# Don't You Want Me (Felix song)

"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 Billboard Hot 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 clubbing magazine Mixmag ranked the song number 98 in its "100 Greatest Dance Singles of All Time" list in 1996.

## Background and release

Felix was born in Chelmsford, Essex and at the age of 15 he decided to create his own music. He began getting involved with DJing, and after a handful of releases, his track "Don't You Want Me" was released in 1992. It sampled Jomanda's "Don't You Want My Love", which was remixed by Rollo and Red Jerry. The production process with the track was very quick. Felix had done a demo version, which was like a piano based kind of thing. It was structured like music by Steve "Silk" Hurley and the house sound at that time. He sent it to independent label Hooj Choons, which asked him to come up with an alternative version. That was when he came up with the version which had the organ sound. Felix recorded it in a studio in Essex Road in London, and the whole thing was done within a day and a night.
After the release, it did well in the clubs and some of the underground clubs. Pet Shop Boys did a hosting session on Radio One, got hold of the record and played it all the time. Deconstruction heard it and they decided to sign it to the label. They promoted the track and made the single big. It is now largely considered to be the track that launched the hardbag explosion. "Don't You Want Me" 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.

## Critical reception

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". 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." British magazine Music Week described the first version as a "hand-waving progressive house anthem". 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! James Hamilton from the Record Mirror Dance Update declared it as a "distinctive organ/synth driven" track.

## Impact and legacy

"Don't You Want Me" won the 1992 DMC/Mixmag Awards in the category of Best House Record at the Royal Albert Hall.
British hardhouse and trance music record producer Jon the Dentist named it 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."
Clubbing magazine Mixmag ranked the song number 98 in its "100 Greatest Dance Singles Of All Time" list in 1996 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."

## Cover versions

* A remix of the song "Don't You Want Me (Pugilist Mix)" formed the soundtrack to the multi award-winning TV commercial for Blackcurrant Tango.
* In 2003, NFK feat. East End Rockers – Don't You Want Me
* In 2005, Crazy Frog made its own version of the song, available on the album More Crazy Hits.
* 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.
* In 2011, David Guetta used the track for the basis of the radio remix for Snoop Dogg's single "Sweat (Wet)".
* In 2024, Switch Disco, Charlotte Haining & Felix – I Found You