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"I Want Candy"
Side-A label of the American vinyl single
Single by the Strangeloves
from the album I Want Candy
B-side	"It's About My Baby"
Released	1965
Genre	Rock and roll garage rock proto-punk bubblegum
Length	2:59
Label	Bang
Songwriter(s)	Bert Berns Bob Feldman Jerry Goldstein Richard Gottehrer
Producer(s)	The Strangeloves
The Strangeloves singles chronology
"Love, Love" (1964) "I Want Candy" (1965) "Out in the Sun" (1965)

"I Want Candy" is a song written and originally recorded by the Strangeloves in 1965 that reached No. 11 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. It is a famous example of a song that uses the Bo Diddley beat.

Original version

"I Want Candy" was written by Bert Berns, Bob Feldman, Jerry Goldstein and Richard Gottehrer in 1965. Some reports suggest that the song was written after the producers saw dancer Candy Johnson performing at the 1964 World's Fair.

As writers/producers, Feldman, Goldstein and Gottehrer had already scored big hits for other artists, including "My Boyfriend's Back" by the Angels. For this song, the trio took on the moniker of the Strangeloves, and recorded the tune themselves, augmented by studio musicians (co-writer Berns was not involved in the studio recording). The female vocalist heard half-screaming, half-singing "Baby!" in the middle of the track was an unknown session singer.

Although Feldman, Goldstein and Gottehrer used their real names in the writing and production credits of this single, they claimed the Strangeloves were actually three Australian brothers (and ex-sheep farmers) named Giles, Miles and Niles Strange. Feldman, Goldstein and Gottehrer dressed up in shaggy wigs and exotic clothing for publicity photos as the Strangeloves.

"I Want Candy", the Strangeloves' second single, reached No. 7 in Canada and hit No. 11 in the US. The record failed to chart in the UK—or in the Strangeloves' ostensibly "native" country, Australia.

The Tremeloes version

In the UK, the song first hit the UK Singles Chart in 1965, in a version by beat group Brian Poole and the Tremeloes, who took it to No. 25. This version also peaked at No. 81 in Australia.

Bow Wow Wow version

"I Want Candy"
Standard UK and international vinyl picture sleeve
Single by Bow Wow Wow
from the album The Last of the Mohicans
B-side	"King Kong"
Released	1982
Studio	Criteria (Miami)
Genre	New wave bubblegum
Length	2:46
Label	RCA
Songwriter(s)	Bert Berns Bob Feldman Jerry Goldstein Richard Gottehrer
Producer(s)	Kenny Laguna
Bow Wow Wow singles chronology
"Go Wild in the Country" (1982) "I Want Candy" (1982) "Fools Rush In" (1982)
Music video
"I Want Candy" on YouTube

English new wave group Bow Wow Wow released their version in 1982 as the first and only single from their EP The Last of the Mohicans. It was a top 10 hit in their native United Kingdom. For many in America, "I Want Candy" was their first introduction to young lead singer Annabella Lwin and the band, who partnered with producer Kenny Laguna to record the song at Criteria Studios in Miami, Florida. The song barely scraped the top 60 there but became an enduring new wave classic.

To capitalize on the success of the "I Want Candy" music video, RCA compiled an album called I Want Candy for their newfound American audience. The album peaked at No. 123 on the Billboard 200.

The Bow Wow Wow recording appeared on two VH1 countdowns:

• No. 86 on VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of the '80s"
• No. 8 on VH1's "100 Greatest One Hit Wonders of the '80s"

Charts

Candy Girls version

"I Want Candy"
Single by Candy Girls featuring Valerie Malcolm
B-side	"Four other remixes"
Released	1996 (UK)
Label	Feverpitch EMI Records
Songwriter(s)	Bert Berns Bob Feldman Jerry Goldstein Richard Gottehrer
Candy Girls singles chronology
"Wham Bam" (1995) "I Want Candy" (1996)

British duo Candy Girls, consisting of Rachel Auburn and Paul Masterson, released a cover of "I Want Candy" featuring singer Valerie Malcolm. It became their third hit single in 1996, peaking at No. 30 on the UK Singles Chart and No. 12 on the UK Dance Singles Chart. On Music Week's UK on a Pop Tip Club Chart, the song hit number-one. The single was their last as the duo split after the release. Masterson went on to have hits as Amen! UK, Clergy, Yomanda, Dorothy and Hi-Gate. A music video was also produced to promote the single.

Critical reception

A reviewer from Music Week rated Candy Girls' version of "I Want Candy" three out of five, describing it as "a pumped-up version of Bow Wow Wow's hit complete with piano breaks for that hands in the air bit. The girls' debut could catapult them chartwards." Daisy & Havoc from the magazine's RM Dance Update gave it four out of five, writing, "The next booming Candy Girls outing is probably their best yet. It's really amusing, with the so-suitable 'I want candy' vocal and the all-round Nineties pop meets Fifties kitsch feel, and it's positively rabble-rousing in its enormous piano breaks."

Track listings

• Disc 1

1. "I Want Candy" (Radio Edit)
2. "I Want Candy" (12" Mix)
3. "I Want Candy" (Candy's Disco Dub)
4. "I Want Candy" (Jon the Dentist's Mix)
5. "I Want Candy" (Beat Barons Mix)

• Disc 2

1. "I Want Candy" (Radio Edit)
2. "Wham Bam"
3. "Fee Fi Fo Fum"

Charts

Aaron Carter version

"I Want Candy"
Single by Aaron Carter
from the album Aaron's Party (Come Get It)
B-side	"Jump, Jump"
Released	2000
Length	3:16
Label	Jive Zomba
Songwriter(s)	Bert Berns Bob Feldman Jerry Goldstein Richard Gottehrer
Aaron Carter singles chronology
"Children of the World" (1999) "I Want Candy" (2000) "Aaron's Party (Come Get It)" (2000)

Aaron Carter released a cover of "I Want Candy" as his seventh overall single, and the second single from his second album, Aaron's Party (Come Get It) (2000).

This version of "I Want Candy" begins with a phone conversation with a friend about a girl named Candy and features the participation of his brother Nick Carter from the Backstreet Boys. Carter promoted it by performing it on the show Lizzie McGuire. A music video was produced to promote the single, directed by Andrew MacNaughtan. Carter released a remix of the song in 2018, self-produced on his LøVë album.

The music video for this version features Carter going on a date with Candy while three boys constantly harass him.

Track listings

Single

1. "I Want Candy" (album version) – 3:13
2. "I Want Candy" (instrumental) – 3:13

Maxi CD

1. "I Want Candy" (album version) – 3:13
2. "I Want Candy" (instrumental) – 3:13
3. "Jump Jump" – 2:39

Charts

Year-end charts

Melanie C version

"I Want Candy"
Single by Melanie C
from the album This Time
B-side	"Already Gone"
Released	26 March 2007
Length	3:23
Label	Red Girl
Songwriter(s)	Bert Berns Bob Feldman Jerry Goldstein Richard Gottehrer
Producer(s)	Stephen Hague
Melanie C singles chronology
"The Moment You Believe" (2007) "I Want Candy" (2007) "Carolyna" (2007)
Music video
"I Want Candy" on YouTube

"I Want Candy" was released as the second single from English singer Melanie C's fourth album This Time, and the first single in the UK, Denmark and Italy, released on 26 March 2007. The song was also the soundtrack to the movie of the same name, and the video featured Melanie dancing for the first time since the Spice Girls. Melanie split her time between the UK and Europe, where she was promoting "The Moment You Believe", and as a result, the single was not heavily promoted and reached No. 24 — although on the physical chart, the single reached No. 7. "I Want Candy" went on to sell 12,510 copies in the UK, but had better success in Italy (No. 9) and Denmark (No. 12).

Melanie premiered her version of the song during Al Murray's Happy Hour on ITV1 on 24 February 2007. The video was premiered on 2 March 2007 in the UK. The song was released as Italy's and Denmark's first single from the new album, where it reached No. 9 in both countries, while in other European countries, the ballad "The Moment You Believe" was chosen.

Music video

A music video for "I Want Candy", directed by Tim Royes, depicts Melanie C in a skin-tight catsuit, featuring a sexually suggestive dance routine with half-naked bodybuilders in crowd-controller uniforms. The video instantly grabbed the number one spot on YouTube with 200,000 hits in its first day.

Track listings

Notes

• signifies an additional producer

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of This Time.

• Bert Berns – writer
• Bob Feldman – writer
• Jerry Goldstein – writer
• Richard Gottehrer – writer
• Paul Grady – engineer
• Stephen Hague – engineer, producer

Charts

The Count Bishops version

The Count Bishops, British proto punk and pub-rock band, released their version of "I Want Candy" on independent label Chiswick Records in 1978, making an appearance on the British TV show Top of the Pops.

References

1. Unterberger, Richie. "The Strangeloves – I Want Candy – Song Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
2. ^ Breihan, Tom (May 31, 2018). "The Number Ones: The Angels' "My Boyfriend's Back"". Stereogum. Retrieved June 10, 2023. The Strangeloves fucking ruled, developing a take on proto-punk garage rock that was both bubblegum-catchy and dizzily percussion-heavy. Their singles, like "I Want Candy" and "Night Time," were just killer.
3. Sheffield, Rob (September 27, 2022). "100 Best Songs of 1982". Rolling Stone. Retrieved September 9, 2023. I Want Candy" was a forgotten Sixties bubblegum hit...
4. ^ Cooper, Kim; Smay, David; Austen, Jake (2001). Bubblegum Music is the Naked Truth. Feral House. p. 135. ISBN 978-0-9229-1569-9. They hoodwinked enough American teens with their phony story, "Aboriginal" drums and cheap Beatle wigs in 1965 to send "I Want Candy" to number 11 on the national charts. If only for that one song, the Strangeloves are worthy of discussion. "I Want Candy" is a revelation. a Bo Diddley jungle beat, jazzy guitar line, and massed, aharmonious male vocals sounding like a fraternity at its drunken pinnacle
5. "'I Want Candy' Is About a 1960s Singer from the World's Fair". GroovyHistory.com. September 3, 2019. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
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v t e Melanie C
Discography
Studio albums	Northern Star Reason Beautiful Intentions This Time The Sea Stages Version of Me Melanie C
Singles	"Goin' Down" "Northern Star" "Never Be the Same Again" "I Turn to You" "If That Were Me" "Here It Comes Again" "On the Horizon" "Melt" "Yeh Yeh Yeh" "Next Best Superstar" "Better Alone" "First Day of My Life" "The Moment You Believe" "I Want Candy" "Carolyna" "This Time" "Understand" "Rock Me" "Think About It" "Weak" "Let There Be Love" "I Know Him So Well" "Anymore"
Featured singles	"When You're Gone" "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" "Loving You" "Let's Groove" "Around the World"
Other songs	"Follow Me "Let's Love" "I Don't Know How to Love Him"
Video albums	Live Hits
Concert tours	Reason Tour
Related articles	Spice Girls
Category

• 1965 songs
• 1965 singles
• 1982 singles
• 1996 singles
• 2000 singles
• 2007 singles
• Aaron Carter songs
• Bow Wow Wow songs
• Melanie C songs
• The Tremeloes songs
• Music videos directed by Andrew MacNaughtan
• Song recordings produced by Stephen Hague
• Songs written by Bert Berns
• Songs written by Jerry Goldstein (producer)
• Songs written by Richard Gottehrer
• Bang Records singles
• RCA Records singles
• Jive Records singles
• EMI Records singles
• Zomba Group of Companies singles
• Songs written by Bob Feldman