"Don't You Want Me" is a song by British

synthpop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s a ...

group

the Human League The Human League are an English synth-pop band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Initially an experimental electronic outfit, the group signed to Virgin Records in 1979 and later attained widespread commercial success with their third album ''Dare' ...

(credited on the cover as The Human League 100). It was released on 27 November 1981 as the fourth single from their third studio album, ''

Dare Dare may refer to: Places * Dare, East Timor, a city * Darè, Italy, a commune * Dare County, North Carolina, United States * Dare, Virginia, United States, an unincorporated community Name * Dare (name), a list of people and fictional c ...

'' (1981). The band's best known and most commercially successful song, it was the biggest selling UK single of 1981, that year's

Christmas number one In the United Kingdom, Christmas number ones are singles that top the UK Singles Chart in the week in which Christmas Day falls. The singles have often been novelty songs, charity songs or songs with a Christmas theme. Historically, the volume ...

, and has since sold over 1,560,000 copies in the UK, making it the 23rd-most successful single in

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

history. It topped the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in the US on 3 July 1982, where it stayed for three weeks. In November 1983, ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' named it the "breakthrough song" of the

Second British Invasion The Second British Invasion consisted of music acts from the United Kingdom that became popular in the U.S. during the early-to-mid 1980s primarily due to the cable music channel MTV. The term derives from the similar British Invasion of the U. ...

of the US. In 2015, the song was voted by the British public as the nation's seventh-favourite 1980s number one in a poll for ITV. And in 2022, ''Rolling Stone'' ranked it one of the ''200 Greatest Dance Songs of All Time''.

Background

The lyrics were inspired after lead singer

Philip Oakey Philip Oakey (born 2 October 1955) is a British singer, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as the lead singer, songwriter, and cofounder of British synth-pop band the Human League. Aside from the Human League, Oakey has enjoyed an e ...

read a photo-story in a teen-girl's magazine. Though the song had been conceived and recorded in the studio as a male solo, Oakey was inspired by the film '' A Star Is Born'' and decided to turn the song into a conflicting duet with one of the band's two teenage female vocalists. Susan Ann Sulley was then asked to take on the role. Until then, she and the other female vocalist, Joanne Catherall, had only been assigned backing vocals; Sulley says she was chosen only through "luck of the draw". Musicians

Jo Callis John William "Jo" Callis (born 2 May 1951) is an English musician and songwriter who played guitar with the Edinburgh based punk rock band The Rezillos (under the name Luke Warm), and post-punk band Boots for Dancing before joining The Huma ...

and Philip Adrian Wright created a synthesizer score to accompany the lyrics that was much harsher than the version that was actually released. Initial versions of the song were recorded but

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a world ...

-appointed producer

Martin Rushent Martin Charles Rushent (11 July 1948 – 4 June 2011) was an English record producer, best known for his work with The Human League, The Stranglers and Buzzcocks. Early life Rushent was born on 11 July 1948 in Enfield, Middlesex. His father ...

was unhappy with them. He and Callis remixed the track, giving it a softer, and in Oakey's opinion, "poppy" sound. Oakey hated the new version and thought it would be the weakest track on ''Dare'', resulting in one of his infamous rows with Rushent. Oakey disliked it so much that it was relegated to the last track on side two of the album. Before the release of ''Dare'', three of its tracks—" The Sound of the Crowd", " Love Action (I Believe in Love)", and " Open Your Heart"—had already been released as successful singles. With a hit album and three hit singles in a row, Virgin's chief executive Simon Draper decided to release one more single from the album before the end of 1981. His choice, "Don't You Want Me", instantly caused a row with Oakey, who did not want another single to be released because he was convinced that "the public were now sick of hearing" the band and the choice of the "poor quality filler track" would almost certainly be a disaster, wrecking the group's new-found popularity. The band felt the track was "our sort of

Des O'Connor Desmond Bernard O'Connor (12 January 1932 – 14 November 2020) was an English comedian, singer and television presenter. He was a long-time TV chat-show host, beginning with '' The Des O'Connor Show'' in 1963, which ran for ten years. He ...

song." Virgin were adamant that a fourth single would be released and Oakey finally agreed on the condition that a large colour poster accompany the 7" single, because he felt fans would "feel ripped off" by the 'substandard' single alone. The Human League often added cryptic references to their productions and the record sleeve of "Don't You Want Me" featured the suffix of "100". This was a reference to The 100 Club, a restaurant/bar in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire ...

. Today, the song is widely considered a classic of its era. In a retrospective review,

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance writer, oc ...

, senior editor for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

, described the song as "a devastating chronicle of a frayed romance wrapped in the greatest pop hooks and production of its year." Fellow new wave musician

Graham Parker Graham Thomas Parker (born 18 November 1950) is an English singer-songwriter, who is best known as the lead singer of the British band Graham Parker & the Rumour. Life and career Early career (1960s–1976) Parker was born in Hackney, East L ...

praised the song, saying, "I just love that catchy chorus." Oakey still describes it as overrated, but acknowledges his initial dismissal was misguided and claims pride in the track. Oakey is also at pains to point out another misconception: that it is not a love song, but "a nasty song about sexual power politics."

Chart performance and sales

"Don't You Want Me" was released in the UK on 27 November 1981. The

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

was "Seconds", another track lifted straight from the ''

'' album. As with previous singles, a 12" version was also issued featuring the original version of "Don't You Want Me" and "Seconds" on the A-side and an "extended dance mix" lasting seven and a half minutes on the B-side. This mix is also featured on the '' Love and Dancing'' album that was released under the name of the League Unlimited Orchestra in 1982. To the amazement of the band (and especially Oakey), the song entered the UK Singles Chart at #9 and shot to #1 the following week, remaining there over the Christmas period for a total of five weeks. It ultimately became the biggest-selling single to be released in 1981, and the fifth biggest-selling single of the entire decade. Its success was repeated six months later in the US, with "Don't You Want Me" hitting #1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for three weeks. ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

'' magazine ranked it as the sixth-biggest hit of 1982. The single was certified Gold by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/ ...

the same year for sales of a million copies. "Don't You Want Me" is notable as the first song featuring the revolutionary Linn LM-1 drum machine to hit #1 on the UK charts and also the first LM-1 track to top the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. After the band scored a number of hits for Warner's eastwest label, the song was remixed and issued by Virgin as a CD, cassette and 12" single in October 1995. This version featured new remixes by

Hooj Choons Hooj Choons is a house record label formed by Alex Simons and Red Jerry (real name Jeremy Dickens) in 1990. The first release was "Carnival de Casa" by Rio Rhythm Band, however, it was not until 1992's release of Felix's "Don't You Want Me", ...

Red Jerry Hooj Choons is a house record label formed by Alex Simons and Red Jerry (real name Jeremy Dickens) in 1990. The first release was "Carnival de Casa" by Rio Rhythm Band, however, it was not until 1992's release of Felix (dance music), Felix's ...

and German Eurodance duo

Snap! Snap! is a German Eurodance group formed in 1989 by producers Michael Münzing and Luca Anzilotti. The act has been through a number of line-up changes over the years, including American singers, songwriters and rappers Thea Austin, Turbo B ...

, and would peak at #16 on the UK singles chart. The release coincided with the issue of the group's second ''Greatest Hits'' compilation album shortly afterwards (which featured the Snap 7 inch remix), while the main 7 inch remix by Red Jerry was put on NOW 32 by Virgin/EMI/Polygram, alongside dance acts like

Goldie Clifford Joseph Price MBE (born 19 September 1965), better known as Goldie, is a British music producer and DJ. Initially gaining exposure for his work as a graffiti artist, Goldie became well known for his pioneering role as a musician in ...

, Candy Girls and Wildchild. As of November 2012, "Don't You Want Me" was the 23rd best-selling single in the UK, with 1.55 million copies sold. On 23 March 2014, the song re-entered the UK Singles Chart at #19 and debuted at #1 in the Scottish singles charts thanks to a social media campaign by fans of

Aberdeen Football Club Aberdeen Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in Aberdeen, Scotland. They compete in the Scottish Premiership and have never been relegated from the top division of the Scottish football league system since they were ...

. In 2017 it was reported to be the 43rd most successful single in UK chart history with sales and

streams A stream is a continuous body of surface water flowing within the bed and banks of a channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to by a variety of local or regional names. Long large streams a ...

combined. In 2021, Viacom International Studios put into production a music chart programme called ''The 80s Greatest Hits 1980-1989'' for Channel 5 and asked the Official Charts Company (OCC) to provide the countdowns for the series, based on the best-selling singles for each year. When the 1981 episode was broadcast (now under the title of ''Britain's Favourite 80's Songs'') "Don't You Want Me" was placed at number one, with the OCC now confirming it was the official best-selling song of 1981 with an estimated 1.15 million sales (previously the title had gone to "

Tainted Love "Tainted Love" is a song composed by Ed Cobb, formerly of American group the Four Preps, which was originally recorded by Gloria Jones in 1964. It attained worldwide fame after being covered and reworked by British synthpop duo Soft Cell in 1 ...

" by Soft Cell, which now has been put in second place with 1.05 million sales).

Music video

In 1981, record company Virgin were becoming aware that the promotional

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devic ...

was evolving into an important marketing tool, with

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

being launched that year. Because it was agreed that the video for " Open Your Heart" had looked "cheap and nasty", Virgin commissioned a much more elaborate and expensive promotional video for "Don't You Want Me". The video for the song was filmed near

Slough Slough () is a town and unparished area in the unitary authority of the same name in Berkshire, England, bordering west London. It lies in the Thames Valley, west of central London and north-east of Reading, at the intersection of the ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Ber ...

, during November 1981 and has the theme of the filming and editing of a murder-mystery film, featuring the band members as characters and production staff. Because it is a "making-of" video, both crew and camera apparatus appear throughout. The video was conceived and directed by the Irish filmmaker

Steve Barron Steven Barron (born 4 May 1956) is an Irish-British filmmaker. He is best known for directing the music videos for the songs "Billie Jean" by Michael Jackson, "Summer of '69" and " Run to You" by Bryan Adams, " Money for Nothing" by Dire Stra ...

, and has at its core the interaction between a successful actress (also a second negative cutter) played by Susan Ann Sulley walking out on "film director" Philip Oakey on a film set. It is loosely based on the film '' A Star Is Born''. Near the end of the video, Wright, who also plays a film editor, has an expression on his face while the camera pulls back to reveal that the negative room where Oakey, Wright and Sulley were working is yet another set (the camera can be seen in the mirror's reflection). Filmed on a cold, wet winter night, the video was shot on 35mm film instead of the cheaper videotape prevalent at the time. Sulley claims that Barron was heavily influenced by the cinematography in

Ultravox Ultravox (earlier styled as Ultravox!) were a British new wave band, formed in London in April 1974 as Tiger Lily. Between 1980 and 1986, they scored seven Top Ten albums and seventeen Top 40 singles in the UK, the most successful of which was ...

's video for "

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

" (directed by

Russell Mulcahy Russell Mulcahy ( ; born 23 June 1953) is an Australian film director. Mulcahy's work is recognisable by the use of fast cuts, tracking shots and use of glowing lights, neo-noir lighting, windblown drapery, and fans. He directed music videos ...

earlier that year). Barron was also influenced by

François Truffaut François Roland Truffaut ( , ; ; 6 February 1932 – 21 October 1984) was a French film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film critic. He is widely regarded as one of the founders of the French New Wave. After a career of more th ...

and his film ''

Day for Night Day for night is a set of cinematic techniques used to simulate a night scene while filming in daylight. It is often employed when it is too difficult or expensive to actually shoot during nighttime. Because both film stocks and digital image se ...

'', and, because of that, the

clapperboard A clapperboard (also known by various other names including dumb slate) is a device used in filmmaking and video production to assist in synchronizing of picture and sound, and to designate and mark the various scenes and takes as they are ...

seen in the video bears the inscription "Le League Humaine" as a tribute to Truffaut. The video is credited for making Oakey, Sulley and Catherall visual icons of the early 1980s, but it became controversial later a montage of other shots from the video edited in

slow motion Slow motion (commonly abbreviated as slo-mo or slow-mo) is an effect in film-making whereby time appears to be slowed down. It was invented by the Austrian priest August Musger in the early 20th century. This can be accomplished through the use ...

. The other car used in the video is a gold W-reg (1981–82)

Rover SD1 The Rover SD1 is both the code name and eventual production name given to a series of executive cars built by the Specialist Division (later the ''Jaguar-Rover-Triumph'' division) of British Leyland (BL), under the Rover marque. It was produ ...

carrying the registration plate "GCK 68W". DVLA records show that this car's last period of Vehicle Excise Duty expired on 24 April 1992. In a 1995 interview, Catherall mentioned that the car Callis was driving had to be pushed into shot as he could not drive at the time, to which Sulley added "he still can't!" The video was released in December 1981.

Track listing

1981 release

* 7" vinyl (Virgin VS466) #"Don't You Want Me" – 3:57 #"Seconds" – 4:59 * 12" vinyl (Virgin VS466-12) #"Don't You Want Me" – 3:57 #"Seconds" – 4:59 #"Don't You Want Me (Ext. Dance Mix)" – 7:30

1995 release

* CD (Virgin VSCDT1557) # "Don't You Want Me (Red Jerry 7" Remix)" - 3:43 # "Don't You Want Me (Snap 7" Remix)" - 3:58 # "Don't You Want Me (Red Jerry 12" Remix)" - 6:11 # "Don't You Want Me (Snap 12" Extended Remix)" - 6:14 # "Don't You Want Me (Red Jerry Dub Mix)" - 7:01 # "Don't You Want Me (Original Version)" - 3:57 * 12" vinyl (Virgin VST1557) # "Don't You Want Me (Snap 12" Extended Remix)" - 6:12 # "Don't You Want Me (Red Jerry 12" Remix)" - 6:09 * Cassette (Virgin VSC 1557) # "Don't You Want Me (Red Jerry 7" Remix)" - 3:43 # "Don't You Want Me (Snap 7" Remix)" - 3:58 # "Don't You Want Me (Red Jerry 12" Remix)" - 6:11 # "Don't You Want Me (Original Version)" - 3:57

Charts

Weekly charts

1995 remixes 2014 re-entry

Year-end charts

All-time charts

Sales and certifications

Mandy Smith version

In 1989, English pop singer Mandy covered this song under the title of "Don't You Want Me Baby". Released as a standalone single after her only album, '' Mandy'' (1988), it was also Smith's final single and became her only single to hit the UK top 75, peaking at No. 59. The B-side, "If It Makes You Feel Good", featured on the album. The song was included as a bonus track on the 2009 reissue of her album.

Track listings

* CD single # "Don't You Want Me Baby" # "If It Makes You Feel Good" # "Don't You Want Me Baby" (Cocktail Mix) # "If It Makes You Feel Good" (Extended Version) * 7" single # "Don't You Want Me Baby" # "If It Makes You Feel Good" * 12" single # "Don't You Want Me Baby" (Cocktail Mix) # "If It Makes You Feel Good" (Extended Version)

Charts

The Farm version

British band the Farm released a cover of "Don't You Want Me" in October 1992 that reached number 18 on the UK Singles Charts making it their third-highest-chart single after 1990's "All Together Now" and "

Groovy Train "Groovy Train" was the second single released by Liverpool-based group The Farm. It was released in 1990 as the first single from their debut album ''Spartacus'' (which would be in 1991), having been produced by Graham "Suggs" McPherson of M ...

". It was originally recorded for the NME charity album '' Ruby Trax''. An uncredited female singer sings lead vocal on the second verse, as sung by Susanne Sulley in the original version. The accompanying

features former

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

footballer

George Best George Best (22 May 1946 – 25 November 2005) was a Northern Irish professional footballer who played as a winger, spending most of his club career at Manchester United. A highly skilful dribbler, Best is regarded as one of the greatest pla ...

mouthing along to the chorus.

Track listings

* CD single # "Don't You Want Me" # "Don't You Want Me" (Premier mix) # "Obviously" # "Groovy Train" (alternative mix) *7-inch single # "Don't You Want Me" # "Obviously" * 12-inch single # "Don't You Want Me" (Premier mix) # "Don't You Want Me" (20K mix) # "Don't You Want Me" (Pickles Keef mix) # "Groovy Train" (alternative mix)

Alcazar version

"Don't You Want Me" was recorded as a

Eurodance Euro-Dance (sometimes referred to as Euro-NRG, Euro-electronica or Euro) is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1980s in Europe. It combines many elements of hip hop, techno, Hi-NRG, house music, and Euro-Disco. This ...

song by Swedish band Alcazar, released internationally in 2002. The song was included in the European version of their debut album, ''

Casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live enterta ...

'' (2000) together with a few others. It was recorded in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropo ...

at first, but when the band wanted it for a new pan-European single, a new version was made. The single was released in Australia as a follow-up to the successful single "

Crying at the Discoteque "Crying at the Discoteque" is a song by Swedish band Alcazar from their debut studio album, ''Casino'' (2000). The track samples Sheila and B. Devotion's 1979 hit "Spacer". Alexander Bard Alexander Bengt Magnus Bard (born 17 March 1961) is ...

". The white

12-inch The twelve-inch single (often written as 12-inch or 12″) is a type of vinyl ( polyvinyl chloride or PVC) gramophone record that has wider groove spacing and shorter playing time with a 'single' or a few related sound tracks on each surfac ...

was released in Europe and distributed to DJs to get maximum airplay at the disco arenas. "Don't You Want Me" is Alcazar's biggest hit in the United States with 15 weeks on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, peaking at #30.

Music video

The accompanying

for "Don't You Want Me" was filmed at Filmhuset in

, and was directed by Jesper Ganslandt. The video takes place in "Circus Alcazar" and is filled with horses, ducks, an evil parrot, acrobats, the Alcazar ballet (including a dog in a pink ballerina dress) and Annikafiore's boyfriend juggling with fire in the background. The video shoot took almost 23 hours.

Track listing

* CD single #"Almighty Radio Edit" – 3:27 #"Almighty Club Mix" – 7:25 #"Project Eden Remix" – 7:34 #"Earth Club Anthem" – 10:24 #"Wild Cowboys Radio Mix" – 3:38

Charts

References

External links

*
"Don't You Want Me" at The Black Hit of Space.dk
* {{authority control 1981 songs 1981 singles 1982 singles 1989 singles 2002 singles The Human League songs The Farm (British band) songs Alcazar (band) songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles Number-one singles in Israel Number-one singles in New Zealand Number-one singles in Norway Number-one singles in Scotland RPM Top Singles number-one singles UK Singles Chart number-one singles Male–female vocal duets Songs written by Philip Oakey Song recordings produced by Martin Rushent Music videos directed by Steve Barron Virgin Records singles Pete Waterman Entertainment singles RCA Records singles Bertelsmann Music Group singles Songs written by Jo Callis Songs written by Philip Adrian Wright Christmas number-one singles in the United Kingdom

Background

Chart performance and sales

Music video

Track listing

1981 release

1995 release

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

All-time charts

Sales and certifications

Mandy Smith version

Track listings

Charts

The Farm version

Track listings

Alcazar version

Music video

Track listing

Charts

See also

References

External links