This Week's Forgotten Gem of the '80s: Dan Fogelberg's "Missing You"
Friday May 4, 2007
I realize that '70s and '80s singer-songwriter Dan Fogelberg clearly falls into the category of riding-in-the-backseat-with-your-parents music, the kind of music with which you can rationalize a strong familiarity simply because you had no control of the radio dial as a kid. But I'd be lying with pants aflame if I told you I didn't still derive some level of distinct pleasure from hearing many of Fogelberg's early-'80s soft rock hits. The most familiar of these - the tearjerking "Leader of the Band" or "Hard to Say" - are a little too well-known to qualify as forgotten gems. However, the generically titled but memorably melodic "Missing You" retains a nostalgic power even as it surprises with what, for Fogelberg, qualifies as some compelling rock guitar riffing. OK, laugh if you must at that notion, but this track did show some versatility by making the Top 30 on both the mainstream rock and pop charts even as it became a Top 10 hit in Fogelberg's comfort zone on the adult contemporary airwaves. Oh, by the way, don't confuse this one with John Waite's No. 1 hit from 1984; Fogelberg's got enough grief already in terms of the respect meter.


Comments
“Missing You” is one of Dan’s best singles! Remember “Heart Hotels” from 1980? “Language of Love” from 1984? He had a string of forgotten singles.