![]() ![]() The making of “Wicked Game” was particularly fresh in his mind when we spoke, as he and Isaak had recently teamed to recut the track for its use in a Jaguar car commercial.Īccording to Needham, “Game” had been kicking around for several years before the definitive version was put together. ![]() “Wicked Game” sounds so organic, so present, and so natural that even studio cynics may be surprised to learn it was largely a studio creation, an early example of what can be achieved with samples, loops, and a relentless, perfectionist vision.īay Area-based engineer Mark Needham has worked with Isaak on almost all of his records, as well as on the music for Showtime's The Chris Isaak Show. Propelled by the movie and a Lynch-directed video, the angst- and reverb-laden “Game” became a Top 10 hit, turning Heart Shaped World Platinum and, finally, turning Isaak into a star. ![]() Isaak's third album, Heart Shaped World, seemed destined for the same small-time fate as the first two, until film director David Lynch made the inspired decision to prominently place “Wicked Game,” with its haunting guitar melody and supremely sexy vocal, in his 1989 movie Wild at Heart. He continued paying dues and working with the same producer - Erik Jacobsen, an industry vet who'd shepherded classic hits by The Lovin' Spoonful. That didn't seem to matter much to Isaak. The '80s were about dance music and big snare rock, so while Isaak's first two records received critical acclaim, they didn't sell very well. Isaak and his band, Silvertone, built a loyal following in the San Francisco Bay Area club scene in the '80s, but their modern rockabilly style was always out of step - both visually and musically - with the trends. Everything isn't always on the surface with Isaak, and his music and his performances reflect that. Then there was the attitude: hip, cool, stylish, but also very working-class, very regular guy. Mostly it was that voice: brooding, melancholy, impossibly romantic. ![]() Chris Isaak's fans always knew he'd be a star. ![]()
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