I Only Want to Be with You

"I Only Want to Be with You" is a rock-and-roll song by Mike Hawker and Ivor Raymonde. It was the first solo single released by British singer Dusty Springfield under her long-time producer Johnny Franz. It has since been recorded by many artists and has charted several times.

Background

Recorded by Dusty Springfield while she was still a member of The Springfields, the song was released in November 1963, three weeks after The Springfields' final concert. The recording session took place at Olympic Studios Carton Street arranged and conducted by Ivor Raymonde and recorded by engineer Keith Grant. It was a popular success, reaching #4 UK, #12 US, #6 Australia, and #21 Canada. In the US, she was the second artist of the British Invasion, after the Beatles, to have a hit, entering the Billboard chart at #77 in the last week of January 1964 (The Beatles having "She Loves You" at #69 and "I Want to Hold Your Hand" at #3).

Raymonde's arrangement is unmistakable with its relentless "ticker-ticker" beat and cascading drum rolls, full-on choirs and "Tower of Power" horn section pitched against soaring rock strings. It set the production standard for Springfield's later hits, such as "Stay Awhile" or "Little by Little". Springfield also recorded the song with an almost identical arrangement in German, with the title 'Auf dich nur wart' ich immerzu'.

The song was performed by Springfield on the first ever edition of the BBC's Top of the Pops on January 1st 1964.

The song was re-released as a 7" & 12" single (see cover in infobox) in 1988 coinciding with its use in a soft-drink commercial, and peaked at #83 in the UK.

Samantha Fox version

In 1988, Fox covered the song as "I Only Wanna Be With You" for her album I Wanna Have Some Fun. It was released as the second single in the United States and Europe from her third studio album I Wanna Have Some Fun (1988). The song was another hit for Fox, reaching number 16 in the United Kingdom and number 31 in the United States. The music video does not have a plot, but scenes include Fox hunting through trash cans, dancing, fireworks, and the singer in bed with her bespectacled lover.^[1]

Television shows Fox performed the song on include Top of the Pops in 1989 and Viva el espectáculo on TVE1 in 1990.^[2][3]

Charts

Tracklistings

UK 7" Vinyl(FOXY X11) Jive^[4]

1. "I Only Wanna Be With You" 2:45
2. "Confession" 4:40

US Maxi Single(1195-2-JDJ) Jive^[5]

1. "I Only Wanna Be With You (Single Edit)" 2:45
2. "I Only Wanna Be With You (Special Single Edit)" 3:19
3. "I Only Wanna Be With You (Extended Mix)" 4:56

UK 12" Vinyl(FOXY T 11) Jive^[6]

1. "I Only Wanna Be With You (Extended Mix)" 4:56
2. "I Only Wanna Be With You (Acapella Mix)" 3:17
3. "I Only Wanna Acid With You (Mix 1)" 6:20
4. "Confession" 4:40

Luis Miguel version

Mexican singer Luis Miguel recorded a cover version of the song, titled "Ahora Te Puedes Marchar" (Now You Can Leave) which was released as the first single from his Grammy-nominated album Soy Como Quiero Ser, the first album recorded by the singer under the WEA record label. It was produced by Juan Carlos Calderón and adapted by Luis Gomez Escolar.^[7] This single became very successful, peaking at number-one in the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart for three non-consecutive weeks in 1987, being the first chart topper for the singer on the chart.^[8] At the time, Luis Miguel was the youngest to score a number-one hit on the Hot Latin Tracks at the age of 17, ironically replacing veteran Julio Iglesias at the summit. In 2005, Luis Miguel included this song on his compilation album Grandes Éxitos.^[9] This version ranked at number 28 in the Hot Latin Tracks Year-End Chart of 1988.

Other versions

• 1964 Les Surfs as "A Présent Tu Peux t'en Aller'" (French) also recorded by Richard Anthony
  • Les Surfs as "E adesso te ne puoi andar" #2
  • Lill-Babs as "Jag Vill Vara Nära Dig" (Swedish)
  • Donna Lynn on her eponymous album Capitol LP 2085
  • Silvana Velasco as "Ahora Te Puedes Marchar" (Spanish)
• 1965 The Shakers, Odeon Pops, EMI. Uruguayan Band recorded for TV appearances; released as bonus track in the mid-90s reissue of the 1965 For You album and the 2007 reissue of the 1965 album Los Shakers
• 1966 Les Surfs as "Ahora Te Puedes Marchar" (Spanish)
• 1967 Helena Vondráčková as "Chytila jsem na pasece motýlka" (Czech)
• 1969 Elin as "Det har jeg altid ønsket mig" (Danish)
  • Agneta Zelán as "Jag Ville Vara Nära Dig" (Swedish)
• 1975 Rauli 'Badding' Somerjoki as "Jykevää on rakkaus" (Finnish) on his album Sydän lämpöä täys. This rendering was remade by Ville Valo with the Agents.
• 1975 Chelsia Chan on her debut album Dark Side Of Your Mind.
• 1976 The Bay City Rollers #17/ #8/ #12/ #3/ #9/ #2/ #9/ #12/ #4/ #12/
  parent album Dedication
  • Howard Carpendale as "Ab Heute Weht Ein Neuer Wind" (German)
• 1979 The Tourists (featuring Annie Lennox) #6/ #50/ #13/ #4/ #83/ parent album Reality Effect
• 1982 Nicolette Larson #53 (A/C#15)/ parent album All Dressed Up & No Place to Go
• 1983 The Flirts on their album Flirts.
• 1986 Southside Johnny & The Jukes on the album At Least We Got Shoes.
• 1991 Maywood on the Walking Back to Happiness album
• 1992 Paula Koivuniemi as "Haluun olla huonas sun" (Finnish) on her album Se kesäni mun
  • Wenche Myhre as "Hvis Bare Jeg Får Bli Hos Deg" (Norwegian)
• 1993 Beatriz Rico as "Ahora Te Puedes Marchar" (Spanish) on album Baila Sin Parar
• 1997 Ash covered the song for a promotional tour 7"^[10]
• 1998 Rasputina & Twiggy Ramirez as "Twiggy & Twiggy" on the soundtrack of Dead Man on Campus
• 1999 Elton John performed the song at a solo show at the Peoria Civic Center Arena, Illinois after learning of Dusty Springfield's death on March 2 1999. John introduced the song saying "Dusty, wherever you are, this one's for you, my love, with all my love."
• 2001 Me First and the Gimme Gimmes on their 2001 album Blow in the Wind.
• 2002 Vonda Shepard covered the song for the Ally McBeal soundtrack (Songs from Ally McBeal)
• 2003 Thai singer Maleewan Jemina on her album Me & Moment in Time
• 2004 Tommy February⁶ on her single L・O・V・E・L・Y ～夢見るLOVELY BOY～
• 2005 Volbeat on their 2005 debut album The Strength / The Sound / The Songs.
• 2005 Taiwanese female group 7 Flowers on their eponymous album
• 2007 Tina Arena on her album Songs of Love & Loss.
• 2008 Shelby Lynne on Just a Little Lovin' a tribute album to Dusty Springfield, released on January 29, 2008
• 2009 Jessica Andersson as "I Only Wanna Be With You" on her album Wake Up
  • Barbee as "Ámor nyila" (Hungarian)
• 2011 Amy Macdonald on Reworked (charity compilation album)

Uses on television

• Was used in the opening for the TV series Arliss
• The Tourists' version of the song was played along with TV clips on 31 December 1992 - 1 January 1993 when Thames Television finished broadcasting before Carlton Television took over
• The song was used in the British soap opera EastEnders when the character Sam Mitchell dug up the body of Den Watts
• The song was used by TVNZ to promote TV2 changing the words to "I only want to be with 2!"
• The song was also used as soundtrack in Greek Comedy Tv series "Tilempora" (TV Storm) on Mega Channel in 2004.
• The song featured in a John Lewis television ad highlighting how the company had been selling electronic equipment for a substantial number of years.

References