Danielle Brisebois is one of the most talented performers you’ve likely never heard of. Those who know the name remember her as Stephanie Mills on the sitcom All in the Family and its follow-up Archie Bunker’s Place, a role for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award. She also played Molly in the original Broadway production of Annie. But by the mid-80s, she’d been bitten by the music bug and relocated to Los Angeles to pursue a career as a singer-songwriter.
In 1994, she teamed up with fellow singer/songwriter and future New Radicals frontman, Gregg Alexander for her first of two albums, Arrive All Over You, a collaboration that cultivated an alt-rock meets pop sound that would become her trademark throughout her brief recording career. Before this, Danielle provided backing vocals on Alexander’s debut Intoxifornication in 1992. This led to her becoming one of the two permanent members of the New Radicals, along with Alexander, where she served as the group’s keyboardist, percussionist, and backing vocalist. (We’ll never know why the band didn’t make her the frontwoman! It should have been a no-brainer.)
What I found interesting when exploring her two solo releases was the traction that Brisebois’ single ‘Just Missed the Train‘ got across not only two of her records but also through several other artists’ catalogs. From being the pinnacle of one Norwegian singer’s career to gracing an American Idol icon’s debut album, this is one track that caught more trains than it missed.
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Brisebois co-wrote the song with Ednaswap band member and award winner songwriter Scott Cutler. Danielle sings about the pain of realizing a relationship has ended: “I’m so sorry/ We got to the station a little late/It’s such a shame/ We just missed the train.” An interesting side note is that Ednaswap’s ‘Torn’ (made famous by Australian singer/actress Natalie Imbruglia) would be reinvented and covered several times as well.
Trine Rein
The song originally dropped on American/Norwegian pop star Trine Rein’s debut album Finders Keepers in 1993. Rein would succeed with the single as it reached number 4 on the Norwegian charts. The popularity of the song would make it her most recognizable hit. Trine would also cover ‘Torn’ in 1996, making it to number 10 in Norway.
Danielle Brisbois
Danielle Brisebois would cover her own song for her debut album. Her original take has a much more mellow approach as she and Alexander were going for a grungy ballad feeling as was a dominant musical style then.
Following New Radicals’ success and subsequent end, Alexander and Brisebois would work together on her follow-up record, Portable Life. The album was scheduled to release in late 1999. However, it was shelved until 2008, when it was released digitally. Arrive All Over You’s “Just Missed the Train” is one track that got reinvented on this album. Gregg’s pop edge from the New Radicals project worked in the song’s favor. The duo reworked it to inject more energy into the track giving it much more impact.
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Carly Hennessy
Before she made it onto the 7th season of American Idol, Carly Hennessy (now known as Carly Smithson) worked with Danielle and Gregg on her debut album Ultimate High in 2001. The record would only gain a little traction. Carly would cover Brisebois’s Just Missed the Train here. Gregg and Danielle recycled the reworked version they created for Portable Life for this project. Smithson’s take was similar to the 1999 Brisebois cut, and it works well.
Kelly Clarkson
The final major iteration of Just Missed the Train comes from American Idol icon Kelly Clarkson‘s debut album, Thankful. Again, Clarkson keeps much of the lightness that Danielle and Gregg stirred up for her shelved 1999 album Portable Life. Clarkson takes some liberties with the vocal melody making it her own. The overly glossy production on the track takes away from the weight the other iterations provide.
Seeing how this track has evolved multiple times over a decade was fascinating. Seeing the track is co-written by Scott Cutler, I’m intrigued to see the parallels between it and Torn. While it may not have achieved as much notoriety as the latter, it remains a testament to Brisebois’s songwriting prowess. Danielle has continued to succeed through songwriting, most notably with Natasha Bedingfield‘s “Unwritten” and “Pocket Full of Sunshine,” as well as tracks recorded by Paula Abdul, Leona Lewis, Donna Summer, Kylie Minogue, and Mandy Moore.
I recommend listening to Brisbois’ solo work, as she has a fantastic voice, giving Train Rein’s 1993 cut a listen and Brisebois’s 1999 rework for Portable Life. Both versions can be found on streaming services now.
