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Cover of In Color by Cheap Trick
Cover: In Color

Song · Cheap Trick

“I Want You To Want Me” by Cheap Trick

From the album In Color (1977)

“I Want You To Want Me” by Cheap Trick appears on 72 radio countdowns from 28 stations between 1994 and 2026. It was first released in 1977 on the album In Color. Its best result is #10 on the KISW 25 Greatest Rock Songs from the 1970s. In the combined RockLists rankings it is #2,573 indie & aaa song of all time and #332 of the '70s.

72countdowns
28stations
#10best position
0#1 finishes
1top 10 finishes
1994–2026years charted

Watch

Cheap Trick - I Want You to Want Me (from Budokan!)

Video from YouTube (cheaptrickVEVO). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

Rick Nielsen wrote "I Want You to Want Me" as a pure shot of pop pleading, and Cheap Trick released it in September 1977 as the first single from their second album, In Color. Tom Werman's production buffed it to a bright, bouncy sheen with an almost music-hall sway, and America shrugged: the studio cut never charted at home.

The song needed a stage. 19 months later a harder, louder live take from Cheap Trick at Budokan came out as a single and finally broke it: it topped the chart in Japan, went to two in Canada and reached seven on the Hot 100. From then on it was the song everyone thought of first when they heard the band's name.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Indie & Adult Alternative

Classic Rock

Hard Rock & Metal

All Rock Formats

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1994 109 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1994) 1000
1995 420 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1995) 1000
1996 352 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1996) 1000
1997 250 104.5 KZEP KZEP Memorial Weekend Top 500 (1997) 500
1997 425 100.7 WZLX WZLX Memorial 500 (1997) 499
1997 452 102.3 WBAB WBAB Top 1,023 Rock and Roll Songs of All Time (1997) 1023
1998 149 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1998) 1000
1999 121 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1999) 998
2001 1253 WFPK WFPK 2001 Greatest Songs of All Time 2000
2002 936 KISW KISW Top 999 of All Time (2002) 999
2002 277 92.3 KGON KGON Top 923 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2002) 923
2002 95 100.7 WZLX WZLX Memorial 500 (2002) 500
2004 215 Q101 Q101 Top 300 Party Songs of All-Time (July 2004) 300
2004 276 92.3 KGON KGON Top 923 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2004) 923
2011 123 97.9 The Loop The Loop Rock N Roll 500 (2011) 500
2011 201 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1100 Countdown (2011) 1100
2012 25 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2012) 500
2012 202 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1200 Countdown (2012) 1200
2012 776 WXPN WXPN 885 Greatest Rock Songs (2012) 885
2013 85 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Grand Jam 1000 (2013) 1000
2013 148 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Firecracker 500 (2013) 500
2014 160 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX 1K Countdown (2014) 1000
2014 217 Big 100 BIG 1000 New Year's Countdown (2014) 1000
2014 126 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Firecracker 400 (2014) 400
2015 378 102.9 The Whale 102.9 The Whale Hartford 500 (2015) 500
2015 85 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1007 Classic Rock Countdown (2015) 1007
2015 27 I-95 I-95 Memorial Day Weekend Top 500 (2015) 500
2015 84 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Firecracker 500 (2015) 499
2016 68 102.9 The Whale 102.9 The Whale Hartford 500 (2016) 500
2016 91 103.5 The Fox The Fox Memorial Day 500 (2016) 299
2016 107 Qfm96 Qfm96 Memorial Day 500 (2016) 500
2016 90 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1007 Countdown for 2016 1007
2017 99 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2017) 500
2018 78 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2018) 500
2019 181 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Big 500 (2019) 499
2019 417 102.5 KZOK KZOK Top 1025 of 2019 1025
2019 419 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ 500 (2019) 500
2019 74 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2019) 500
2019 79 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2019) 500
2019 105 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2019) 500
2020 299 102.5 KZOK KZOK Classic Rock Top 1025 (2020) 1025
2020 97 Q105.7 Q105.7 Memorial Day 500 (2020) 499
2020 69 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2020) 500
2020 60 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2020) 500
2021 10 KISW KISW 25 Greatest Rock Songs from the 1970s 25
2021 596 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2021) 1043
2021 103 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Big 500 (2021) 500
2021 35 100.7 KSLX KSLX Arizona 500 (2021) 499
2021 188 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2021) 500
2021 69 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2021) 500
2021 87 WCSX WCSX Rock & Roll 500 (2021) 499
2022 333 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '70s 908
2022 383 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2022) 1043
2022 81 94.1 KRNA KRNA Memorial Day 500 (2022) 500
2022 122 102.5 KZOK KZOK Classic Rock Top 1025 (2022) 1025
2022 29 100.7 KSLX KSLX Arizona 500 (2022) 500
2022 167 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2022) 500
2022 101 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2022) 500
2023 699 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2023) 1043
2023 97 Qfm96 Qfm96 Memorial Day 500 (2023) 500
2023 163 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2023) 500
2023 81 101.5 WPDH WPDH Top 1015 (2023) 1015
2024 38 KQRS KQRS KQ 500 (2024) 499
2024 74 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2024) 499
2024 879 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2024) 1043
2024 101 Qfm96 Qfm96 Memorial Day 500 (2024) 498
2024 193 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2024) 500
2025 455 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2025) 1043
2025 102 Qfm96 Qfm96 Memorial Day 500 (2025) 498
2026 215 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2026) 500
2026 314 KXT KXT 917 Song Countdown 917
2026 36 100.7 KSLX KSLX Arizona 500 (2026) 500

Also listed as: I Want You to Want Me; I Want You To Want ME; I Want you to Want Me.

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