How Cheap Trick Turned “I Want You To Want Me” Into A Timeless Pop-Rock Anthem

How Cheap Trick Turned “I Want You To Want Me” Into A Timeless Pop-Rock Anthem | Society Of Rock Videos

via YouTube Channel (ritz5174)

No Tricks Involved

What started out as an in-studio joke has grown into one of the largest pop-rock hits in the history of the genre with Cheap Trick’s “I Want You To Want Me.” With this timeless tune, the Illinois-based rock band dominated the Japan, UK, and Canadian charts with their live concert single released in 1979, reaching #7 on the US Billboard Hot 100.

“My recollection is that songwriter Rick Nielsen did that song as a bit of a joke, because at the time when we had done that song there was a lot of pop music on the radio—ABBA, and all sorts of things, disco, [Rick thought] ‘I’m just going to do an over-the-top pop song. I just want to do one that’s so silly—total pop—and then we’ll do a heavy version of it.’

He didn’t know what was going to happen with it. The idea was to have it like a heavy metal pop song. Cheap Trick doing ABBA—except a very heavy version.” – Tom Petersson

As the primary contender of second studio album In Color, the single earned a Gold certification by the RIAA in the same year and melted hearts from all corners of the world as far as US to Britain, where the single reached #29.

With the inspirational lyrics seeking unconditional love, as we are all ultimately searching for, the words of the song have lasted the test of time as one of our favorite ever pop-rock songs.

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