Everyone gets songs stuck in their heads that just won’t go away. They sneak into your subconscious. They are epic earworms that you find yourself humming uncontrollably, singing in the shower, or tapping the beat to with your foot or ballpoint pen when you should be working. Sometimes they even keep you awake at night. Whether they are current hits, one-hit wonders, movie soundtrack gems, holiday favorites, or songs from your youth, their catchy vocals, riffs, hooks, and choruses seem to linger for days.
Here, those songs find a home, no matter the genre. Here, those epic earworms are revisited, explained, and celebrated. Here, you may find the song that haunts you tomorrow. Here is today’s unescapable song of the day…and the story behind it.
Today’s Epic Earworm: Chris Isaak — “Wicked Game”
“Wicked Game,” Chris Isaak‘s haunting tale of unrequited love, was a huge hit for the singer in 1991. The bluesy rockabilly ballad peaked at Number Six on the Billboard Hot 100 and cracked the Top Ten in nine other countries as well. The song powered Isaak’s third album, Heart Shaped World, to double-platinum status and gave the singer his first Top Ten album.
A Molten Hot Video
Isaak’s sultry music video, featuring supermodel Helena Christensen, won three MTV Video Music Awards and was nominated for four more. The video was filmed mostly in black and white on a black sand beach in Hawaii that was formed by lava flowing into the ocean from the active Kilauea volcano. That same beach was covered by lava again shortly after filming for the video wrapped.
Soundtrack for Success
While “Wicked Game” was a huge success for Isaak in 1991, it was a complete flop when he initially released the song two years earlier in 1989. The song never even entered the charts and gained little airplay until the movie “Wild at Heart” came out in 1990. The Nicolas Cage flick featured the song in its soundtrack, which caught the attention of a music director at an Atlanta radio station. Lee Chestnut, who was a big fan of David Lynch films, saw the movie and loved the song. He began airing it on his station late in 1990. By March of the next year, the song had spread like wildfire across the country and become a huge success.
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