"What I Like About You" is a song by American rock band The Romantics. The song, written by Romantics members Wally Palmar, Mike Skill and Jimmy Marinos in 1979 is included on the band's self-titled debut album (1980), and was also released as a single. Marinos, the band's drummer, is the lead vocalist on the song. The band filmed a music video for the song that appeared frequently on MTV during the early 1980s.
Video What I Like About You (song)
Writing and original version
"What I Like About You" was written by Palmar, Marinos and Skill around a guitar part by Skill. The song's "Hey, uh-huh-huh" refrain was influenced by The Yardbirds' "Over Under Sideways Down" and Chuck Berry's "Back in the U.S.A.". The song's riff is slightly similar to Neil Diamond's "Cherry, Cherry", The Standells 1966 hit "Dirty Water", and Joe Jackson's 1979 single "I'm the Man". The Romantics recorded the song and the accompanying album at Coconuts Recording Studio in Miami Beach, Florida.
When first released, "What I Like About You" was already a popular song on the Romantics' concert playlist. In terms of record sales and radio airplay, however, the song was only a moderate success at the time of its release, reaching only number 49 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song did quite well in Australia however, reaching number two on the Australian Singles Chart (Kent Music Report) on its initial release. It was only towards the end of the 1980s, after the song had been licensed for use in television commercials for Budweiser beer, that "What I Like About You" grew to become one of the most popular rock anthems of all time.
Maps What I Like About You (song)
Guitar Hero legal case
In November 2007, The Romantics filed a federal lawsuit against Activision, the publisher of Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s, claiming that the video game manufacturer had infringed on the band's rights by featuring a soundalike recording of "What I Like About You" in the game. The Romantics lost their case in December 2007, with the judge stating that Activision had taken all the necessary steps in developing its product.
Chart performance
Cover versions
- Michael Morales released a version of "What I Like About You" in 1989, as the follow-up to his hit "Who Do You Give Your Love To". His version reached number 28 on the Billboard Hot 100, eclipsing the position of the original version.
- The Australian rock band Tlot Tlot covered the song on their 1995 album Fashion Takes a Holiday.
- Punk rock band The Suicide Machines covered the song for the 1999-release compilation album Before You Were Punk 2.
- In 2002, the alternative rock band Lillix recorded a version of the song, which was featured on the soundtrack of the Disney teen comedy film Freaky Friday (the film's star Lindsay Lohan also makes cameo appearance in the music video), which was released the following year, and the film 13 Going on 30. Lillix's recording of the song was also used as the theme song for The WB's television series of the same name, starring Jennie Garth and Amanda Bynes and on the Japanese CD Roxy's Jam (2006).
- In 2004, Nacker covered this song for the film What the Bleep Do We Know!?.
- It was covered by Michael Gough and Renee Sands (as the singing voices of Shrek and Princess Fiona) in the short Far Far Away Idol and in the CD Shrek 2: Party CD.
- "What I Like About You" was covered by American rock band Poison as the lead single from their cover album Poison'd! (2007). The band did a music video for the single as well.
- A revamped version of the song is featured at the end of the pilot episode for the 2016 Nickelodeon TV series School of Rock, performed by the main cast.
Channel Ten and Southern Cross Ten used the song to advertise their television channel in 2005-06. They used three different versions of the song, all performed by Green Dragon. The first, used from February-December 2005 was the original version of the song. The second, used from December 2005-February 2006 was a dance mix. The third, used from February-December 2006 was an R&B mix; the song was again used from December 2006-February 2007 in Ten's summer promos.
5 Seconds of Summer version
The song was covered by Australian rock band 5 Seconds of Summer for their 2014 She Looks So Perfect EP, reaching number 137 on the UK Singles Chart. The studio mix of the song is included on the group's 2014 live album, LiveSOS, and was serviced to American mainstream radio on December 2, 2014 as its lead single. It received strong airplay for the week ending December 28, 2014 and debuted on the Billboard Pop Songs chart, where it has since peaked at number 30.
The band performed the song live at the 2014 American Music Awards on November 23, 2014 ahead of its release.
Music video
A lyric video for the live version was uploaded to 5 Seconds of Summer's Vevo account November 23, 2014, the same day as their AMA performance. The official music video was directed by Tom van Schelven and premiered on December 5, 2014. It uses the live audio rather than the studio mix and features concert footage from the group's performance at The Forum near Los Angeles, as well behind-the-scenes clips and shots of the audience.
Chart performance
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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