Games People Play (The Alan Parsons Project song)

"Games People Play"
"Games People Play"
Single by The Alan Parsons Project
from the album The Turn of a Friendly Card
B-side	"The Ace of Swords"
Released	December 1980
Recorded	Late 1979 to January 1980
Genre	Progressive pop, new wave
Length	4:23; 3:17 (7" edit)
Label	Arista
Songwriter(s)	Alan Parsons, Eric Woolfson
Producer(s)	Alan Parsons, Eric Woolfson
The Alan Parsons Project singles chronology
Music video
	"Games People Play" on YouTube
Audio sample
	Menu 0:00 "Games People Play" file; help;

"Games People Play" is a 1980 song by the Alan Parsons Project. It peaked at No. 16 on March 14, 1981 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart as well as No. 18 on Cash Box.^[1]^[2] It appears on the album The Turn of a Friendly Card and was sung by Lenny Zakatek.

Single version[]

The single version of the song features two edits, one during the instrumental section preceding the guitar solo, and another shortening the guitar solo. It is also sped up slightly. The "single edit" included on the deluxe anniversary edition of The Turn of a Friendly Card from 2015 is edited differently and presented at the original pitch, so it is not the actual single version.

In popular culture[]

The song is featured in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories as part of its soundtrack in the fictional pop radio station, Flash FM.^[3]

Charts[]

Weekly charts[]

Chart (1980/81)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)^[4]	95
Canada (RPM Magazine)^[5]	9
United States (Billboard Hot 100)	16

Year-end charts[]

Year-end chart (1981)	Rank
US Top Pop Singles (Billboard)^[6]	66
Canada (RPM Magazine)^[7]	90

Release history[]

Country	Date
United States	December 1980
United Kingdom	March 1981

References[]

^ "Music: Top 100 Songs". Billboard. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
^ "Cash Box 3/14/81". Retrieved 11 July 2016.
^ "The Music of GTA: Vice City Stories". IGN. 26 October 2006. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 229. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
^ "RPM Top 50 Singles - February 28, 1981" (PDF).
^ "Number One Awards – Billboard's 1981 Year-End Charts : Pop Singles". Billboard. Vol. 93 no. 51. 26 December 1981. p. YE-9.
^ "RPM Top 100 Singles of 1981 - December 26, 1981" (PDF).

This 1980s rock single-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by .

[1] "Music: Top 100 Songs". Billboard. Retrieved 11 July 2016.

[2] "Cash Box 3/14/81". Retrieved 11 July 2016.

[3] "The Music of GTA: Vice City Stories". IGN. 26 October 2006. Retrieved 11 July 2016.

[aus-4] Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 229. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.

[5] "RPM Top 50 Singles - February 28, 1981" (PDF).

[6] "Number One Awards – Billboard's 1981 Year-End Charts : Pop Singles". Billboard. Vol. 93 no. 51. 26 December 1981. p. YE-9.

[7] "RPM Top 100 Singles of 1981 - December 26, 1981" (PDF).

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hide v t The Alan Parsons Project
Alan Parsons Eric Woolfson Ian Bairnson Andrew Powell David Paton Stuart Elliott Stuart Tosh Richard Cottle Laurence Cottle Duncan Mackay Mel Collins Lenny Zakatek Chris Rainbow Geoff Barradale John Miles Colin Blunstone Jack Harris Dave Townsend
Studio albums	Tales of Mystery and Imagination (1976) I Robot (1977) Pyramid (1978) Eve (1979) The Turn of a Friendly Card (1980) Eye in the Sky (1982) Ammonia Avenue (1983) Vulture Culture (1984) Stereotomy (1985) Gaudi (1987) Freudiana (1990) The Sicilian Defence (2014)
Compilations	The Best of the Alan Parsons Project (1983) The Best of the Alan Parsons Project, Vol. 2 (1988) The Instrumental Works (1988) The Definitive Collection (1997) The Best of the Alan Parsons Project (2002) The Essential Alan Parsons Project (2007)
Singles	"(The System of) Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether" "The Raven" "I Wouldn't Want to Be Like You" "Games People Play" "Time" "Sirius" "Eye in the Sky" "Old and Wise" "Don't Answer Me"
Related articles	Discography Keats Freudiana