"King of Wishful Thinking" (titled "The King of Wishful Thinking" on
Chrysalis releases
) is a song by British pop duo
Go West, written by
Peter Cox,
Richard Drummie and
Martin Page
Martin George Page (born 23 September 1959) is an English singer-songwriter and bassist. Page has collaborated with artists such as Paul Young, Starship, Robbie Robertson, Earth, Wind & Fire, Heart, Robbie Williams and Go West.
Early life
P ...
. It was featured in the film ''
Pretty Woman'' and appeared on its soundtrack. It was later featured on Go West's third studio album, ''
Indian Summer
An Indian summer is a period of unseasonably warm, dry weather that sometimes occurs in autumn in temperate regions of the northern hemisphere. Several sources describe a true Indian summer as not occurring until after the first frost, or more s ...
'', in 1992.
In terms of the group's discography, "King of Wishful Thinking" has become their best known song.
The track reached number three in Canada, number six in Australia, number eight in the United States, and number 18 in the United Kingdom. At the
1991 Brit Awards the song was nominated for the
Brit Award for British Video of the Year.
The song's official
music video
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...
is known for featuring various absurdist elements alongside the pop duo as they act on a solid white stage.
[
In 2018, actor ]Paul Rudd
Paul Stephen Rudd (born April 6, 1969) is an American actor. He studied theater at the University of Kansas and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, before making his acting debut in 1991. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame i ...
and late-night host Jimmy Fallon made a shot-for-shot recreation of the music video for ''The Tonight Show
''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. The show has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2009 and 201 ...
''. Some elements such as a dancing Pope, zebras, and a trained circus elephant
Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae ...
, present in the original video, were not reproduced in the remake.cameo appearance
A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly ei ...
.
Critical reception
Music journalist
Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...
Hannah Dailey of the U.S. publication '' Billboard'' has labeled the song as "one of the crown jewels of ’90s classic hits".[
]
Track listings
UK 7-inch and cassette single
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
See also
* 1990 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1990.
This year was the peak of cassette sales in the United States, with sales declining year on year since then.
Specific locations
* 1990 in British music
* 1990 in No ...
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
1990 singles
1990 songs
Chrysalis Records singles
EMI Records singles
Go West (band) songs
Song recordings produced by Peter Wolf (producer)
Songs written by Peter Cox (musician)
Songs written by Martin Page
Songs written by Richard Drummie
Songs written for films