Music History

Origin Stories – Anne Murray on The Song That Revived Her Career “You Needed Me”

By: Juliette Jagger (@juliettejagger)

When Anne Murray released, “You Needed Me” in 1978, she hadn’t had a hit single in four years. As an artist, momentum is everything, and that kind of radio silence is typically a career killer.Thankfully for Murray, that wasn’t the case.

“You Needed Me,” which appeared on her 12th studio album, Let’s Keep It That Way, revitalized her career and became her biggest record to date.

At 33, Murray had plenty to phone home about. She had already released a string of radio hits including a rendition of Kenny Loggins’ “Danny’s Song” (1972), “A Love Song” (1973), “He Thinks I Still Care” (1973), and a Top 10 cover of The Beatles’ “You Won’t See Me” (1974). She had clocked both record sales and television ratings in the millions, but her focus was shifting. She and then husband, producer and longtime host of Singalong Jubilee, Bill Langstroth, had just started a family.

“Four years is quite a long time between hit songs,” says Murray. “At least it was in those days. As an artist, you do start to get a bit uneasy, but I had also just become a mother for the first time, so I had other things on my mind. Sometimes that works well because you’re not as nervous or scared and scrambling. ‘You Needed Me’ just seemed to come into my life at the right moment, and everything else aligned.”

Continue reading via National Music Centre.

Juliette Jagger

Juliette Jagger is a Canadian music journalist. She is on Twitter @juliettejagger.

Juliette Jagger has 562 posts and counting. See all posts by Juliette Jagger

3 thoughts on “Origin Stories – Anne Murray on The Song That Revived Her Career “You Needed Me”

  • Regurgitating old articles?

    Reply
      • No, same article from August 19, 2017. On this site with the link to National Music Centre. Clicked on Juliette’s name and the exact same article comes up.

        Reply

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