(The Hit Hammer is where I'm reviewing each #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100. Starting from when the chart started in 1958 and eventually working my way to the present. To see my inspiration and more information about this blog, please CLICK HERE)
Wayne Fontana & the Mindbenders' "Game of Love"
Hit Number 1: April 24, 1965
Stay at Number 1: 1 Week
Boy, the times were sure different in 1965. Today, you could never get away with lyrics like "the purpose of a man is to love a woman", and vice versa. But I've got to be honest for a second, that's part of what makes this older music so great. You didn't have a bunch of people who were so PC obsessed, and getting offended over every little thing. It's not like the sole purpose of this song was to intentionally put anyone down. Instead, it's a hook that was used to make a hell of a song, and to make people remember it.
Written by songwriter Clint Ballard Jr., "Game of Love" happens to be one of my favorite 60s songs that wasn't by the Beatles. The group that recorded it were Wayne Fontana & the Mindbenders, which were a moderately successful, but short-lived band in the mid-60s. But they made their short-lived success count. "Game of Love" isn't anything that will blow you away; there's some mellow and laid back drum bangs, a strutting guitar noodle, and generally just very chill instrumentation. What the song does have, are monster hooks that make it extremely addicting and fun. The best part is the bridge that goes "come on baby cause the time is right, love your daddy with all your might, put your arms around me; hold me tight, play the game of love!" If you can get through that part without singing along or tapping your foot, you're probably the kind of person that isn't very fun at parties.
The outro is pretty fun too. After the third verse, the band explodes (I use that word pretty mildly) into a little energetic frenzy, with Fontana singing "the game of love baby! the game of love, love, love, love, love!" that makes it sound like a literal game show theme. I have to say, if love was actually a game show, "Game of Love" would be a hell of a theme. If you're like me, and you don't care at all about the possible "political incorrectness" of the song (which there isn't any but whatever), you might be a fan too. "Game of Love" is a banger, I don't care what anyone says.
GRADE: 9/10
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