Miss You Nights


"Miss You Nights" is a song written by Dave Townsend and made famous worldwide by Cliff Richard. The song has been recorded by numerous other artists, most notably Westlife, who released it as the second track on a double A-side single in 2003. The Westlife single reached number 3 in the UK singles chart.

Background

Townsend wrote the song in 1974 while his girlfriend was away on holiday. He recorded it on an album for Island Records, but the label shelved the album and decided to recoup part of the cost of the unreleased album through cover deals. Some demo tapes were handed to Bruce Welch of The Shadows who also worked as producer for Cliff Richard and was looking for songs to revitalize his career. Welch immediately recognized it as a hit - "Andrew Powell's string arrangement helped to make it a great love song through its imagery and potent feelings of longing and loneliness". Welch and Cliff recorded it in September 1975. Of the song and its writer Cliff said: "I think it's one of the nicest songs I’ve ever made... when I heard his version it was terrific. He was pleased to have that happen. I mean it could have been anybody and it would have been a hit."

Original release

Cliff Richard released Miss You Nights on 14 November 1975 as the lead single from his studio album I'm Nearly Famous. It entered the British Top 20 and in early 1976, reached #15 in the UK Singles Chart.
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Album appearances
Miss You Nights was first included on Richard's 1976 studio album I'm Nearly Famous. As one of Richard's most enduring songs, it has been included on many of his compilation albums. The most notable of these compilation albums and albums with alternative versions are:
In 1994, Cliff Richard re-released the song on a double A-side single with "All I Have to Do Is Dream", which was listed first. "All I Have to Do Is Dream", originally by The Everly Brothers was recorded as a live duet with Phil Everly, while "Miss You Nights" is a remix of the 1976 original. The double A-side single reached #14 in the UK singles chart.
Track list:
CD1:
  1. "All I Have to Do Is Dream"
  2. "Miss You Nights"
  3. "When Will I Be Loved"
  4. "Tribute to the Legends - Medley"
CD2:
  1. "All I Have to Do Is Dream"
  2. "Miss You Nights"
  3. "True Love Ways"
  4. "Party Megamix"
Chart performance
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Australian Singles Chart 93

Westlife version

released "Tonight" and "Miss You Nights" together in 2003 as a double A-side single in the United Kingdom. However it was "Tonight" rather than "Miss You Nights" that received most of the radio airplay. The single reached number 3 in both the UK and Scotland. In all other countries where the single charted, only "Tonight" is listed as the charting track. In some countries "Miss You Nights" was excluded from the single altogether.
The song was composed in the traditional verse–chorus form in A major and in this rendition Filan and Feehily's vocal ranges from the chords of E4 to B5.
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Europe 14

Other versions

Cliff Richard also recorded two more versions of the song as duets:
Other covers include: