I Should Be So Lucky

"I Should Be So Lucky" is a pop-dance song performed by Australian singer Kylie Minogue. The song was written and produced by Stock Aitken Waterman for Minogue's debut album Kylie (1988).

The song was released as the album's second single in December 1987. It was a commercial success, reaching the top ten on the majority of the charts it entered, and number one in the United Kingdom and Australia.

The song is featured on her compilations albums Greatest Hits (1992), Greatest Hits 1987-1999 (2003), Greatest Hits 87–97 (2003) and Ultimate Kylie (2004).

Background and recording
After the success of her debut single "Locomotion" in Australia, Minogue traveled to London to work with Stock, Aitken and Waterman, 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. After Minogue finished the recording session she returned home to Australia to continue work on the soap opera, Neighbours.

Composition
"I Should Be So Lucky" is a dance-pop song with instrumentation from keyboards and guitars. It is set in common time, and moves at a moderate tempo of 120 beats per minute. The song is written in the key of C major, an unusual choice for a pop song. Minogue's vocal range spans from D4 to C5,

Critical reception
"I Should Be So Lucky" garnered positive reviews. Nick Levine, from Digital Spy, called it "standout track". The song won the Highest Selling Single award at the 3rd annual ARIA Awards.

Chart performance
"I Should Be So Lucky" was released on 29 December 1987. It was a commercial success, reaching atop the Australian Kent Music Report chart for six consecutives weeks, and became her second number-one single after Locomotion. The song was certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (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 and peaked at number three on 27 March 1988, spending twelve weeks on the chart. In United Kingdom, "I Should Be So Lucky" was released on 1 January 1988. The song entered at number 90 on the UK Singles Chart and remained the top position for five weeks. It spent seventeen weeks on the chart. It was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry (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 at number 28 and 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot Dance Club Play respectively. In Canada, the song reached at number 61. . 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, 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 (SNEP) and gold in Germany.

Music video
The music video for "I Should Be So Lucky" was directed by Chris Langman and filmed in November 1987 at Channel 7 Studios in Melbourne, 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 with passersby waving to her as she rides by them.

The video premiered in the UK in January 1988. 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 second greatest hits album Ultimate Kylie in 2004. Outtakes from the music video were used in Kylie: The Videos.

As satire
The British satirical programme Spitting Image made a send-up of I Should Be So Lucky in which Minogue is depicted as being brought to life in a way similar to Frankenstein's monster in an old 1930s movie. The action shifts between the laboratory to an apartment similar to that of the original video.

The song also pokes fun at her performance in the Australian soap opera Neighbours, in which as Charlene Mitchell, later Robinson she was best known at the time, and implies that she was lucky to have been chosen over other soap stars, namely Paul Henry who was Benny Hawkins in the British drama Crossroads.

Stock, Aitken and Waterman are combined together as a large tape player providing creature-Minogue's voice which at one point is distorted to sound like Rick Astley

Cover versions and uses in popular culture
The popular sketch comedy television show French & Saunders made a parody of "I Should Be So Lucky". In 1992, the Egyptian pop singer Simon recorded a cover of the song with new lyrics in Arabic titled "Bahibak Aawy". French guitarist Noel Akchote's 2007 album "So Lucky" includes an instrumental cover. In September 2007, a cover version of "I Should Be So Lucky" appeared on the album Dolce Vita by Spanish singer Soraya Arnelas. Also that year, Japanese duo mihimaru GT released a hip hop cover version of the song. It was released as a double A-side single, along with the song "Ai Kotoba", in Japan in November 2007. More recent in 2008, Northern Kings recorded a rock version of this song included on their second album Rethroned.

The Kylie Minogue recording features in the 1989 film Cookie.

Formats and track listings

 * 7" Single
 * 1) "I Should Be So Lucky" – 3:24
 * 2) "I Should Be So Lucky" (Instrumental) – 3:24


 * 12" Single
 * 1) "I Should Be So Lucky" (Extended Version) – 6:08
 * 2) "I Should Be So Lucky" (Instrumental) – 3:24


 * 12" (The Bicentennial Mix) Single
 * 1) "I Should Be So Lucky" (Bicentennial Mix) – 6:12
 * 2) "I Should Be So Lucky" (Instrumental) – 3:24


 * North American 12" Single
 * 1) "I Should Be So Lucky" (Original Mix) – 6:00
 * 2) "I Should Be So Lucky" (Dance Remix) – 6:10
 * 3) "I Should Be So Lucky" (Instrumental) – 3:24

(Not available at time of original release. Released for the first time as part of iTunes PWL archive release in 2009.)
 * iTunes digital EP - Remixes
 * 1) "I Should Be So Lucky" (extended version)
 * 2) "I Should Be So Lucky" (the bicentennial remix)
 * 3) "I Should Be So Lucky" (7" instrumental)
 * 4) "I Should Be So Lucky" (7" backing track)
 * 5) "I Should Be So Lucky" (12" remix)
 * 6) "I Should Be So Lucky" (12" remix instrumental)
 * 7) "I Should Be So Lucky" (12" remix backing track)


 * Other official versions
 * 1) "I Should Be So Lucky/Dreams" (Fever2002 Tour Studio Version)

Live performances
Kylie performed the song on the following concert tours:
 * Disco in Dream/The Hitman Roadshow
 * Enjoy Yourself Tour (Extended Mix performed)
 * Rhythm of Love Tour
 * Let's Get to It Tour
 * Intimate and Live Tour (Torch Version)
 * On A Night Like This Tour (Torch Version)
 * KylieFever2002 (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)
 * For You, For Me Tour (as an encore in Hollywood and New York only)
 * Aphrodite World Tour (Asia and North America Leg)

The song was also performed on:
 * An Audience with Kylie 2001 TV Special

Credits and personnel
Credits adapted from the Kylie liner notes.


 * Kylie Minogue - lead vocals
 * Dee Lewis, Mae McKenna - backing vocals
 * Mike Stock - backing vocals, keyboards
 * Matt Aitken - guitars, keyboards
 * Mark McGuire - engineering
 * Pete Hammond - mixing