|
The Show Must Go On
02/07/2002 4:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
Rob O'Connor
Chris Isaak has had a record contract for 17 years. In this age of instant gratification, of stars pumped and dumped in rapid succession, the idea that a performer who clings to his idiosyncratic vision--and is not only standing at the end of the 17th round, but is higher in profile and shining ever brightly--reads like a myth that can't possibly be true. But, as anyone who tunes in VH1 or Showtime can attest, Chris Isaak is no longer that guy with the Elvis 'do, the Roy Orbison voice, and that tune in the David Lynch movie. Chris Isaak is now a multimedia star, a quirky, funny, and lovable TV personality who consults with a naked mermaid for advice.
His latest album, Always Got Tonight, is jam-packed with the tunes and pathos you've come to expect from the man. "I think a lot of the record sounds contemporary or commercial to me," says Isaak. "A lot of what we've done could be played on the radio. Sometimes I've done records like Baja Sessions, which are not aimed at mainstream radio. I'd love to have them play it, but [with] Baja Sessions, I kept imagining people buy the record and people play it for their backyard barbecue or driving in their cars in the morning."
Always Got Tonight features several standout tracks that could easily satisfy Isaak's waiting audience, from the album's first single "Let Me Down Easy" to the charged rocker "Courthouse." However, there's one tune that defines that "high lonesome" sound that Isaak does so well. "'Life Will Go On'--it's two stories in one song," explains Isaak. "One is a young couple who have loved and are breaking apart and wishing things could hold together. And I also thought of an old couple who lose their partner who's been there for life. It's really hard for them. They have to find some way to make it go on."
The circumstances under which he wrote it couldn't have been scripted better. "I wrote it in a hotel room in Hawaii...I'd stayed up all night and all day working on it and there was no one else in the hotel. It was shut down for some reason. I booked the place and found out later it was closed, but they'd still taken my booking. When I went there, they said, 'We'll give you your money back.' You mean, you'll let me stay here? They're like, 'Well, if you want. There's no room service, no maid, the pool's filled with leaves, and there's nobody. We'll give you some sheets here in the office and that's it.' I said OK. For songwriting, it was perfect for my purposes. It was a strange existence, like Twilight Zone. I was in an old hotel in Hawaii, on the beach, and there was nobody there."
In the past, Isaak has been described as a "control freak" because of his obsession to detail. It's a term he feels insults his very passion. "I'm definitely interested in every detail. It's my record. It's got my picture on the front. So I should sweat the details. I don't have much respect for people who go in and let somebody else put a record together for them." Fair enough.
He also feel that musicians are given short shrift when it comes to their acting abilities. "Ninety percent of those [musicians] who come on [The Chris Isaak Show] do very well. It's not that daunting for them. These are savvy vaudeville troupers; they've done a million gigs. They're used to performing."
Isaak sees The Chris Isaak Show's second season as improving and building on the first. "We had all the directors back that did a good job the first season. That's the truth," he says. "Let's bring back the guys who were good. We also knew who the characters were more. The actors are all more accomplished. My band is more comfortable on film. The things that worked, we're repeating, and the things that didn't, we're working on changing."
|
