King of Wishful Thinking

"King of Wishful Thinking"
"King of Wishful Thinking"
Single by Go West
from the album Indian Summer and Pretty Woman soundtrack
Released	May 1990
Recorded	late 1989
Genre	Pop rock; dance-pop; new jack swing;
Length	4:00
Label	Chrysalis; Capitol;
Songwriter(s)	Peter Cox; Richard Drummie; Martin Page;
Producer(s)	Peter Wolf
Go West singles chronology

"King of Wishful Thinking" is a 1990 song by the 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.^[1] It was later featured on Go West's third studio album, Indian Summer, in 1992. The song 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.^[2]

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.^[3]

Charts[]

Weekly charts[]

Chart (1990–92)	Peak position
Australia (ARIA)^[4]	6
Canada Top Singles (RPM)^[5]	3
Canada Adult Contemporary (RPM)^[6]	4
Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)^[7]	49
Germany (Official German Charts)^[8]	46
Ireland (IRMA)^[9]	23
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)^[10]	24
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)^[11]	20
UK Singles (OCC)^[12]	18
US Billboard Hot 100^[13]	8
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)^[14]	7

Year-end charts[]

Chart (1990)	Position
Australia (ARIA)^[15]	62
Canada Top Singles (RPM)^[16]	35
Canada Adult Contemporary (RPM)^[17]	40
US Billboard Hot 100^[18]	70

Certifications[]


Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)^[15]	Gold	35,000^{^}
United Kingdom (BPI)^[19]	Silver	200,000
^{^} Shipments figures based on certification alone. Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Covers[]

American pop punk New Found Glory covered their version of the song from the 2007 album From The Screen To Your Stereo: Part 2.

References[]

^ How King of Wishful Thinking got on the Pretty Woman soundtrack
^ "History - BRITS Awards". Brits.co.uk. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
^ Kreps, Daniel (10 February 2018). "See Paul Rudd, Jimmy Fallon Remake Go West's 'King of Wishful Thinking'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
^ "Australian-charts.com – Go West – The King of Wishful Thinking". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
^ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 1327." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
^ "Top RPM Adult Contemporary: Issue 1328." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
^ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 7 no. 37. 15 September 1990. p. IV. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Go West – The King of Wishful Thinking" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts.
^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – King of Wishful Thinking". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
^ "Charts.nz – Go West – The King of Wishful Thinking". Top 40 Singles.
^ "Swedishcharts.com – Go West – The King of Wishful Thinking". Singles Top 100.
^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
^ "Go West Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
^ "Go West Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b "The ARIA Australian Top 100 Singles Chart 1990 (61–100) (from The ARIA Report No. 50)". Imgur.com (original document published by ARIA). Retrieved 10 October 2016.
^ "Top 100 Hit Tracks of 1990". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
^ "Top 100 Adult Contemporary Tracks of 1990". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
^ "Billboard Top 100 - 1990". Archived from the original on 17 January 2010. Retrieved 15 September 2009.
^ "British single certifications – Go West – The King of Wishful Thinking". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 20 February 2021.

External links[]

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[1] How King of Wishful Thinking got on the Pretty Woman soundtrack

[2] "History - BRITS Awards". Brits.co.uk. Retrieved 23 May 2019.

[3] Kreps, Daniel (10 February 2018). "See Paul Rudd, Jimmy Fallon Remake Go West's 'King of Wishful Thinking'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2 May 2019.

[sc_Australia_Go_West-4] "Australian-charts.com – Go West – The King of Wishful Thinking". ARIA Top 50 Singles.

[sc_Canadatopsingles_-5] "Top RPM Singles: Issue 1327." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 14 May 2019.

[sc_Canadaadultcontemporary_-6] "Top RPM Adult Contemporary: Issue 1328." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 14 May 2019.

[7] "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 7 no. 37. 15 September 1990. p. IV. Retrieved 30 August 2020.

[sc_Germany_Go_West-8] "Offiziellecharts.de – Go West – The King of Wishful Thinking" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts.

[sc_Ireland2_-9] "The Irish Charts – Search Results – King of Wishful Thinking". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 14 May 2019.

[sc_New_Zealand_Go_West-10] "Charts.nz – Go West – The King of Wishful Thinking". Top 40 Singles.

[sc_Sweden_Go_West-11] "Swedishcharts.com – Go West – The King of Wishful Thinking". Singles Top 100.

[sc_UK_-12] "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 14 May 2019.

[sc_Billboardhot100_Go_West-13] "Go West Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.

[sc_Billboardadultcontemporary_Go_West-14] "Go West Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard.

[ausye-15] Jump up to: ^a ^b "The ARIA Australian Top 100 Singles Chart 1990 (61–100) (from The ARIA Report No. 50)". Imgur.com (original document published by ARIA). Retrieved 10 October 2016.

[16] "Top 100 Hit Tracks of 1990". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 14 May 2019.

[17] "Top 100 Adult Contemporary Tracks of 1990". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 14 May 2019.

[18] "Billboard Top 100 - 1990". Archived from the original on 17 January 2010. Retrieved 15 September 2009.

[United_KingdomGo_WestThe_King_of_Wishful_ThinkingsingleCertRef-19] "British single certifications – Go West – The King of Wishful Thinking". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 20 February 2021.

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hide v t Go West
Peter Cox Richard Drummie
Studio albums	Go West Bangs & Crashes Dancing on the Couch Indian Summer futurenow 3D
Compilation albums	Aces and Kings – The Best of Go West
Singles	"We Close Our Eyes" "Call Me" "Goodbye Girl" "Eye to Eye" "Don't Look Down" "True Colours" "I Want to Hear It from You" "Don't Look Down – The Sequel" "The King Is Dead" "King of Wishful Thinking" "Faithful" "What You Won't Do for Love" "Tracks of My Tears"