I Could Never Miss You (More Than I Do)

Last updated
"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"
ReleasedJuly 1981
Recorded1978 at Air Studios (Oxford Street)
Genre Easy listening
Length3:10
Label Alfa Records
Songwriter(s) Neil Harrison
Producer(s) Mark London
Lem Lubin
Lulu singles chronology
"I Love to Boogie"
(1979)
"I Could Never Miss You
(More Than I Do)
"
(1981)
"Independence"
(1993)

"I Could Never Miss You (More Than I Do)" was the fourth and final US Top 40 hit for Lulu.

Contents

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 1Bass  Alan Tarney
Keyboards  Lynton Naiff 1Guitars  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] Also the early 1980s saw a considerable boost in the popularity of easy listening music as exemplified by the success of the comparable Sheena Easton.

"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 UK, 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. 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").

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.

Other versions

Related Research Articles

Shirley Bassey Welsh singer from Cardiff

Dame Shirley Veronica Bassey, is a Welsh singer. Born in Tiger Bay, Cardiff, she began performing as a teenager in 1953. She became well-known for her expressive voice and for recording the soundtrack theme songs of the James Bond films Goldfinger (1964), Diamonds Are Forever (1971), and Moonraker (1979). In January 1959, Bassey became the first Welsh person to gain a number-one single on the UK Singles Chart. In 2020, with the release of her final album, I Owe It All To You, Bassey became the first female artist to chart an album in the top 40 of the UK Albums Chart in seven consecutive decades.

Lulu (singer) Scottish actress, singer and television personality

Lulu Kennedy-Cairns, known professionally as Lulu, is a Scottish actress, businesswoman, singer and television personality.

Something (Beatles song) 1969 Beatles song by George Harrison

"Something" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1969 album Abbey Road. It was written by George Harrison, the band's lead guitarist. Together with his second contribution to Abbey Road, "Here Comes the Sun", it is widely viewed by music historians as having marked Harrison's ascendancy as a composer to the level of the Beatles' principal songwriters, John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Two weeks after the album's release, the song was issued on a double A-side single, coupled with "Come Together", making it the first Harrison composition to become a Beatles A-side. The pairing was also the first time in the United Kingdom that the Beatles issued a single containing tracks already available on an album. While the single's commercial performance was lessened by this, it topped the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States as well as charts in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and West Germany, and peaked at number 4 in the UK.

Real Love (Beatles song) 1979 song written and composed by John Lennon

"Real Love" is a song written by the English musician John Lennon formerly of the Beatles. He recorded six demos of the song in 1979 and 1980 with "Real Life", a different song that merged with "Real Love". In 1988, the sixth take was posthumously released for the documentary soundtrack Imagine: John Lennon. In 1995, his demo was completed by his former Beatles bandmates as part of the Beatles Anthology project, along with "Free as a Bird".

Neil Harrison Musical artist

Neil Harrison is a British musician and dramatist. He was a founder-member of The Beatles tribute band, The Bootleg Beatles, in which he played John Lennon. He was replaced by Adam Hastings in 2011. He went to the University of Sheffield and was a flatmate with Brodie Pevans.

John Stanley Livingstone Harris was a Scottish composer, producer, arranger, conductor, and musical director. He lived in the United States from 1972 until his death.

Shirley Bassey discography

This article presents the discography of Shirley Bassey.

"Grande grande grande" is a 1972 Italian song, written by Alberto Testa and Tony Renis. It was a No. 1 hit for Mina in Italy and for Shirley Bassey released as "Never Never Never" in the U.K., U.S. and Australia. The 1973 Shirley Bassey single achieved sales of over 50,000 copies in Australia, being eligible for the award of a Gold Disc.

<i>Something Else</i> (Shirley Bassey album) 1971 studio album by Shirley Bassey

Something Else is a 1971 album by Shirley Bassey.

<i>I Capricorn</i> 1972 studio album by Shirley Bassey

I Capricorn is a 1972 album by Shirley Bassey.

<i>Never Never Never</i> 1973 studio album by Shirley Bassey

Never Never Never is a 1973 album by Shirley Bassey. It features the hit single title track, which was a UK top 10 hit, which became one of Bassey's best-known songs. The album also became a top 10 hit in the UK and was a moderate hit in the US.

<i>The Shirley Bassey Singles Album</i> 1975 compilation album by Shirley Bassey

The Shirley Bassey Singles Album is a compilation album released in 1975 by British singer Shirley Bassey.

<i>Dont Take Love for Granted</i> 1978 studio album by Lulu

Don't Take Love For Granted is an album released in late 1978 by Lulu on Elton John's label, The Rocket Record Company.

<i>Lulu</i> (1981 album) 1981 studio album by Lulu

Lulu is an eponymous album released by Lulu on Alfa Records in 1981. It is notable for containing the hit single "I Could Never Miss You ", which became the second-highest-charting single of Lulu's career in the US, hitting the top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 2 on the Adult Contemporary chart in 1981.

<i>Bassey – The EMI/UA Years 1959 – 1979</i> 1994 box set by Shirley Bassey

Bassey – The EMI/UA Years 1959–1979 is a 5-CD boxset compilation from Shirley Bassey issued in 1994, this set features 94 studio recordings on four CDs, recorded for EMI/United Artists between 1959 and 1979. Disc five features a previously unreleased live recording from Carnegie Hall. The boxset was reissued by EMI in 2010 in a standard jewel case set.

<i>La Mujer</i> 1989 studio album by Shirley Bassey

La MujerShirley Bassey canta en Español, is a Shirley Bassey studio album recorded in Spanish. The first recording sessions were held in Spain, and the album was completed in California, at the Hitsville West studio in December 1988. The 1980s saw a period of very few album releases from Shirley Bassey: All by Myself (1982); the acclaimed album I Am What I Am (1984); her recording of James Bond themes from 1987, The Bond Collection, ; and La Mujer. In 1987 the Swiss electronica band Yello approached Shirley Bassey about recording a song with them. The track "The Rhythm Divine" was a minor hit in the UK, charting at number 54 in the UK singles chart but achieving more success on mainland Europe. The success of the single released by Mercury Records, led to an album deal on the label.

<i>Does Anybody Miss Me</i> 1969 studio album by Shirley Bassey

Does Anybody Miss Me is a 1969 album by Shirley Bassey. In 1969 Bassey moved her home to Lugano, Switzerland, with her second husband Sergio Novak, whom she had married in Las Vegas in August 1968. Remaining as a tax exile prevented her from performing and recording in the UK. In this period she continued to perform and record in Italy and the US. This album was recorded in the US and produced by the American producer Dave Pell, with arrangements by Artie Butler. The tracks on this album are a selection of standards and show tunes. The title track Does Anybody Miss Me was issued as a single in the UK, backed with the non album track Fa Fa Fa, but this failed to make any impression on the chart. Does Anybody Miss Me has remained part of her live show and was recorded as the opening track of the album Live At Talk Of The Town in 1970. This album saw Bassey re-record her 1958 UK #1 hit single As I Love You which she had previously released on the Philips label.

"For the Love of Him" is the title track from a 1969 album by Bobbi Martin who wrote the song with her producer Henry Jerome. The single was her most successful release on both the Pop and Easy Listening charts in the United States, peaking at #13 on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 Pop chart and reaching #1 on the magazine's Easy Listening chart for two weeks in May 1970. "For The Love of Him" also afforded Martin a hit in Canada (#9) and Australia (#14).

<i>Melba</i> (1978 album) 1978 studio album by Melba Moore

Melba is the eighth album by singer Melba Moore, released in 1978.

<i>25th Anniversary Album</i> 1978 compilation album by Shirley Bassey

25th Anniversary Album is a compilation album by Shirley Bassey. Released in 1978 to mark her 25th year in show business, the album was a double set, comprising 40 tracks. The songs included span just 20 of the 25 years from 1957 to 1976, however, her first professional contract is dated 1953. Bassey had toured extensively throughout 1978 to mark her 25 years. This collection, including her biggest hits and some lesser-known recordings, became one of her biggest in the UK, where it reached No.3 and spent 12 weeks on the album chart.

References

  1. https://labibledelawestcoast.blogspot.ca/2016/12/lulu-dont-take-love-for-granted-1979.html?m=1
  2. The Palm Beach Post 27 November 1981 p. 28
  3. "The Lulu Web Site-Singles" . Retrieved 31 March 2009.
  4. "The Lulu Web Site-Bio" . Retrieved 3 April 2009.
  5. 1 2 "AMG-Lulu" . Retrieved 31 March 2009.
  6. "Cash Box 10/10/81" . Retrieved 31 March 2009.
  7. "The Official Charts Company" . Retrieved 31 March 2009.
  8. "Soul & FunkMusic-Melba Moore" . Retrieved 31 March 2009.
  9. "Soul & Funk Music-Bobbi Walker" . Retrieved 31 March 2009.
  10. "Songs of Shirley Bassey". Archived from the original on 16 May 2008. Retrieved 31 March 2009.
  11. "Love Isn't Just For The Young" . Retrieved 7 July 2011.