Loading AI tools
1990 single by Go West From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"King of Wishful Thinking" (titled "The King of Wishful Thinking" on Chrysalis releases[2]) is a song by British pop duo Go West, written by Peter Cox, Richard Drummie and Martin Page. It was featured in the film Pretty Woman and appeared on its soundtrack.[3] It was later featured 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 soundtrack | ||||
B-side | "Tears Too Late" | |||
Released | 23 March 1990 | |||
Genre | Pop[1] | |||
Length | 4:00 | |||
Label | ||||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) | Peter Wolf | |||
Go West singles chronology | ||||
|
In terms of the group's discography, "King of Wishful Thinking" has become their best known song.[4] 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.[5]
Music journalist Hannah Dailey of the U.S. publication Billboard has labeled the song as "one of the crown jewels of ’90s classic hits".[4]
The song's official music video is known for featuring various absurdist elements alongside the pop duo as they act on a solid white stage.[6] It was produced, directed and written by Paul Flattery and Jim Yukich of FYI.
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.[7] American band the Roots made a cameo appearance.[6]
UK 7-inch and cassette single[2][8]
UK CD single[9]
US and Canadian cassette single[11]
Weekly charts
|
Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA)[27] | Gold | 35,000^ |
United Kingdom (BPI)[28] | Silver | 200,000‡ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.