'Missing You' by John Waite: 'It Was About the End of My Marriage and the Beginning of Something New'

‘100 Greatest 80s Pop Songs’ Book Excerpt

Frank Mastropolo

EMI America

Enjoy this excerpt from the new book, 100 Greatest 80s Pop Songs.

“Missing You” is the №1 single from John Waite’s 1984 album No Brakes. The former frontman of the British band The Babys explained its inspiration in American Songwriting.

“I was getting divorced. I was trying to get home because my marriage was in genuine trouble — everything was wrong, and it had been wrong for a while.

“I’d met someone in New York City when I was making my first solo album. I was alone, and I was friends with another girl I met. So ‘Missing You’ was essentially about three different women, I think, looking back on it.

“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.”

Waite recorded a demo on cassette of “Missing You” after he thought the album was complete.

“I took the cassette into the studio, but the record company was telling me, ‘No, that’s it, we’ve spent enough, we have the singles.’ They didn’t want to know about it, but I walked in, stopped the session and I played them the demo. You could’ve heard a pin drop.

“Then I had to convince the record company to give me $5,000 to do it [laughs]. I told them, if it doesn’t go on, I’d walk out.

“It was one of those brave things that you do when you’re absolutely convinced that you’re right. I knew it was a number one right after I’d recorded that first chorus. I knew that all of my life had led to that moment as a songwriter.”

Frank Mastropolo is the author of the new book, 100 Greatest 80s Pop Songs, part of the Greatest Performances series. For more on our latest projects, visit Edgar Street Books.