"I Miss You" by Klymaxx

Top 10 Alert!

Song#:  2460
Date:  09/14/1985
Debut:  86
Peak:  5
Weeks:  29
Genre:  R&B, Adult Contemporary



Pop Bits:  It took four albums, but this all-female band broke through with a pair of R&B Top 10's from their fourth LP including the title-track "Meeting in the Ladies Room," which made it to #59 at Pop. For a follow-up, this ballad written by band member Lynn Malsby was selected. The song took its sweet time meandering up the chart, but it finally cracked the Pop Top 10. It did even better at AC getting to #3. Unfortunately, it just missed out on becoming the band's third Top 10 at R&B as it stopped at the dreaded #11 spot. The hit really pushed album sales and it wasn't long before it was certified platinum.

ReduxReview:  This wistful ballad fit the band like a glove and was a perfect cross-format vehicle for them. It's a lovely song that is sentimental without being too saccharine. The funny thing about this song is that when I first heard it, I initially thought it was a new song by DeBarge! I thought lead singer Joyce "Fenderella" Irby sounded quite similar to El DeBarge on this song. Even the style of the tune was right in DeBarge's lane. I quickly figured out it wasn't a DeBarge song, but for a minute or two I wasn't sure.

ReduxRating:  7/10

Trivia:  As noted in the info above, this song lingered on the Pop chart for 29 weeks, which was a big chunk of time. In the 80s, the average length of time a single spent on the chart was around 11 weeks. Songs that hit #1 averaged around 24 weeks on the chart while Top 10's stayed about 20 weeks. For the Billboard year-end charts, point values are assigned to a song based on its peak position and weeks on the chart. This Klymaxx song kept gaining points the longer it lingered on the chart. Because of that, it ended up being the #3 song on the year-end chart for 1986. It finished ahead of several #1 hits like Whitney Houston's "How Will I Know," Prince's "Kiss," and Mr. Mister's "Broken Wings." When the 80s ended, the song that held the record for being on the chart the longest in a single run was "Tainted Love" by Soft Cell at 43 weeks. That record has been shattered many times over the years and as of this posting date, the song in the lead is 2014's "Radioactive" by Imagine Dragons with 87 weeks - just over double the time of Soft Cell's record setter.

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