Jeopardy (song)

"Jeopardy"
Single by The Greg Kihn Band
from the album Kihnspiracy
B-side "Fascination"
Released 1983
Genre Power pop[1]
Length 3:47
Label Beserkley Records
Writer(s) Greg Kihn / Steve Wright
Producer(s) Matthew King Kaufman
The Greg Kihn Band singles chronology
"Happy Man"
(1982)		 "(Our Love's On) Jeopardy"
(1983)		 "Tear That City Down"
(1983)

"Jeopardy" is a hit song released in 1983 by The Greg Kihn Band on their album Kihnspiracy. It is the band's first and only Top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, reaching number 2 in May 1983 (behind Michael Jackson's "Beat It") and also hitting number 1 on the dance charts for two weeks a month earlier. The song also reached number 63 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming the band's only charting song in the UK. The song is written in the key of D minor. The song switches to the relative F Major Key in the song's Pre-Chorus.

Track listing

7" single

  1. "Jeopardy" (3:47)
  2. "Fascination" (2:43)

12" single

  1. "Jeopardy" [dance mix] (6:45)
  2. "Jeopardy" [instrumental version] (6:32)

Music video

The song was featured in a surrealistic music video depicting a wedding disintegrating into a nightmare.

Plot description

The video opens with a bride-to-be getting out of her car screen right and enters a church. Soon afterwards a groom-to-be portrayed by Kihn himself gets out of another car screen left and enters an adjoining church. Entering in the groom's back entrance, he is readied for his impending marriage to another bride by his parents, who nudge him into the church's main hall.

Inside the main hall, a children's choir is seen singing the song's first chorus, the minister, the rest of the groom's family, as well as the groom's ushers portrayed by Kihn's band. The (other) bride is led by her father, who rather forcefully gives her to Kihn. As the minister recites the vow questions, Kihn turns his head backwards multiple times, as he cannot help feeling that something is amiss at the ceremony. He looks at his parents and notices that they are handcuffed together.

The minister asks Kihn for the ring. He looks at this bride's parents and sees that the hands that are being held together in a handshake of friendship merge and morph into a bone-destroying blob. The minister asks Kihn for the ring again. He looks at his aunt and uncle and notices that they are literally joined at the hip. The minister asks Kihn for the ring a third time, this time using sign language.

He reaches into his coat pocket and finds the ring, puts it on the bride's hand and takes off the veil. The bride proves to be a zombie, who lets out an earth-shattering scream. This is a possible reference to Bride of the Monster. Kihn screams in horror at the sight. The entire congregation turns into zombies possibly referencing Night of the Living Dead except for Kihn, who makes his first attempt at escaping.

Just as he is halfway down the aisle between the church's pews, a gigantic, tentacled monster emerges from the church's podium. The monster pulls him to the center of the church. Kihn, in retaliation, breaks off a piece of a pew and uses it as a spear. He pokes and cuts into the tentacle with the "pew spear," and the monster goes back down into the floorboards.

Kihn then uses it like a guitar and sings a repeat of the second verse to the crowd. He then makes a second run for the door, the congregation coming after him, and this time he succeeds. Next is seen what looks like a successful end to the proceedings, but it is revealed to be a movie watched by burning skeletons of the bride and groom.

The screen dissolves to reveal that this has all been a dream of Kihn's. Kihn then takes a bottle of champagne and sneaks out the back way of the church. He jumps into a convertible and glances over, just in time to see the bride-to-be from the video's beginning running away from her own wedding. He pulls in front of her, and she gets into his car. Its license plate reads "LIPS." They pop the cork of the champagne bottle and the video ends.

Video production

Exterior shots of the video were filmed in San Francisco's Mission District.

Parody

Main article: I Lost on Jeopardy

A parody of the song, titled "I Lost on Jeopardy", was released by "Weird Al" Yankovic in 1984. Kihn appeared in a cameo in the music video for Yankovic's parody, driving the car into which Yankovic is thrown after being "ejected" from the Jeopardy! game show. Art Fleming and Don Pardo, host and announcer, respectively, of the original version of Jeopardy!, also make cameo appearances.

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1983) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[2] 11
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[3] 22
Canada (CHUM)[4] 6
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[5] 4
France (IFOP)[6] 13
Germany (Official German Charts)[7] 18
Ireland (IRMA)[8] 17
Italy (FIMI)[9] 8
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[10] 15
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[11] 21
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[12] 17
South Africa (Springbok Radio)[13] 6
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[14] 8
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[15] 4
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[16] 63
US Billboard Hot 100[17] 2
US Billboard Hot Black Singles[17] 48
US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play[17] 1
US Billboard Top Tracks[17] 5
US Cash Box[18] 5

Year-end charts

Chart (1983) Rank
Australia (Kent Music Report)[2] 83
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[19] 25
France (IFOP)[20] 52
Italy (FIMI)[9] 60
US Billboard Hot 100[21] 21
US Cash Box[22] 35

See also

References

  1. ↑ Walters, Neal; Mansfield, Brian (1998). MusicHound Folk: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. ISBN 1-57859-037-X.
  2. 1 2 "Forum – ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts – Top 100 End of Year AMR Charts – 1980s". Australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  3. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Greg Kihn Band – Jeopardy" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  4. ↑ CHART NUMBER 1375 – Saturday, May 21, 1983 at the Wayback Machine (archived November 7, 2006). CHUM.
  5. ↑ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 6239." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  6. ↑ "Le Détail par Artiste" (in French). InfoDisc. Select "Greg Kihn Band" from the artist drop-down menu. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  7. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Greg Kihn Band – Jeopardy". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  8. ↑ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Jeopardy". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  9. 1 2 "I singoli più venduti del 1983" (in Italian). Hit Parade Italia. Creative Commons. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  10. ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Greg Kihn Band - Jeopardy search results" (in Dutch) Dutch Top 40. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  11. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Greg Kihn Band – Jeopardy" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  12. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Greg Kihn Band – Jeopardy". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  13. ↑ "South African Rock Lists Website SA Charts 1969 – 1989 Acts (K)". Rock.co.za. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  14. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Greg Kihn Band – Jeopardy". Singles Top 100. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  15. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Greg Kihn Band – Jeopardy". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  16. ↑ "Archive Chart: 1983-04-23" UK Singles Chart. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  17. 1 2 3 4 "Greg Kihn – Kihnspiracy". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  18. ↑ CASH BOX Top 100 Singles – Week ending APRIL 23, 1983 at the Wayback Machine (archived September 13, 2012). Cash Box magazine.
  19. ↑ "The Top Singles of 1983". RPM. Vol. 39 no. 17. 24 December 1983. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  20. ↑ "TOP – 1983" (in French). Top-france.fr. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  21. ↑ "Top 100 Hits for 1983". The Longbored Surfer. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  22. ↑ The CASH BOX Year-End Charts: 1983 at the Wayback Machine (archived September 11, 2012). Cash Box magazine.
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