"When I Need You" is a popular

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetiti ...

written by

Albert Hammond Albert Louis Hammond OBE (born 18 May 1944) is a British-Gibraltarian singer, songwriter, and record producer. A prolific songwriter, he also collaborated with other songwriters such as Mike Hazlewood, John Bettis, Diane Warren, Holly Knight ...

and

Carole Bayer Sager Carole Bayer Sager (born Carol Bayer on March 8, 1947) is an American lyricist, singer, and songwriter. Early life and career Bayer Sager was born in Manhattan, New York City, to Anita Nathan Bayer and Eli Bayer. Her family was Jewish. She grad ...

. Its first appearance was as the title track of Hammond's 1976 album ''When I Need You''.

Leo Sayer Gerard Hugh "Leo" Sayer (born 21 May 1948) is an English-Australian singer and songwriter whose singing career has spanned five decades. He has been an Australian citizen and resident since 2009. Sayer launched his career in the United Kingdom ...

's version, produced by

Richard Perry Richard Van Perry (born June 18, 1942) is an American record producer. He began as a performer in his adolescence while attending Poly Prep, his high school in Brooklyn. After graduating from college he rose through the late 1960s and early 1970 ...

, was a massive hit worldwide, reaching number 1 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

for three weeks in February 1977 after three of his earlier singles had stalled at number 2. It also reached number 1 on both the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for a single week in May 1977; and the

Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks The Adult Contemporary chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary radio stations in the United States. The chart is compiled based on airplay data submitted to ''Billboard'' by stat ...

. ''Billboard'' ranked it as the No. 24 song of 1977. Sayer performed it on the second show of the third season of ''

The Muppet Show ''The Muppet Show'' is a sketch comedy television series created by Jim Henson and featuring the Muppets. The series originated as two pilot episodes produced by Henson for ABC in 1974 and 1975. While neither episode was moved forward as ...

''.

Melody comparison

The melody of the "hook" line, or chorus of "When I Need You" is identical to the part of the

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...

song " Famous Blue Raincoat", where the lyrics are as follows: "Jane came by with a lock of your hair, she said that you gave it to her that night, that you planned to go clear". The melody of these lyrics matches the lyrics of "When I Need You" as follows: "(When I) need you, I just close my eyes and I'm with you, and all that I so want to give you, is only a heart beat away". In a 2006 interview with ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'' Cohen said:

I once had that nicking happen with Leo Sayer. Do you remember that song 'When I Need You'?" Cohen sings the chorus of Sayer's number one hit from 1977, then segues into 'And Jane came by with a lock of your hair', a lyric from 'Famous Blue Raincoat'. 'Somebody
sued - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil acti ...
them on my behalf … and they did settle', even though, he laughs, 'they hired a
musicologist Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some m ...
, who said, that particular motif was in the public domain and, in fact, could be traced back as far as
Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...
.

The same melody can be heard in Elton John's "

Little Jeannie "Little Jeannie" (spelled "Little Jeanie" on the cover of certain single releases) is a song written by English musician Elton John and Gary Osborne recorded by John, and released as a single in 1980 from John's album ''21 at 33''. It reached nu ...

" in the lyrics: "Stepped into my life from a bad dream / Making the life that I had seem / Suddenly shiny and new"

Personnel

*Leo Sayer –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

James Newton Howard James Newton Howard (born June 9, 1951) is an American film composer, music producer and keyboardist. He has scored over 100 films and is the recipient of a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, and nine nominations for Academy Awards. His film scores ...

–

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

Bobby Keys Robert Henry Keys (December 18, 1943 – December 2, 2014) was an American saxophonist who performed with other musicians as a member of several horn sections of the 1970s. He appears on albums by the Rolling Stones, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Harry Ni ...

– saxophone *

Michael Omartian Michael Omartian (born November 26, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, keyboardist, and music producer. He produced number-one records in three consecutive decades. He has earned 11 Grammy Awards nominations and won three. He spe ...

– electric piano * Dean Parks – electric guitar *

Jeff Porcaro Jeffrey Thomas Porcaro (; April 1, 1954 – August 5, 1992) was an American drummer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for his work with the rock band Toto but is one of the most recorded session musicians in history, working o ...

– drums *

Willie Weeks Willie Weeks (born August 5, 1947) is an American bass guitarist. He has gained fame performing with famous musicians in a wide variety of genres. He has been one of the most in-demand session musicians throughout his career. Weeks has also ...

– bass

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Other versions

* The song was covered in Malaysian by Black Dog Bone in 1977 as ''Bila Rindu''.

Rod Stewart version

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British rock and pop singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, he is of Scottish and English ancestry. With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the best-selling ...

recorded the song for his 1996 ballad compilation album ''

If We Fall in Love Tonight ''If We Fall in Love Tonight'' is an album released by Rod Stewart on 12 November 1996. It includes mostly previously released songs. The album was released in both the US and UK, though the versions differ slightly. It was released by Warner ...

''. This version was produced by

Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis James Samuel "Jimmy Jam" Harris III (born June 6, 1959) and Terry Steven Lewis (born November 24, 1956) are an American R&B/pop songwriting and record production team. They have enjoyed great success since the 1980s with various artists, most ...

and was released as the second single from the album, and reached number 55 in Canada.

Celine Dion version

"When I Need You" is a promotional single from

Celine Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion ( ; born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Noted for her powerful and technically skilled vocals, Dion is the best-selling Canadian recording artist, and the best-selling French-language artist of all time. Her ...

's ''

Let's Talk About Love ''Let's Talk About Love'' is the fifth English-language and fifteenth studio album by Canadian singer Celine Dion, released on 14 November 1997, by Columbia Records, Columbia and Epic Records. The follow-up to the commercially successful ''Fall ...

'' album, released on 7 September 1998 in Brazil only. ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular ...

'' editor David Browne called the cover, "an obligatory remake (a precisely enunciated version of Leo Sayer's ''When I Need You'')". The New York Observer editor Jonathan Bernstein: "A sliver of redemption is found in the passable version of Leo Sayer's “When I Need You”".

Cliff Richard version

On 29 October 2007,

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million ...

released "When I Need You" as a single in the UK. It reached number 38 on the

. It is one of five new recordings on his album '' Love... The Album''.

Tumse Milke

The Indian music composer R.D. Burman used the music of this song for his song Tumse Milke in the 1989 movie '' Parinda''.

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 1976 songs 1977 singles 1998 singles 2007 singles Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles Celine Dion songs Cliff Richard songs European Hot 100 Singles number-one singles Irish Singles Chart number-one singles Leo Sayer songs Pop ballads Rod Stewart songs RPM Top Singles number-one singles Song recordings produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis Song recordings produced by Richard Perry Songs written by Albert Hammond Songs written by Carole Bayer Sager UK Singles Chart number-one singles Warner Records singles Chrysalis Records singles Columbia Records singles Epic Records singles EMI Records singles