Don't You Want Me
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| “Don't You Want Me” | |||||
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| Single by The Human League from the album Dare |
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| Released | 1981 | ||||
| Format | 7" single, 12" single | ||||
| Recorded | 1981 | ||||
| Genre | Synthpop | ||||
| Label | Virgin | ||||
| Writer(s) | Philip Oakey Jo Callis Philip Adrian Wright |
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| Producer | Martin Rushent | ||||
| The Human League singles chronology | |||||
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"Don't You Want Me" is a song by the British synthpop group The Human League, from their 1981 album Dare!. It has become their most commercially successful recording to date and has sold over 1,400,000 copies making it the 25th most successful single of all time in the UK.
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[edit] Background
The lyrics were originally inspired after lead singer and front man Philip Oakey read a story in a "trashy tabloid". Originally conceived as a male solo, Oakey was inspired by the film A Star Is Born and decided to turn the song in to a conflicting duet with one of the band’s two teenage female vocalist Susan Ann Sulley was asked to take on the role. Up 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.[1] there are two more realistic reasons for her choice, that Sulley was the better singer and/or that Catherall, a very introverted character at the time, shied away from the role. Musicians Jo Callis and Philip Adrian Wright created a synthesizer score to accompany the lyrics which was much harsher than the version that was actually released. Initial versions of the song were recorded but Virgin Records appointed producer Martin Rushent was unhappy with this version. He and Callis remixed it, giving it a softer, and in Oakeys opinion, "poppy" sound. Oakey hated the new version and thought it the weakest track on Dare, resulting in one of his infamous rows with Rushent.[2] Oakey disliked it so much that it was relegated to the last track on the B-side of the vinyl version of the album.
Prior to the release of Dare the group had released two of the tracks as singles: "The Sound of the Crowd" and "Love Action", both of which had been mid-charting hits. With sales of Dare doing well, Virgin released "Open Your Heart" in October 1981 which went to number six in the UK Singles Chart. With a hit album and three hit singles in a row Virgin's Simon Draper decided to pull one more single from the album before the end of 1981. Their choice of "Don't You Want Me" instantly caused a row with Oakey who did not want another single released because he was convinced that "the public were now sick of hearing The Human League" and the choice of the "poor quality filler track" would almost certainly be a disaster, wrecking the group's new found popularity Virgin were adamant that a fourth single was going to be released and Oakey finally agreed, on the condition that a large colour poster was given away with the single because he felt fans would "feel ripped off" by the 'substandard' single alone.[3]
"Don't You Want Me" was released in the UK on 5 December 1981 and to everyone in the band (and especially Oakey’s) amazement it went almost immediately to number one and remained in the UK charts for 13 weeks. The success was repeated six months later with the release of Dare in the U.S., with "Don't You Want Me" hitting number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Billboard magazine ranked it as the United States' sixth-biggest hit of 1982.
The Human League often add cryptic references to their productions and for the record sleeve of “Don’t You Want Me” the suffix of “100” was added. This actually was a reference to a restaurant/Bar in Sheffield [4]
The single has been the Human League's most commercially successful to date; it has so far sold 1,400,000 copies making it the 25th highest selling single ever in the UK. The song was also remixed and re-released in 1995 and peaked at #16 on the UK chart following their two new singles, "Tell Me When" and "One Man in My Heart".[5].
Today the song still sells well and fans expect the group to play the track whenever they perform live. Oakey still describes the song as overrated but acknowledges he was wrong and says he is proud of the track. Susan Sulley is often irritated that she constantly has to refute the mistaken assumption that the song is a reference to her and Catherall. Legally at 17 years old, when the song was recorded she was too young by UK law to have been a cocktail waitress and was in fact still at school. 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".[6]
[edit] Music video
Record company Virgin were aware that promotional music video was becoming an important marketing tool, with MTV being launched that year. Because it was agreed that the video for Open Your Heart had looked "cheap and nasty", they commissioned a much more elaborate and expensive promotional video than before. The music video for the song was filmed in Slough, UK in November 1981 and has the theme of the shooting and editing of a murder-mystery film, featuring the band members as characters and production staff. Due to it being a "making of" video, the crew and camera apparatus used within appear throughout. It was conceived and directed by filmmaker Steve Barron, and has at its core the interaction between a successful actress played by Susan Sulley walking out on 'director' Philip Oakey. It is based on the theme of the film A Star Is Born. Shot on a cold, wet, winter night it was shot on 35mm film instead of the cheaper video tape prevalent at the time. Susan Sulley states now that Steve Baron was heavily influenced by the cinematography of the promo video for the Ultravox single "Vienna" and used it as a benchmark when shooting "Don't You Want Me". Steve Baron was also influenced by François Truffaut and the clapper board seen in the video bears the inscription "Le League Humaine" as a tribute. The video is credited for making Oakey, Sulley and Catherall universally known visual icons of the early 1980s. It became controversial later for a scene where Jo Callis appears to shoot Joanne Catherall with a pistol from a car window (a Saab 99 turbo). The scene is edited out of the DVD version. The other car that was used in the video, a gold W-Reg Rover SD1. The video was released in December 1981, just as the music video culture was becoming a standard in music, which was a major contribution to the song's commercial success.
[edit] Use in commercials
The Human League as a matter of principle do not permit the use of their music in commercials. However Virgin Records own the rights to the material recorded when the band were signed to them 1978-1990 and the lack of consent from the band has not been enough to prevent the use of re-recorded versions of this song in commercials.
- The first such use was a parody version by Fiat in a TV Commercial for their female friendly Punto car. Oakey, Sulley and Catherall fought a bitter legal battle to prevent the song's use but were ultimately overruled by Virgin who own the songs rights. This is another source of acrimony between the band and the label who sacked them in 1991. Susan Sulley speaking in 2001 states now that the worst aspect of the whole affair is "now even if we wanted to use the song for a more worthy company, we can't because it will always be associated with a particular brand" Philip Oakey is more resigned about the matter and stated that "You cant be too precious about a song you did 20 years ago". The band receives no royalties if the song is re-recorded by a third party.[7]
- In 2007 the song was used in a Super Bowl commercial for cookie brand Chips Ahoy!. The commercial featured four clay-animated talking cookies driving in a red convertible who are each snatched up by a human hand while singing the song. Again the band did not give their consent for the use of the song but this time for financial reasons did not fight Virgin over its use.
[edit] Use in movies
- In the movie Ocean's Thirteen, the song was featured as a ringtone for Rusty's cell phone (Brad Pitt's character).
- In the 2008 BBC Drama Ashes to Ashes, the song is featured. Later Keeley Hawes's character uses Susan Sulley's line "I was working as a waitress in a cocktail bar" in the dialog, included by the script writers as a tribute to Susan Sulley/The Human League.
[edit] Track listing
[edit] 7" version
- "Don't You Want Me" (3:57)
- "Seconds" (4:59)
[edit] 12" version
- "Don't You Want Me" (3:57)
- "Seconds" (4:59)
- "Don't You Want Me (Extended Dance Mix)" (7:30)
[edit] Notable covers
- A cover of the song was the last successful single by Liverpool-based pop group The Farm. It was released in late 1992, having been produced by Mark Saunders, who also produced The Cure and Erasure.
- The song was also covered by rock band Texas live at Glastonbury in 1999
- Swedish group Alcazar's album Casino contained a cover of "Don't You Want Me", which also served as the group's third single in 2002, which had some success on mainland Europe.
- Stephin Merritt project Future Bible Heroes recorded a cover of "Don't You Want Me" which is featured on Reproductions: Songs Of The Human League.
- Indie rock band Zolof the Rock & Roll Destroyer recorded a cover version of the song for their Duet All Night Long split EP with Reel Big Fish.
- The Smashing Pumpkins covered "Don't You Want Me", with James Iha and Melissa Auf der Maur performing a duet, during the Summersault tour across Canada in 2000. In a reversal of roles, Iha sang the part of the waitress in the cocktail bar, while Auf Der Maur sang the opposite verse.
- Texas bluegrass band The Meat Purveyors recorded a cover of "Don't You Want Me" titled "Don't You Want Me Baby" on their 2006 album "Someday Soon Things Will Be Much Worse!" This version features lead female vocals by Jo Cohen and backup/"waitress" vocals by Cherilyn Dimond.
- A cover of the song was recorded as a duet between Marilyn Manson and Shirley Manson in 2004, with the intent of including it on the then-unreleased best of album Lest We Forget: The Best of. Manson made his choice to record a cover of the popular track after reconciling with his contemplation of suicide. Although the song has not yet been released, the lyrics of Manson's version most likely do not deviate too far from The Human League's version.
- Mandy Smith reached #59 on the UK list with her 1989 cover "Don't You Want Me Baby".
[edit] References
- ^ Interview - Smash Hits Magazine - December 1981
- ^ Martin Rushent speaking on UK Channel 4 Documentary "Top 10 Electro Pioneers" BBC - 27 Nov 2001
- ^ [http://www.league-online.com/biography2.html Human League Biography
- ^ Smash Hits Magazine December 1981
- ^ British Hit Singles and Albums (Guinness 19th Edition) Guinness World Records Limited; 20Rev Ed edition ISBN-978-1904994107 (2 Jun 2007)
- ^ Human League Interview - Eamon Homes GMTV 2001
- ^ In a league of their own.
[edit] External links
| Preceded by "Ebony and Ivory" by Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder |
Billboard Hot 100 number one single July 3, 1982 - July 17, 1982 |
Succeeded by "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor |
| Preceded by "Begin the Beguine" by Julio Iglesias |
UK number one single December 8, 1981 for 5 weeks |
Succeeded by "The Land of Make Believe" by Bucks Fizz |
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