It was played with dramatic vocals, high tempo and two guitar solos. In 1976, Cheap Trick recorded a version played in the style they played in concerts. The live version consists of two guitar solos, while the studio version has a piano fill as a second instrumental. The studio version features guitar by Jay Graydon. The crowd, however, emulates the echo by chanting 'cryin''. This echo does not appear in the live version. However, the album version features an echo at the verse 'Didn't I, didn't I, didn't I see you cryin' (cryin)'. The live version has a faster tempo than the album version, which contributed to its success. That is what they wrote it as.' Version differences I remember asking the band what they thought of it, and Rick Nielsen kind of shrugged and said, 'You're the producer.'' Further: 'It was a burlesque song, like a 30s number. I put the piano on-a guy named Jai Winding played it. ''I Want You To Want Me' was a fabulous dance hall type of song, and a perfect pop tune, and it was meant to be a little campy. Cheap Trick went as far as to mostly re-record that album in 1997, though this version hasn't been officially released. Years later, Rick Nielsen and Tom Petersson criticized the lightweight production of 'I Want You to Want Me' as it originally appeared on their second album, In Color. It was also the band's highest charting single in Britain, where it reached #29. In Canada, it reached #2 in on the RPM national singles chart, remaining there for two weeks and was certified Gold for the sale of 500,000 singles in September 1979.

It was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America, representing sales of one million records. A live version of 'I Want You to Want Me' from the album Cheap Trick at Budokan was released in 1979 and became their biggest selling single, reaching #7 on the Billboard Hot 100. Its success in Japan, as well as the success of its preceding single ' Clock Strikes Ten', paved the way for Cheap Trick's concerts at Nippon Budokan in Tokyo in April 1978 that were recorded for the group's most popular album, Cheap Trick at Budokan.

'I Want You to Want Me' was a number-one single in Japan.

Lyrics i want you to want me