Missing You

"Missing You"
Single by John Waite
from the album No Brakes
B-side	For Your Love
Released	June 23, 1984
Format	Cassette, vinyl
Genre	Soft rock, pop
Length	4:01
Label	EMI
Writer(s)	John Waite, Mark Leonard, Chas Sandford
Producer	John Waite, David Thoener, Gary Gersh
John Waite singles chronology
"Going to the Top" (1982) "Missing You" (1984) "Tears" (1984)

"Missing You" is the title of a song co-written and recorded by British 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 1997's Selena, the popular 1980s inspired video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and the second episode of the TV series Miami Vice ("Heart of Darkness", originally aired September 28, 1984).^[1] In 2010, it was used in a series of commercial spots for Conan O'Brien's Conan on TBS.

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 US. 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 of the woman. He tries again to call her but his anger and frustration gets the better of him and he smashes the phone into a thousand 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. ^[2]

Charts

Tina Turner version

"Missing You"
Single by Tina Turner
from the album Wildest Dreams
B-side	"The Difference Between Us"
Released	July 25, 1996
Format	CD single
Genre	Pop
Length	4:36
Label	Parlophone Records
Producer	Trevor Horn
Tina Turner singles chronology
"On Silent Wings" (1996) "Missing You" (1996) "Something Beautiful Remains" (1996)

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.

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

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 #54 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart for the week of August 7, 1999.

Other cover versions

In 2007, Waite re-recorded the song with Alison Krauss.

John Waite & Alison Krauss

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

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