Miss You Nights

This article is about the song by Dave Townsend. For the version by Westlife, see Tonight/Miss You Nights.
"Miss You Nights"
Single by Cliff Richard
from the album I'm Nearly Famous
B-side "Love Enough"
Released 14 November 1975
Format 7" single
Recorded 9 September 1975 at Abbey Road Studios, London
Label EMI
Writer(s) Dave Townsend
Producer(s) Bruce Welch
Cliff Richard singles chronology
"Honky Tonk Angel"
(1975)		 "Miss You Nights"
(1975)		 "Devil Woman"
(1976)

"Miss You Nights" is a song written by Dave Townsend and made famous worldwide by Cliff Richard. The song has been recorded by numerous other artists, most notably Westlife, who released it as the second track on a double A-side single in 2003. The Westlife single reached number 3 in the UK singles chart.

Background

Townsend wrote the song in 1974 while his girlfriend was away on holiday. He recorded it on an album for Island Records, but the label shelved the album and decided to recoup part of the cost of the unreleased album through cover deals. Some demo tapes were handed to Bruce Welch of The Shadows who also worked as producer for Cliff Richard and was looking for songs to revitalize his career. Welch immediately recognized it as a hit - "Andrew Powell's string arrangement helped to make it a great love song through its imagery and potent feelings of longing and loneliness". Welch and Cliff recorded it in September 1975. Of the song and its writer Cliff said: "I think it's one of the nicest songs I’ve ever made... when I heard his version it was terrific. He [Townsend] was pleased to have that happen. I mean it could have been anybody and it would have been a hit."[1]

Original release

Cliff Richard released Miss You Nights on 14 November 1975 as the lead single from his studio album I'm Nearly Famous. It entered the British Top 20 and in early 1976, reached #15 in the UK Singles Chart.[2] Despite not reaching a high chart position, it has become an enduring favourite of Richard's fans. For example, in 2006 UK BBC Radio 2 listeners voted it their favourite Cliff Richard song of all time.[3]

Chart performance

Chart Peak
position
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[2] 15
Australia (Kent Music Report)[4] 100
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[5] 17
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[6] 10
South Africa (Springbok Radio)[7] 2

Album appearances

Miss You Nights was first included on Richard's 1976 studio album I'm Nearly Famous. As one of Richard's most enduring songs, it has been included on many of his compilation albums. The most notable of these compilation albums and albums with alternative versions are:

Cliff Richard 1994 re-release

"Miss You Nights"
Single by Cliff Richard
from the album The Hit List
A-side All I Have to Do Is Dream / Miss You Nights (double A-side)
Released November 1994
Format CD single
Label EMI
Producer(s) Bruce Welch
Cliff Richard chronology
"Healing Love
(1993)		 "All I Have to Do Is Dream" / Miss You Nights
(1994)		 "Misunderstood Man"
(1995)

In 1994, Cliff Richard re-released the song on a double A-side single with "All I Have to Do Is Dream", which was listed first. "All I Have to Do Is Dream", originally by The Everly Brothers was recorded as a live duet with Phil Everly, while "Miss You Nights" is a remix of the 1976 original.[9] The double A-side single reached #14 in the UK singles chart.

Track list:

CD1:

  1. "All I Have to Do Is Dream"
  2. "Miss You Nights"
  3. "When Will I Be Loved"
  4. "Tribute to the Legends - Medley"

CD2:

  1. "All I Have to Do Is Dream"
  2. "Miss You Nights"
  3. "True Love Ways"
  4. "Party Megamix"

Chart performance

Chart Peak
position
Australian Singles Chart 93
UK Singles Chart 14

Other versions

Cliff Richard also recorded two more versions of the song as duets:

Other covers include:

Westlife version

The most commercially successful cover version is that of Westlife that was released in 2003 as a double A side in the United Kingdom as Tonight/Miss You Nights. The double A single reached #3 on the UK Singles Chart and topped the Irish charts.

In some other countries, Westlife released the songs separately.

Chart performance

Chart Peak
position
Austrian Singles Chart 58
Danish Singles Chart 10
German Singles Chart 47
Irish Singles Chart 1
Netherlands Singles Chart 55
Swedish Singles Chart 33
UK Singles Chart 3
UK Radio Airplay Chart 13

References

  1. ↑ Rick Springfield: "Miss You Nights" cover
  2. 1 2 "Cliff Richard: Artist Chart History" Official Charts Company.
  3. ↑ As presented on Springbok Radio/Radio Orion: "Miss You Nights voted fan favourite at Radio 2". Daily Mail. Retrieved 2014-06-27.
  4. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (doc). Australian Chart Book, St Ives, N.S.W. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  5. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Cliff Richard – Miss You Nights" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  6. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Cliff Richard – Miss You Nights" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  7. ↑ As presented on Springbok Radio/Radio Orion: "South African Charts 1969 - 1989". rock.co.za. Retrieved 2014-06-14.
  8. ↑ "Cliff Richard with Coro Cross Corona: Miss You Nights 7"". 45cat.com. Retrieved 3 July 2016.
  9. ↑ Cliff Richard and Phil Everly (1994). Sleeve notes from 'All I Have to Do Is Dream / Miss You Nights', CD1 (CD Single). UK: EMI.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/2/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.