I Could Never Miss You (More Than I Do)
| "I Could Never Miss You (More Than I Do)" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Lulu | ||||
| from the album 1)Don't Take Love for Granted 2)Lulu | ||||
| B-side | "Dance to the Feeling In Your Heart" | |||
| Released | July 1981 | |||
| Recorded | 1978 at Air Studios (Oxford Street) | |||
| Genre | Easy listening | |||
| Length | 3:10 | |||
| Label | Alfa Records | |||
| Songwriter | Neil Harrison | |||
| Producers | Mark London Lem Lubin | |||
| Lulu singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"I Could Never Miss You (More Than I Do)" was the fourth and final US Top 40 hit for Lulu.
History
"I Could Never Miss You (More Than I Do)" was introduced on Lulu's 1978 album Don't Take Love For Granted, a Rocket Records release co-produced by Mark London the co-writer of Lulu's signature song "To Sir, With Love" and also the husband of Lulu's longtime manager Marion Massey. The album's other co-producer was Lem Lubin onetime bassist with Unit 4 + 2 and Christie and from 1977 a&r head for Rocket Records.
| Session Personnel for I Could Never Miss You (More Than I Do) by Lulu |
|---|
| Drums • Trevor Spencer 1 Bass • Alan Tarney Keyboards • Lynton Naiff 1 Guitars • Ray Russell Percussion • Ray Cooper Chorale • Joanne Stone, Stevie Lange, Vicki Brown String arrangement • Lynton Naiff Orchestra Leader • Gavyn Wright[1] |
According to Lulu, Mark London had discovered Neil Harrison and asked Lulu to record demos of Harrison's compositions to pitch to another singer: (quote Lulu:) "as soon as we did the demos it was very obvious that they weren't going to be demos. They were obviously going to be for me."[2] A total of four Harrison compositions would appear on the Don't Take Love For Granted including the title cut and "Love is the Sweetest Mistake" which were respectively the A-side and B-side of the overlooked lead single.
In 1981 Alfa Records acquired Lulu's Rocket Records recordings and released "I Could Never Miss You" as a single backed with "Dance to the Feeling in Your Heart" - the latter track had been a non-album B-side being the flip of "I Love to Boogie" the second single off the UK edition of the Don't Take Love For Granted album.[3] "I Could Never Miss You" was issued in July 1981 in the US where Lulu's US profile had received a recent boost via her participation in two ATV series devoted to rock and roll music: Oh Boy aired in the autumn of 1980 while Let's Rock ran over the summer of 1981.[4]
The 1981 success of "I Could Never Miss You" resulted in Alfa issuing a self-titled album by Lulu featuring "I Could Never Miss You" plus two other tracks from the Don't Take Love For Granted album: the title cut plus "You Are Still a Part of Me", with seven newly recorded tracks completing the album.
Chart performance
"I Could Never Miss You" debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 in August 1981, rising to a #18 peak in October. This marked Lulu's first appearance in the US Top 20 since "To Sir, with Love" in 1967. [5] "I Could Never Miss You" - whose Cash Box peak was #14 [6] - also reached #2 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart.[5]
The US success of "I Could Never Miss You" translated into only a glimmer of interest in Lulu's native United Kingdom, where the single - issued October 1981 - peaked at #62 in the final week of 1981 – it would mark Lulu's sole UK charting between "Take Your Mama For a Ride" in 1975 and "Shout" in 1986. [7] "I Could Never Miss You" also charted low in Australia at #71, although this was somewhat offset by a 16-week run. Canada's RPM magazine ranked "I Could Never Miss You" with a #10 peak. [1] The track had its strongest chart impact in New Zealand with an April 1982 peak of #3, which remains the highest post-1960s' peak on a national Pop chart for a solo recording by Lulu (tying with the 1974 UK chart peak of "The Man Who Sold the World").
Other versions
- Melba Moore as "I Could Never Miss You More" for her 1980 album Closer [8]
- Bobbi Walker as "I Could Never Miss You" for her 1980 album Diamond in the Rough [9]
- Shirley Bassey as "Nadie Más Te Quiso (Como Yo)" (Nobody loves you more [than me]) for her 1989 Spanish language album La Mujer whose producer Leonardo Schultz wrote the new lyrics.[10]
- Syd Dale as an instrumental on his album Love Isn't Just For The Young [11]
References
- ^ "La Bible de la Westcoast Music - Cool Night -: Lulu "Don't Take Love for Granted" (1979) -Blue-Eyed Soul-". 18 December 2016.
- ^ The Palm Beach Post 27 November 1981 p. 28
- ^ "The Lulu Web Site-Singles". Retrieved 31 March 2009.
- ^ "The Lulu Web Site-Bio". Retrieved 3 April 2009.
- ^ a b "AMG-Lulu". Retrieved 31 March 2009.
- ^ "Cash Box 10/10/81". Retrieved 31 March 2009.
- ^ "The Official Charts Company". Official Charts. Retrieved 31 March 2009.
- ^ "Soul & FunkMusic-Melba Moore". Retrieved 31 March 2009.
- ^ "Soul & Funk Music-Bobbi Walker". Retrieved 31 March 2009.
- ^ "Songs of Shirley Bassey". Archived from the original on 16 May 2008. Retrieved 31 March 2009.
- ^ "Love Isn't Just For The Young". iTunes. January 2000. Retrieved 7 July 2011.