"The Game of Love" is a 1965 song by

Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders Wayne may refer to: People with the given name and surname * Wayne (given name) * Wayne (surname) Geographical Places with name ''Wayne'' may take their name from a person with that surname; the most famous such person was Gen. "Mad" Antho ...

, released in the United States as "Game of Love".

Track listing

Original version

US re-pressing

Chart history

The song reached No. 1 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 week of April 24, 1965 and No. 2 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in February 1965.

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Tex Pistol version

The song was covered in 1987 by New Zealand musician Ian Morris, under the stage name Tex Pistol and released as "The Game of Love".

Background

Morris was looking for a "more commercial" follow up to his Tex Pistol debut single "The Ballad of Buckskin Bob". He had begun work on a cover of The Underdog's "Sitting In The Rain" when advertising music collaborator Jim Hall suggested "The Game of Love" as a good song to cover. Morris "immediately knew how it would sound". He credits its success to "a combination of technology of the time and a good simple song". The song is notable for its unusual drum sound. Morris had been working on the audio for a card ad at the time. His curiosity piqued by a supplied video clip of a racecar going over a hill, Morris recorded the sound, sped it up, and mixed it with a clip of a snare drum. The song also features Callie Blood, Morris's later collaborator on advertising jingles, on backing vocals.

Track listing

Charting and awards

The song went to number 1 on the New Zealand music charts. According to Morris's brother Rikki Morris, the song was a surprise hit and so the 500 pressed copies sold out, meaning that the single hit number one but could not remain there. The reworking of the song gave Morris a 1987 RIANZ award for best engineer and a nomination for best producer. The song was accompanied by a video by then-teenager

Paul Middleditch Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity * Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

that was also nominated for best video and is now considered one of the highlights of New Zealand 80s music-video making.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Game of Love 1964 songs 1965 singles 1987 singles The Mindbenders songs Songs written by Clint Ballard Jr. Fontana Records singles Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles Number-one singles in New Zealand