Missing You (John Waite song): Difference between revisions

This article is about the song made popular by John Waite. For the unrelated song by Puff Daddy, 112 and Faith Evans, see I'll Be Missing You.

"Missing You" is a song co-written and recorded by English musician John Waite. It was released in June 1984 as the lead single from the album No Brakes. It peaked at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 during the week of September 22, 1984, and number nine on the UK Singles Chart.

John Waite re-recorded the song with country/bluegrass artist Alison Krauss 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 #34 on the Hot Country Songs chart. The original recording has been featured in the films, Selena (1997) and Warm Bodies (2013),^[1] the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and the TV series Miami Vice (from the episode, "Heart of Darkness", originally aired September 28, 1984),^[2] as well as in the comedy sitcom "Rules of Engagement", 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 May 6, 2013).

Original MTV personality Nina Blackwood said in the book VJ: The Unplugged Adventures of MTV's First Wave that Waite had written the song about her. She later told the Tampa Bay Times that Waite confirmed this to her after the book's publication.^[3]

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.

Music video

The music video 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. 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 with whom he is still in love, he, frustrated, hits 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.^[4]

Versions and mixes

• Extended version – 6:59 (Mixed & edited by John Luongo)

Charts

Tina Turner version

This song was also recorded by Tina Turner in 1996, and was released as the third single from the album Wildest Dreams. When Waite's original version of "Missing You" topped Billboard's Hot 100 in late 1984, the song that it knocked out of a 3-week reign at the top was none other than Tina Turner's "What's Love Got to Do with It". Turner's version of Waite's "Missing You" hit #12 in the UK and #84 in the U.S.

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".

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 music video was directed by Peter Lindbergh and premiered in mid-1996.

Charts

E'voke version

This song was also recorded by 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.^[6] 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.^[7]

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).^[8] The track was finally released on 28 December 1998^[9] and failed to chart. Following this E'voke split up though the CD2 tracklisting would be released digitally with Pinball records issuing the CD1 tracklisting 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 and was released in August 1999 as the lead single from the album Tight Rope. Their version peaked at #6 on the Canadian RPM Country Tracks, #15 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks and reached #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" debuted at number 54 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart for the week of August 7, 1999.

Year-end charts

Re-release

Waite re-recorded the song in 2007 as a duet with bluegrass singer Alison Krauss. 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. The rendition spent 21 weeks on Hot Country Songs between December 2006 and mid-2007, peaking at number 34.^[14]

John Waite & Alison Krauss

Other versions

• In 1994, American singer-songwriter David Wilcox released an acoustic version on his album Big Horizon.
• In 2006, Tyler Hilton recorded the song, as did Rod Stewart, for his cover album Still the Same... Great Rock Classics of Our Time.
• In 2010, singer-songwriter Orianthi recorded her own version.
• In 2012, singer-songwriter Jimmy LaFave recorded the song for Depending on the Distance.

See also

• List of RPM number-one singles of 1984
• List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 1984 (U.S.)
• List of number-one mainstream rock hits (United States)

References

External links

• Template:MetroLyrics song