Though roots-rocker Chris Isaak has enjoyed respectable sales since he released his first album in 1985, his breakout success came with the sultry song "Wicked Game" (a 1991 U.S. top-10 single) and its provocative video. The track caught on after David Lynch featured it in his film "Wild at Heart."

History could soon repeat itself for Isaak, thanks to the hot trailer for late director Stanley Kubrick's final film, "Eyes Wide Shut," scheduled for July. The steamy clip shows Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman in naked embraces to the tune of a remixed version of Isaak's song "Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing," originally from his

gold-selling 1995 LP Forever Blue.

Isaak was born 43 years ago today in Stockton, Calif. He was a boxer as a young man and received a degree in English and communication arts from the University of the Pacific.

After moving to San Francisco, Isaak started the band Silvertone. Warner Bros. Records was impressed with the group's sound, but opted to sign Isaak to a solo contract. His 1985 debut, Silvertone, was named for the band.

Isaak's work received critical and peer acclaim, but wasn't the kind of material favored by MTV or pop/rock radio in the late '80s. After his third LP, 1989's Heart Shaped World, barely caused a ripple, Isaak's career seemed at a standstill.

But Lynch used an instrumental version of "Wicked Game," from that album, in his movie. An Atlanta radio station began playing the song and it quickly became popular across the country. A sexy video featuring Isaak cavorting on a beach with a topless model helped the single.

Though Isaak's songs are easy on the ears and sound similar to Roy Orbison or Elvis Presley, the singer has had trouble duplicating the success of "Wicked Game." San Francisco Days (1993) was not a chartbuster and Isaak spent more time acting, another of his interests.

He has appeared in such films as "Married to the Mob," "The Silence of the Lambs" and "Little Buddha."

The ballad-heavy Baja Sessions (1996) included a cover of Orbison's "Only the Lonely." Two years later, Isaak issued Speak of the Devil, which included the tracks "Please" and "Breaking Apart" (RealAudio excerpt).

Isaak delivered a moving rendition of "Guess Things Happen That Way," a '50s hit by Johnny Cash, at an April tribute show to the legendary country singer broadcast on the TNT cable network. Isaak said Cash was a big influence on his own brooding, country-inflected rock.

Other birthdays: Levi Stubbs (Four Tops), 63; Gary U.S. Bonds, 60; Laudir DeOliveira (Chicago), 59; Peter Albin (Big Brother and the Holding Company), 55; Edgar Froese (Tangerine Dream), 55; Terry Williams (New Christy Minstrels), 52; Shorty Beck (Shocking Blue), 51; Dwight Twilley, 48; Sandra Bernhard, 44; Jimmy Jam, 40; Steve Vai, 39; Tom Araya (Slayer), 38; and Sean Yseult (White Zombie), 33.