John Waite: Missing You - On Solid Gold - September 1984 (My "Stereo Studio Sound" Re-Edit)

John Waite: Missing You - On Solid Gold - September 1984 (My "Stereo Studio Sound" Re-Edit)

"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 his second album, No Brakes (1984). It reached number one on Billboard's Album Rock Tracks and on the Hot 100, as well as number 9 on the UK Singles Chart. "Missing You" was the only record in 1984 to spend only 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 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 Hot Country Songs. The original recording has been featured in the films, Selena (1997) and Warm Bodies (2013), the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and the TV series Miami Vice (episode, "Heart of Darkness", originally aired September 28, 1984), as well as in the comedy sitcom Rules of Engagement, in a scene at the diner where there is a flashback of Timmy's and Russell's best moments together (season 7, episode "A Wee Problem", originally aired on May 6, 2013). It also appears in the film 22 Jump Street (2014) during the montage where main characters Schmidt and Jenko begin to miss each other after going their separate ways following a fight.

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.