Who Did It Better? Never Can Say Goodbye - The Winner!

Who Did It Better?

Never Can Say Goodbye - The Winner!

First - a bit of a recap.

Marking the 101st song we've examined as part of the Who Did It Better? series, after having examined nine versions, three at a time, and then choosing one among the three finalists, today, we have the winner of our little competition.

We looked at the following versions:

The Supremes vs. The Jackson 5 vs. Isaac Hayes

Mark Lindsay vs. Gloria Gaynor vs. Smokey Robinson

The Communards vs. Yazz vs. Sheena Easton

Now, they all had something going for them. None of them were unworthy of consideration.

My personal newly discovered favorite? Yazz's new jack swing-influenced/hip hop version - very chill. 

However, the three finalists ended up being:

The Jackson 5 vs. Gloria Gaynor vs. The Communards

And the winner? 

The best version of the classic song, Never Can Say Goodbye, which received the most votes?

The best version of the song written by actor Clifton Davis, who starred in the television sitcoms That's My Mama and Amen and in addition is responsible for such classics as Lookin' Through The Windows and Love Song (The Jackson 5), Can We Fall In Love Again (The Supremes)?

Why that honor goes to...

Ms. Gloria Gaynor!

Never can say goodbye, indeed!

(Like I had any doubt?) 

As the seventies went full-bloom, so did the sexual revolution and... the very adult world of the discotheque.

Gloria Gaynor had a major disco-defining moment in 1974, when her version of the tune became a worldwide smash. Stateside, she nabbed the #9 slot on the Hot 100, and #3 in Canada, while overseas, she fared even better... hitting #2 in the UK, besting The Jackson Five's version in both Canada and the UK. In addition the song got to #3 in Australia, #13 in Germany, #3 in Ireland, #6 in The Netherlands, #8 in South Africa, and #3 in Spain. 

Never Can Say Goodbye - Gloria Gaynor

Produced by the Disco Corporation of America, a production company newly formed by Meco Monardo and Tony Bongiovi, augmented by Jay Ellis and Harold Wheeler and released on MGM Records, her version has the distinction of being the first #1 song on Billboard's Dance/Disco chart (which later would become the Dance/Club Play chart.)

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That's the whole story...

And the whole competition!

Yes, folks... that wraps up another year of Who Did It Better? 

This was #101. 

And don't you worry... we've got plenty more lined up for future Wednesdays. 

Until next time...

Thank you, all... 

For reading, participating, listening and voting!

Never Can Say Goodbye - Gloria Gaynor