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"Good Luck"
Original UK release artwork
Single by Basement Jaxx featuring Lisa Kekaula
from the album Kish Kash
B-side	"Mere Pass"
Released	5 January 2004 (2004-01-05)
Studio	Jaxx (Loughborough Junction, London, England)
Genre	Alternative dance, rock and roll
Length	4:38 (album version) 3:36 (radio edit)
Label	XL
Songwriter(s)	Felix Buxton, Simon Ratcliffe, Lisa Kekaula
Producer(s)	Basement Jaxx
Basement Jaxx singles chronology
"Lucky Star" (2003) "Good Luck" (2004) "Plug It In" (2004)
Lisa Kekaula singles chronology
"Good Luck" (2003) "U Don't Know Me" (2005)
Alternative cover
UK re-release artwork featuring Lisa Kekaula in the song's music video

"Good Luck" is a song by British electronic music duo Basement Jaxx featuring vocals from Lisa Kekaula of American band the Bellrays. It was released on 5 January 2004 as the second single from their third studio album, Kish Kash, and reached number 12 on the UK Singles Chart, number two on the US Hot Dance Club Play, and number 22 on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart. The song was nominated in the Best Dance Recording category at the 47th Grammy Awards.

Development

"We had to kick it off with something. Whatever we chose people would say, 'That isn't house music.' Who cares?" (Complaints about the lack of house music have appeared on the band's website.) It's a brave track, even more so for including a 16-piece orchestra. But it didn't come easily. "Initially, Lisa sounded like a diva and we didn't want that. With two hours before she had to go back to America, Simon strummed an AC/DC riff and I scribbled down some words and suddenly we had something that didn't sound like a Basement Jaxx record - a rock 'n' roll song which didn't even sound modern."

Buxton said the song was the most difficult track to work on of the album. "That took us ages and we went through loads of processes. It took a long time to get it to its finish point," stated Buxton.

Critical reception

While predicting winners from all of the 47th Annual Grammy Awards' categories, Sal Cinquemani and Eric Henderson from Slant Magazine predicted the song's win, with Henderson called the song "a fantastic, chugging single that shoves Britney's sex-pixie ditty and the Scissor Sisters's queer-as-milquetoast shtick face down in the dirt."

Music video

A music video was produced to promote the single, filmed in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Track listings

Credits and personnel

Credits are adapted from the liner notes of Kish Kash.

Recording and management

• Recorded at Jaxx (Loughborough Junction, London)
• Mastered by Mike Marsh at The Exchange (Camden Town, London)
• Published by Universal Music and Mele Kekaula Music (BMI)

Personnel

• Felix Buxton – mixing, production, songwriting
• Simon Ratcliffe – mixing, production, songwriting
• Lisa Kekaula – vocals, songwriting
• Natasha Awuku – backing vocals
• Sharlene Hector – backing vocals
• Francine Kufonji – backing vocals
• Kele Le Roc – backing vocals
• Nadia Cielto-Steele – backing vocals
• Nathan "Tugg" Curran – drums
• The London Session Orchestra – strings
• Wil Malone – string arrangements and conducting
• Gavyn Wright – string conducting

Charts

Certifications

Release history

In popular culture

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Good Luck" Basement Jaxx song – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (December 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

"Good Luck" featured as the opening theme song to the 2004 CGI anime movie Appleseed and was also featured in the Victoria's Secret fashion show for 2003 and 2005.

A version without lyrics was used during the opening sequence of the BBC's UEFA Euro 2004 television coverage. This spawned a re-release of the original single, and it entered at number 14 on the UK Singles Chart on 4 July 2004. The same instrumental version was later used by BBC Radio Sheffield as the opening theme for their live local football coverage, where it is still in use as of December 2017.

The song appeared on American reality television series Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.

References

1. "47th Grammy® Awards Nominations". DigitalHit. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
2. Chapman, Anna (24 October 2003). "Burning down the house that Basement Jaxx built". Independent. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
3. Interview Basement Jaxx - Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe (part 2) on YouTube. FaceCulture. 4 August 2006. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
4. Cinquemani, Sal; Henderson, Eric (20 January 2005). "Grammy 2005 Winner Predictions". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
5. Good Luck (UK CD single liner notes). Basement Jaxx. XL Recordings. 2004. XLS178CD.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
6. Good Luck (UK 12-inch single sleeve). Basement Jaxx. XL Recordings. 2004. XLT178.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
7. Good Luck (UK 12-inch remix single vinyl disc). Basement Jaxx. XL Recordings. 2004. XLR 178.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
8. Good Luck (UK CD single liner notes). Basement Jaxx. XL Recordings. 2004. XLS190CD.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
9. Good Luck (UK 12-inch single vinyl disc). Basement Jaxx. XL Recordings. 2004. XLT190.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
10. Good Luck (UK 12-inch remix single vinyl disc). Basement Jaxx. XL Recordings. 2004. XLR190.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
11. Good Luck (Australian & New Zealand CD single liner notes). Basement Jaxx. Remote Control Records, XL Recordings. 2004. XLS178CD.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
12. Kish Kash (CD liner notes). Basement Jaxx. United Kingdom: XL. 2003. XLCD174.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
13. "Basement Jaxx feat. Lisa Kekaula – Good Luck". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
14. "The ARIA Report – ARIA Club Tracks – Week Commencing 26th January 2004" (PDF). ARIA. 26 January 2004. p. 15. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 February 2004. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
15. "Issue 728" ARIA Top 50 Dance Singles. National Library of Australia. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
16. "Basement Jaxx – Good Luck" (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
17. "Basement Jaxx – Good Luck" (in Dutch). Ultratop Dance. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
18. "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Dance Top 40 lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
19. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Good Luck". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
20. "Top 10 Dance Singles, Week Ending 15 January 2004". GfK Chart-Track. Retrieved 17 June 2019.
21. "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 8, 2004" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
22. "Basement Jaxx feat. Lisa Kekaula – Good Luck" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
23. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
24. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
25. "Official Dance Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
26. "Official Independent Singles Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
27. "Basement Jaxx Chart History (Dance Club Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
28. "ARIA Charts – End of Year Charts – Club Chart 2004". ARIA. Archived from the original on 15 April 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
29. "ARIA Charts – End of Year Charts – Dance Singles 2004". ARIA. Archived from the original on 15 April 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
30. "Year in Music & Touring: Hot Dance Club Play Singles". Billboard. Vol. 116, no. 52. 25 December 2004. p. YE-60.
31. "British single certifications – Basement Jaxx ft Lisa Kekaula – Good Luck". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
32. "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. 27 December 2003. p. 31.
33. "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. 26 June 2004. p. 27.
34. "Match of the Day – Euro 2004".

• Basement Jaxx songs
• 2003 songs
• 2004 singles
• Astralwerks singles
• Songs written by Felix Buxton
• Songs written by Simon Ratcliffe (musician)
• UK Independent Singles Chart number-one singles
• XL Recordings singles