If You Were with Me Now

"If You Were with Me Now" is a song by Australian pop singer Kylie Minogue and American R&B singer Keith Washington. It was written by Minogue, Washington, and British songwriting team Mike Stock and Pete Waterman for Minogue's fourth studio album, Let's Get to It (1991). The song was produced by Stock and Waterman. The song was released as the second single in October 1991 and reached number four on the UK Singles Chart, as well as the top 10 in Ireland and the top 30 in Australia. The song is Minogue's first hit single to feature her as a co-writer.

"If You Were with Me Now"
Single by Kylie Minogue and Keith Washington
from the album Let's Get to It
B-side	"I Guess I Like It Like That"
Released	21 October 1991 (1991-10-21)^[1]
Studio	PWL (London, England)^[2]
Length	3:11
Label	Mushroom (Australia) PWL (Europe)
Songwriter(s)	Mike Stock Kylie Minogue Pete Waterman Keith Washington
Producer(s)	Mike Stock Pete Waterman
Kylie Minogue singles chronology
"Word Is Out" (1991) "If You Were with Me Now" (1991) "Keep on Pumpin' It" (1991)
Keith Washington singles chronology
"Are You Still in Love with Me" (1991) "If You Were with Me Now" (1991) "Make Time for Love" (1992)
Music video
"If You Were with Me Now" on YouTube

Both Minogue and Washington recorded their vocals separately at PWL's studio in London; the two did not meet until the music video filming.^{[citation needed]} At no moment of the video do they appear together, and there are no obvious signs that the scenes of each of them were recorded at the same location.^{[original research?]}

Critical reception

Digital Spy's Nick Levine called the track a "slushy duet".^[3] Betty Page from NME wrote, "As for "If You Were Here with Me Now", well, I predict the world will be hearing an awful lot of this, probably around Christmas. It's a duet with 'mystery singer' Keith Washington, who sounds like Son Of Lionel but could be helping Kylie to be the Big American Hit. It's oozingly schmaltzy and is probably a brilliant career move."^[4] Writing Minogue's biography for her special on Australian music video programme Rage, they called the song one of the "richly beautiful ballads".^[5]

In 2023, Robert Moran of Australian daily tabloid newspaper The Sydney Morning Herald ranked the song as Minogue's 178th best song (out of 183), adding that sounds like "a play for the Aladdin soundtrack".^[6]

Track listings

• Australian and UK CD single^[7][2]

1. "If You Were with Me Now" – 3:10
2. "I Guess I Like It Like That" – 5:59
3. "If You Were with Me Now" (extended version) – 5:06

• Australian and UK cassette single, UK 7-inch single^[8][9][10]

1. "If You Were with Me Now" – 3:10
2. "I Guess I Like It Like That" – 3:30

• UK 12-inch single^[11]

1. "If You Were with Me Now" – 5:06
2. "I Guess I Like It Like That" – 5:59

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1991) Peak position Australia (ARIA)^[12] 23 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)^[13] 31 Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)^[14] 18 Germany (Official German Charts)^[15] 61 Ireland (IRMA)^[16] 7 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40 Tipparade)^[17] 9 Netherlands (Single Top 100)^[18] 56 UK Singles (OCC)^[19] 4

Year-end charts Chart (1991) Position UK Singles (OCC)^[20] 91

References

1. "New Releases: Singles" (PDF). Music Week. 19 October 1991. p. 19. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
2. If You Were with Me Now (UK CD single liner notes). Kylie Minogue, Keith Washington. Pete Waterman Entertainment. 1991. PWCD 208.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
3. Nick Levine (22 May 2010). "Music The Sound - Kylie: Revisited #4: 'Let's Get To It". Digital Spy. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
4. Page, Betty (12 October 1991). "Long Play". NME. p. 35. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
5. Staff writer(s) (3 August 2002). "Kylie Minogue Special". Rage. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 15 September 2015.
6. Moran, Robert; Ross, Annabel (25 September 2023). "Every Kylie Minogue song ranked". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney. ISSN 0312-6315. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
7. If You Were with Me Now (Australian CD single liner notes). Kylie Minogue, Keith Washington. Mushroom Records. 1992. D11096.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
8. If You Were with Me Now (Australian cassette single sleeve). Kylie Minogue, Keith Washington. Mushroom Records. 1992. C11096.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
9. If You Were with Me Now (UK cassette single sleeve). Kylie Minogue, Keith Washington. Pete Waterman Entertainment. 1991. PWMC 208.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
10. If You Were with Me Now (UK 7-inch single vinyl disc). Kylie Minogue, Keith Washington. Pete Waterman Entertainment. 1991. PWL 208.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
11. If You Were with Me Now (UK 12-inch single vinyl disc). Kylie Minogue, Keith Washington. Pete Waterman Entertainment. 1991. PWLT 208.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
12. "Kylie Minogue & Keith Washington – If You Were with Me Now". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
13. "Kylie Minogue & Keith Washington – If You Were with Me Now" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
14. "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 8, no. 47. 23 November 1991. p. 27. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
15. "Kylie Minogue & Keith Washington – If You Were with Me Now" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
16. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – If You Were with Me Now". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
17. "Tipparade-lijst van week 50, 1991" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
18. "Kylie Minogue & Keith Washington – If You Were with Me Now" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
19. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
20. "1991 Top 100 Singles". Music Week. London, England: Spotlight Publications. 11 January 1992. p. 20.