Seal’s most iconic song, “Kiss From a Rose,” bombed when it was released as a single in 1994.
“It charted at 60, dropped to 80-something, then disappeared,” he recalled in an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution before his concert appearance at the Fox Theater May 6. (Tickets still available at foxtheatre.evenue.net ranging from $29.50 to $89.50.)
But then Joel Schumacher, director of “Batman Forever,” was seeking a song for a love scene between Val Kilmer and Nicole Kidman. He asked Seal if he had anything. Seal’s manager Bob Cavallo sent Seal’s second album to Schumacher with an asterisk next to “Kiss From a Rose.” Schumacher said the song didn’t quite work for the love scene but he decided to have it play over the end credits.
He then asked Seal to perform among some of the “Batman Forever” props and a bat light for the MTV video.
“MTV didn’t like the song, didn’t want to play it at first,” Seal recalled. “But they had to because of the sheer magnitude and juggernaut that was the movie. We didn’t recut the song. We didn’t remix it. It was exactly the same song. The difference was a ton of people heard it, the last thing they heard as they were leaving the theater.”
“Kiss From a Rose” became Seal’s only No. 1 single, a song that is still considered a beloved treasure three decades later.
British native Seal, now 60 and a long-time Los Angelino, credits producer and Buggles lead singer Trevor Horn for ensuring the song resonated so well. “I attribute its timeless quality to Trevor,” he said. “He drummed it into me to avoid time stamping or making particular social references. He always erred toward great players and great playing.”
In fact, Horn will be touring with Seal, who plans to play his first two albums in full to celebrate their 30th anniversary more or less. (The first “Seal” record came out in 1991 and the second one in 1994.)
Horn produced albums for acts such a ABC, Grace Jones and Frankie Goes to Hollywood, defining a lush 1980s techno new wave sound that was also present in his own music with the Buggles, who will open for Seal. Horn will naturally perform “Video Killed the Radio Star,” which barely charted on the radio at the time but became known over time as the first video on MTV in 1981. Horn will also play bass for Seal.
“He is a charismatic genius,” Seal said. “He has been my producer for many years but never been my music director. I had never attempted to recreate these albums. I would just do different interpretations of the songs live. But this is the first time I will try to do the albums verbatim.”
Why do that? “It’s because I do believe those albums to certain people were similar to my favorite albums by great artists I loved and grew up with,” he said. “They created a backdrop, a soundtrack, a chapter of my life. I want to recreate that situation for my fans.”
IF YOU GO
Seal
8 p.m. Saturday, May 6. $29.50-$89.50. Fox Theatre, 660 Peachtree St. NE, Atlanta. foxtheatre.org.
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