Here it is, my first Songs of the 80’s post (other than the introduction post), and I’m using a technicality to allow me to begin with my favourite song of all time – Chris Isaak’s Wicked Game. I say a technicality as the song was included on Isaak’s 1989 album Heart Shaped World and was initially released as a single the same year, though it didn’t achieve significant success until it was rereleased in 1991. Interest in the song started to grow when it featured in the 1990 David Lynch movie Wild at Heart, and it became a global smash the following year. So, whilst it was a hit in the 1990s, I have no qualms in including it in this blog!
The artist
Chris Isaak is an artist who can’t be conveniently pigeonholed. Born in California in 1956, he formed his first band upon leaving college and signed a contract with Warner Brothers Records in 1985. He released his first album, Silvertone, the same year. The songs were largely country influenced, with elements of blues and folk music thrown in for good measure. If he were to burst onto the scene today, I suppose he’d be housed within the Americana genre, though the category wasn’t anywhere near as recognised in the 80’s as it is now. The Heart Shaped World album was his third release and really catapulted him to fame, largely because of Wicked Game. It was a slow-burner of a hit though, with various DJs slowly picking it up and giving it airplay following it’s inclusion on the Wild at Heart soundtrack, before it became a true international hit in 1991. He continued to release albums across the next 30 years and still tours. I finally got to see him live in August this year, at the wonderful Symphony Hall in Birmingham. It was, without question, one of the best concerts I’ve ever seen. Despite now being 68, Isaak was at the top of the game. His voice remains astonishingly good, his band are top-notch musicians, and, perhaps most importantly of all, everyone on that stage clearly loved every minute of the show. It was a joyous evening and, of course, I was finally able to see Wicked Game performed live by the man who wrote it – a truly magical experience.
Why I’ve chosen to write about this song
I could write pages on exactly what I love about this song, though I’ll try to sum it up in a succinct paragraph, rather than bore you all to tears. First and foremost, I really like the stripped back nature of it. It’s a relatively simple song, both in terms of its overall sound and its structure. I’ve always loved a guitar tone that provides a beautiful, shimmering sound (i.e. introducing some delay, reverb, or tremolo effects) and the sound on this track is absolutely stunning. The entire song has a haunting quality about it which I adore. The vocal is, for me, close to perfection. Isaak is a phenomenal singer anyway, though he’s rarely been better than on this track. His lower tone in the verses is just gorgeous; he sings those with a warmth and restraint that is really impressive, before shifting to the incredible high-end lines of the chorus. It is, quite simply, an astonishing vocal performance.
Then, and perhaps most intriguingly for me, there’s the ambiguity of the lyric. Is it a straight-ahead love song? A tale of unrequited love? A cautionary warning about an illicit affair? It has been suggested that Isaak wrote the song having received a phone call from a woman who was looking to arrange a casual sexual affair with him, and the underlying meaning is therefore about what happens when you have a strong attraction to someone who isn’t necessarily good for you, though I do like the fact that this isn’t immediately obvious, and the lyric will certainly mean different things to different people. Then, to top it all off, there’s the devastating last line: ‘Nobody loves no one’. That one lands a gut punch out of the blue! What the hell does it mean? I don’t know – I’m not sure I do want to know – but it’s always struck me as a really interesting final line which sums up the ambiguity of the song perfectly.
The video
The more commonly known video (there were a couple of versions) was shot in moody black & white and features Isaak in a tight white vest, presumably to get all the mums excited. You have to feel for the bloke though, as that vest mysteriously disappears halfway through the video. It doesn’t look like the warmest of days, so he must have been a bit chilly for the rest of the shoot. Thankfully though, cavorting on a beach with Helena Christensen in her pomp would likely have warmed him up a bit. Truly something for everyone in this video – it was clearly designed to get people of all ages a bit hot under the collar. Safe to say it succeeds, and quickly became one of the more recognisable music videos of the era.
The stats
For such an iconic song, Wicked Game has never placed highly in the UK charts. It peaked at number 10 in 1990 and stayed in the top 40 for 8 weeks. This is a clear example of a classic song garnering praise and acknowledgement over a number of years, rather than immediately upon release. There’ll be quite a few similar examples as this blog progresses.
The cover versions
There are a huge number of covers of this song. I have a Spotify playlist consisting of nothing but Wicked Game covers, 78 of them to be precise, and there are many more besides. Some of my favourite versions are by Grace Carter, HIM (a nicely rocked up version), Il Divo (a wonderfully dramatic version, full of sweeping strings and sung entirely in Italian), Jordan Winter, Gemma Hayes, and Boy & Bear (this version includes some gorgeous harmonies). Though the cover I’ve chosen to share here is by James Vincent McMorrow. A singer/songwriter from Dublin, he achieves what I always thought was impossible, in taking the original version and making it even more stripped back, haunting, and beautiful. His falsetto vocal is stunning and this, for me, is the perfect example of the absolute beauty one person can create with just a voice and a guitar. Simply stunning. If I were able to complement my guitar playing with a half-decent voice, I’d be gigging every weekend and performing this version every single time.
The wrap-up
Wicked Game is a worthy first song choice for this blog. I could end it here and now and consider my work to be done – that’s how much I love this track. That won’t be the case though. There are many, many more fantastic songs to write about and, unlike this one, I’ll ensure all subsequent selections will have been hits during that iconic decade.
Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoy this and all future posts. Please add a comment letting me know which 80s songs you love. It’s a subject I could talk about for hours and who knows – you might just mention one or two which are in my incredibly long list of tunes to cover here!
Always remember the words attributed to the great Jimi Hendrix: Music is a safe kind of high. Make sure a part of every single day is filled with music you love; music that makes you feel something.
Best wishes.
Mick
