Just When I Needed You Most
Encyclopedia
"Just When I Needed You Most" is the title of a 1979 song by the American singer-songwriter
Randy VanWarmer
. VanWarmer and former Hot Chocolate member Tony Wilson
co-wrote the track, which was produced by Del Newman and appears on the singer's 1979 album, Warmer. It also appears on Tony Wilson's album "Catch One", produced in 1979 by Ron Albert and Howard Albert for Fat Albert Productions, Inc.
Released as a single
in early 1979, "Just When I Needed You Most" spent two weeks atop the US Billboard
adult contemporary chart
in May of that year. In June, the song reached its peak position of #4 on the Billboard Hot 100
chart; it eventually stayed in the Top 40 for 14 weeks and was certified a Gold record by the RIAA. In addition, the song reached #71 on the Billboard country music chart
. In September 1979, the song made the Top 10 on the UK Singles Chart
, peaking at #8.
VanWarmer stated that he wrote the song after he had broken up with a girlfriend when he was 18 years old. The song was originally intended as the B-side to "Your Light", but record company executives preferred "Just When I Needed You Most" and made it the A-side of the single instead. VanWarmer believed that the "hook" which made the song stand out was an autoharp
instrumental break between the second and third verses of the song, which was performed by musician John Sebastian
.
recorded a cover version
of the song, which was included on her 1996 album, Treasures
. This version reached #62 on the Billboard country music chart. Other artists who either recorded or performed the song in concert include country music
singers Tim McGraw
, Donna Fargo
, Daniel Selby and Conway Twitty
, R&B vocalist Millie Jackson
, the German disco
musician Peter Griffin
, British glam rock
band Smokie
, Filipino
singer Pops Fernandez
, Bob Dylan
, Paul Butterfield
and the Spanish group Mocedades
. In 2002, the American-Taiwanese singer Wilber Pan
released a bilingual English/Chinese version of the song.
Ingela "Pling" Forsman
wrote lyrics in Swedish
as När jag behövde dig mest, which was recorded by Swedish
dansband
Wizex
on the 1980
album You Treated Me Wrong .
Diana Murrell had a top 10 with a female version of 'Just When I needed You Most in 1981.
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
Randy VanWarmer
Randy VanWarmer
Randy VanWarmer was an American songwriter and guitarist. His biggest success was the pop hit, "Just When I Needed You Most". It reached #8 on the UK Singles Chart in September 1979 after peaking at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and #1 on the Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart...
. VanWarmer and former Hot Chocolate member Tony Wilson
Tony Wilson
Anthony Howard Wilson, commonly known as Tony Wilson , was an English record label owner, radio presenter, TV show host, nightclub manager, impresario and journalist for Granada Television and the BBC....
co-wrote the track, which was produced by Del Newman and appears on the singer's 1979 album, Warmer. It also appears on Tony Wilson's album "Catch One", produced in 1979 by Ron Albert and Howard Albert for Fat Albert Productions, Inc.
Released as a single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
in early 1979, "Just When I Needed You Most" spent two weeks atop the US Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
adult contemporary chart
Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks
The Adult Contemporary chart is a weekly chart published in Billboard magazine that lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary and "lite-pop" radio stations in the United States...
in May of that year. In June, the song reached its peak position of #4 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
chart; it eventually stayed in the Top 40 for 14 weeks and was certified a Gold record by the RIAA. In addition, the song reached #71 on the Billboard country music chart
Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...
. In September 1979, the song made the Top 10 on the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
, peaking at #8.
VanWarmer stated that he wrote the song after he had broken up with a girlfriend when he was 18 years old. The song was originally intended as the B-side to "Your Light", but record company executives preferred "Just When I Needed You Most" and made it the A-side of the single instead. VanWarmer believed that the "hook" which made the song stand out was an autoharp
Autoharp
The autoharp is a musical string instrument having a series of chord bars attached to dampers, which, when depressed, mute all of the strings other than those that form the desired chord. Despite its name, the autoharp is not a harp at all, but a chorded zither. -History:There is debate over the...
instrumental break between the second and third verses of the song, which was performed by musician John Sebastian
John Sebastian
John Benson Sebastian Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and autoharpist. He is best known as a founder of The Lovin' Spoonful, a band inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000...
.
Cover versions
Dolly PartonDolly Parton
Dolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music. Dolly Parton has appeared in movies like 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk...
recorded a cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of the song, which was included on her 1996 album, Treasures
Treasures (Dolly Parton album)
Treasures is a 1996 Dolly Parton album, made up of covers of rock and country hits from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. It was her 33rd studio album. Among the selections were work by Merle Haggard, Neil Young, Kris Kristofferson, Cat Stevens and Mac Davis...
. This version reached #62 on the Billboard country music chart. Other artists who either recorded or performed the song in concert include country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
singers Tim McGraw
Tim McGraw
Samuel Timothy "Tim" McGraw is an American country singer and actor. Many of McGraw's albums and singles have topped the country music charts with total album sales in excess of 40 million units in the US, making him the eighth best-selling artist, and the third best-selling country singer, in the...
, Donna Fargo
Donna Fargo
Donna Fargo is an American country music singer-songwriter, who is best-known for a series of Top 10 country hits in the 1970s...
, Daniel Selby and Conway Twitty
Conway Twitty
Conway Twitty , born Harold Lloyd Jenkins, was an American country music artist. He also had success in early rock and roll, R&B, and pop music. He held the record for the most number one singles of any act with 55 No. 1 Billboard country hits until George Strait broke the record in 2006...
, R&B vocalist Millie Jackson
Millie Jackson
Mildred "Millie" Jackson is an American R&B/soul singer-songwriter and comedienne. Three of her albums have been certified gold by the RIAA for over 500,000 copies....
, the German disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
musician Peter Griffin
Peter Griffin (singer)
Peter Griffin was a German disco musician.-Biography:Peter Kamp was born on the 17th of December. He is the father of 5 children. Alexandra, Patricia, Dominic and the twins Nicolas and Robin...
, British glam rock
Glam rock
Glam rock is a style of rock and pop music that developed in the UK in the early 1970s, which was performed by singers and musicians who wore outrageous clothes, makeup and hairstyles, particularly platform-soled boots and glitter...
band Smokie
Smokie (band)
Smokie is an English rock band from Bradford, Yorkshire who found success in Europe in the 1970s.-Early years:Originally called The Yen, then The Sphynx and later Essence, the band was formed in 1964 at St. Bede's Grammar School in Heaton, Bradford as The Yen. The Yen's first gig was at Birkenshaw...
, Filipino
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
singer Pops Fernandez
Pops Fernández
Maria Cielito Lukban Fernandez , also known as Pops Fernandez, is a Filipino singer and actress. She is dubbed the "Concert Queen."-Career:...
, Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, Paul Butterfield
Paul Butterfield
Paul Butterfield was an American blues vocalist and harmonica player, who founded the Paul Butterfield Blues Band in the early 1960s and performed at the original Woodstock Festival...
and the Spanish group Mocedades
Mocedades
Mocedades is a Spanish singing group from the Basque Country, probably best known for representing Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1973 with the song "Eres Tú"...
. In 2002, the American-Taiwanese singer Wilber Pan
Wilber Pan
Wilber Pan also known as Will Pan was born on 6 August 1980. He is an American-born Taiwanese Mandopop singer, rapper and actor, who started his career as a host of Channel V programs.-Biography:...
released a bilingual English/Chinese version of the song.
Ingela "Pling" Forsman
Ingela Forsman
Ingela Birgitta "Pling" Forsman is a Swedish lyricist in popular music. 1981–2009, 33 of her songs have competed in the Swedish Melodifestivalen, three of them winners: Bra vibrationer , Se på mej and Kärleken är...
wrote lyrics in Swedish
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
as När jag behövde dig mest, which was recorded by Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
dansband
Dansband
Dansband is a Swedish term for a band that plays dansbandsmusik . Dansbandsmusik is often danced to in pairs. Jitterbug and foxtrot music are often included in this category. The music is primarily inspired by swing, schlager, country, jazz, and rock...
Wizex
Wizex
Wizex is a Swedish "dansband", formed in Osby, Sweden in 1973, with Kikki Danielsson as singer. The band has since had several front singers.Wizex finished 2nd in the Swedish Melodifestivalen 1978....
on the 1980
1980 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1980.-January–March:*January 1**Cliff Richard is appointed an MBE by Elizabeth II.**The Zorros audition drummer Greg Pedley....
album You Treated Me Wrong .
See also
- List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1979 (U.S.)
Diana Murrell had a top 10 with a female version of 'Just When I needed You Most in 1981.