You Needed Me

"You Needed Me"
Single by Anne Murray
from the album Let's Keep It That Way
B-side "I Still Wish the Very Best for You"
Released May 1978
Recorded January 1978
Genre Soft rock[1]
Length 3:37
Label Capitol 4574
Writer(s) Randy Goodrum
Producer(s) Jim Ed Norman
Anne Murray singles chronology
"Walk Right Back"
(1978)		 "You Needed Me"
(1978)		 "Hey, Daddy"
(1978)

"You Needed Me" is a song written by Randy Goodrum, who describes it as being about "unconditional undeserved love".[2] It was a number one hit single in the United States in 1978 for Canadian singer Anne Murray. In 1999, Irish pop band Boyzone recorded a hit cover of the song that hit number one in the UK Singles Chart.

Original Anne Murray version

"You Needed Me" was first recorded by singer Anne Murray in 1978. The song peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and revitalized her career after several years of declining popularity as it became her first Top 40 US single since her 1974 remake of The Beatles' "You Won't See Me". The song, included on her 1978 album Let's Keep It That Way, was also a top-five country single and won Song of the Year at the Academy of Country Music awards, and is her most successful single in the United Kingdom where it made the top 30. Murray is quoted in The Billboard Book of Number One Hits by Fred Bronson as saying she was not surprised by the song's success, as she knew from the start the song would be a hit because she broke down in tears the first time she tried to sing it.

Although the song reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart (and is her only song to top that chart), it never topped the two Billboard charts where Murray has had the most success -- Country and Adult Contemporary. However, it spent a then-record 36 weeks on the Adult Contemporary chart, a record for chart longevity that stood until 1995.

The song earned Murray the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 21st Grammy Awards,[3] the first to be awarded to a Canadian artist.

Anne Murray re-recorded the song with Shania Twain for Murray's 2007 album Duets: Friends & Legends.

The song was featured in an ongoing storyline on the CBS soap Guiding Light in 1980–81, as a theme song for the characters Kelly Nelson and Morgan Richards. In 2013, the song was performed by Seth MacFarlane in character as Stewie Griffin on the Family Guy episode "Chris Cross", in which Anne Murray herself guest-starred.

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Chart (1978) Peak
position
Australia KMR[4] 2
Canadian RPM Country Tracks 1
Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary Tracks 1
Canadian RPM Top Singles 1
New Zealand[5] 6
UK 22
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[6] 4
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[7] 3
US Billboard Hot 100[8] 1

Year-end charts

Chart (1978) Rank
Australia[4] 87
Canada 3
New Zealand[9] 34
US Billboard Hot 100[10] 63

Preceded by
"I Believe in You"
by Mel Tillis		 RPM Country Tracks
number-one single
August 5, 1978 		Succeeded by
"Homefolks"
by Bob Murphy & Big Buffalo
Preceded by
"Hot Child in the City"
by Nick Gilder		 Billboard Hot 100
number one single
November 4, 1978 		Succeeded by
"MacArthur Park"
by Donna Summer

Boyzone version

"You Needed Me"
Single by Boyzone
from the album By Request
B-side "Words Can't Describe"
Released May 10, 1999
Format CD single, Cassette
Recorded London, England
Genre Pop
Length 3:27
Label Polydor
Writer(s) Randy Goodrum
Producer(s) Steve Mac
Boyzone singles chronology
"When the Going Gets Tough"
(1999)		 "You Needed Me"
(1999)		 "Every Day I Love You"
(1999)

"You Needed Me" was covered by Irish boy band Boyzone in 1999. It was released as the second single from their album By Request. Their single reached number 1 on the UK Singles Chart,[11] beating the debut solo single of Spice Girl Geri Halliwell, outselling her by just 700 copies. The song received a silver disc for shipping 200,000 copies in the UK.[12]

Track listings and format

CD1
  1. "You Needed Me"
  2. "Words Can't Describe"
  3. "Megamix: Love to Infinity"
CD2 (In limited edition digipak)
  1. "You Needed Me"
  2. "You Needed Me" (Jewels & Stone Remix)
  3. "Too Late Tonight"
  4. "You Needed Me" (video)

Chart performance

Chart (1999) Peak
position
Austrian Singles Chart[13] 38
Belgian (Flanders) Singles Chart[13] 22
Dutch Singles Chart[13] 16
Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[14] 6
German Singles Chart[15] 36
Irish Singles Chart[16] 2
Japanese Singles Chart[17] 5
New Zealand Singles Chart[13] 1
Norwegian Singles Chart[13] 15
Scottish Singles Chart[18] 1
Swedish Singles Chart[13] 21
Swiss Singles Chart[13] 29
UK Singles Chart[19] 1

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/Sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[20] Silver 200,000^

^shipments figures based on certification alone

Preceded by
"Livin' la Vida Loca" by Ricky Martin		 New Zealand Singles Chart number-one single
June 27, 1999 (2 weeks) 		Succeeded by
"Cold" by Deep Obsession
Preceded by
"I Want It That Way" by Backstreet Boys		 Scottish Singles Chart
May 16, 1999 (2 weeks) 		Succeeded by
"That Don't Impress Me Much" by Shania Twain
Preceded by
"I Want It That Way" by Backstreet Boys		 UK Singles Chart number-one single
May 16, 1999 (1 week) 		Succeeded by
"Sweet like Chocolate" by Shanks & Bigfoot

References

  1. ↑ "VH1's 40 Most Softsational Soft-Rock Songs". Stereogum. SpinMedia. May 31, 2007. Retrieved July 31, 2016.
  2. ↑ "You Needed Me by Anne Murray Songfacts". Songfacts.com. Retrieved 2014-04-01.
  3. ↑ "Past Winners Search | GRAMMY.com". grammy.com. Retrieved 4 August 2011.
  4. 1 2 "australian-charts.com - Forum - 1970 (ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts)". Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  5. ↑ "The Official New Zealand Music Chart". Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  6. ↑ "Anne Murray – Chart history" Billboard Hot Country Songs for Anne Murray.
  7. ↑ "Anne Murray – Chart history" Billboard Adult Contemporary for Anne Murray.
  8. ↑ "Anne Murray – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for Anne Murray.
  9. ↑ "The Official New Zealand Music Chart". Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  10. ↑ "Top 100 Hits of 1978/Top 100 Songs of 1978". Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  11. ↑ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 633. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  12. ↑ "British certifications – You Needed Me". British Phonographic Industry. Enter You Needed Me in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Click Search
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Steffen Hung. "Boyzone - You Needed Me". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 2012-01-08.
  14. ↑ Billboard - Google Books. 1999-06-05. Retrieved 2014-04-01 – via Google Books.
  15. ↑ "Die ganze Musik im Internet". musicline.de. Retrieved 2012-01-08.
  16. ↑ "Irish charts". Archived from the original on May 14, 2011. Retrieved 2012-01-08.
  17. ↑ Oricon Singles Chart Oricon Singles Chart (Retrieved 2 November 2012)
  18. ↑ http://www.officialcharts.com/charts/scottish-singles-chart/19990516/41/
  19. ↑ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. pp. 74/5. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  20. ↑ "British single certifications – Boyzone – You Needed Me". British Phonographic Industry. Enter You Needed Me in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select single in the field By Format. Select Silver in the field By Award. Click Search
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