Song · Cheap Trick
“I Want You To Want Me (Live)” by Cheap Trick
From the album In Color (1977)
“I Want You To Want Me (Live)” by Cheap Trick appears on 18 radio countdowns from 8 stations between 2013 and 2025. It was first released in 1977 on the album In Color. Its best result is #32 on the 97.9 The Loop Top 540 Countdown (2017). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #736 classic rock song of all time.
Cheap Trick first cut "I Want You to Want Me" for In Color, their second album, which came out in September 1977, and as that record's first single the studio version went nowhere in America. Rick Nielsen wrote the words, and the power-pop hook was there from the start, waiting for its moment.
The song needed a crowd. Nineteen months later a live version from Cheap Trick at Budokan, rougher and more hard rock than the original, came out as a single and turned into one of the band's biggest hits, climbing to seven on the Hot 100 and two in Canada and going all the way to the top in Japan. That live take is the one that stuck, and the song has been Cheap Trick's signature ever since.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Classic Rock
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 152 | Big 100 | BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2013) | 500 |
| 2013 | 47 | Big 100 | BIG 500 Labor Day Countdown (2013) | 500 |
| 2016 | 163 | Big 100 | BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2016) | 500 |
| 2017 | 32 | 97.9 The Loop | 97.9 The Loop Top 540 Countdown (2017) | 540 |
| 2020 | 43 | 97.1 The River | River 500 (2020) | 47 |
| 2021 | 142 | 106.7 WLLZ | WLLZ 500 (2021) | 500 |
| 2022 | 309 | WMGK | WMGK Philly 500 (2022) | 500 |
| 2022 | 92 | 97.1 The River | River 500 (2022) | 500 |
| 2022 | 150 | 106.7 WLLZ | WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2022) | 500 |
| 2023 | 48 | 97 Rock | 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2023) | 500 |
| 2023 | 404 | WMGK | WMGK Philly 500 (2023) | 500 |
| 2023 | 368 | KSHE 95 | KSHE 95 Rock N' Roll 500 (2023) | 500 |
| 2023 | 379 | 106.7 WLLZ | WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2023) | 500 |
| 2023 | 83 | 97.1 The Drive | 97.1 The Drive Memorial Day Weekend Rock N Roll 500 (2023) | 500 |
| 2024 | 285 | KSHE 95 | KSHE 95 Rock N' Roll 500 (2024) | 500 |
| 2024 | 163 | 106.7 WLLZ | WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2024) | 500 |
| 2025 | 77 | 97 Rock | 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2025) | 500 |
| 2025 | 445 | 106.7 WLLZ | WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2025) | 500 |
Also listed as: I Want You to Want Me (Live).
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