Songfacts®:

• You have to admire Can. Here was a band that seemed to delight in defying expectations, pushing musical boundaries, and producing songs that occasionally made listeners wonder if they'd tuned in to a broadcast from some parallel universe. And yet, in 1976 with "I Want More," they somehow managed to stumble upon that rarest of beasts: a genuine hit record.
• The lyrics of "I Want More," penned by their live sound mixer Peter Gilmour, are delightfully straightforward. As the title suggests, they revolve around the simple, repetitive theme of, well, wanting more - be it more love, more fun, or perhaps more tracks like this that people might actually buy. This minimalist approach to lyricism was right in line with Can's experimental ethos, though the repetitive chant of "I want more" also hints at a broader, insatiable desire that could apply to just about anything - perhaps even fame itself.
• After signing with Virgin Records in 1975, Can stepped away from their earlier experimental work and started crafting songs that had, shockingly enough, recognizable structures, hummable melodies, and vocals with all band members singing together, creating a sound that, while still distinctively Can, was far more palatable to the general public.
  
  Composed by the band's four stalwarts - keyboardist Irmin Schmidt, percussionist Jaki Liebezeit, guitarist Michael Karoli, and bassist Holger Czukay - "I Want More" combines elements of rock with funk and a sprinkling of disco glitter.
• The unexpected success of "I Want More" led to what must be one of the great moments in the annals of rock history: Can's appearance on the UK music show Top of the Pops. Now, normally this is where you might expect to see a band riding high on their chart success, enjoying their moment in the spotlight. But in true Can fashion, things were a bit more complicated.
  
  As Irmin Schmidt recalled to Uncut magazine, "I Want More" suddenly took off while the band members were scattered to the four winds. Schmidt was holidaying in the South of France, Holger and Jaki were somewhere in Germany, and Michael Karoli, the band's lanky guitarist, was on safari in Kenya. Unable to get everyone together for the show, they hired a stand-in guitarist - a much shorter musician with curly hair who looked nothing like Karoli.
  
  When Karoli eventually saw "himself" on TV, he was, to put it mildly, not thrilled. "I never met the stand-in guitarist again," Schmidt said, "but it would be nice if you can find him!"
• The B-side of the single, a track cheekily titled "...And More," continued the theme with a repetition of the chorus from "I Want More," which just goes to show that Can really did know how to lean into a joke.
• The song later appeared on Flow Motion, Can's 1976 album that was not exactly embraced by the purists. Fans and critics alike, accustomed to Can's more experimental leanings, were somewhat baffled by the band's new direction. The incorporation of disco elements - a genre rock fans in the mid-'70s often viewed with the same enthusiasm reserved for, say, a tax audit - did not go down well. Over time, listeners have come to view Flow Motion more favorably.