By the mid 1970’s power pop looked to be heading for extinction as prog rock and disco filled the airwaves and record racks worldwide. But with punk rock bringing ‘short but sweet’ song structures back in vogue, a new crop of power pop bands emerged.  One such band was Rockford’s Cheap Trick and they emerged with a song they’d been working up since their bar days, “I Want You to Want Me”.

Written by guitarist Rick Nielsen and recorded for their 1977 self-titled debut album, the song didn't make the cut to be included on that record.  The song ultimately was introduced on their second album, In Color, which was released later in 1977.  Rick Nielsen said the band considered this "sort of hokey pop" when they first recorded it, and the arrangement matched that sentiment, with finger snaps and a country feel.

According to bassist Tom Petersson, the song was originally written as a lark by Nielsen:

“My recollection is that he just 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. He 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.”

By 1978, the band had dropped it from their setlist, but restored it when they toured Japan that year, since Japanese audiences loved their songs and the band.  They played it on April 28 and 30 at their famous concerts that took place at the Budokan temple in Tokyo, which was a big deal because many Japanese citizens felt the temple was sacred and not appropriate for rock concerts.

The concerts were released as the Live at Budokan album, which captured Cheap Trick's live energy and turned their fortunes around in America, where the album was released in February 1979 and sold over 3 million copies.  Pulled from the album, "I Want You To Want Me" became their first hit, charting at #7.

Various Sources