His Wonderful Life
The L.A. Times
by Kastle, editor
Chris Isaak just may be the perfect guy to take home to Mom. He doesn't smoke, he doesn't drink, he doesn't do drugs and he doesn't say mean things. So why has he long been portrayed as the lonely guy who can't keep a girl?
"I didn't have anything to do with that image," he says. "It's funny to me that people say that. If you see me play live, we have a lot of fun, it's like a rock 'n roll band. I don't come out in a black turtleneck and smoke a cigarette and read poems."
It could be that Isaak's music relates to the lonely heart's club in everyone -- a loungy mix of mellow pop that has evolved from the singer's country and rockabilly roots. His musical tone leans to the dark side, exploring struggling and lost relationships. Each song is a vague page from a diary as told with his trademark Roy Orbison-esque croon, which can be both soothing and haunting at the same time. Isaak sings from an angle that he calls guarded optimism. "Even if things go bad, you still have hope that somehow you'll find the right person or fix yourself up [laughs] then find the right person," he says on the phone from an Oregon hotel room.
In his latest album, "Speak of the Devil," Isaak yearns to settle down and find that special someone. In the song "Talking 'Bout a Home," he goes so far as to mention the names of lovers past. Should his ex's be worried? "No, because I never say anything mean," he insists. "I don't have anything mean to say. They were all nice people. Just because we didn't end up being the perfect match I don't think I could really blame them. I look at myself and think there are a lot of things I'd change about myself before I'd change them."
It's hard to imagine what Isaak would want to change; his good looks and clean-cut image are topped off by an exceedingly dry yet funny sense of humor. Isaak is a complete package -- looks, personality and talent. In his seven-album career, he has even managed to avoid the common downfall of rock stardom -- succumbing to an excess of alcohol and drugs. "I hate to paint a picture of myself as lily white. I think morally I'm right in there with Captain Kidd and the other pirates!" he says with a laugh.
"But I would say it's been a big plus not doing that stuff. Because it doesn't help. I always think it's a shame when I see other bands with this image of hard drinking and smoking. That kind of imagery helps other people think that's what they have to do to be in rock 'n roll. But, of course, they don't have the money to have their handler go down and pick them up out of jail and put them in a Swiss rehab."
Being gloomy and brooding is also something that doesn't work its way into Isaak's daily schedule. He looks at the grunge movement as the perfect example of why. "Where did that end up? The guy [Kurt Cobain] who was probably the best of the movement killed himself," he says. "Is there any lesson there for followers? As dark as anything I've ever written, I have no intention of killing myself. For one thing I'm Catholic, so it's against the rules, but to me there's a flaw in the philosophy if it brings you to that place."
In fact, seeing a Chris Isaak show is quite the opposite of what you'd expect from just listening to him on CD. Forget the lonely guy. Isaak is the ultimate entertainer from the minute he takes the stage in some over-the-top sequined suit to when he entertains his audience with his quick-witted banter between songs. Clearly his shows are a celebration. "I'm happy to be up on stage," he says. "Why shouldn't I show it?"
Isaak just may be the Jimmy Stewart of pop music, and it's something that has come of age. Now 42, he himself admits that his sense of humor has gone from sarcastic to life loving. "When I was 13, I was so sarcastic and dark, but as I get older, the movie 'It's a Wonderful Life' now makes sense to me," he says. "That kind of upbeat, Frank Capra-esque idea -- I like! And coming from me, a guy who's written some dark stuff, that may seem funny to people, but I think you gotta balance things out."
So does Isaak have any deep hidden vices? "I can eat a whole box of chocolates on Christmas!" he laughs. "I eat it and then I think, oh man, what did I do, I gotta get up and run!"
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