Chris Isaak Puts On A Show

It's July 22 as I write this and I see some of you probably caught Chris Isaak at the Desert Diamond Casino on the 18th, because there are now waiting lists on all of his albums here at the Pima County Public Library. I was also at the show and wanted to share my review. This was my third time seeing Chris Isaak and his band, the first time being in 1991 at the county fairgrounds on a chilly night and the second time in 2011 at AVA on a very hot July night.

Chris Isaak: In Love Again

I still remember the first time I heard Chris Isaak, way back in 1990. I was working in the back room at

Main and the radio was turned on at low volume. I heard this haunting melody, this voice, and wondered, "Wow, what is that?" It was "Wicked Game", a song I'm sure most of you have heard. The video is also pretty famous (or infamous; I always like to say every American male of a certain age is familiar with the video!) I remember going to Zip's to pick up the cd that Wicked Game was on (Heart Shaped World), but they didn't have it. They did have the album that was released previous to Heart Shaped World, the self-titled Chris Isaak (1986). There are some great tracks on that one, including "Blue Hotel", "You Owe Me Some Kind of Love" (awesome video), "Lover's Game", and "Lie To Me". In some ways I think this album has held up better over the years than Heart Shaped World.

Here's my "I met Chris Isaak" story. "Wicked Game" was quickly becoming a huge single...