Doesn't Somebody Want to Be Wanted explained

"Doesn't Somebody Want to Be Wanted" is a song written by Mike Appel, Jim Cretecos, and Wes Farrell and was recorded by The Partridge Family for their 1971 album, Up to Date.^[2]

Background

Lead singer David Cassidy hated the song and didn't think it was very good. In addition, he hated the idea of speaking aloud in the middle of the song. He hated it so much, he refused to do it.^[3]

His refusal caused consternation with the studio and the record company, where the heads of both Bell Records and Screen Gems, both owned by Columbia Pictures, got involved. Shooting of The Partridge Family was stopped so his manager and agent could talk to him over the issue. It was suggested to Cassidy that the song would achieve greater commercial success with the spoken interlude included.

Cassidy finally caved in to the collective pressure and recorded the song as requested. When it was finished, he begged them not to release it: "It was horrible, I was embarrassed by it. I still can't listen to that record."

Reception

Cash Box described the song as being "an even more intriguing bit of material" than "I Think I Love You".^[4]

Chart performance

The song went to #6 on The Billboard Hot 100 in 1971 and was on the charts for 12 weeks.^[5]

The song went to #1 in Canada.^[6] The song also reached #6 in France and #9 in Australia. It was named the #13 song of 1971 on the Cashbox charts.^[7] The song was certified as a gold disc in March 1971.^[8]

Weekly charts

Chart (1971)	Peak position
	7
Canada RPM Top Singles[9]	1
Canada RPM Adult Contemporary[10]	13
France	6
New Zealand (Listener)[11]	20
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[12]	6
U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary	6
U.S. Cash Box Top 100[13]	1

Year-end charts

Chart (1971)	Rank
Australia[14]	70
Canada[15]	23
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[16]	53
U.S. Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[17]
U.S. Cash Box Top 100	13

Popular culture

• This was also the song that was playing before the Emergency Broadcast System False Alarm of 1971 on WOWO Radio.
• It is mentioned in Reservoir Dogs, as part of the fictional "K-BILLY's Super Sounds of the '70s" radio program.
• The song is featured in the episode "Never Again" of The X-Files.

Notes and References

1. Book: Precious and Few - Pop Music in the Early '70s. Don. Breithaupt. Jeff. Breithaupt. October 15, 1996. Post-Nuclear Families: Bubblegum. 23. St. Martin's Griffin. 031214704X.
2. Web site: Lindsay Planer . Up to Date - The Partridge Family | Songs, Reviews, Credits . . 1970-09-25 . 2016-10-03.
3. C'Mon Get Happy - Fear and Loathing on the Partridge Family bus by David Cassidy and Chip Deffaa, Warner Books Inc, 1994. pp 70–71
4. News: CashBox Record Reviews. February 6, 1971. 22. 2021-12-09. Cash Box.
5. Web site: Artist Search for "the partridge family" . . 2016-10-03.
6. Web site: Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada . Collectionscanada.gc.ca . 2016-10-03 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304095435/http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?brws_s=1&file_num=nlc008388.5202&type=1&interval=24&PHPSESSID=kjerdnvbvl3a8p4jfufutrc7u6 . 2016-03-04 . dead .
7. Web site: Top 100 Year End Charts: 1971 . . 2016-05-30 . 2012-07-25 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120725141226/http://cashboxmagazine.com/archives/70s_files/1971YESP.html . dead .
8. Web site: Song artist 754 - The Partridge Family . Tsort.info . 2007-10-08 . 2016-10-03.
9. Web site: Archived copy . . 2016-10-03 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20161001215609/http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/image.aspx?Image=nlc008388.5182&URLjpg=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.collectionscanada.gc.ca%2Fobj%2F028020%2Ff4%2Fnlc008388.5182.gif&Ecopy=nlc008388.5182 . 2016-10-01 .
10. Web site: Archived copy . . 2016-06-04 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160921033037/http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/image.aspx?Image=nlc008388.5181&URLjpg=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.collectionscanada.gc.ca%2Fobj%2F028020%2Ff4%2Fnlc008388.5181.gif&Ecopy=nlc008388.5181 . 2016-09-21 .
11. Web site: flavour of new zealand - search listener . Flavourofnz.co.nz . 2016-10-03 . 2016-10-06 . https://web.archive.org/web/20161006014154/http://www.flavourofnz.co.nz/index.php?qpageID=search%20listener&qartistid=1317#n_view_location . dead .
12. Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990 -
13. Web site: Top 100 1971-04-03 . . 2016-06-04 .
14. Web site: Australian Chart Book . Austchartbook.com.au . 2016-10-03 . dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20160305064644/http://www.austchartbook.com.au/ . 2016-03-05 .
15. Web site: Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada . Collectionscanada.gc.ca . 2016-10-03.
16. Web site: Top 100 Hits of 1971/Top 100 Songs of 1971 . Musicoutfitters.com . 2016-10-03.
17. Book: Billboard . 15 . 1971-12-25 . 2016-10-03.