10 Greatest One Hit Wonders Of The 1980s
7. Missing You - John Waite
If there's any aesthetic that signified the '80s, it was pure unbridled melodrama. For every love song that was spat out during the decade's run, it felt like the end of the world was depending on romance. Even though the romance is half the battle, you tend to forget what happens when you start picking up the pieces.
Alongside his stint with the kinda supergroup Bad English, John Waite's smash hit Missing You managed to creep to the top of the charts based on melodrama alone. This might be the one case where the internal angst actually lands a punch though, as he never says that he actually misses his girl at all. No...all of the strength is in the subtext, as he sits firmly in the denial camp of his heartbreak and is practically bursting at the seams with emotion.
Granted, it's not like this kind of music has necessarily aged all that well. Even for as AOR rock as Bad English were, this is the epitome of '80s melodrama distilled into just a few minutes, completely unaware of how ridiculous that this would look like just a few years down the road. Then again, if there's any song that could be called a finely aged product of its time, you'd be hardpressed to find a much better one than this.