| I Don't Wanna Go On with You Like That | |
| Cover: | I_don't_wanna_go_on_with_you_like_that.jpg |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Elton John |
| Album: | Reg Strikes Back |
| B-Side: | Rope Around a Fool |
| Released: | 23 May 1988 |
| Genre: | Dance[1] |
| Length: | 4:33 (album version) 3:58 (single version) |
| Label: | |
| Composer: | Elton John |
| Lyricist: | Bernie Taupin |
| Producer: | Chris Thomas |
| Prev Title: | Take Me to the Pilot |
| Prev Year: | 1988 |
| Next Title: | Town of Plenty |
| Next Year: | 1988 |
"I Don't Wanna Go On with You Like That" is a song by English musician Elton John from his 21st studio album Reg Strikes Back (1988), released as the lead single of the album. The track was written by John and his long-time songwriting partner, Bernie Taupin.
Upon its release in 1988, the song peaked at number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 in August 1988, becoming John's highest-charting hit of the 1980s in the US. The song also became John's eighth number-one on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.[2] In Canada, the single peaked atop the RPM 100 Singles chart for three weeks, giving John his 13th chart-topper there. It became a top ten hit in Austria and Switzerland, and a top 40 hit in nine countries including the UK, where it reached at number 30 on the UK Singles Chart.
When John played this song with the band on his concerts, the intro had different arrangements as he regularly played it in his tours during the album tour, Sleeping with the Past Tour and the rest of 1990s before he retired it in 2000 as the One Night Only concert in Madison Square Garden remains the most recent performance of it.[3] [4]
American magazine Cash Box called "I Don't Wanna Go On with You Like That" "a straight-ahead dance/rocker that gets on a forward track and stays there" with "biting lyrics."[5] Robin Smith from Record Mirror felt that John is "right on target" with the classic rock of the song.[6] Richard Lowe from Smash Hits wrote, "His new tune's not much cop though. It's a lacklustre ditty that he probably knocked out one lazy afternoon and its only saving grace is the rather extraordinary popping noise that runs all the way through. Must be one of these new-fangled electric drums. Quite odd."[7] Jerry Smith of Music Week considered the song a "totally irresistible and thumpingly energic track".[8]
A 12-inch extended remix of the song by Shep Pettibone was released on vinyl during the song's initial release period. This remix appears on the CD box set compilation, To Be Continued..., released in 1990. The Just-Elton-and-His-piano mix of the song is also available (on the reissued 1999 version of the Reg Strikes Back album).
| Chart (1988) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[9] | 30 |
| Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[10] | 28 |
| South Africa (Springbok Radio)[11] | 27 |
| Chart (1988) | Position | |
|---|---|---|
| Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[12] | 26 | |
| Canada Top Singles (RPM)[13] | 22 | |
| Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[14] | 79 | |
| US Billboard Hot 100[15] | 43 | |
| US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[16] | 9 | |
| West Germany (Official German Charts)[17] | 72 |