‘What I Like About You’ is a song by American rock band the Romantics. Written by band members Wally Palmar, Mike Skill and Jimmy Marinos in 1979, the song is included on the band's self-titled debut album (1980), and was also released as a single in late 1979. 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.
‘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 "Sometimes Good Guys Don't Wear White", 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. However, in terms of record sales and radio airplay, the song was only a moderate success at the time of its release, reaching number 49 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was most successful in Australia, where it reached number two on the Australian Singles Chart for two weeks and became the 13th most successful single for 1980. 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.
Labels – Nemperor, EpicSongwriters – Wally Palmar, Mike Skill, Jimmy Marinos
Producer – Pete Solley
SONG LYRICS
[Intro]Hey
Uh huh huh
Hey
Uh huh huh
[Verse 1]
What I like about you
You hold me tight
Tell me I'm the only one
You wanna come over tonight, yeah
[Hook]
Keep on whispering in my ear
Tell me all the things that I wanna hear
Cause it's true
That's what I like about you
[Verse 2]
What I like about you
You really know how to dance
When you go up, down, jump around
Think about true romance, yeah
[Hook]
Keep on whispering in my ear
Tell me all the things that I wanna hear
Cause it's true
That's what I like about you
That's what I like about you
That's what I like about you
Wow
Hey
[Verse 3]
What I like about you
You keep me warm at night
Never wanna let you go
Know you make me feel alright, yeah
[Hook]
Keep on whispering in my ear
Tell me all the things that I wanna hear
'Cause it's true
That's what I like about you
That's what I like about you
That's what I like about you
That's what I like about you
That's what I like about you
That's what I like about you
That's what I like about you
[Outro]
Hey
Uh huh huh
Hey, hey, hey, hey
Uh huh huh, brrr
Hey
Uh huh huh