Go West almost lost out on selling 10m albums after turning down Pretty Woman stint

The King Of Wishful Thinking by iconic pop group Go West is one of the world’s biggest songs, following its appearance in Hollywood film Pretty Woman.

However, Go West guitarist Richard Drummie revealed that he nearly turned down the opportunity for the song to appear in the film – before fellow band member Peter Cox convinced him otherwise.

Speaking exclusively to Daily Star, the band spoke about the hit song and ‘career highlight’ King Of Wishful thinking – as well as the viral video recreation of the hit song by Marvel star Paul Rudd and Tonight Show Host Jimmy Fallon.

Anyone who hears King Of Wishful Thinking will instantly be taken back to the opening scene of Pretty Woman, where Hollywood heart throb Richard Gere is driving through Los Angeles.

The song is synonymous with the 90s rom-com, but Go West’s Richard Drummie explained that as the group had only just written the song, he was initially reluctant for it to be included in the film.

However he now considers it as one of his biggest career highlights, saying: “Getting into the Pretty Woman film – that was another one.

“That was really important to us, although I wasn’t…I didn’t really want it to go into the film, as we had just written that song. We thought it was a hit, so I was just like no.”

However, he explained that he was eventually persuaded by band member Peter Cox to include the song in the film, adding: “It wasn’t called Pretty Woman when we first learnt about it – it was called 3000.

“I said, ‘oh a science fiction film?’, and they said ‘no, no, no – it’s a romantic comedy about a guy that hires a prostitute for the week for $3000.

“I went, yeah, I don’t want to be involved in this – but fortunately, Peter and our A&R man Ron wrestled me to the ground and we went on to be a part of that whole machine around Pretty Woman, which ended up selling over 10m albums.

“It was very nice. It makes me feel very proud.”

The rest as they say is history, and The King Of Wishful Thinking went on to sell over 10 million copies worldwide, received an ASCAP award and was one of the most played songs on American Radio.

Having worked on film soundtracks before, Peter said they could never have predicted the success that the Pretty Woman soundtrack or King Of Wishful Thinking would have, adding: “I don’t think either of us could have foreseen the 12m soundtrack album sales. We have been involved in other film soundtracks, and those experiences.

“It is very unusual, as in Pretty Woman, that you hear an entire verse and chorus of a song right at the beginning of the film, with no acting dialogue happening.

“The film, it has just started, and they get to hear us and our performance, without anything to distract them from the song. It’s very unusual in my experience of being involved in film soundtracks.”

While the song may now be over 30 years old, new generations of fans were introduced to the song by Marvel star Paul Rudd and Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon, when the duo teamed up to recreate the video for Jimmy’s talk show.

The video went viral, and Go West spoke about the moment that they both discovered the video for the first time, with Richard saying: “It was just bonkers. I got up that day and I had 200 messages. I thought, what’s all this?

People were saying, ‘have you seen it? Have you seen it?’ I can’t believe that they did that. Faithfully created that video – there’s a lot to recreate.”

Both Peter and Richard also revealed the sweet messages of thanks they sent exchanged with Paul Rudd and Jimmy Fallon following the video’s recreation, with Peter saying: “I’ve seen them talking about it. Jimmy Fallon and Paul Rudd are close friends and they agreed that they would have fun recreating it.

My manager said, ‘you must text Jimmy Fallon’ and I did. I did text, to the effect, that I could see a lot of love had gone in [to making the video]. It was made with love.

“He came back and said, ‘absolutely, tonnes of love.’ That was really nice.”

Richard added: “Same here, sending a message saying thanks – How flattered we were that they had bothered to take that time and give us such a laugh as well.

“There is one on the internet now where they run the two videos side by side – then you really see the lengths they gone to, for it to be identical.”

Along with The King Of Wishful Thinking, Go West’s 40 year career has seen them release hits including Call Me, We Close Our Eyes and Goodbye Girl.

They were also awarded the BRIT Award for Best British Newcomer in 1986, with Richard explaining that the band never expected to win the award – and that footage of the event shows how surprised they were.

“We went to the record company in the afternoon and they said, we know whether you have won or not. We said ‘don’t tell us, don’t tell us,” explained Richard.

“We went there for the party and all of a sudden our names got read out. It was completely unexpected. Anyone who watches it can see how surprised we were.

“I just walked around with the BRIT award in my hand all night. You can imagine if you’ve won an Oscar, I was like, I’m not putting this down.

We just hang out with the people there – Phil Collins was there, Huey Lewis and The News, everyone who was up for awards. We just had a huge party.”

Peter added: “We’ve only been on stage to accept an award on one occasion, so that has been a highlight.”

With a chart topping career spanning four decades, fans can now enjoy their hits again and again on a co-headline tour with fellow eighties star Paul Young this May.

The tour, which sees the group visit cities across the UK including Liverpool, Glasgow and Bath, will feature “all the hits” says Richard Drummie.

“If you’re coming along, you’re going to hear and see the music you want to hear.”

They’re also excited to reunite with Everytime You Go Away and Where I Lay My Hat (That’s My Home) singer Paul Young, with Richard adding: “Paul is a good friend. Our paths crossed back then and he has always been a lovely, lovely guy.

We’ve toured with Paul a couple of times in Australia. I’ve also written with Paul, and he is just a lovely guy. Very good at what he does and just a pleasure to be around.

“It’ll be like getting back together with a mate and going back on the road, which is nice.”

Asked why the decade still appeals to so many generations of fans, Peter attributes the quality of the songwriting to lasting appeal of the eighties, saying: “I hope it’s about the songwriting. I generally say, every era of music has its own generation who grew up with that. Teenagers in the eighties have families now and they want a retrospective experience of the songs that they might have fallen in love to. I would say it’s energy definitely.”

They also added that there might be a surprise in store too, with a song cover or two making its way into the set list as well, adding: “We’ve got fans who come along and see it multiple times, and we can’t keep playing the same 20 songs over and over, so we either add something new or we do a cover. We always do it in a different way.”

If that wasn’t enough, fans can also hear new versions of Go West’s hit songs during a set of concerts in March, which sees their records reinvented and performed with an orchestra.

They also thanked fans for their continued support, and cannot wait to see audiences again on the road, with Richard saying: “The orchestral shows – that’s going to be seeing us in a different environment. It’s great to be doing that.

“We’ve got gigs going in for next year and this year is full, so I’d just like to thank everyone who keeps putting their hands in their pocket and coming along to see us.”

Tickets for Go West UK Tour with Full Live Orchestra in March 2022, and Go West’s Co-Headline Tour with Paul Young in May 2022 are on sale now.

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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk