"Miss You Nights"
Cover of 1982 UK re-release
Single by Cliff Richard
from the album I'm Nearly Famous
B-side"Love Enough"
Released14 November 1975
Recorded9 September 1975
StudioAbbey Road
GenrePop[1]
Length3:57
LabelEMI
Songwriter(s)Dave Townsend
Producer(s)Bruce Welch
Cliff Richard singles chronology
"Honky Tonk Angel"
(1975)		 "Miss You Nights"
(1975)		 "Devil Woman"
(1976)
Music video
"Miss You Nights on YouTube

"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."[2]

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 March 1976, reached #15 in the UK Singles Chart.[3]

Chart performance

Chart Peak
position
UK Singles (OCC)[3] 15
Australia (Kent Music Report)[4] 100
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[5] 17
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[6] 42
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[7] 10
South Africa (Springbok Radio)[8] 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 (remix)"
Single by Cliff Richard
from the album The Hit List
A-side"All I Have to Do Is Dream" (double A-side)
Released28 November 1994
Recorded9 September 1975 (remixed 1994)
LabelEMI
Songwriter(s)Dave Townsend
Producer(s)Bruce Welch
Cliff Richard singles chronology
"Healing Love"
(1993)		 "Miss You Nights (remix)"
(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.[10] 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 (ARIA)[11] 93
UK Singles (OCC)[3] 14

Westlife version

"Miss You Nights"
Single by Westlife
from the album Unbreakable – The Greatest Hits Volume 1
A-side"Tonight" (double A-side)
Released23 March 2003 (2003-03-23)
Recorded2002
StudioRokstone Studios, London
GenrePop
Length3:09
LabelBMG
Songwriter(s)Dave Townsend
Producer(s)Steve Mac
Westlife singles chronology
"Unbreakable"
(2002)		 "Tonight" / "Miss You Nights"
(2003)		 "Hey Whatever"
(2003)
Music video
"Miss You Nights" on YouTube

Westlife released "Tonight" and "Miss You Nights" together in 2003 as a double A-side single in the United Kingdom (with "Tonight" listed first). However it was "Tonight" rather than "Miss You Nights" that received most of the radio airplay. The single reached number 3 in both the UK and Scotland.[12][13] In all other countries where the single charted, only "Tonight" is listed as the charting track. In some countries "Miss You Nights" was excluded from the single altogether.

The song was composed in the traditional verse–chorus form in A major and in this rendition Filan, McFadden and Feehily's vocal ranges from the chords of E4 to B5.[14]

Chart performance

Chart Peak
position
Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[15] 14
Scotland (OCC)[13] 3
UK Singles (OCC)[12] 3

Other versions

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

Other covers include:

References

  1. ↑ Stanley, Bob (2014). "Before and After the Gold Rush: Laurel Canyon". Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! The Story of Pop Music from Bill Haley to Beyoncé. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. p. 302.
  2. ↑ "Rick Springfield - Miss You Nights Cover". Rickspringfield.us. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
  3. 1 2 3 "Cliff Richard: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company.
  4. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. Australian Chart Book, St Ives, N.S.W. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  5. ↑ "Cliff Richard – Miss You Nights" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  6. ↑ "Cliff Richard – Miss You Nights" (in French). Ultratop 50.
  7. ↑ "Cliff Richard – Miss You Nights" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  8. ↑ As presented on Springbok Radio/Radio Orion: "South African Charts 1969 - 1989". Rock.co.za. Retrieved 14 June 2014.
  9. ↑ "Cliff Richard with Coro Cross Corona: Miss You Nights 7". 45cat.com. Retrieved 3 July 2016.
  10. ↑ Cliff Richard and Phil Everly (1994). Sleeve notes from 'All I Have to Do Is Dream / Miss You Nights', CD1 (CD single). UK: EMI.
  11. ↑ "The ARIA Australian Top 100 Singles Chart – Week Ending 26 Mar 1995". Imgur.com (original document published by ARIA). Retrieved 20 April 2017.
  12. 1 2 "Westlife: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company.
  13. 1 2 "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  14. ↑ "Miss You Nights BY WESTLIFE - DIGITAL SHEET MUSIC". Musicnotes. 2 January 2012.
  15. ↑ Inc, Nielsen Business Media (12 April 2003). "Billboard". Nielsen Business Media, Inc. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
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