When Will I See You Again

"When Will I See You Again"
Single by The Three Degrees
from the album The Three Degrees
Released	1974
Recorded	1973
Genre	Soul, R&B
Length	3:00
Label	Philadelphia International Records
Writer(s)	Gamble and Huff
Producer	Gamble and Huff
The Three Degrees singles chronology
"Love Is the Message" (1974) "When Will I See You Again" (1974) "Get Your Love Back" (1974)

"When Will I See You Again" is a song by American soul group The Three Degrees, from their third album The Three Degrees. The song was written and produced by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff.

It was one of the most successful recordings of the "Philly Soul" era. In the U.S., the song reached number one on the adult contemporary chart, number two on the pop singles chart and disco chart and number four on the R&B chart in the autumn of 1974. In the UK, it fared even better, spending two weeks at the top of the British pop chart in August 1974. The Three Degrees performed the song at Prince Charles' 30th birthday party at Buckingham Palace in 1977.

Sheila Ferguson recalled that "the song was played to me by Kenny Gamble at the piano in 1973 and I threw a tantrum. I screamed and yelled and said I would never sing it. I thought it was ridiculously insulting to be given such a simple song and that it took no talent to sing it. We did do it and several million copies later, I realized that he knew more than me."

Magda Layna performed a disco version of the song.

Cover versions

• Ami Apselund recorded the Finnish rendering of the song: "Koska Sun Taas Nähdä Saan", on her 1976 album Yön Jälkeen.
• British boy band Brother Beyond covered the song on their 1989 album Trust, peaking at #43 in the UK Singles Chart.
• British ska band Bad Manners recorded the song for a demo in 1976 and it was finally released as part of their 1999 compilation Rare & Fatty.
• German singer Thomas Anders covered the song for his 1993 album of the same name.
• British synthpop duo Erasure covered it for their 2003 cover album Other People's Songs.
• Billy Bragg recorded a cover of the song on his Must I Paint You A Picture? compilation; it had previously been featured on the compilation album Ruby Trax.
• Priscilla Chan, a Hong Kong-based Cantopop singer, also covered it as a popular bilingual dance song.
• Kyōko Koizumi covered the song, retitled "Tenshi no sasayaki", on her 1992 Koizumix Production's Bambinater mini-album.
• British female group The Dream Girls recorded the song in 1993.

In popular culture

• The song was featured in the Philly-based musical Me and Mrs Jones.
• In Kill Bill 2, Bill claims it's his favorite soul song of the 1970s.
• In summer 2006, the song was used in a television advertisement by the UK's Food Standards Agency warning against the dangers of food poisoning at barbecues.
• The song was used in one of the final scenes of the teen movie Can't Hardly Wait.
• The song was used in advertisements for Hungry Jack's (Burger King's) Whopper burger in Australia in the late 1990s & early 2000s.
• The song was used in advertisements for Heineken beer in Russia in 2010.

References

Preceded by "Rock Your Baby" by George McCrae	UK number one single August 17, 1974 for two weeks	Succeeded by "Love Me For A Reason" by The Osmonds
Preceded by "Angie Baby" by Helen Reddy	Billboard Easy Listening Singles number-one single by The Three Degrees December 14, 1974	Succeeded by "Wishing You Were Here" by Chicago