View source for The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game

{{Short description|1966 song by Smokey Robinson}}
{{Infobox song
| name       = The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game
| cover      = Hunter Gets Captured by the Game Marvelettes.jpeg
| alt        =
| type       = single
| artist     = [[The Marvelettes]]
| album      = [[The Marvelettes (album)|The Marvelettes]]<ref>{{cite web|title=www.allmusic.com|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-marvelettes-mw0000313944|website=allmusic.com|accessdate=April 14, 2023}}</ref>
| B-side     = I Think I Can Change You
| released   = December 27, 1966
| recorded   = 1966
| studio     = [[Hitsville U.S.A.]]
| venue      =
| genre      = [[Soul music|Soul]], [[pop music|pop]]
| length     = 2:45 (single version)<br />3:13 (album version)
| label      = [[Motown Records|Tamla]]
| writer     = [[Smokey Robinson]]
| producer   = Smokey Robinson
| prev_title = You're the One
| prev_year  = 1966
| next_title = [[When You're Young and in Love]]
| next_year  = 1967
}}
"'''The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game'''" is a [[1966 in music|1966]] song written by [[Smokey Robinson]]. It was a hit single in 1967 for the American [[girl group]] [[The Marvelettes]] for the [[Motown]] label, from their [[The Marvelettes (album)|self-titled]] album released that same year.
==The Marvelettes version==
===Background===
[[The Marvelettes]] single peaked in the United States in spring 1967 at number 13 on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] pop singles chart and at number two on the [[Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs|''Billboard'' soul chart]].<ref>{{cite magazine |year=1967 |title=''Billboard'' Hot 100 |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |volume=79 |issue=11 |pages=20 |publisher=[[Nielsen Company]] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LCgEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA20 |accessdate=21 May 2011 }}</ref> The group's version of the song was produced by [[Smokey Robinson]]. The song is written in the first person, from the point of view of someone who has "laid such a tender trap" to catch a lover. Lead singer [[Wanda Young]]-Rogers (wife of Miracles member [[Bobby Rogers]]) talks about how she had been stalking her lover, having to learn his "ways and habits" so she could plan how to catch him. But "certain things rearrange" and she finds herself caught, presumably, in love with her 'game.'
There seems to be 3 variations issued. The original mono single ended cold, yet some (not all) of the stereo remixes fade at the end. There is also a different last verse on some of the reissues, leading to the assumption that Smokey recorded the song much longer than any of the issued versions. Additionally, the single version and at least one of the stereo mixes exclude the first part of the second verse.
''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' named the song #71 on their list of 100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time.<ref>{{cite web|title=100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time: Critics' Picks|url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/7857816/100-greatest-girl-group-songs|publisher=Billboard|accessdate=July 11, 2017}}</ref>
===Personnel===
*Lead vocals by [[Wanda Young]]-Rogers
*Background vocals by [[Gladys Horton]], [[Katherine Anderson]] and [[The Andantes]]: Jackie Hicks, Marlene Barrow, and Louvain Demps
*Instrumentation by [[The Funk Brothers]]
===Chart performance===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!align="left"|Chart (1967)
!align="left"|Peak<br />position
|-
|align="left"|[[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]]<ref name="allmusic">{{cite web |url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-marvelettes-p4851/charts-awards/billboard-singles |title=The Marvelettes |accessdate=2012-01-12 |publisher=www.allmusic.com}}</ref>
|align="center"|13
|-
|align="left"|[[Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs|R&B Singles]]<ref name="allmusic" />
|align="center"|2
|-
|}
==Grace Jones version==
{{Infobox song
| name       = The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game
| cover      = Gracejonesthehunter.jpg
| alt        =
| type       = single
| artist     = [[Grace Jones]]
| album      = [[Warm Leatherette (album)|Warm Leatherette]]<ref>{{cite web|title=www.allmusic.com|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/warm-leatherette-mw0000190523|website=allmusic.com|accessdate=April 14, 2023}}</ref>
| B-side     = "Sinning", "[[Warm Leatherette]]"
| released   = September 1980
| recorded   =
| studio     =
| genre      = {{hlist|[[Post-disco]]|[[Dance music|dance]]<ref>{{Cite web|last=Petridis|first=Alexis|date=29 April 2021|title=Grace Jones' 20 greatest songs - ranked!|url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2021/apr/29/grace-jones-20-greatest-songs-ranked|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511091230/https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2021/apr/29/grace-jones-20-greatest-songs-ranked|archive-date=11 May 2021|access-date=11 May 2021|website=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref>}}
| length     = 3:50
| label      = [[Island Records|Island]]
| writer     = [[Smokey Robinson]]
| producer   = {{hlist|[[Chris Blackwell]]|[[Alex Sadkin]]}}
| prev_title = [[Private Life (song)|Private Life]]
| prev_year  = 1980
| next_title = [[Breakdown (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers song)#Grace Jones version|Breakdown]]
| next_year  = 1980
}}
===Background===
In 1980, Jamaican singer [[Grace Jones]] remade the song and had minor success with her version in the US.  It was included on ''[[Warm Leatherette (album)|Warm Leatherette]]'' in 1980, her first post-disco album. It was also released as the lead single in the USA and the fourth in the UK. The B-side on the European single is an alternate version of the song, known as the "Special Single Version". This version was not released on CD until 2016 when ''Warm Leatherette'' was reissued.
===Track listings===
*'''US 7" single'''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.discogs.com/Grace-Jones-Sinning/release/2578464 |title=Grace Jones – The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game (Vinyl) at Discogs |work=www.discogs.com |year=1980 |accessdate=2012-01-12}}</ref>
:A. "The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game" – 3:49
:B. "Sinning" – 5:06
*'''EU 7" single'''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.discogs.com/Grace-Jones-The-Hunter-Gets-Captured-By-The-Game/release/1091782 |title=Grace Jones – The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game (Vinyl) at Discogs |work=www.discogs.com |date=12 September 1980 |accessdate=2012-01-12}}</ref>
:A. "The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game" (LP version) – 3:50
:B. "The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game" (Special Version) – 3:20
*'''UK 12" single'''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.discogs.com/Grace-Jones-The-Hunter-Gets-Captured-By-The-Game/release/715471 |title=Grace Jones – The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game (Vinyl) at Discogs |work=www.discogs.com |year=1980 |accessdate=2012-01-12}}</ref>
:A. "The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game" (long version) – 6:43
:B. "[[Warm Leatherette]]" (long version) – 5:36
===Chart performance===
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|-
! scope="col"| Chart (1980)
! scope="col"| Peak<br />position
|-
{{single chart|Billboardrandbhiphop|87|artist=Grace Jones|rowheader=true|access-date=8 October 2021}}
|-
|}
==Other cover versions==
The song has had several cover versions over the years:
*[[Blondie (band)|Blondie]] included a cover as the closing track on their 1982 conceptual album [[The Hunter (Blondie album)|''The Hunter'']].<ref>{{cite web|title=www.allmusic.com|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-hunter-mw0000011597|website=allmusic.com|accessdate=April 14, 2023}}</ref>
*[[Massive Attack]] and [[Tracey Thorn]] (of [[Everything but the Girl]]) recorded a cover for the [[Batman Forever (soundtrack)|soundtrack to ''Batman Forever'']] in 1995.
*[[Bette Midler]] performed a rendition included in the deluxe edition of her 2014 studio album ''[[It's The Girls!]]''.<ref>{{cite web|title=www.allmusic.com|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/its-the-girls%21-mw0002749613|website=allmusic.com|accessdate=April 14, 2023}}</ref>
*Another cover also appeared on [[Jerry Garcia]]'s ''[[Compliments (album)|Compliments]]'' in 1974,<ref>{{cite web|title=www.allmusic.com|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/garcia-compliments-mw0000314917|website=allmusic.com|accessdate=April 14, 2023}}</ref> and was performed live by the [[Jerry Garcia Band]] until into the early 90s.
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{The Marvelettes}}
{{The Miracles}}
{{Tracey Thorn}}
{{Grace Jones}}
{{Tim Burton's/Joel Schumacher's Batman}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter Gets Captured By The Game, The}}
[[Category:1967 singles]]
[[Category:1980 singles]]
[[Category:Batman (1989 film series) music]]
[[Category:Grace Jones songs]]
[[Category:The Miracles songs]]
[[Category:The Marvelettes songs]]
[[Category:Songs written by Smokey Robinson]]
[[Category:Tamla Records singles]]
[[Category:1966 songs]]
[[Category:Song recordings produced by Smokey Robinson]]
[[Category:Song recordings produced by Alex Sadkin]]