Back in 2002, Carlos Santana tried to follow up the mega-success of his 1999 comeback blockbuster Supernatural with Shaman, another album where he teamed up with a bunch of that moment’s biggest stars under the watchful eye of Clive Davis, the music-business legend who first signed Santana and who passed away last month. The lead single from Shaman was a song called “The Game Of Love,” and it’s got quite a history.
Gregg Alexander, the New Radicals mastermind who was just starting to transition to a new role as a behind-the-scenes songwriter for hire, co-wrote and co-produced “The Game Of Love” under his Alex Ander alias. Alexander recorded a vocal for the song, and his version was once supposed to be included on Shaman, but Clive Davis thought that it would work better with a female voice. So a bunch of different women had a crack at the song.
Tina Turner recorded a version of “The Game Of Love,” but she didn’t want to make a video for the song. (Her version later came out on a reissue.) Macy Gray, extremely hot at the time, also recorded the song, but Davis didn’t like her take on it. Finally, the teenage hitmaker Michelle Branch came in to record the song, and Davis greenlit that one, which became a #5 hit and won a Grammy.
Nearly a quarter-century later, Michelle Branch has teamed up with co-writer and original singer Gregg Alexander for a new version of “The Game Of Love.” Branch just announced Everywhere And Back Again, a new EP where she’ll revisit songs from her career, and this new take on “The Game Of Love” is its first single. This time around, she shares lead-vocal duties with Gregg Alexander, who also produces, and there’s zero Carlos Santana guitar-shredding. Here’s what Branch says about it in a press release:
“The Game Of Love” has been such a special song in my life, made possible by one of my personal musical heroes, Gregg Alexander from New Radicals. Many people don’t realize that Gregg wrote “The Game Of Love,” and being able to sing this together with him is really a full circle moment and captures the original spirit of the demo.
And here’s what Gregg Alexander says:
Michelle has been acknowledged as inspiring so many artists, and Michelle is one of the kindest artists I’ve ever worked with. Our sometime mentor Clive Davis brought icons Tina Turner and Macy Gray to the studio to “try out” “The Game Of Love” in 2001. Yet Clive envisioned a brand new voice delivering my idealistically innocent lyric and melody. So when 19-year-old Michelle waltzed in delivering a jaw-dropping one-take vocal, we won a Grammy a year later. New Radicals and Michelle recently raised the “mix faders” at NYC’s Hit Factory with both our 2001 and 2026 vocals side by side, us both realizing singing our hearts out is perhaps just what the doctor ordered amidst today’s anxiety and global crises! And Clive, the music world misses you already… this record is dedicated to you. So let’s turn this motherfucker up and dance like no one’s watching!
Below, check out the new version of “The Game Of Love,” as well as the 2002 video.
TRACKLIST:
01 “The Game of Love” (feat. New Radicals)
02 “Everywhere”
03 “Breathe”
04 “Goodbye To You”
05 “You Get Me”
06 “All You Wanted”
07 “Are You Happy Now?
08 “The Game of Love (Remix)”
The Everywhere And Back Again EP is out 11/6 on BMG.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source stereogum.com ’
