"Don't You Want Me" is a song recorded by British DJ and producer Francis Wright, known under the pseudonym of Felix, released in July 1992 as his debut single from his album, #1 (1993). Musically, it samples Jomanda's "Don't You Want My Love" and credited as Felix featuring Jomanda (remixed by Rollo and Red Jerry). Released on 27 July 1992 by various labels, the song reached number six on the UK Singles Chart reached number one in Finland, Spain, and Switzerland. It also went to number one on the US BillboardHot Dance Club Play chart and on the European Hot 100 Singles chart. In 1995 and 1996, the song charted in the UK again, but in remixed form. British magazine Mixmag ranked the song number 98 in its "100 Greatest Dance Singles of All Time" list in 1996.[2]
This song is largely considered to be the track that launched the hardbag explosion.[citation needed] It appears on the compilation The Best Dance Album in the World... Ever! in remixed form, and was used in the episode "New Girl" of the TV series The Office. It was also famously featured in St George, a 1996 Tango Blackcurrant advertisement for television. On the single re-release, which features the version from the advert which also samples dialogue from the advert, the Tango Blackcurrant logo even appears several times on the artwork.
Upon the release of the 1992 version, Larry Flick from Billboard found that "requisite harsh synths are tempered with a retro, Giorgio Moroder-esque electro-beat".[3] A reviewer from Music & Media wrote about the 1995 remix, "In the Deconstruction Classic series, here's Patrick Prins' remix interpretation of Felix's 1992 dance hit. It's much heavier now with souped up sequencers and percussion."[4] British magazine Music Week described the first version as a "hand-waving progressive house anthem".[5] Kris Needs from NME remarked its "nuclear-fuelled muscle riff", commenting, "Described as 'the keyboard riff from hell, once heard it can't be dislodged', I swear the middle breakdown where the girl comes back with that 'don'tyawantmalove?' was going to spark mass levitation at Nottingham Venus![6]James Hamilton from the Record Mirror Dance Update declared it as a "distinctive organ/synth driven" track.[7]
British hardhouse and trance music record producer Jon the Dentist named "Don't You Want Me" one of his favourites in 1995, adding, "When this came out we finally got some technoey sounds back after two years of drongo discoey sounds. It was how I got into hardcore. Felix was a groundbreaker, he finally got the house back on its track."[8]
British magazine Mixmag ranked the song number 98 in its "100 Greatest Dance Singles Of All Time" list in 1996[9] and included it in their "The Biggest Drops in Dance Music" in 2020. They wrote, "Its neon stabs perfect for cutting shapes to in a field or warehouse wherever dance music was taking hold and kicking off. It soups up Jomanda’s vocal and launches into a universe of smiley faces, baggy fits and getting home at breakfast time."[10]
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
In 2007, it was sampled by Meck to provide the majority of the music for his single "Feels Like Home". In 2008, Madonna used elements of Meck's version during "Like a Prayer" on the Sticky & Sweet Tour.
The song was also covered by Belgian jazz musician Jef Neve as part of the soundtrack for the movie adaptation of Dimitri Verhulst's De Helaasheid der Dingen.
