"I Want you to want Me" by Cheap Trick

At least 4 stations in my market play "I Want you to want Me" by Cheap Trick.

Lite 100.5 - AC
The River 105.9 - Variety Hits
102.9 The Whale - Classic Rock
Kool Radio 990 AM/96.1 FM - Oldies (The Greatest Hits of the 60s, 70s, and 80s).

All four were playing the "live" version of the song. All of a sudden the other day I'm listening to Kool Radio and they're playing the song, but it's not the live version that they had been playing. After hearing the "live" version for years it was definitely jarring to hear the "non-live" version of the song. (Not to mention when I was an apprentice DJ at a night club many of the bands performing would perform this song).

Anyway this is just another strange move that Kool Radio has made over the years that also included (which I have mentioned before) switching to a 4 min 11 second version of "American Pie."

Coincidentally the guy that owns Kool Radio (he currently owns something like 9 stations and 10 translators) is in the process of purchasing 102.9 The Whale. (It just needs the FCC approval), so I wonder if 102.9 The Whale will switch to the "non-live" version of "I want you to want Me" as well.

Both were released as singles. Interesting backstory on the two versions.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Want_You_to_Want_Me

The band has been touring pretty actively lately, which might explain the revival of interest in the song.

TheBigA said:

The band has been touring pretty actively lately, which might explain the revival of interest in the song.

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That's amazing. They'd have to be pretty old.

The song brings back good memories. Actually, I didn't enjoy my freshman year in college, so I don't know why that would be the case. "My Sharona" is another song that reminds me of that time.

I've only known the Live at Budokan version from 1979. That's the version that made the song a hit.

eriedj said:

I've only known the Live at Budokan version from 1979. That's the version that made the song a hit.

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Truthfully it wasn't a Top 40 hit. It was a rock radio hit that sold well. The live version was the one that sold the best.

When the original version of the song charts below the Billboard Top 100, why would any astute programmer play it? You should play the version that most people know, and that's the "Budokan" release.

Not the only time that this has happened. The live version of "Rock & Roll All Night" by KISS became a hit, over the studio version, and the live version of "Coming Up" by Paul McCartney and Wings became the preferred version, over the studio version.