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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_You_Want
_Me
The Human League - Don't You Want Me. 1981
With a hit album and three hit singles in a
row Virgin's Simon Draper decided to pull one
more single from the album before the end of
1981. Their choice of "Don't You Want Me"
instantly caused a row with Oakey who did not
want another single released because he was
convinced that "the public were now sick of
hearing The Human League" and the choice of
the "poor quality filler track" would almost
certainly be a disaster, wrecking the group's
new found popularity Virgin were adamant that
a fourth single was going to be released and
Oakey finally agreed, on the condition that a
large colour poster was given away with the
single because he felt fans would "feel
ripped off" by the 'substandard' single
alone.[3]
"Don't You Want Me" was released in the UK on
5 December 1981 and to everyone in the band
(and especially Oakeys) amazement it went
almost immediately to number one and remained
in the UK charts for 13 weeks. The success
was repeated six months later with the
release of Dare in the U.S., with "Don't You
Want Me" hitting number one on the Billboard
Hot 100. Billboard magazine ranked it as the
United States' sixth-biggest hit of 1982.
The lyrics were originally inspired after
lead singer and front man Philip Oakey read a
story in a "trashy tabloid". Originally
conceived as a male solo, Oakey was inspired
by the film A Star Is Born and decided to
turn the song in to a conflicting duet with
one of the bands two teenage female
vocalists. Susan Ann Sulley was asked to take
on the role. Up until then she and the other
female vocalist Joanne Catherall had only
been assigned backing vocals; Sulley says she
was chosen only through luck of the draw.[1]
There are two more realistic reasons for her
choice, that Sulley was the better singer
and/or that Catherall, a very introverted
character at the time, shied away from the
role.
An unofficial Susan Ann Sully page:
http://www.susanne-sulley.net/home.htm
Music video
Susanne Sulley in the iconic 1981 "Don't You
Want Me" video.
Susanne Sulley in the iconic 1981 "Don't You
Want Me" video.
In 1981 record company Virgin were becoming
aware that promotional music video was
evolving into an important marketing tool,
with MTV being launched that year. Because it
was agreed that the video for Open Your Heart
had looked "cheap and nasty", for "Don't You
Want Me" they commissioned a much more
elaborate and expensive promotional video
than for any of their previous releases.
The music video for the song was filmed in
Slough, UK in November 1981 and has the theme
of the shooting and editing of a
murder-mystery film, featuring the band
members as characters and production staff.
Due to it being a "making of" video, the crew
and camera apparatus used within appear
throughout. It was conceived and directed by
filmmaker Steve Barron, and has at its core
the interaction between a successful actress
played by Susan Ann Sulley walking out on
'film director' Philip Oakey on a film set.
It is based on the theme of the film A Star
Is Born. Shot on a cold, wet, winter night it
was shot on 35mm film instead of the cheaper
video tape prevalent at the time. Susan
Sulley states now that Steve Baron was
heavily influenced by the cinematography of
the promo video for the Ultravox single
"Vienna" and used it as a benchmark when
shooting "Don't You Want Me". Steve Baron was
also influenced by François Truffaut and his
film Day for Night and because of that the
clapper board seen in the video bears the
inscription "Le League Humaine" as a tribute
to Truffaut. The video is credited for making
Oakey, Sulley and Catherall universally known
visual icons of the early 1980s; but became
controversial later for a scene where Jo
Callis appears to shoot Joanne Catherall with
a pistol from a car window (a Saab 99 turbo).
The scene is edited out of the DVD version
and when shown on MTV. The other car that was
used in the video, was a gold W-Reg Rover
SD1. The video was released in December 1981,
just as the music video culture was becoming
a standard in music, and it was a major
contribution to the song's commercial
success.
Tags : Human League Don't You Want Me Baby Electronic 80's 1981 Philip Oakey Joanne Catherall Susan Ann Sulley 1982 you were working as waitress in cocktail bar UK New Wave Techno Synth Emo 08/08/08 08-08-08 eighties best Star Is Born Virgin Records sheffield England Britain |
