I Missed Again

"I Missed Again" is a song from Phil Collins's debut solo studio album, Face Value. It was selected as the lead single from the album in the US and Canada, although in most other countries "In the Air Tonight" was released as Collins' first solo single, followed by "I Missed Again".^[2] The song features a tenor sax solo from British jazz musician Ronnie Scott.

"I Missed Again"
Single by Phil Collins
from the album Face Value
B-side	"I'm Not Moving"
Released	27 February 1981
Recorded	August–October 1980
Genre	R&B[1]
Length	3:47
Label	Virgin (UK) Atlantic (international)
Songwriter(s)	Phil Collins
Producer(s)	Phil Collins Hugh Padgham
Phil Collins singles chronology
"In the Air Tonight" (1981) "I Missed Again" (1981) "If Leaving Me Is Easy" (1981)
Music video
"Phil Collins - I Missed Again (Official Music Video)" on YouTube

Background

Like many of the songs on Face Value, "I Missed Again" is about Collins's anger and frustration about his first wife leaving him. The original demo was entitled "I Miss You, Babe", with sadder lyrics - this demo version was later released as a B-side of "If Leaving Me Is Easy". He re-wrote the lyrics, gave the song a different tempo, and re-titled it "I Missed Again" in an effort to make it lighthearted instead of sad.^[3]

Record World called it a "mid-tempo rocker [that] has R&B underpinnings, melodic pop keyboard currents, and Collins' easily identifiable light tenor."^[4]

Music video

The song's music video features Collins on a white background singing and miming the various instruments. It was released on VHS in 1983. It received a Grammy nomination for Best Video, Short Form.^[5]

Credits

1. "I Missed Again"
   • Phil Collins – vocals, piano, Prophet-5, drums
   • Daryl Stuermer – guitar
   • John Giblin – bass
   • The Phenix Horns:
     • Don Myrick – tenor saxophone
     • Louis Satterfield – trombone
     • Rahmlee Michael Davis – trumpet
     • Michael Harris – trumpet
   • Ronnie Scott – tenor sax solo
   • L. Shankar – violins
2. "I'm Not Moving"
   • Phil Collins – vocals, drums, percussion, piano, Prophet 5, Roland VP-330 vocoder
   • John Giblin – bass

• Gavin Cochrane – photography

Chart performance

In the US, "I Missed Again" was the first single from Face Value. It peaked at No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in May 1981. It reached No. 14 in the UK.

Weekly charts Chart (1981) Peak position Australia (Kent Music Report)[6] 88 Canada RPM Top Singles[7] 6 Germany 23 Ireland[8] 12 New Zealand[9] 35 UK[10] 14 US Billboard Hot 100[11] 19 US Cash Box Hot 100 19 US Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks 8

Year-end charts Chart (1981) Rank Canada[12] 54 US (Joel Whitburn's Pop Annual)[13] 119

Popular culture

The song was featured in a late 1980s promotional commercial, which featured bloopers, by the National Basketball Association. It was also used in the early 1990s by the BBC in a montage of snooker players missing shots. Similarly, NBC Sunday Night Football played the song immediately after kicker Eddy Piñeiro missed the second of two field goals during the Chicago Bears' game against the Los Angeles Rams on 17 November 2019.^[14]