Never Can Say Goodbye

For the Gloria Gaynor album, see Never Can Say Goodbye (Gloria Gaynor album). For the Joey DeFrancesco album, see Never Can Say Goodbye: The Music of Michael Jackson.

"Never Can Say Goodbye"
Single by Jackson 5
from the album Maybe Tomorrow
Released	March 16, 1971 (U.S.)
Format	Vinyl record (7" 45 RPM)
Recorded	June 1970 Hitsville West, Los Angeles, CA
Genre	Soul
Length	2:58
Label	Motown
Writer(s)	Clifton Davis
Producer	Hal Davis
Jackson 5 singles chronology
"Mama's Pearl" (1970) "Never Can Say Goodbye" (1971) "Maybe Tomorrow" (1971)

"Never Can Say Goodbye" is a song written by Clifton Davis and originally recorded by 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 Hi-NRG/dance-pop group The Communards.

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 number-two hit on the Billboard Pop Singles chart and a number-one hit on the Billboard Black Singles chart in the United States. In the United Kingdom, it reached number thirty-three on the UK Singles Chart. An alternate version appears on the Jackson 5 CD "I Want You Back! Unreleased Masters" released in 2009.

Gloria Gaynor version

"Never Can Say Goodbye"
Single by Gloria Gaynor
from the album Never Can Say Goodbye
B-side	"We Just Can't Make It"
Released	November 13, 1974 (U.S.)
Format	Vinyl record (7" 45 RPM)
Recorded	1974
Genre	Soul, Disco
Length	3:00
Label	MGM Records
Writer(s)	Clifton Davis
Producer	Jay Ellis, Meco Monardo, Tony Bongiovi, Harold Wheeler
Gloria Gaynor singles chronology
"Honey Bee" (1974) "Never Can Say Goodbye" (1974) Reach Out, I'll Be There" (1975)

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, in the UK, Gaynor's version peaked at #2 in the chart during January 1975. This version, 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.

Though perhaps best known for her 1978/1979 hit "I Will Survive", Gaynor's version of "Never Can Say Goodbye" has the distinction of occupying the number-one spot on the very first Dance/Disco chart ever to appear in Billboard magazine. Never Can Say Goodbye was also the title of Gaynor's debut album on which the single appeared.

The Newark, New Jersey, native has re-recorded the song on more than one occasion, in increasingly Hi-NRG tempos, and subsequent remixes have hit the dance charts.

The Communards version

"Never Can Say Goodbye"
Single by The Communards
from the album Red
B-side	"'77, The Great Escape" (7") "Tomorrow" [Remix] (U.S. 12")
Released	1987 (International release)
Format	Vinyl record (7" 45) (12" single) CD Maxi Single
Genre	Hi-NRG/Dance/Disco
Length	4:30 (7" 45 RPM) 7:50 (12" single) 7:50 and 5:35 (CD Maxi single)
Label	London Records (UK) / MCA Records (U.S.) / Metronome (Germany)
Writer(s)	Clifton Davis
Producer	Stephen Hague Remix and additional production by Shep Pettibone
The Communards singles chronology
"Tomorrow" (1987) "Never Can Say Goodbye" (1987) "For a Friend" (1988)

In 1987, British pop band The Communards had a hit with a Hi-NRG cover of the Clifton Davis classic, which was featured on their second album, Red.

Scottish lead singer Jimmy Somerville, openly gay on record since his previous band Bronski Beat released "Smalltown Boy" in 1984, performed a falsetto version faithful to Gaynor's disco take, right down to the pronouns "you know you love him more and more" and "never can say goodbye, boy".

The Communards' version reached number four in the UK Singles Chart 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 energetic music video of this version is classified as a classic by cable video channel VH1.^{[citation needed]}

The Communards version was also featured in Father's Day, in the first series of the revived Doctor Who, set in 1987, and the final episode of Whites, featuring a dance number [1] by Stephen Wight.

Other covers

The song was later covered by a number of artists, including Isaac Hayes, 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, Vanessa Williams, Gerald Albright, Sonny & Cher, David Benoit, Westlife, The Impact of Brass and Matchstik "The Mj Tribute".

Isaac Hayes recorded the song in 1971 and re-recorded it for 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.

In 2008, pianist David Benoit recorded a version for his covers-packed album "Heroes" and saxophonist Gerald Albright covered the song on the album "Sax for Stax." In 2009, urban jazz keyboardist Bob Baldwin along with guitarist Chuck Loeb covered the song from Bob's album "Lookin' Back."

In 2010, Chinese singer Olivia Ong recorded a bossa nova based cover on her Olivia album.

Guitarist Zachary Breaux covered the song on his 1997 album, Uptown Groove and the final studio album released before his untimely death the following month.

The Astronomical Kid sampled the song in a performance during The X Factor USA

Dianna Agron, who plays Quinn Fabray in the hit show Glee, covered the song in 2012.

In popular culture

• The Jackson 5 version appears in the 1994 movie Crooklyn and on the second volume of its soundtrack album.
• 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.
• The song was in the Charmed episode "That 70's Episode".
• Jorge Núñez sang the song on the top 13 show on American Idol season 8.
• J Xavier sampled the Jackson 5 version for his single, "I Love My Music".
• Dianna Agron sang the song on an episode of the hit TV show Glee.

The Neptunes remixed Never Can Say Goodbye on the album The Remix Suite (2009).

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

Gloria Gaynor

• Lead vocals: Gloria Gaynor
• Produced by the Disco Corporation of America (Meco Monardo, Tony Bongiovi, Jay Ellis producers; Harold Wheeler arranger)

References

Preceded by "What's Going On" by Marvin Gaye	Billboard Best Selling Soul Singles number-one single (The Jackson 5 version) May 1, 1971 – May 15, 1971	Succeeded by "Bridge over Troubled Water" by Aretha Franklin
Preceded by none	Billboard Hot Dance Club Play number-one single (Gloria Gaynor version) October 26, 1974 – November 16, 1974	Succeeded by "Express" by B.T. Express