Don't Wanna Lose This Feeling

Minogue recorded three tracks in Paris with French indie-rock band/production team Neïmo for her album: "On the Loop", "A Piece of Time" and "Don't Wanna Lose This Feeling".[2] "I was in one room sitting on the end of the bed with a microphone, with the cable coming under the door of the bedroom, and they were all sitting out in a tiny lounge room. That’s how we recorded the songs" remembered Minogue.[3] Minogue and Terry Ronald enjoyed working with the trio, who used old synths, drum machines and vintage amps to achieve their sound but keeping it "pop" for the material. To strengthen the chorus, another songwriter James Khari took a pass at the song.[4]

Inspired by the then-current mashup trend, the members of Neïmo produced a mix of the latter song over Madonna's 1985 single "Into the Groove". Minogue liked the mashup and her team asked Madonna for approval and permission to sample the track for official release, assuming that they had nothing to lose and that the answer would be a decline; they were surprised when Madonna's team replied that they wanted to release the mix.[5] At the time both artists were signed to Warner Music and working new album releases; in a fortunate case of synchronicity Madonna's own album American Life was being promoted in the UK and Europe around the same time as Neon Nights. Madonna gave approval for the sample, including a vocal sample of "Now I know you're mine" from "Into the Groove (Dub)"; this was reportedly the first time Madonna had given permission for such a use of her work.[6] Minogue described Madonna's approval as "the biggest, most amazing thing".[7]

For the single release, "Don't Wanna Lose This Feeling" was remixed by Al Stone of production team Smoothside for radio play.[8] An alternative single mix produced by Jewels and Stone ultimately went unused.[9] Dance remixes for clubs and specialist radio were completed by Stella Browne, a house-disco production duo; and Jupiter Ace, an alias of electronic music producer Gregory Ferguson.[10] In 2023, the track was remixed in a garage-style by Initial Talk for inclusion on Neon Nights 20, a super-deluxe repackage of the album to mark its twentieth anniversary.[11]

The "Don't Wanna Lose This Feeling" music video was directed by Phil Griffin on location in Spain. The video concept developed from both Griffin and Minogue wanting to film outside; as the single was scheduled for a summer release they had the idea of filming the video on a beach but, to make it stand out, film on a beach at night. To achieve the night effect, Minogue filmed her scenes under a tent to black-out the daytime sun. This footage then matched the crowd scenes that were filmed after sun down. Minogue spent 24 hours working on the music video, starting with dance rehearsals for the choreographed routines at eight in the morning, and then finishing filming her shots around eight o'clock the following day.

The video begins with Minogue sitting and dancing on the porch of a colourfully lit beach house. She is then shown sitting in a car and singing her lover. They are soon joined by a large group of dancing people on the beach. The video concludes with scenes of Minogue being filmed by her lover and performing a dance routine with two female backup dancers. The finished music video was serviced in two edits; one for the radio version and one for the "Groove" mashup. The "Don't Wanna Lose This Feeling" music video was made available as an enhanced track on the CD single formats then later released on The Hits & Beyond special edition bonus DVD and the Dannii Minogue: The Video Collection DVD.

In a review for the single release, Music Week wrote that "Don't Wanna Lose This Feeling" was "a perfectly acceptable slice of disco pop", but also noted that, as fourth single release from Neon Nights, it was unlikely to positively impact album sales.[12]

"Don't Wanna Lose This Feeling" was serviced to UK radio stations from 5 May 2003.[13] A week later, Radio One put the single on their C-List[14] and then upgraded it to B-List the following week[15] where it remained for five weeks. "Don't Wanna Lose This Feeling" debuted at number 42 on the UK Airplay Chart as the number-one most added track and fastest growing at UK radio[16] as Minogue previewed the single with pre-release performances on cd:uk, Top of the Pops and Popworld. The song peaked at number 13 on the UK Airplay Chart following the commercial single release.

On 9 June 2003, "Don't Wanna Lose This Feeling" was released to retail on 12-inch vinyl, cassette and CD single formats, where it debuted on the UK Singles Chart at number five.[17][18] "Don't Wanna Lose This Feeling" spent nine weeks in the top 75.[18] The single reached number 38 in Ireland[19] and number 15 in Spain.[20] Later in the year, "Don't Wanna Lose This Feeling" reached the top 50 in Belgium and France.[21][22][23] In Minogue's homeland of Australia, "Don't Wanna Lose This Feeling" debuted at number 22 and remained on the ARIA Singles Chart for four weeks.[24]

In March 2004, "Don't Wanna Lose This Feeling" was serviced to dance music radio stations in the United States. The song spent nine weeks on Billboard's Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart, peaking at number eight.[25]

Personnel are lifted from the CD single liner notes.[8]

• Dannii Minogue – lead vocals
• Neïmo, Al Stone – production
• Etienne Colin – mixing
• Loolah – photography