"James Dean (I Wanna Know)" is a song by British singer

Daniel Bedingfield Daniel John Bedingfield (born 3 December 1979) is a New Zealand-British singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. He is the eldest brother of fellow singers Natasha Bedingfield and Nikola Rachelle. He was a judge on '' The X Factor New Z ...

. It was released in August 2002 as the second single from his debut studio album, '' Gotta Get Thru This''. Like his debut single " Gotta Get Thru This", "James Dean" was also a hit, reaching number four on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, making it his second top-10 hit. It entered the top 20 in Australia, peaking at number 19. The song name checks

Freddie Mercury Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara; 5 September 1946 – 24 November 1991) was a British singer and songwriter, who achieved worldwide fame as the lead vocalist of the rock band Queen. Regarded as one of the greatest singers in the ...

Brad Pitt William Bradley Pitt (born December 18, 1963) is an American actor and film producer. He is the recipient of various accolades, including two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award. ...

Sly Stone Sylvester Stewart (born March 15, 1943), better known by his stage name Sly Stone, is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer who is most famous for his role as frontman for Sly and the Family Stone, playing a critical role in the ...

and

Daddy Warbucks Oliver "Daddy" Warbucks is a fictional character from the comic strip ''Little Orphan Annie''. He made his first appearance in the New York ''Daily News'' in the ''Annie'' strip on September 27, 1924. In the series he is said to be around 52 year ...

. Dom Passantino of ''

Stylus Magazine ''Stylus Magazine'' was an American online music and film magazine, launched in 2002 and co-founded by Todd L. Burns. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog. Addi ...

'' described the song as "one final attempt at

bedroom A bedroom or bedchamber is a room situated within a residential or accommodation unit characterised by its usage for sleeping and sexual activity. A typical western bedroom contains as bedroom furniture one or two beds (ranging from a crib for ...

bounce-pop weirdness." Tom Ewing of ''

Freaky Trigger ''Freaky Trigger'' is an Internet publication and e-zine that focuses on popular culture with topics varying from music to cinema. It was founded by the music critic Tom Ewing in 1999 and features Pete Baran and Mark Sinker as editors. From 2000 ...

'' found the song's electro to be harsher than on previous efforts.

Track listings

* UK and Australian CD single # "James Dean (I Wanna Know)" # " Gotta Get Thru This" (acoustic version) # "James Dean (I Wanna Know)" (ATFC's committed vocal mix) # "James Dean (I Wanna Know)" (video) * UK 12-inch single :A1. "James Dean (I Wanna Know)" (ATFC's committed vocal) :A2. "James Dean (I Wanna Know)" (M & M vocal mix) :B1. "James Dean (I Wanna Know)" (

Todd Edwards Todd Edward Imperatrice (born December 9, 1972), known professionally as Todd Edwards, is an American garage house record producer, DJ and singer from Bloomfield, New Jersey. He began producing primarily for New York's Nervous Records in the 19 ...

Life Line vocal remix) :B2. "James Dean (I Wanna Know)" (Izzy B vocal mix) * UK cassette single and European CD single # "James Dean (I Wanna Know)" # "Gotta Get Thru This" (acoustic version)

Credits and personnel

Credits are lifted from the '' Gotta Get Thru This'' album booklet. Studios * Recorded and mixed at

Metropolis Studios Metropolis Studios is a music production and entertainment industry company established in 1989 by Gary Langan, Carey Taylor and Karin Clayton.Donald Brackett It is located in the Powerhouse, a Grade II listed building, at 70 Chiswick High Roa ...

(London, England) * Mastered at Sony Music Studios (London, England) Personnel *

– writing, production *

Leo Green Leo Green (born 30 August 1972) is a British musician and broadcaster. Saxophonist and orchestra leader Green played with Van Morrison's band. Green plays saxophone and sings in his own band. In 2010 guitarist Jeff Beck said, "Leo Green has ...

– saxophone * Matt Holland – trumpet * Al Stone – co-production, mixing * Ned Douglas – additional programming * Gavin Goldberg – engineering * John Davis – mastering

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control Cultural depictions of James Dean 2002 singles 2002 songs Daniel Bedingfield songs Island Records singles Polydor Records singles Songs written by Daniel Bedingfield Bedroom pop songs Electro songs