I Wanna Go Back

Released in 1984 as the band's debut single, it reached the Billboard Hot 100 chart on December 8, 1984, charting for three weeks and peaking at number 78,{{cite book |title= Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles, 14th Edition: 1955-2012 |last=Whitburn |first=Joel |authorlink=Joel Whitburn |year=2013 |publisher=Record Research |page=82}} and number 72 Cash Box. The mid-tempo song is reliant on synthesizers but contains a short guitar solo in the bridge and some guitar in the outro. The music video begins with the members of Billy Satellite driving a jeep to Alameda, California to the site of a previous live show; the latter portion features the band playing in a bar there.

American rock singer Eddie Money covered the song on his 1986 album Can't Hold Back, and it was released as the follow-up single to the top-ten hit "Take Me Home Tonight". It reached number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100, #33 Adult Contemporary,{{cite book |title= Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001|last=Whitburn |first=Joel |authorlink=Joel Whitburn |year=2002 |publisher=Record Research |page=173}} and number three on the Album Rock Tracks chart in early 1987. Money's version, which AllMusic's Mike DeGagne says has "sincere, semi-ballad charm,"{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/cant-hold-back-mw0000194908|title=Can't Hold Back - Eddie Money {{!}} Songs, Reviews, Credits|last=DeGagne|first=Mike|website=AllMusic|access-date=15 April 2010}} still relies heavily on synthesizers but includes more guitar and adds saxophone in the intro, bridge, and outro, with backing vocals by Marilyn Martin.{{citation needed|date= July 2020}}

The music video to his version features Money revisiting a high school interspersed with him and his band playing before a concert audience. Martin can also be seen in the video as the mysterious figure that Money briefly follows through the crowd at the school dance, representing the girl who got away. The video was filmed on Blackwell Street and the then-Dover High School (now The Kubert School) in Dover, New Jersey.{{cite web |title=Dover Water Heaters |url=https://waterheatersnj.com/dover-water-heater/ |website=waterheatersnj.com |publisher=waterheatersnj.com |access-date=16 May 2025 |language=en-us}}

Upon its release, Billboard described "I Wanna Go Back" as a "hard rock ballad" which "capsulizes grown-up regret".{{cite magazine |title=Reviews: Singles |magazine=Billboard |date=December 13, 1986 |publisher=Billboard Publications, Inc. |volume=98 |issue=50 |page=61 |issn=0006-2510}} Cash Box called it a "hook-laden mid-tempo rocker" which shows off Money's "grainy, expressive voice" and provides a "solid follow up" to "Take Me Home Tonight".{{cite magazine |title=Single Releases |magazine=Cash Box |date=December 13, 1986 |volume=50 |issue=26 |page=8 |issn=0008-7289}}

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Category:1984 songs

Category:1984 singles

Category:1986 singles

Category:Eddie Money songs

Category:Songs written by Monty Byrom

Category:Capitol Records singles

Category:Columbia Records singles