How 'Miss You' (1978) Channeled Disco via Four-on-the-Floor Beat and a Billy Preston Harmonica

The most interesting thing about “Miss You” is that it started as a slow blues jam, not a disco anthem. The four-on-the-floor kick drum—steady, unrelenting, borrowed from Philly soul and Saturday night fever—was introduced by Charlie Watts reluctantly, after producer Chris Kimsey and Mick Jagger pushed him to lock into a dance groove. Watts later admitted he hated playing it, but that mechanical thump gave the track its propulsion and made it Stones-by-way-of-Studio 54.

The harmonica part wasn’t originally planned. Billy Preston, who played keyboards on the session, picked up a harmonica during a break and blew a simple, sliding figure that Jagger liked so much he kept it. It cuts through the synth strings and handclaps like a blues ghost at a disco party—a reminder that the Stones never fully abandoned their roots. Jagger’s falsetto vocals and the call-and-response “oooh, oooh” hook sealed the crossover, making “Miss You” the band’s biggest hit in years and a grudging template for how rock bands could survive the disco era without selling out entirely.