King of Wishful Thinking
1990 single by Go West
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"King of Wishful Thinking"[2][3] is a song by British pop duo Go West, written by Peter Cox, Richard Drummie and Martin Page. It appeared in the film Pretty Woman[4] and was later included on Go West's third studio album, Indian Summer, in 1992.
| "King of Wishful Thinking" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||
| Single by Go West | ||||
| from the album Indian Summer and Pretty Woman: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack | ||||
| B-side | "Tears Too Late" | |||
| Released | 1990 | |||
| Genre | Pop[1] | |||
| Length | 4:00 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Songwriters | ||||
| Producer | Peter Wolf | |||
| Go West singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
In terms of the group's discography, "King of Wishful Thinking" has become their best known song.[5] 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.[6]
Critical reception
Music journalist Hannah Dailey of the U.S. publication Billboard has labeled the song as "one of the crown jewels of ’90s classic hits".[5]
Music video
The song's official music video is known for including various absurdist elements alongside the pop duo as they act on a solid white stage.[7] It was produced, directed and written by Paul Flattery and Jim Yukich of FYI. Though the film does not outwardly utilize film clips from Pretty Woman, outside of brief glimpses superimposed on actual celluloid, the video includes lookalikes of Julia Roberts and Richard Gere (dressed as his character from An Officer and a Gentleman). An actor playing Roy Orbison, performer of the titular song from the film, also appears.
In 2018, actor Paul Rudd and late-night host Jimmy Fallon made a shot-for-shot recreation of the music video for The Tonight Show. Some elements such as a dancing Pope, zebras, and a trained circus elephant, present in the original video, were not reproduced in the remake.[8] American band the Roots made a cameo appearance.[7]
Track listings
UK 7-inch and cassette single[3][9]
- "The King of Wishful Thinking" – 4:00
- "Tears Too Late" – 4:25
UK CD single[10]
- "The King of Wishful Thinking" – 4:00
- "The King of Wishful Thinking" (Jon Gass US 12-inch) – 5:49
- "Tears Too Late" – 4:25
- "The King of Wishful Thinking" (acapella) – 2:45
- The UK 12-inch single switches tracks one and two.[11]
US and Canadian cassette single[12]
- "King of Wishful Thinking" (LP version)
- "King of Wishful Thinking" (power mix)
Personnel
Go West
- Peter Cox – lead vocals, backing vocals, keyboards
- Richard Drummie – keyboards, guitars, backing vocals
Additional musicians
- Peter Wolf – keyboards, drum programming
- David Williams – guitars
- Dan Higgins – saxophones
- Larry Williams – saxophones
- Gary Grant – trumpet
- Jerry Hey – trumpet, horn arrangements
- Lynn Davis – backing vocals
- Phillip Ingram – backing vocals
- Dorian Holley – backing vocals
- Alfie Silas – backing vocals
Charts
Weekly charts
|
Year-end charts
|
Certifications
Covers
- New Found Glory covered the song for their 2007 album From the Screen to Your Stereo Part II.
- MUNA covered the song on Sirius XMU Sessions in June 2026[34]