The Game of Love (Santana song)

"The Game of Love"
Single by Santana featuring Michelle Branch
from the album Shaman and Hotel Paper (international version)
B-side
  • "Come to My World"
  • "Curacion"
Released September 17, 2002
Format
Recorded 2001
Length 4:18
Label Arista
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Santana singles chronology
"Maria Maria"
(2000)		 "The Game of Love"
(2002)		 "Nothing at All"
(2003)

"Maria Maria"
(2000)		 "The Game of Love"
(2002)		 "Nothing at All"
(2003)
Michelle Branch singles chronology
"All You Wanted"
(2001) All You Wanted2001		 "The Game of Love"
(2002) The Game of Love2002		 "Goodbye to You"
(2002) Goodbye to You2002

"The Game of Love" is a song performed by Latin rock band Santana from their eighteenth studio album Shaman. The vocal performance on the song is by Michelle Branch. It was composed by Gregg Alexander and Rick Nowels. The song was launched as single in 2002, and won a Grammy Award for "Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals",[1] as well as peaking at No. 5 in on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. The song was also a top 10 hit in Canada, Hungary, New Zealand, Romania, and Spain, and reached number one in Poland.

Background

The song had originally been recorded with New Radicals frontman Gregg Alexander, but producer Clive Davis felt a female voice would maximize the song's appeal and a recording of Santana performing "The Game of Love" with Tina Turner as vocalist was completed. When Turner declined to participate in making a video for the track, Davis recruited Macy Gray to record a replacement vocal. When Davis was not satisfied with that version, Michelle Branch was asked to record the song,[2] with Branch's rhythm guitar playing also added to the track. Branch said, "It was the first time for me to sing somebody else's song. Usually I'm like: 'Oh I want it this way' and I'm in charge...I didn't meet [Carlos Santana at the recording session], I didn't know what was going on...It felt to me like wow it seems like there's so much at stake, I'm going to go in there and just sing my heart out and just cross my fingers."[3]

The Tina Turner version of "The Game of Love" was issued on the 2007 retrospective Ultimate Santana. Santana said "There's only one Tina Turner...No one can hit a note like Tina Turner...I love Michelle [Branch] and she did a great interpretation of it. It's just that with all honor and respect to Michelle, there's the girl and there's the woman, and Michelle is unfolding into a woman...but it takes time to go from a girl into a woman."[4]

Music video

The music video depicts Santana and Branch in an alley with couples around them, each expressing their love for one another. The director was Paul Fedor and the video was filmed in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago, with cameo appearances by Wesley Snipes, Helen Hunt and Jennifer Garner.

Track listing

  1. "The Game of Love" [radio mix] – Santana, Michelle Branch
  2. "Come to My World" – Santana
  3. "Curacion" (Sunlight on Water) – Santana
  4. "The Game of Love" [multimedia track] – Santana, Michelle Branch

Charts

Chart (2002–03) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[5] 21
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[6] 51
Belgium (Ultratip Flanders)[7] 2
Belgium (Ultratip Wallonia)[8] 5
Canada (Nielsen SoundScan)[9] 4
Germany (Official German Charts)[10] 46
Hungary (Rádiós Top 40)[11] 8
Ireland (IRMA)[12] 19
Italy (FIMI)[13] 11
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[14] 23
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[15] 40
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[16] 7
Norway (VG-lista)[17] 17
Poland (ZPAV)[18] 1
Romania (Romanian Top 100)[19] 7
Scotland (Official Charts Company)[20] 12
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[21] 6
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[22] 54
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[23] 20
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[24] 16
US Billboard Hot 100[25] 5
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[26] 1
US Adult Top 40 (Billboard)[27] 1
US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)[28] 5

References

  1. ↑ "2003 Grammy Award Winners". The New York Times. February 25, 2003. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  2. ↑ You Sing, I Write: A Night With Clive Davis
  3. ↑ The Hour 20 November 2002 p.A2
  4. ↑ Victoria Advocate 3 August 2007 p. m3
  5. ↑ "Australian-charts.com – Santana feat. Michelle Branch – The Game of Love". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  6. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Santana feat. Michelle Branch – The Game of Love" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  7. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Santana feat. Michelle Branch – The Game of Love" (in Dutch). Ultratip.
  8. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Santana feat. Michelle Branch – The Game of Love" (in French). Ultratip.
  9. ↑ "Canada Top 20 15-02-2003". Top40-Charts.com. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  10. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Santana feat. Michelle Branch – The Game of Love". GfK Entertainment Charts.
  11. ↑ "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Rádiós Top 40 játszási lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége. Retrieved 2010-12-08.
  12. ↑ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – The Game of Love". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  13. ↑ "Italiancharts.com – Santana feat. Michelle Branch – The Game of Love". Top Digital Download. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  14. ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 45, 2002" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40 Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  15. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Santana feat. Michelle Branch – The Game of Love" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  16. ↑ "Charts.nz – Santana feat. Michelle Branch – The Game of Love". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  17. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Santana feat. Michelle Branch – The Game of Love". VG-lista. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  18. ↑ "Nielsen Music Control". Archived from the original on 2007-10-15.
  19. ↑ "Romanian peak". Archived from the original on December 28, 2004. Retrieved 2004-12-28.
  20. ↑ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  21. ↑ "Spanishcharts.com – Santana feat. Michelle Branch – The Game of Love" Canciones Top 50. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  22. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Santana feat. Michelle Branch – The Game of Love". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  23. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Santana feat. Michelle Branch – The Game of Love". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  24. ↑ "Santana: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company.
  25. ↑ "Santana Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  26. ↑ "Santana Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  27. ↑ "Santana Chart History (Adult Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  28. ↑ "Santana Chart History (Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.