"Missing You" is a song co-written and recorded by English musician
John Waite
John Charles Waite (born 4 July 1952) is an English musician. As a solo artist, he has released ten studio albums and is best known for the 1984 hit single " Missing You", which reached No. 1 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and the top ten on ...
. It was released in June 1984 as the
lead single
A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date.
Release str ...
from his second album, ''
No Brakes'' (1984). It reached number one on ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
''s
Album Rock Tracks
Mainstream Rock is a music chart in ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States, a category that combines the formats of active rock and heritage rock. The chart was launched in M ...
and on the
Hot 100
The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming i ...
as well as number 9 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 ...
. "Missing You" was the only record from 1984 to spend a single week at the top of the Hot 100. The song was nominated for the 1985
Best Pop Vocal Performance Male Grammy Award.
Waite re-recorded the song with country/bluegrass artist
Alison Krauss
Alison Maria Krauss (born July 23, 1971) is an American bluegrass-country singer and musician. She entered the music industry at an early age, competing in local contests by the age of 8 and recording for the first time at 14. She signed with ...
which appeared on her album ''
A Hundred Miles or More: A Collection'', and released it to country music radio in 2007. The re-recording peaked at number 34 on the
Hot Country Songs chart. The original recording has been featured in the films, ''
Selena
Selena Quintanilla Pérez (; April 16, 1971 – March 31, 1995), known mononymously as Selena, was an American Tejano singer. Called the " Queen of Tejano music", her contributions to music and fashion made her one of the most celebrated Mexi ...
'' (1997) and ''
Warm Bodies'' (2013), the video game ''
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City'', and the TV series ''
Miami Vice
''Miami Vice'' is an American crime drama television series created by Anthony Yerkovich and produced by Michael Mann for NBC. The series stars Don Johnson as James "Sonny" Crockett and Philip Michael Thomas as Ricardo "Rico" Tubbs, two Metr ...
'' (from the episode, "
Heart of Darkness
''Heart of Darkness'' (1899) is a novella by Polish-English novelist Joseph Conrad in which the sailor Charles Marlow tells his listeners the story of his assignment as steamer captain for a Belgian company in the African interior. The novel ...
", originally aired 28 September 1984), as well as in the comedy sitcom ''
Rules of Engagement
Rules of engagement (ROE) are the internal rules or directives afforded military forces (including individuals) that define the circumstances, conditions, degree, and manner in which the use of force, or actions which might be construed as prov ...
'', in a scene at the diner where there is a flashback of Timmy and Russell's best moments together (season 7, episode "A Wee Problem", originally aired on 6 May 2013). It also appears in the film ''
22 Jump Street
''22 Jump Street'' is a 2014 American satirical buddy cop action comedy film directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, written by Jonah Hill, Michael Bacall, Oren Uziel and Rodney Rothman and produced by and starring Hill and Channing Tat ...
'' (2014) during the montage where main characters Schmidt and Jenko begin to miss each other after going their separate ways following a fight.
The song is mentioned by Sheila Weller as describing
O. J. Simpson
Orenthal James Simpson (born July 9, 1947), nicknamed "Juice", is an American former football running back, actor, and broadcaster who played for the Buffalo Bills and San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League. Once a popular figure ...
's obsession with
Nicole Brown Simpson
Nicole Brown Simpson (née Brown; May 19, 1959 – June 12, 1994) was the ex-wife of the former professional American football player, O. J. Simpson, to whom she was married from 1985 to 1992. She was the mother of their two children, Sydney an ...
and is the inspiration for the title of her book ''Raging Heart''.
Composition
The song is a
soft rock
Soft rock is a form of rock music that originated in the late 1960s in Southern California and the United Kingdom which smoothed over the edges of singer-songwriter and pop rock, relying on simple, melodic songs with big, lush productions. S ...
track. It is performed in the key of
G major
G major (or the key of G) is a major scale based on G, with the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has one sharp. Its relative minor is E minor and its parallel minor is G minor.
The G major scale is:
Notable composi ...
with a
tempo
In musical terminology, tempo ( Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...
of 104 beats per minute in
common time
The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure ( bar), and which note va ...
. Waite's vocals span from G
3 to C
5 in the song.
Background
Waite's record label was convinced they had enough songs for the
No Brakes album, but he felt it lacked a hit single. He went to a songwriter's house in LA, who showed him a guitar melody on a cassette tape. Waite listened to the melody once through, and the second time, improvised the entire first verse, 'B' section, and "missing you" section without stopping. Waite said the song was about three women in his life: he was getting divorced, and he was thinking of an old love interest from when he first moved to New York City as well as a current love interest. He said, "I was singing about New York, and distance, the caving in of my marriage, and the options that I had. It was bittersweet – it was about the end of my marriage and the beginning of something new. Although, when I was singing ‘I ain’t missing you’, it was denial too." He had to convince the record label to spend $5,000 to record one last single—this one—for the album.
Lyric summary
In the verses/bridge, the singer describes how much he misses his ex-lover, while in the chorus, he lies to himself and vehemently denies missing them. The opening line "Every time I think of you" is the title of
a song by Waite's group
The Babys
The Babys are a British rock group best known for their songs " Isn't It Time" and " Every Time I Think of You". Both songs were composed by Jack Conrad and Ray Kennedy, and each reached No. 13 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and No. 8 on ...
.
Music video
The accompanying
music video
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...
for "Missing You" was written/directed/produced by Kort Falkenberg III and was actually filmed in Los Angeles during the summer of 1984. Although some people understandably have mistaken the street scene for New York City or London, the director intentionally looked for a location in downtown Los Angeles where there was "no Stucco" on the walls which would have been a dead giveaway that it was shot in the southwest U.S., as he wanted it to look neutral and not be identifiable as any particular city.
To start the clip, John Waite is sitting in a chair, and after seeing a picture of a woman (played by actress Elizabeth Reiko Kubota) with whom he is still in love, he, frustrated, slaps the lamp above him causing it to swing back and forth and begins to sing the song. When he opens his bedroom door, a woman playfully jumps into his arms and they embrace falling back onto the bed. Later, Waite watches through a crack in the door as the woman angrily throws her clothes into her suitcase. She pushes through the door to leave him and it hits him in the face full force as she storms past him, away. Pained at her emotional and physical assault, he sadly remembers being at one of her photo shoots. Trying to be cool, Waite leans on a lighting stand but misses and stumbles. Seeing this, she lovingly laughs at his fumbling. Back to the present, Waite tries to call her from a phone booth, but when the woman finally picks up the phone, her only connection is to a dangling phone in an empty phone booth. Waite is gone. He laments about "I ain't missin' you at all" as he walks down the city street only to see a picture of the woman on a newspaper. He goes into a bar. There, an older woman slides onto the stool next to him and tries to flirt with him, but for sheer sorrow shows he is not interested and then goes home again still pining for the woman. He tries again to call her but his anger and frustration gets the better of him and he smashes the phone into pieces. When she finally comes to his door and knocks, he doesn't answer, as he doesn't hear her knock over the music playing on his earphones he had put on just before her first knock. She leans against the door gently touching it and, with a deep breath, she turns and leaves as tears flow down her face.
Personnel
*
John Waite
John Charles Waite (born 4 July 1952) is an English musician. As a solo artist, he has released ten studio albums and is best known for the 1984 hit single " Missing You", which reached No. 1 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and the top ten on ...
– lead and backing vocals
*Mark Leonard - keyboards
*
Gary Myrick – guitars
*Bruce Brody – keyboards
*Donnie Nossov – bass, backing vocals
*Curly Smith – drums
*Steve Scales – percussion
Charts and certifications
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
Tina Turner version
"Missing You" was also recorded by American singer and actress
Tina Turner
Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939) is an American-born Swiss retired singer and actress. Widely referred to as the " Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", she rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue before ...
in 1996, and was released as the third single from her ninth solo album, ''
Wildest Dreams'' (1996). When Waite's original version of "Missing You" topped Billboard's Hot 100 in late 1984, it ended the reign of Tina Turner's "
What's Love Got to Do with It". Turner's version of Waite's "Missing You" hit No. 12 in the UK and No. 84 in the U.S in 1996.
The single "Missing You" included an edited single version of the track, an alternative mix and certain formats also the European non-album track "The Difference Between Us", later featured on the U.S. edition of the ''Wildest Dreams'' album. The B-side of the U.S. edition of the CD single was the non-album track "Do Something" which was the B-side of the UK single for "
On Silent Wings".
Critical reception
Larry Flick
Larry Flick is an American journalist, former dance music columnist, single reviewer, and Senior Talent Editor for ''Billboard'' magazine, where he worked for 14 years. Now he produces and hosts Sirius XM radio shows. Flick started in the music ...
from ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' complimented Turner's version as "a lushly arranged rendition". He wrote, "Under the shrewd guidance of mega-producer
Trevor Horn
Trevor Charles Horn (born 15 July 1949) is an English music producer, label and recording studio owner, musician and composer. He is best known for his production work in the 1980s, and for being one half of the new wave band The Buggles (wit ...
, Turner's distinctive growl is pushed to deliciously dramatic heights and is matched by countless layers of synths and a crisp
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
backbeat. The combined attention of the singer's loyalists and those who simply never get enough of this timeless tune should make this cover an instant (and most deserving) winner at top 40 and
AC." A reviewer from ''
Music Week
''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future.
History
Founded in 1959 as ''Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music Wee ...
'' rated the song four out of five, adding that "a lottery show appearance and a fine cover of this
John Waite
John Charles Waite (born 4 July 1952) is an English musician. As a solo artist, he has released ten studio albums and is best known for the 1984 hit single " Missing You", which reached No. 1 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and the top ten on ...
hit should do the business for la Turner."
Versions and mixes
* European album version – 4:36
* U.S. album version – 4:40
* Single edit – 4:02
* Alternate mix – 4:04
Music video
The accompanying
music video
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...
for "Missing You" was directed by
Peter Lindbergh
Peter Lindbergh (born Peter Brodbeck; 23 November 1944 – 3 September 2019) was a German fashion photographer and film director.
He had studied arts in Berlin and Krefeld, and exhibited his works before graduation. In 1971, he turned to photo ...
and premiered in mid-1996.
Charts
E'voke version
"Missing You" was also recorded by British female vocal duo
E'voke in 1997 following their departure from Manifesto Records. James Rudolph provided a rap on the single and as with the previous single "
Arms of Loren", there were Steinway and Nip N Tuck remixes (the only version of the Nip N Tuck remix ever released was labelled an edit despite being the full version of the remix). Two promotional CDs were released before Pulse8 went bankrupt. The track was picked up by WEA who commissioned remixes by Metro and Echobeatz (the Echobeatz remix featuring on WEA's 1998 Summer Sampler) with the track scheduled for release in October 1998. The release was pushed back with two new radio edits being promo-ed including a "Christmas version" and a new release date of 14 December 1998.
A video was issued which would later be released to iTunes in 2011 (a video with the Christmas version dubbed over it was also released). The track was finally released on 28 December 1998
and failed to chart. Following this E'voke split up though the CD2 track listing would be released digitally with Pinball records issuing the CD1 track listing on iTunes in 2011. It is unknown if "Missing You" in an original or remixed form will be on the E'voke album due in 2014.
Versions
* Radio Edit 3:43 (on the Pulse8 promo only)
* Nip N Tuck Edit 7:37
* Steinway Mix 5:34
* Steinway Mix Radio Edit 3:51
* Instrumental 3:42 (on the Pulse8 promo only)
* Extended Radio Mix 5:05 (on the Pulse8 promo only)
* Park & Ride Mix 6:28 (on the Pulse8 promo only)
* Round The Block Mix 6:47 (on the Pulse8 promo only)
* Metro Radio Mix 4:20
* R&B Mix Edit 3:59
* Christmas Edit 4:18
* Echobeatz Mix 6:41 (12" release only)
Brooks & Dunn version
This song was also recorded by American country music group
Brooks & Dunn
Brooks & Dunn are an American country music duo consisting of Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn, both of whom are vocalists and songwriters. The duo was founded in 1990 through the suggestion of Tim DuBois. Before their formation, both members were solo ...
and was released in August 1999 as the lead single from the album ''
Tight Rope''. Their version peaked at No. 6 on the Canadian ''RPM'' Country Tracks, No. 15 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks and reached No. 75 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100.
Music video
The music video was directed by
Deaton Flanigen and premiered in mid-1999.
Charts
"Missing You" peaked at number 15 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts for the week of 18 December 1999.
Year-end charts
Re-releases and remakes
Waite re-recorded the song in 2006 as a duet with
bluegrass singer
Alison Krauss
Alison Maria Krauss (born July 23, 1971) is an American bluegrass-country singer and musician. She entered the music industry at an early age, competing in local contests by the age of 8 and recording for the first time at 14. She signed with ...
. This re-recording was included on Waite's album ''Downtown: Journey of a Heart'' and Krauss's ''
A Hundred Miles or More: A Collection'', both released via
Rounder Records
Rounder Records is an independent record label founded in 1970 in Somerville, Massachusetts by Marian Leighton Levy, Ken Irwin, and Bill Nowlin. Focused on American roots music, Rounder's catalogue of more than 3000 titles includes records by Ali ...
. The rendition spent 21 weeks on
Hot Country Songs between December 2006 and mid-2007, peaking at number 34.
John Waite and Alison Krauss
See also
*
List of number-one singles of 1984 (Canada)
*
List of ''Billboard'' Hot 100 number-one singles of the 1980s
*
List of ''Billboard'' Mainstream Rock number-one songs of the 1980s
*
List of Cash Box Top 100 number-one singles of 1984
References
{{Authority control
1984 singles
1996 singles
1999 singles
2007 singles
British soft rock songs
John Waite songs
Tina Turner songs
Brooks & Dunn songs
Alison Krauss songs
E'voke songs
Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles
Cashbox number-one singles
RPM Top Singles number-one singles
Music videos directed by Deaton-Flanigen Productions
Male vocal duets
Songs written by John Waite
Song recordings produced by Byron Gallimore
Song recordings produced by Trevor Horn
EMI America Records singles
Parlophone singles
Arista Nashville singles
Warner Music Group singles
Music videos directed by Rocky Schenck
Songs written by Chas Sandford
1984 songs
Rock ballads
Songs about loneliness
1980s ballads