Just When I Needed You Most

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"Just When I Needed You Most"
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"Just When I Needed You Most" is the title of a 1979 hit single by the American singer-songwriter Randy VanWarmer.

Background

VanWarmer was inspired to write "Just When I Needed You Most" by two events: his old car, that he loved and used for years, broke down on his way to work in Denver, Colorado, and he experienced a "devastating" breakup with a girlfriend. He wrote the song six months after that breakup, co-writing it with

Hot Chocolate[1] two years before it became a hit.[2] After recording "Just When I Needed You Most" for an album recorded for the UK division of Bearsville Records, VanWarmer then flew to the US to pressure Bearsville's head office to promote the album which was duly remixed and released with "Just When I Needed You Most" as lead single although VanWarmer would recall that Bearsville evinced little enthusiasm for the track: "Nobody thought my version was an especially good version of the song [which] a few other people were thinking of cutting...Everybody just assumed mine was a demo for people to listen to who'd [then] cut the definitive version".[3] It has also been asserted that "Your Light" the flip was the original intended A-side of VanWarmer's single.[4]

Released as a single in February 1979, VanWarmer's "Just When I Needed You Most" spent two weeks atop the US

UK Singles Chart, peaking at No. 8.[6] VanWarmer attributed his single's success to empathy for its heartbreak scenario: "It's happened to everyone. That emotion is universal...I always hoped the record wasn't wallowing in self-pity and it had some redeeming value, and I guess it does."[1] VanWarmer also attributed his single's success to the autoharp instrumental break between the second and third verses, performed by John Sebastian.[4]

Chart performance

Cover versions

The song's co-writer Tony Wilson recorded "Just When I Needed You Most" for his 1979 album Catch One.

R&B vocalist Millie Jackson, the German disco musician Peter Griffin, British glam rock band Smokie, reggae artists Barbara Jones, and Eddie Lovette, Filipino singer Pops Fernandez, Bob Dylan, Paul Butterfield, Billy Joe Royal, and the Spanish group Mocedades. In 2002, the American-Taiwanese singer Will Pan released a bilingual English/Chinese version of the song.[17] Dana Winner recorded "Just When I Needed You Most" for her 2011 album Unforgettable. Anne Nolan
recorded "Just When I Needed You Most" for her 2013 debut solo album Just One Voice.

In 1978, before it was a hit, "Just When I Needed You Most" was recorded by Ian Hunter, Mick Ronson, Corky Laing, and Felix Pappalardi. This version of the song was not released until 1999 when it was included on the "Secret Sessions" CD.[18]

A Finnish rendering of "Just When I Needed You Most" entitled "Juuri Kun Tarvitsin Sua" was recorded by

Switzerdeutsch
dialect as "Wo di am meischte ha brucht".

See also

  • List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1979 (U.S.)
  • List of 1970s one-hit wonders in the United States

References

  1. ^ a b The Item, August 14, 1988, p. 41
  2. ^ Klingman Daily Miner, July 20, 1978, p. 15
  3. ^ The Evening Independent, August 24, 1979, p. 15
  4. ^ a b c d Hyatt, Wesley (1999). The Billboard Book of No. 1 Adult Contemporary Hits (Billboard Publications), pages 228–9.
  5. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 8th Edition (Billboard Publications), page 657.
  6. ISBN 1-904994-10-5
    .
  7. ISBN 0-646-11917-6
    .
  8. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Just When I Needed You Most". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved August 23, 2018.
  9. ^ Flavour of New Zealand entry for September 16, 1979
  10. ^ "Randy Vanwarmer". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 10, 2016.
  11. ISBN 0-89820-089-X
  12. ^ "Kent Music Report No 288 – 31 December 1979 > National Top 100 Singles for 1979". Kent Music Report. Retrieved January 10, 2023 – via Imgur.com.
  13. ^ "Image : RPM Weekly – Library and Archives Canada". Bac-lac.gc.ca. July 17, 2013. Retrieved October 15, 2016.
  14. ^ "Top 100 Singles of 1979" (PDF). Record Mirror. London: Spotlight Publications. January 5, 1980. p. 30. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
  15. ^ "Top 100 Hits of 1979/Top 100 Songs of 1979". Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved October 15, 2016.
  16. ^ "Top 100 Year End Charts: 1979". Cashbox Magazine. Archived from the original on August 25, 2012. Retrieved April 12, 2016.
  17. ^ "Will Pan – Just When I Needed You Most". YouTube. April 4, 2006. Retrieved October 15, 2016.
  18. ^ "Various Artists - the Secret Sessions Album Reviews, Songs & More | AllMusic". AllMusic.
  19. ^ "You treated me wrong | Svensk mediedatabas". SMDB.kb.se. Retrieved October 15, 2016.

External links

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