Randy VanWarmer
Encyclopedia
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 earlier that year. There are several cover version
s of this song
, including those by Dolly Parton
, Daniel Selby and Smokie
.
VanWarmer wrote several songs for the group The Oak Ridge Boys
including the #1 U.S. Country
hit "I Guess It Never Hurts to Hurt Sometimes." The song appeared on VanWarmer's 1981 album Beat of Love, which also included VanWarmer's 1980s style pop tune "Suzi Found a Weapon", which hit #55 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1981.
. He grew up in Colorado. At the age of 15, three years after the death of his father in an automobile accident, he moved with his mother to Cornwall
, England
in 1970. In a 1989 interview with "Release", a now-defunct independent paper run out of Stanford, California, he said he remembered it as a depressing place, economically downtrodden, with long, dark and rainy winters. When he was still a teenager, a girlfriend from the United States
came to England, spent several months with him, then returned to the U.S. VanWarmer had been writing songs and playing in South England folk music
clubs
for a while, and the experience with the American girl ultimately became his one hit song. In VanWarmer's mind, he has said, the song is really about the weather. "It's not hard to write a really sad song in the winter in Cornwall," Release quoted him as saying.
In 1979, after struggling in obscurity for a few years, Bearsville Records
in New York
released a VanWarmer single, "Gotta Get Out of Here," a mildly catchy pop tune. "Just When I Needed You Most" was the B-side
of the single. Somewhere, on a whim, a DJ
decided to play the flip side instead, and it slowly rose to the Top 10 in a market saturated with disco
. As VanWarmer told Release, Albert Grossman
, the head of Bearsville, who was acting as VanWarmer's manager
, would not let him do television
or tour the United States, a strategy that did not prove successful.
His follow-up album, Terraform, was dark and (compared to his previous work) almost alternative. As Release described the record, it included a song relating the bitter post-death ruminations of a paranoid drowned man; a funny anti-love song; and a lengthy, catchy, metaphorical, almost epic pop piece about the destruction of the Earth and humankind's uncertain attempts to survive. According to Release, Terraform received some airplay on a Manhattan
progressive rock
radio station
, where VanWarmer lived at the time; and it sold moderately in Japan
and Australia
; but in the United States it sank. Bits of it turned up elsewhere (most notably on Laura Branigan
's debut album
), but VanWarmer would later publicly rue his decision to turn away from dreamy ballad
s. He made two more records at Bearsville - Beat of Love, and Things That You Dream. Beat of Love included the single, "Suzi Found a Weapon", a tribute to a Bearsville public relations
rep whom VanWarmer would later woo and marry
, and which went to #1 in Alaska
, and gained a certain amount of post mortem acclaim (for example, a rave by James A. Gardner in his "Allmusic"). But Grossman died soon thereafter, and VanWarmer's future was in doubt.
According to Release, in the mid 1980s, Suzie VanWarmer mailed a song called "It Never Hurts to Hurt Sometimes" from Beat of Love to a friend at MCA
, who sent it to Ron Chancey, the producer of the Oak Ridge Boys
. His wife loved it, and she asked the Oaks to record it just for her. They did, and liked it enough to put it on their next album. Eventually it came out as a single, and hit number one on the country charts. Charley Pride
recorded a song of his, so did Michael Johnson
. Moving to Nashville, VanWarmer saw a recording of his song, "I'm in a Hurry (And Don't Know Why)
", also hit number one on the country charts by the group Alabama
.
VanWarmer continued to write music for others and for his own recordings, which continued to be artistically successful but commercially unsuccessful. He also helped other younger artists with their own songwriting efforts.
His final album was released posthumously only in Japan and was a tribute to Stephen Foster
.
He died of leukemia
, aged 48. In line with one of his greatest loves, his cremated remains were sent into space in 2007.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
and guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
. His biggest success was the pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
hit, "Just When I Needed You Most
Just When I Needed You Most
"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 reached #8 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 ...
in September 1979 after peaking at #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 and #1 on the Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks
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...
chart earlier that year. There are several 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...
s of this song
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
, including those by Dolly Parton
Dolly 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...
, Daniel Selby and 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...
.
VanWarmer wrote several songs for the group The Oak Ridge Boys
The Oak Ridge Boys
The Oak Ridge Boys are an American country and gospel vocal quartet.The group was founded in the 1940s as the Oak Ridge Quartet. They became popular in southern gospel during the 1950s...
including the #1 U.S. Country
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...
hit "I Guess It Never Hurts to Hurt Sometimes." The song appeared on VanWarmer's 1981 album Beat of Love, which also included VanWarmer's 1980s style pop tune "Suzi Found a Weapon", which hit #55 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1981.
Career
He was born Randall Van Warmer, in Indian Hills, ColoradoIndian Hills, Colorado
Indian Hills is a census-designated place in Jefferson County, Colorado. The population was 1,197 at the 2000 census. The Indian Hills Post Office has the ZIP Code 80454.-Geography:...
. He grew up in Colorado. At the age of 15, three years after the death of his father in an automobile accident, he moved with his mother to Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in 1970. In a 1989 interview with "Release", a now-defunct independent paper run out of Stanford, California, he said he remembered it as a depressing place, economically downtrodden, with long, dark and rainy winters. When he was still a teenager, a girlfriend from the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
came to England, spent several months with him, then returned to the U.S. VanWarmer had been writing songs and playing in South England folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
clubs
Nightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
for a while, and the experience with the American girl ultimately became his one hit song. In VanWarmer's mind, he has said, the song is really about the weather. "It's not hard to write a really sad song in the winter in Cornwall," Release quoted him as saying.
In 1979, after struggling in obscurity for a few years, Bearsville Records
Bearsville Records
Bearsville Records was founded in 1970 by Albert Grossman. Artists included Todd Rundgren, Elizabeth Barraclough, Foghat, Halfnelson/Sparks, Bobby Charles, Randy VanWarmer, Paul Butterfield's Better Days, Lazarus, Jesse Winchester, and NRBQ. The label closed in 1984, two years before Grossman's...
in New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
released a VanWarmer single, "Gotta Get Out of Here," a mildly catchy pop tune. "Just When I Needed You Most" was the B-side
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
of the single. Somewhere, on a whim, a DJ
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
decided to play the flip side instead, and it slowly rose to the Top 10 in a market saturated with 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...
. As VanWarmer told Release, Albert Grossman
Albert Grossman
Albert Bernard Grossman was an American entrepreneur and manager in the American folk music scene and rock and roll. He was most famous as the manager of Bob Dylan between 1962 and 1970.-Biography:...
, the head of Bearsville, who was acting as VanWarmer's manager
Management
Management in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively...
, would not let him do television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
or tour the United States, a strategy that did not prove successful.
His follow-up album, Terraform, was dark and (compared to his previous work) almost alternative. As Release described the record, it included a song relating the bitter post-death ruminations of a paranoid drowned man; a funny anti-love song; and a lengthy, catchy, metaphorical, almost epic pop piece about the destruction of the Earth and humankind's uncertain attempts to survive. According to Release, Terraform received some airplay on a Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
, where VanWarmer lived at the time; and it sold moderately in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
; but in the United States it sank. Bits of it turned up elsewhere (most notably on Laura Branigan
Laura Branigan
Laura Ann Branigan was an American singer-songwriter and actress of Italian and Irish ancestry. She is best known in the United States for her 1982 Platinum-certified hit "Gloria" and in Europe for the number-one single "Self Control"...
's debut album
Branigan
- Personnel :* Laura Branigan - vocals* Michael Boddicker - synthesizer* Joe Chemay - background vocals* Bob Glaub - bass guitar* Jim Haas - background vocals* Jon Joyce - background vocals* Michael Landau - guitar* Steve Lukather - guitar...
), but VanWarmer would later publicly rue his decision to turn away from dreamy ballad
Ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...
s. He made two more records at Bearsville - Beat of Love, and Things That You Dream. Beat of Love included the single, "Suzi Found a Weapon", a tribute to a Bearsville public relations
Public relations
Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
rep whom VanWarmer would later woo and marry
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
, and which went to #1 in Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
, and gained a certain amount of post mortem acclaim (for example, a rave by James A. Gardner in his "Allmusic"). But Grossman died soon thereafter, and VanWarmer's future was in doubt.
According to Release, in the mid 1980s, Suzie VanWarmer mailed a song called "It Never Hurts to Hurt Sometimes" from Beat of Love to a friend at MCA
Music Corporation of America
MCA, Inc. was an American talent agency. Initially starting in the music business, they would next become a dominant force in the film business, and later expanded into the television business...
, who sent it to Ron Chancey, the producer of the Oak Ridge Boys
The Oak Ridge Boys
The Oak Ridge Boys are an American country and gospel vocal quartet.The group was founded in the 1940s as the Oak Ridge Quartet. They became popular in southern gospel during the 1950s...
. His wife loved it, and she asked the Oaks to record it just for her. They did, and liked it enough to put it on their next album. Eventually it came out as a single, and hit number one on the country charts. Charley Pride
Charley Pride
Charley Frank Pride is an American country music singer. His smooth baritone voice was featured on thirty-nine number-one hits on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. His greatest success came in the early- to mid-1970s, when he became the best-selling performer for RCA Records since Elvis...
recorded a song of his, so did Michael Johnson
Michael Johnson (singer)
Michael Johnson , is an American pop, country and folk singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is best known for his 1978 hit song "Bluer Than Blue". To date, he has charted four hits on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, and nine more on the Hot Country Songs charts, including two Number One country hits...
. Moving to Nashville, VanWarmer saw a recording of his song, "I'm in a Hurry (And Don't Know Why)
I'm in a Hurry (And Don't Know Why)
I'm in a Hurry is a song written by Roger Murrah and Randy VanWarmer and recorded by the American country music band Alabama. It was released as the second single in September 1992 from their album American Pride...
", also hit number one on the country charts by the group Alabama
Alabama (band)
Alabama is a country music and southern rock band from Fort Payne, Alabama, United States. The band was founded in 1969 by Randy Owen and his cousin Teddy Gentry , soon joined by Jeff Cook...
.
VanWarmer continued to write music for others and for his own recordings, which continued to be artistically successful but commercially unsuccessful. He also helped other younger artists with their own songwriting efforts.
His final album was released posthumously only in Japan and was a tribute to Stephen Foster
Stephen Foster
Stephen Collins Foster , known as the "father of American music", was the pre-eminent songwriter in the United States of the 19th century...
.
He died of leukemia
Leukemia
Leukemia or leukaemia is a type of cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterized by an abnormal increase of immature white blood cells called "blasts". Leukemia is a broad term covering a spectrum of diseases...
, aged 48. In line with one of his greatest loves, his cremated remains were sent into space in 2007.
Albums
- Warmer - 1979
- Terraform - 1980
- Beat of Love - 1981
- The Things That You Dream - 1983
- I Am - 1988
- Every Now and Then - 1990
- The Third Child - 1994
- The Vital Spark - 1994 (Alternate title: I Will Whisper Your Name)
- Sun, Moon and Stars - 1996
- Sings Stephen Foster - 2005
- Songwriter - 2006
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart Positions | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US 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... |
US Country 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... |
US AC 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... |
CAN Canadian Singles Chart The Canadian Singles Chart is currently compiled by the U.S.-based music sales tracking company, Nielsen SoundScan . The chart is compiled every Wednesday, and is published by Jam! Canoe on Thursdays.... |
CAN AC | UK 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 ... |
||
| 1979 | "Gotta Get Out of Here" | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| "Just When I Needed You Most Just When I Needed You Most "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... " |
4 | 71 | 1 | 32 | 5 | 2 | |
| 1980 | "Call Me" | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| "Whatever You Decide" | 77 | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Hanging On to Heaven" | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1981 | "Doesn't Matter Anymore" | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| "All We Have Is Tonight" | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Suzi Found a Weapon" | 55 | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1988 | "I Will Hold You" | — | 53 | — | — | — | — |
| "Where the Rocky Mountains Touch the Morning Sun" | — | 72 | — | — | — | — | |