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Jeopardy (song)

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"Jeopardy"
French picture sleeve
Single by The Greg Kihn Band
from the album Kihnspiracy
B-side"Fascination"
ReleasedJanuary 1983
StudioFantasy, Berkeley
Genre
Length3:47
LabelBeserkley
SongwritersGreg Kihn, Steve Wright
ProducerMatthew King Kaufman
The Greg Kihn Band singles chronology
"Happy Man"
(1982)		 "Jeopardy"
(1983)		 "Tear That City Down"
(1983)
Music video
"Jeopardy" on YouTube

"Jeopardy" is a song released by the Greg Kihn Band, from their 1983 album Kihnspiracy. It was the band's only Top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, reaching number 2 in May 1983 (behind Michael Jackson's "Beat It").

It hit #1 on the Billboard Hot Club Dance Play chart in April 1983 and crossed over to the Top 50 of Billboard's Soul chart. The song also reached number 63 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming the band's only charting song in the UK. The song was composed in D minor.

Background

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Kihn came up with the song with Steve Wright in 1981. Wright had purchased a new Casio keyboard and came up with a riff on it. Kihn came up with what would be the song's chorus and the duo finished the song 15 minutes later. The band recorded a demo not long after, and played the song live at a concert in Chicago. The reception was so positive that they recorded the song shortly after, and did so in just two takes.[3][4]

Music video

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A music video was made for the song. In the video, a wedding takes place and a groom (Kihn) gets cold feet after seeing various couples handcuffed or otherwise fused together. Eventually, the groom lifts the veil on his bride, and its revealed she's a zombie, and everyone in the church turns into zombie as well as the groom fights them and a giant monster off. Eventually, it's all revealed to be the groom's worries before the wedding and he walks out of the church to drive off. His bride incidentally does as well, and they drive off together.[5][6]

The music video was directed by Joe Dea and filmed in the Dolores Mission in San Francisco.[3][7] The idea for the video was conceived over a lunch meeting between Kihn, Dea, and Berzerkley Records owner Matthew King Kaufman, when Kihn mentioned his love of horror movies, and Dea thought up the horror movie wedding idea, which Kihn approved.[8] Kihn said that the video was shot over two or three days, in which considerable amounts of drugs and alcohol were consumed by the band.[3][7]

The music video for the band's 1984 song "Reunited" was a sequel for this video.[8]

Parody

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A parody of the song, titled "I Lost on Jeopardy", was released by "Weird Al" Yankovic on his 1984 album "Weird Al" Yankovic in 3-D. Kihn made a cameo appearance in the song's music video, driving the car into which Yankovic is thrown after being "ejected" from the Jeopardy! game show, parodying the end of his own video. The car's license plate reads "LOSER" instead of "LIPS". The bride still pops the cork of the champagne bottle and the video ends. Art Fleming and Don Pardo—host and announcer, respectively, of the original version of Jeopardy!—also make cameo appearances.

Kihn said he enjoyed the parody and considered it an honor to be parodied.[9]

Charts

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See also

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References

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  1. ↑ Walters, Neal; Mansfield, Brian (1998). MusicHound Folk: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. ISBN 1-57859-037-X.
  2. ↑ Graff, Gary (1998). "Greg Kihn". In Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel (eds.). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Detroit: Visible Ink Press. p. 629.
  3. 1 2 3 "The Jeopardy EP". Greg Kihn. 2017-01-08. Retrieved 2026-04-18.
  4. ↑ DeRiso, Nick (2012-07-12). "Greg Kihn on 'The Breakup Song,' 'Jeopardy' and Others: Gimme Five". Something Else!. Retrieved 2026-04-18.
  5. ↑ "Blast from the Past: The Greg Kihn Band's Jeopardy Video (Early 1980's)". Horror Movies, Horror News, Horror Reviews | AnythingHorror.com. 2012-01-26. Retrieved 2026-04-18.
  6. ↑ 80sneverend (2021-04-15). "Jeopardy - The Greg Kihn Band - 80sneverend - This is not a rock song". 80sneverend. Retrieved 2026-04-18.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. 1 2 Thursday, Chris on (2011-04-28). "Kihnplete: Our Interview With Greg Kihn". Retrieved 2026-04-18.
  8. 1 2 "RIP Greg Kihn (Reposted 2015 Interview) – Music Video Time Machine". Retrieved 2026-04-18.
  9. ↑ "CRR Interview - Greg Kihn: You really CAN make this stuff up!". www.classicrockrevisited.com. Retrieved 2026-04-18.
  10. 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.
  11. ↑ "Greg Kihn Band – Jeopardy" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  12. ↑ "Top RPM Singles: Image 6239". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved May 8, 2016. [dead link]
  13. ↑ "Le Détail par Artiste" (in French). InfoDisc. Select "Greg Kihn Band" from the artist drop-down menu. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  14. ↑ "Offizielle Deutsche Charts" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. To see the peak chart position, click 'TITEL VON', followed by the artist's name. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  15. ↑ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Jeopardy". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  16. 1 2 "I singoli più venduti del 1983" (in Italian). Hit Parade Italia. Creative Commons. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  17. ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Greg Kihn Band - Jeopardy" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  18. ↑ "Greg Kihn Band – Jeopardy" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  19. ↑ "Greg Kihn Band – Jeopardy". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  20. ↑ "South African Rock Lists Website SA Charts 1969 – 1989 Acts (K)". Rock.co.za. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  21. ↑ "Greg Kihn Band – Jeopardy". Singles Top 100. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  22. ↑ "Greg Kihn Band – Jeopardy". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  23. ↑ "Official Singles Chart on 23/4/1983 – Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  24. 1 2 3 4 "Greg Kihn – Kihnspiracy". AllMusic. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  25. ↑ "CASH BOX Top 100 Singles – Week ending APRIL 23, 1983". Cash Box. Archived from the original on September 13, 2012.
  26. ↑ "Kent Music Report – National Top 100 Singles for 1983". Kent Music Report. Retrieved 22 January 2023 – via Imgur.com.
  27. ↑ "The Top Singles of 1983". RPM. Vol. 39, no. 17. 24 December 1983. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  28. ↑ "TOP – 1983" (in French). Top-france.fr. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  29. ↑ "Top 100 Hits for 1983". The Longbored Surfer. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  30. ↑ "The CASH BOX Year-End Charts: 1983". Cash Box. Archived from the original on September 11, 2012.
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