Never Can Say Good-Bye by The Jackson Five

Never Can Say Good-bye

1971

The Jackson Five

The Jackson Five's sixth consecutive Top 5 hit...heck, fifth consecutive Top 2 hit...was a chart-topper everywhere but the scoreboard, and it very likely just barely missed there. It was catchy, popular, well loved, covered by just about everyone who ever sang a note, and...wasn't originally written for The Jackson Five.

'Never Can Say Goodbye' was written by a gent of some song-writing repute named Clifton Davis, and was originally written for The Supremes, but Berry Gordy took a look at it, very likely squinted meaningfully, and decided that it would be a perfect fit for his newest...and youngest...rising super-group, and particularly for that group's lead singer, the fact that it would mean an eleven year old would be singing a very serious song about love notwithstanding. This, of course,  wouldn't be the first time Michael Jackson and brothers had sung and struck recording gold and /or platinum with such a tune.

'Never Can Say Goodbye's short, distinctive intro was all over Top-40 radio during the spring of '71, and we Seventies Kids gave it plenty of love...enough so that, as noted, we almost took it to #1. The song was a springtime hit for 1971, debuting on The Billboard Hot 100 at #57 on April 3^rd, '71 and breaking into the Top 20 the very next week, at #15. It'd crack the Top 10 two weeks later, at #4, and peak at #2 on May 5^th, hanging on to the runner up spot for three weeks before dropping off the charts on June 19^th after a not at all shabby 12 week chart run. Seven of those twelve weeks were spent in the Top Ten. While it was at it, Never Can Say Goodbye went one better on the Billboard Black Singles Chart, snagging that chart's Top Spot.

This one was one of two J-5 hits that pretty much transcended all age demographics (The other was 'I'll Be There') because so many people could identify with it...all of us have had a girl or boy friend who we just could not let go of...no matter how they treated us, and that essentially's what this tune's about...pretty heady stuff for an eleven year old!

Of course, the kids in the age demo that Motown targeted when they released The Jackson Five into the world loved it because of the sound...like all of their hits it was catchy and fun to listen to (And to dance to), and it had a tendency to get stuck in your head all day.

BUT!...and this is a biggie...these fans weren't the only people who took notice by any means. Three years later the suits at a newly minted recording concern known as Disco Corporation of America grabbed it, gave it to their writing team, who took it way up-tempo and tweaked every facet of it before offering it to a newly signed lady by the name of Gloria Gaynor. Gloria Gaynor then gave it her own signature sound, sass, and personality and made into the very first song to ever top a Disco chart, at the same time taking it to # 9 on The Billboard Hot 100. Her version of the song is likely just as well remembered by Us Seventies Kids as the J-5 version, and is just as likely...if not a bit more likely..to be heard on the Oldies Stations as the original.

Whichever version you lean towards, it's a classic, and MJ and his bros'll still be telling that unnamed young lady that they can't say good-bye to her for decades after we've said our last good-byes ourselves. 

So Enjoy! Never Can Say Good-bye by The Jackson Five!


And as a Bonus Vid...Gloria Gaynor's kickin' cover of  'Never Can Say Goodbye!'  The lady most definitively had some serious pipes!(Ignore the couple of seconds of music at the beginning and end of the video...it's intro music added by the video's creator to all of his/her vids).