"Never Can Say Goodbye" is a song written by Clifton Davis and originally recorded by The Jackson 5. The song was originally written and intended for the Supremes to record; however Motown decided the song would be better for the Jackson 5. Released as a single in 1971, it was one of the group's most successful songs. The song has been covered numerous times, most notably in 1974 by disco diva Gloria Gaynor and in 1987 by British pop group The Communards.
Video Never Can Say Goodbye
The Jackson 5
The recording features 12-year-old Michael Jackson singing a serious song about a love, with accompaniment from his brothers. Although such a record was unusual for a teenage group, "Never Can Say Goodbye" was a #2 hit for three consecutive weeks on the Billboard Pop Singles chart, stuck behind Three Dog Night's "Joy to the World" (May 8-May 22, 1971), and a #1 hit on the Billboard Black Singles chart in the United States. In the United Kingdom, it reached #33 on the UK Singles Chart.
Notable televised performances of the song by the Jackson 5 (and their newer incarnation, The Jacksons) include:
- The Flip Wilson Show, November 4, 1971 - this recording appears on the 2009 Jackson 5 CD I Want You Back! Unreleased Masters
- One More Time (Jackson 5 TV special), January 10, 1974
- The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, April 4, 1974
- Cher, March 16, 1975
- The Jacksons, July 7, 1976
- Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever, May 16, 1983
In addition, the song appeared on the animated TV show The Jackson 5ive in the episode "A Rare Pearl", which aired on January 15, 1972.
This version appears in the 1994 movie Crooklyn and on the second volume of its soundtrack album.
Chart performance
Maps Never Can Say Goodbye
Gloria Gaynor version
A second major version, reimagined as a disco record by Gloria Gaynor in 1974, was a number-nine hit on the U.S. Pop Singles chart and went to number thirty-four on the Soul Singles chart. The Gloria Gaynor version became one of the defining recordings of the disco era. Indeed, her version peaked at #2 in the UK during January 1975, and #3 in Canada, surpassing the Jackson Five's original recording in those nations.
Gaynor's cover, released on MGM records, was produced by the Disco Corporation of America, a production company newly formed by Meco Monardo and Tony Bongiovi to which Gaynor was signed. Also working on this production were Jay Ellis and Harold Wheeler.
Gaynor's cover has the distinction of occupying the number-one spot on the first Dance/Disco chart to appear in Billboard magazine. Never Can Say Goodbye was also the title of Gaynor's debut album on which the single appeared.
Gaynor has re-recorded the song on more than one occasion, in increasingly fast tempos, and subsequent remixes have hit the dance charts.
Gaynor's version of the song was heard on the TV series Charmed ("That '70s Episode"), and is featured on the video game series Just Dance 2015.
Chart performance
The Communards version
In 1987, British band The Communards had a hit with a Hi-NRG cover of the song, which was featured on their second album, Red.
Their version reached number four in the UK Singles Chart, number 51 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, and peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot Dance/Disco chart in the U.S. The group had reached number one on those charts covering another 1970s classic, "Don't Leave Me This Way", in 1986.
The Communards version was also featured in the episode "Father's Day", which was set in 1987, in the first series of the revived Doctor Who. It also could be heard in the final episode of Whites, featuring a dance number by Stephen Wight and as the signature tune to the 2013 British comedy series Vicious.
A music video was produced for this version of the song, directed by Andy Morahan.
Isaac Hayes version
Isaac Hayes first recorded the song for his 1971 album Black Moses. Released as a single, this version reached #5 on the Billboard R&B chart, #19 on the Easy Listening chart, and #22 on the Hot 100. Hayes re-recorded the tune for the soundtrack of the 2008 film Soul Men, in which he appears alongside Samuel L. Jackson and Bernie Mac. The film's producers dedicated the 2008 version to both Mac and Hayes, who both died before the project was released.
Other covers
The song has been covered by many other artists, including Grant Green, Andy Williams, Junior Walker, The Supremes (in 1971), Smokey Robinson (in 1973), Cal Tjader, David T. Walker, The Sandpipers, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Johnny "Hammond" Smith, Herbie Mann, Yazz, Sheena Easton, Gerald Albright, Sonny & Cher, Westlife, The Impact of Brass and Matchstik "The Mj Tribute".
Guitarist Zachary Breaux covered the song on his 1997 album, Uptown Groove, which was his final studio album released before his death, one month later after the album's release.
In 1998, Gloria Estefan included "Never Can Say Goodbye" as part of her "70's Moment Medley", recorded as a b-side for her single "Don't Let This Moment End". Other hits included in the medley were "I Thought It Took a Little Time", "If I Can't Have You", "This Time Baby" and "Don't Leave Me This Way".
Vanessa Williams covered the song for her 2005 studio album Everlasting Love. Her version features George Benson.
In 2008, pianist David Benoit recorded a version for his covers album Heroes and saxophonist Gerald Albright covered the song on the album Sax for Stax. In 2009, keyboardist Bob Baldwin along with guitarist Chuck Loeb covered the song from Bob's album Lookin' Back.
In 2010, Singapore singer Olivia Ong recorded a cover on her album Olivia.
Frank Ocean covered this song as a medley with "Close To You" during his Blonde Tour in Summer 2017.
Television, film, and stage performances
- Nicole Kidman sings a few lines of the song in the animated film Happy Feet (2006)
- Will Ferrell sang the song on the first episode of The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien
- Jorge Núñez sang the song on the top 13 show on American Idol season 8
- The song is used in the Broadway musical Disaster.
Glee
Dianna Agron covered the song in 2012 during the eleventh episode of the third season of the American musical television series Glee, entitled "Michael". The performance received mostly positive reviews. Jen Chaney of The Washington Post gave the song a "B-", and said it "worked much better than every track that preceded it" because it adapted the song to the show "instead of trying to out-Jackson Jackson". Entertainment Weekly's Joseph Brannigan Lynch called it "a nice summation of her character's journey, but not vocally impressive enough to justify listening to outside of the episode" and gave it a "B". Crystal Bell of HuffPost TV described it as a "blah performance", but Kate Stanhope of TV Guide said it was "sweet and reflective". Erica Futterman of Rolling Stone wrote that it was "a tune well-suited for Quinn's sultry voice and the flipped meaning she gives the lyrics", and TVLine's Michael Slezak had a similar take: he gave it an "A" and called it a "remarkably lovely fit" for her voice.
Samples and remixes
The Neptunes remixed "Never Can Say Goodbye" on the 2009 Michael Jackson remix album The Remix Suite.
Astro rapped over the song on a 2011 episode of The X Factor USA.
In 2012, Wu-Tang Clan rapper Raekwon released his cover version of the song in which he raps over the instrumental.
In popular culture
While appearing on The Hollywood Squares Clifton Davis sang a bit of the song a capella and then was asked who wrote the song. His answer was "I did" to which the contestant agreed (and was correct).
Personnel
- Written by Clifton Davis
"Never Can Say Goodbye" was originally copyrighted on June 10, 1970 [EU0000187089] and then was copyrighted again on December 21, 1970 [EP0000281027].
The Jackson 5
- Lead vocals: Michael Jackson
- Background vocals: Jackie Jackson, Tito Jackson, Jermaine Jackson and Marlon Jackson
- Produced by Hal Davis
- Instrumentation by various Los Angeles studio musicians including David T. Walker
Gloria Gaynor
- Lead vocals: Gloria Gaynor
- Produced by the Disco Corporation of America (Meco Monardo, Tony Bongiovi, Jay Ellis producers; Harold Wheeler arranger)
References
External links
- Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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