Following his acclaimed 1978 breakthrough with "Excitable Boy," Warren Zevon attempted to sustain momentum with his 1980 release "Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School." The album represented a notable creative retreat at a turbulent point in his life, marked by marital separation and escalating substance dependency. Despite contributions from established musicians including Bruce Springsteen and Linda Ronstadt, the record failed to replicate either the artistic merit or commercial success of its predecessor.

Controversy emerged over album artwork by longtime designer Jimmy Wachtel, who paired graceful ballet dancers with an Uzi submachine gun on the reverse cover. Women's advocacy groups protested the imagery as suggestive of violence against female performers, prompting Wachtel to meet with record label leadership to defend his artistic intent and secure the cover's approval for release. The resulting dispute generated attention but failed to provide any commercial lift to an album already struggling with poor reception.