Randy VanWarmer


Randy VanWarmer was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. His biggest hit song was "Just [When I Needed You Most]". It reached No. 8 on the UK Singles Chart in September 1979 after peaking at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 on Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks earlier that year.
He wrote several songs for The Oak Ridge Boys, including "I Guess It Never Hurts to Hurt Sometimes," which reached No. 1 on the Hot Country Songs chart. The song appeared on his 1981 album Beat of Love, which also included the "Suzi Found a Weapon", which hit No. 55 on the Billboard Hot 100.
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Career

Randall VanWarmer was born in Indian Hills, Colorado, the son of Roger VanWarmer and Betsy. At 15, three years after the death of his father in an automobile accident, he moved with his mother to Cornwall, England.
Released in February 1979, "Just When I Needed You Most" became VanWarmer's signature song and rose to the Top 10 in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. The record spent two weeks on the US Billboard adult contemporary chart in May of that year, and by June reached its peak position of No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It accrued an overall Top 40 tenure of 14 weeks, earning RIAA Gold record status. In addition, the track reached No. 71 on the Billboard country music chart. In September, it reached the Top 10 on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at No. 8. VanWarmer said that he was inspired to write the song about a beloved old car he drove for years and which broke down on his way to work in Denver, Colorado. He had also experienced a "devastating" breakup with a girlfriend and composed the song six months after their separation—two years before it was released as a single. Having originally recorded the song in England for an album produced for the UK division of Bearsville Records, VanWarmer flew to the US to pressure Bearsville's head office to promote the album there as well. The album was remixed and released with "Just When I Needed You Most" as lead single. VanWarmer recalled Bearsville's general lack of enthusiasm for the single track: "Nobody thought my version was an especially good version of the song, a few other people were thinking of cutting. Everybody just assumed mine was a demo for people to listen to who'd cut the definitive version".
According to Release, a now-defunct independent newspaper in Stanford, California, in the mid-1980s Suzi VanWarmer, his wife, mailed a song of his called "I Guess It Never Hurts to Hurt Sometimes" from Beat of Love to a friend at MCA Inc., who sent it to Ron Chancey, producer for the country group the Oak Ridge Boys, and the group put it on their next album. Charley Pride recorded a song of VanWarmer's, as did Michael Johnson. VanWarmer moved to Nashville, Tennessee, and the recording of his song "I'm in a Hurry (And Don't Know Why)" by the band Alabama hit No. 1 on the country chart. In a 1989 interview with Release, Van Warmer said that Grossman, the head of Bearsville Records, would not let him do television or tour the United States, a strategy that did not prove successful.
His second album, Terraform, was dark and more alternative than his previous work. According to Release, Terraform sold moderately in Japan and Australia. VanWarmer would later publicly rue his decision to turn away from ballads. He made two more records at Bearsville: Beat of Love and The Things That You Dream. Beat of Love included the single "Suzi Found a Weapon", a tribute to a Bearsville public relations rep whom VanWarmer would later marry, and which went to No. 1 in Alaska and gained a certain amount of posthumous acclaim. Albert Grossman died soon after this.
VanWarmer's final album was a tribute to Stephen Foster, a leading 19th-century American composer of popular songs, but it was released posthumously only in Japan. According to the CD's liner notes, VanWarmer played all the instruments on the album. The notes also indicate that he completed work on the record a few days after learning he had leukemia. He died at 48, one day before the anniversary of Foster's death.
Some of VanWarmer's cremated remains were sent into space in 2007 and then again in 2012 aboard the first successful private space flight to the International Space Station.

Death

VanWarmer died on January 12, 2004, at the age of 48 in Seattle. He had been suffering from leukemia for the previous year. He was survived by his wife, Suzi, and his brothers Dave, Mark, and Ron.

Discography

Albums

  • Warmer – 1979
  • Terraform – 1980
  • Beat of Love – 1981
  • The Things That You Dream – 1983
  • I Am – 1988
  • Every Now and Then – 1990
  • The Third Child – 1994
  • The Vital Spark – 1994
  • Sun, Moon and Stars – 1996
  • Sings Stephen Foster – 2005
  • Songwriter – 2006