Dokken - Just Got Lucky

While Dokken's version of melodic hard rock seemed tailor made for the pop metal era, they never quite landed the big breakout song or album.  To be fair, though, they did have three consecutive platinum (and top 50) LPs in the 1980s, which is more than most groups can say.

The band's roots date back to 1976, when singer/guitarist Don Dokken formed Airborn in Los Angeles.  The name change to Dokken occurred in 1979, when the group discovered that there was a signed band with the Airborn name.  Four years later Dokken had gathered enough of a following to land a recording contract with Elektra.  Unfortunately, their first album (1983's Breaking the Chains) did not do well -- to the point that convincing the label to finance a second album became quite an ordeal (as an aside, this led to the LP's name -- Tooth and Nail).

Though Tooth and Nail didn't become a smash hit, it did establish Dokken as a legitimate rock act, and eventually reached #49 on the album charts.  "Just Got Lucky" did not chart on the singles charts, but hit #27 on the Billboard mainstream rock chart.  It remains our favorite Dokken song, though we don't recall seeing the video back in the day.

The vid is pretty standard stuff, though it does look as though portions of it may have been filmed in a dressing room (mirrors!).  The guitar solo was shot in Hawaii, near an active volcano that apparently made breathing difficult.

As previously mentioned, Dokken would go on to have further successes in the 1980s, before the simmering tensions between Don Dokken and lead guitarist George Lynch caused Dokken to break up in 1989.  However, there have been multiple reunions since then, and the band seems to be doing reunion shows as of this writing.