Peak
11
Weeks
17
Score
2,358
Chart Year
1977
Boz Scaggs wrote this song with David Paich, who was also his co-writer on "Lowdown." In a 2013 Songfacts interview with Scaggs, he talked about how the song came about: "'Lido' was a song that I'd been banging around. And I kind of stole... well, I didn't steal anything. I just took the idea of the shuffle. There was a song that Fats Domino did called 'The Fat Man' that had a kind of driving shuffle beat that I used to play on the piano, and I just started kind of singing along with it. Then I showed it to Paich and he helped me fill it out. It ended up being 'Lido Shuffle.'" The song is about a drifter looking for a big score. Scaggs and Paich were both very good at crafting songs with intriguing storylines using words and phrases that don't often show up in a lyric: "A tombstone bar," "makin' like a beeline..." The name Lido is very unusual as well. From the perspective of songcraft, it's very versatile, allowing the singer to get clear vocal sounds and follow with the "whoa-oh-oh-oh" hook. Kenny Loggins did something similar on his song "Footloose," writing the character "Milo" into it ("Whoa... Milo, come on, come on let's go"). The last single from Silk Degrees, this wasn't released until about a year after the album was issued. The first single, "It's Over," peaked in May 1976; "Lido Shuffle" didn't reach its chart peak until May 1977. The Silk Degrees album was a slow burner, gradually gaining momentum and selling over 5 million copies. The song's co-writer David Paich played keyboards on this track. Scaggs played guitar, bass was handled by David Hungate, and Jeff Porcaro played drums. Paich, Hungate and Porcaro would soon form the band Toto.
Lido missed the boat that day he left the shack But that was all he missed And he ain't comin' back At a tombstone bar, in a juke joint car he made a stop Just long enough to grab a handle off the top Next stop Chi town, Lido put the money down, let 'em roll He said one more job ought to get it One last shot 'fore we quit it One for the road Lido Whoah oh oh oh He's for the money, he's for the show Lido's waitin' for the go, Lido Whoah oh oh oh oh oh He said one more job ought to get it One last shot 'fore we quit it One for the road Lido will be runnin', havin' great big funnin' till he got the note Sayin' toe the line or blow it and that was all she wrote He'll be makin' like a bee line, headin' for the border line, goin' for broke Sayin' one more hit ought to do it This joint ain't nothin' to it One more for the road Lido Whoah oh oh oh He's for the money, he's for the show Lido's waitin' for the go, Lido Whoah oh oh oh oh oh One more job ought to get it One last shot then we quit it One more for the road Lido Woah oh oh oh He's for the money, he's for the show Lido's waitin' for the go, Lido Woah oh oh oh oh oh One more job ought to get it
| Week | Chart Date | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mar 12, 1977 | 72 | 54 |
| 2 | Mar 19, 1977 | 37 | 89 |
| 3 | Mar 26, 1977 | 32 | 94 |
| 4 | Apr 2, 1977 | 26 | 100 |
| 5 | Apr 9, 1977 | 21 | 105 |
| 6 | Apr 16, 1977 | 17 | 109 |
| 7 | Apr 23, 1977 | 15 | 111 |
| 8 | Apr 30, 1977 | 13 | 113 |
| 9 | May 7, 1977 | 12 | 114 |
| 10 | May 14, 1977 | 11 | 115 |
| 11 | May 21, 1977 | 11 | 115 |
| 12 | May 28, 1977 | 18 | 108 |
| 13 | Jun 4, 1977 | 36 | 90 |
| 14 | Jun 11, 1977 | 49 | 77 |
| 15 | Jun 18, 1977 | 58 | 68 |
| 16 | Jun 25, 1977 | 68 | 58 |
| 17 | Jul 2, 1977 | 98 | 28 |