Don’t You Want Me

"Don't You Want Me" is a single by British synthpop group The Human League, released from their third album Dare on 27 November 1981. It is the band's best known and most commercially successful recording to date, topping the Billboard Hot 100 in the US, and was the Christmas number one in the UK where it sold over 1,400,000 copies, making it the 25th most successful single in UK Singles Chart history. The song has been covered multiple times, most notablyVorlage:Fact by Alcazar.

Background

The lyrics were originally inspired after lead singer 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 into a conflicting duet with one of the band’s two teenage female vocalists. 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. There are two more realistic explanations: that Sulley was the better singer and/or that Catherall, more introverted, 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 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 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 the album.

Before the release of Dare, two of its tracks—"The Sound of the Crowd" and "Love Action (I Believe in Love)"—had already been issued as successful singles. To promote the new album, Virgin released "Open Your Heart" in October 1981, which hit #6 in the UK Singles Chart. With a hit album and three hit singles in a row, Virgin's Simon Draper decided to issue 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 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 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.

"Don't You Want Me" was released in the UK on 27 November 1981. To the amazement of the band (and especially OakeyVorlage:Fact), it shot to number one on the UK charts. This success was repeated six months later in the U.S., with "Don't You Want Me" hitting #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks. Billboard magazine ranked it as the sixth-biggest hit of 1982.

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 a restaurant/bar in Sheffield.

Today, the song is widely considered a classic of its era. Oakey still describes it as overrated but acknowledges his initial dismissal was misguided and claims pride in 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. At only 17 years old when the song was recorded, she was legally 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".

The song was remixed and re-released in 1995, peaking at #16 on the UK chart.

Music video

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Susanne Sulley in the iconic 1981 "Don't You Want Me" video.

In 1981 record company Virgin were becoming aware that promotional music video was evolving into 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", Virgin commissioned a much more elaborate and expensive promotional video for "Don't You Want Me".

The video for the song was filmed in Slough in 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. Due to it being a "making of" video, both crew and camera apparatus 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 Ann Sulley walking out on 'film director' Philip Oakey on a film set. It is loosely based on the film A Star Is Born.

Filmed 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 video for the Ultravox single "Vienna". Steve Baron was also influenced by François Truffaut and his film Day for Night and because of that the clapper board 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 became controversial later for a scene where Oakey shoots Sulley with a pistol from a car window (a Saab 99 turbo). The scene is often edited out of the DVD version and on music television. The other car that was used in the video is 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, and it was a major contribution to the song's commercial success.

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 ultimately lost the case to Virgin who own the song's rights. This is another source of acrimony between the band and the label, who sacked them in 1992. 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.

• 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.

• In 2009, Procter & Gamble used the song in a few of their U.S. and Canadian commercials for their Swiffer range of cleaning products.

Use in films

• In the movie Ocean's Thirteen (2007), the song was featured as a ringtone for Rusty's cell phone (Brad Pitt's character).
• The song is used in the movie He's Just Not That into You (2009)
• The song is used in the movie 1981[1].

Use in television

• In the 2008 BBC drama Ashes to Ashes (set in 1981), the song is featured as one of the principal soundtrack songs. Later Keeley Hawes's character Alex Drake 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 and The Human League.

• In the Mighty Boosh episode Electro Vince plays the song to Howard, stating that the Human League "invented music" and everything before had just been tuning up.

• In the US TV series Will & Grace just before Grace gets married, she and Will sings part of the first verse on a rooftop.

• It was used in the C.S.I. episode "All in".

• In the fifth season, part one, of Nip/Tuck

Track listing

7" version

1. "Don't You Want Me" - 3:57
2. "Seconds" - 4:59

12" version

1. "Don't You Want Me" - 3:57
2. "Seconds" - 4:59
3. "Don't You Want Me (Extended Dance Mix)" - 7:30

Notable covers

Mandy Smith version

Vorlage:Infobox Single Don't You Want Me Baby is a Pop song written by Philip Oakey, Jo Callis and Philip Adrian Wright. In 1989 Mandy Smith covered this song. The song was released after her album Mandy (1988). It was also Smith's final single. This song has a B-side, "If It Makes You Feel Good", which appeared on Smith's debut album.

Formats and track listings

CD Single

1. "Don't You Want Me Baby"
2. "If It Makes You Feel Good"
3. "Don't You Want Me Baby" (Cocktail Mix)
4. "If It Makes You Feel Good" (Extended Version)

7" Single

1. "Don't You Want Me Baby"
2. "If It Makes You Feel Good"

12" Single

1. "Don't You Want Me Baby" (Cocktail Mix)
2. "If It Makes You Feel Good" (Extended Version)

Charts

Chart (1989)	Peak Position
UK Singles Charts	59
ITA Singles Charts	11
Swedish Tracks Charts	16

Alcazar version

Don't You Want Me is a eurodance song performed by Swedish band Alcazar and released internationally in 2002. The song was included to the European version of "Casino" together with a few other, and was recorded in Stockholm at first, but when they wanted it for a new pan-European single, a whole new version was made.

Alcazar went to England to record new vocals with the famous Almighty team. Almighty has become famous because of excellent remixes made for the European dancefloors. They ended up with a new version of "Don't You Want Me" with an even more modern beat than the album version, and everybody was extremely happy with the result.Vorlage:Citation needed

The single was released in Australia as a follow up to the megahit single "Crying at the Discoteque" and the release includes the "Ivan's X Mix" of CATD as a bonus. The white 12 inch was released in Europe and distributed to DJs to get maximum airplay at the disco arenas.

So far Don't You Want Me is the biggest hit for the group in United States, climbing # 30 in the Billboard Hot-100 Singles staying in the charts for respective 15 Weeks. It Also became huge favorite in the Clubs and US Radio Stations.

The Human League themselves have said that they like this version, as it is fairly true to the original; and Alcazar still performs this track at their live shows around the world.

The song is playable on the Karaoke Revolution games.

The video was filmed at Filmhuset in Stockholm, and once again Jesper Ganslandt directed it all. As always in Alcazar videos the storyline takes place in "Alcazar world" - and this time it all took place in "Circus Alcazar". The video is filled with horses, ducks, an evil parrot, acrobats and the Alcazar ballet.

The cover to the single was shot during a break in the video shoots, so there you can see what the group looked like. The clothes were especially designed by the Swedish designer Lars Wallin.Vorlage:Citation needed He managed to clash a lot of humour, bits of glamour and a little bit of tackiness in the very same outfits.

The whole video shoot took almost 23 hours, and actually includes Annikafiore's boyfriend juggling with fire in the background The Alcazar dog Selma was styled in a pink ballerina dress and waited the whole day for the filming of her scene where she would perform jumps in the circus arena. By the time the scene was ready she was too tired to perform, and as a result the scene was deleted.Vorlage:Citation needed

Formats and track listings

These are the formats and track listings of promotional single releases of "Don't You Want Me".

CD single

1. "Almighty Radio Edit" - 3:27
2. "Almighty Club Mix" - 7:25
3. "Project Eden Remix" - 7:34
4. "Earth Club Anthem" - 10:24
5. "Wild Cowboys Radio Mix" - 3:38

Chart performance

Chart (2002)	Peak position
Australian ARIA Singles Chart	37
Belgian Singles Chart (Flanders)	21
Dutch Singles Chart	83
Finnish Singles Chart	18
Swedish Singles Chart	30
Swiss Singles Chart	76
Hot Dance Club Play	30
JapanVorlage:Citation needed	3
UK Singles Chart	1

Other versions

• A cover of the song was the last successful single by Liverpool-based pop group The Farm, reaching #18 in the UK Singles Chart in late 1992. It was originally recorded for the NME charity album Ruby Trax.
• 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.
• Electronica band Hyper Crush recorded a cover version of the song for their Mixtape Volume 2 CD.
• Folk band Show of Hands frequently cover the song live, introducing it as a 'folk song from Yorkshire'; they also performed a memorable duet of it with The Spooky Men's Chorale.

External links

• "Don't You Want Me" at The Black Hit of Space.dk