogue prior to her arrival. He believed that although she was a successful soap star in Australia and very talented, there must be something wrong with her and figured that she must be unlucky in love. Minogue recorded the song in less than an hour, which Stock attributes to her good ear for music and her quick memorization skills. However, she left the studio angry, not knowing what the song sounded like after she was fed it to sing line by line. After Minogue finished the recording session, she returned home to Australia to continue work on the

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

, ''

Neighbours ''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera, which has aired since 18 March 1985. It was created by television executive Reg Watson. The Seven Network commissioned the show following the success of Watson's earlier soap '' Sons an ...

''. The track was then shelved and forgotten about by the producers, and was only mixed and completed after threats by Mushroom Records general manager Gary Ashley to fly to the UK. Stock later told ''The Guardian'': "We had to get the song together in about 40 minutes and she left not having had a happy experience. We didn’t know we had a hit on our hands and so when it went to No 1 for five weeks, someone said: 'What’s the follow-up?' We didn't have one. So I went out to Australia at the start of 1988 and met her in a bar with Jason and her manager. I basically crawled 100 yards on my knees and apologised profusely."

Composition

"I Should Be So Lucky" is a pop and

hi-NRG Hi-NRG (pronounced "high energy") is a genre of uptempo disco or electronic dance music (EDM) that originated in the United States during the late 1970s and early 1980s. As a music genre, typified by fast tempo, staccato hi-hat rhythms (and the ...

song which features elements of bubblegum pop and

new wave music New wave is a loosely defined music genre that encompasses pop-oriented styles from the late 1970s and the 1980s. It was originally used as a catch-all for the various styles of music that emerged after punk rock, including punk itself. La ...

. According to the music sheet on MusicNotes.com, which was published by

Universal Music Publishing Group Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) is a North American music publishing company and is part of the Universal Music Group. It was formerly known as MCA Music Publishing until it merged with PolyGram. Universal Music Publishing is the worl ...

, the song is set in the key of

C major C major (or the key of C) is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. C major is one of the most common keys used in music. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative minor is A minor and ...

. Minogue's vocals span from D₄ to C₅. The song is set in

common time The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value ...

and moves at a moderate

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...

of 116

beats per minute Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery ( ...

. Instrumentation of the song features

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

keyboard 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 ...

s and

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

s. According to PopMatters, the song features "numerous orchestra hits to the uncomfortably thin sounding drum machine." Waterman has said the tune was inspired by

Pachelbel's Canon Pachelbel's Canon (also known as the Canon in D, P 37) is an accompanied canon by the German Baroque composer Johann Pachelbel. The canon was originally scored for three violins and basso continuo and paired with a gigue, known as ''Canon and ...

, a claim that has been refuted by Stock and Aitken. Stock told ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'': "Anyone who thinks 'I Should Be So Lucky' is easy should try to play it. It's in four keys, all of them really awkward, and you can't even strum it unless you're a really good musician."

Critical reception

"I Should Be So Lucky" garnered positive reviews from some music critics. Nick Levine, from ''

Digital Spy Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television programmes, ...

'', called it "standout track". Chris True from

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

had reviewed the album, and highlighted the song as an album standout. But as a separate rating, they gave the single three stars out of five. In the review of '' The Best of Kylie Minogue'' (2012), Tim Sendra highlighted it as an album standout. Hunter Felt from ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

'' gave it a positive review, stating "something about Kylie’s innocent yet forceful vocals and the sheer catchiness of the song itself ..So the song became a beloved secret, and I never bothered to try to tune my friends in on "I Could Be So Lucky", or, crazier yet, proclaim that this "has-been" would be a critical and commercial darling in a few years time." However, he did say the song was

cliché A cliché ( or ) is an element of an artistic work, saying, or idea that has become overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect, even to the point of being weird or irritating, especially when at some earlier time it was consi ...

. However, Mark Edwards from ''

Stylus Magazine ''Stylus Magazine'' was an American online music and film magazine, launched in 2002 and co-founded by Todd L. Burns. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog. Addi ...

'' gave it a scathing remark by saying "Listening to the first tracks on Ultimate Kylie, you want to skip straight through, because early songs like "I Should Be So Lucky" and "Locomotion" are unlistenable—horribly naff, squeaky songs" and criticized Stock, Aitken and Waterman songs they produced in the 80s by stating "

he songs He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

transport the listener back to a time when every single in the UK charts was either written by Stock, Aitken and Waterman or sung by an Aussie soap star, or both." '' OK!'' called the song a "classic". The song was also known to many in the late 1980s and early 1990s as one of Minogue's signature songs, which many critics entering the song on their best track or worst track list. And additionally, in 2011, "I Should Be So Lucky" was added to the

National Film and Sound Archive The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting and providing access to a national co ...

of Australia's

Sounds of Australia The Sounds of Australia, formerly the National Registry of Recorded Sound, is the National Film and Sound Archive's selection of sound recordings which are deemed to have cultural, historical and aesthetic significance and relevance for Australi ...

registry. "I Should Be So Lucky" later appeared on seven of Kylie's hit compilations including ''

Greatest Hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...

'' (1992), ''

Ultimate Kylie ''Ultimate Kylie'' is the second major greatest hits album by Australian singer Kylie Minogue, and her first greatest hits released under her contract with Parlophone, her record company between 1999–2015. The compilation was released in many d ...

'' (2004), and '' Step Back in Time: The Definitive Collection'' (2019). The song won the Highest Selling Single award at the 3rd annual ARIA Awards.

Commercial performance

"I Should Be So Lucky" was released in the UK on 29 December 1987, and in Australia on 1 February 1988. It was a commercial success, staying atop the Australian

Kent Music Report The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music enthusiast David Kent from May 1974 through to January 1999. The chart was re-branded the Australian Music Report (AMR) in July ...

chart for six consecutive weeks, and became her second number-one single in her home country, following

. The single was certified platinum by the

Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing th ...

(ARIA) and ranked at number five on the year-end chart for 1988. In New Zealand, the song entered at number 15 on

New Zealand Top 40 Recorded Music NZ (formerly the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ)) is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell recorded music in New Zealand. Membership of Recorded Mus ...

and peaked at number three on 27 March 1988, spending twelve weeks on the chart. "I Should Be So Lucky" entered at number 90 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, climbing to number 54 the following week. Three weeks later it rose to number one, and remained at the top for five weeks. It spent seventeen weeks on the chart. It was certified gold by the

British Phonographic Industry British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is the British recorded music industry's Trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards, the Classic BRIT Awards, National Album Day, is home to the Mercury Prize, and co-owns the Official Charts Company with th ...

(BPI) for the shipment of 600,000 copies. The song was one of the best-selling singles of 1988, with estimated sales of over 675,000. Elsewhere, "I Should Be So Lucky" peaked on both the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and the

Hot Dance Club Play Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as t ...

. The song reached number 10 on the Hot Dance Club Songs chart on 4 June 1988 and number 28 on the Hot 100 on 16 July 1988. Across Europe, "I Should Be So Lucky" also topped the singles charts in Germany, Ireland, and Switzerland. It became a top-five hit in Austria, France, and Norway, as well as a top-thirty hit in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Sweden. It peaked at number one in Finland, Israel, and Hong Kong. The song was certified silver by the

Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique The National Syndicate of Phonographic Publishing (french: Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique; SNEP) is the inter-professional organisation that protects the interests of the French record industry. Originally known under the acronym ...

(SNEP) and gold in Germany.

Music video

The

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 ...

for "I Should Be So Lucky" was directed by Chris Langman and filmed in November 1987 at Channel 7 Studios in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, Australia. The video features Minogue walking through her home, with scenes of her dancing in front of a colourful chalkboard background intercut throughout. It presented a cute, wholesome, young " girl-next-door" image of Minogue to the public, with scenes of her giggling and making funny faces to the camera. Another version of the video was made for live television promotion. This version of the video shows Kylie riding in a car with several friends through Sydney. In other parts of the video, she's in the park and passersby are waving to her as she walks by them. This video premiered in the UK on Christmas Day 1987 in a live broadcast from the British Telecom Tower (Christmas Morning With Noel Edmonds, BBC1). The complete version of "I Should Be So Lucky" featured in the music video has been released commercially through multiple VHS and DVD collections. Its most recent inclusion is on the companion DVD to her 2012 greatest hits album, '' The Best of Kylie Minogue''. Outtakes from the music video were used in ''Kylie: The Videos''.

Formats and track listings

These are the formats and track listings of major single releases of "I Should Be So Lucky". * 7" Single # "I Should Be So Lucky" – 3:24 # "I Should Be So Lucky" – 3:24 * 12" Single # "I Should Be So Lucky" – 6:08 # "I Should Be So Lucky" – 3:24 * 12" (The Bicentennial Mix) Single # "I Should Be So Lucky" – 6:12 # "I Should Be So Lucky" – 3:24 * North American 12" Single # "I Should Be So Lucky" – 6:00 # "I Should Be So Lucky" – 6:10 # "I Should Be So Lucky" – 3:24 *

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

digital EP - Remixes (Not available at time of original release. Released for the first time as part of

PWL archive release in 2009.) # "I Should Be So Lucky" # "I Should Be So Lucky" # "I Should Be So Lucky" # "I Should Be So Lucky" # "I Should Be So Lucky" # "I Should Be So Lucky" # "I Should Be So Lucky" * Other official versions # "I Should Be So Lucky/Dreams"

Live performances

Minogue performed the song on the following concert tours: *

Disco in Dream/The Hitman Roadshow Disco in Dream is the debut concert tour by Australian recording artist Kylie Minogue. Although headlined by Minogue, the tour was an ensemble show alongside fellow Stock Aitken Waterman acts Sinitta and Dead Or Alive and supported her first ...

* Enjoy Yourself Tour (Extended Mix performed) *

Rhythm of Love Tour The Rhythm of Love Tour was the third concert tour by Kylie Minogue, in support of her third studio album '' Rhythm of Love'' (1990). Beginning on 10 February 1991, the tour visited Australia and East Asia. The concerts showcased a more confi ...

(Extended Mix performed) *

Let's Get to It Tour The Let's Get to It Tour was the fourth concert tour by Australian pop singer Kylie Minogue. As stated by Minogue herself in 1991, the tour was technically a continuation of the previous Rhythm of Love Tour which had already visited Australia ...

(Extended Mix performed) *

Intimate and Live Tour Intimate and Live was the fifth concert tour by Australian recording artist Kylie Minogue, in support of her sixth studio album, ''Impossible Princess'' (1997). Minogue confirmed the tour after her creative directors, William Baker and Stev ...

(Torch Version) *

On A Night Like This Tour On a Night Like This was the sixth concert tour by Australian recording artist Kylie Minogue, in support of her seventh studio album, ''Light Years'' (2000). The tour began on 3 March 2001 at the Clyde Auditorium in Glasgow, Scotland, and co ...

KylieFever2002 KylieFever2002 was the seventh concert tour by Australian pop singer Kylie Minogue, in support of her eighth studio album, ''Fever'' (2001). The tour began on 26 April 2002 in Cardiff, Wales at Cardiff International Arena and concluded on 16 Aug ...

(as a medley with "Dreams") * Showgirl: The Greatest Hits Tour * Showgirl: The Homecoming Tour * KylieX2008 (added as an encore from 17 May performance in Bucharest) * Aphrodite: Les Folies Tour (only in the Japanese performances) *

For You, for Me For You, for Me (promoted as KylieUSA2009) was the eleventh concert tour by Australian singer Kylie Minogue. The tour began on 30 September 2009 in Oakland, California, at the Fox Oakland Theatre, Fox Theatre and concluded on 13 October 2009 in ...

(Torch version) *

Kiss Me Once Tour The Kiss Me Once Tour was the fourteenth concert tour by Australian singer Kylie Minogue. It was launched in support of her twelfth studio album, ''Kiss Me Once'' (2014) and visited Europe, Australia and Middle East. Rumours of plans to tour ar ...

(part of a medley) * Kylie Summer 2015 Tour (shortened a cappella version) * Summer 2019 The song was also performed on: * '' An Audience with Kylie Minogue'' a 2001 TV special * BBC Proms in the Park 2012 ('' The Abbey Road Sessions'' version)

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the ''Kylie'' liner notes. * Kylie Minogue – lead

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 ...

* Dee Lewis, Mae McKenna – backing vocals * Mike Stock -– backing vocals,

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 ...

Matt Aitken Matthew James Aitken (born 25 August 1956) is an English songwriter and record producer, brought up in Astley, Greater Manchester, best known as the creative force behind the 1980s and early 1990s songwriting/production trio Stock Aitken Waterman ...

–

s, keyboards * Mark McGuire –

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

* Pete Hammond – mixing * Burni Adams –

* Rick O’Neil –

Mastering Engineer A mastering engineer is a person skilled in the practice of taking audio (typically musical content) that has been previously mixed in either the analog or digital domain as mono, stereo, or multichannel formats and preparing it for use in distr ...

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

References

Bibliography

* * * * {{authority control Songs about luck 1987 singles 1988 singles ARIA Award-winning songs Hi-NRG songs Songs written by Mike Stock (musician) Songs written by Matt Aitken Songs written by Pete Waterman Kylie Minogue songs Number-one singles in Australia European Hot 100 Singles number-one singles Number-one singles in Germany Number-one singles in Israel Irish Singles Chart number-one singles UK Singles Chart number-one singles UK Independent Singles Chart number-one singles Number-one singles in Switzerland Song recordings produced by Stock Aitken Waterman 1987 songs Pete Waterman Entertainment singles Mushroom Records singles Festival Records singles