Who Did It Better? I'll Never Stop Loving You

Who Did It Better? 

I’ll Never Stop Loving You 

For today's Who Did It Better? selection we have a song written by a pair of musical heavyweights along with a girlfriend of one of the legendary artists. Will the song live up to it's title? Stay tuned to find out!

I'll Never Stop Loving You was written by David Cassidy, John Wetton and Sue Shifrin. Both Cassidy and Wetton have quite the musical history.

Wetton, a songwriter and bass player, was a key member of the super group Asia, as well as spending time in such notable bands as King Crimson, U.K, Roxy Music, and Wishbone Ash.

Cassidy, a former teen idol, Top 40 favorite, and star of the popular television program The Partridge Family, was in a relationship with Shifrin at the time the song was written. The two would marry on March 30, 1991. It was Cassidy's third marriage and Shifrin's second. That same year, they had a child, Beau.

The song was first recorded as Never Stop Loving You by Heart and released on their Japanese special edition bonus CD for their 1990 album, Brigade. It  can also be found on the Heart compilation Ballads: The Greatest Hits  which was first released in 1997 and then reissued in 2001. 

Produced by Ritchie Zito (Cheap Trick, Eddie Money, The Motels), Brigade was the group's tenth studio album. Released on March 26, 1990, by Capitol Records and featuring material written by others, it was their third successful album for the label, reaching #3 on both the US and the UK albums charts while peaking at #2 in Canada, Finland, and Sweden.

In 1991, Ritchie Zito, along with Bob Rock, would team up with Cher for her 20th studio album, Love Hurts. Zito thought I'll Never Stop Loving You was a perfect fit for the artist, and Cher agreed. Released on June 18, 1991, by Geffen Records, the album would serve as her final studio album with the record company after a four-year recording contract. Spinning off five singles, the album peaked at #48 on the Billboard's Top 200 albums chart.  

The song was recorded once more, in 1992, by David Cassidy for a one-off album on Scotti Brothers Records. Didn't You Used To Be... was the singer's ninth studio album and features ten tracks written or co-written by his wife, Sue Shifrin. The album was a big hit with his diehard fans.

 

Sadly, and contrary to the title of the song they'd written together, in August of 2013, Cassidy and Shifrin separated, with Shifrin filing for divorce in February 2014.

And that's the whole story.

Now? On to the competition!

The Song: I'll Never Stop Loving You

The Competitors: Heart vs. Cher vs. Cassidy

Never Stop Loving You - Heart

I'll Never Stop Loving You - Cher

I'll Never Stop Loving You - David Cassidy

Heart

This is not my favorite era of Heart. While I was happy for them and their success, it made me sad that they were no longer writing their own material. I get it; it was a trade-off, and better that, than had they faded into obscurity. Most rock 'n roll acts are lucky if they get one act - Heart has played out three.

And, while Ritchie Zito was once voted Producer Of The Year, he is not someone I want shaping the sound of this particular band. But he is, and he did. 

That intro? Bombastic to say the least. But those screaming guitars were all the rage, helping to fill stadiums and sell units. That said, it could be just about anybody. Whitesnake? Toto? Bad Religion? 

But the moment we get to the vocals, there's no mistaking who this is; Anne Wilson's instrument is truly remarkable. Listen to how she tries to create a bit of interplay between her voice and that inelegantly plucked guitar. So, given her incredible pipes, why Zito feels the need to electronically treat them is beyond me - unless he's attempting to make up for what may be weak material. 

As we work that bridge into the chorus, Zito does everything expected, which is to say, he's clearly not interested in actually bringing an ounce of creativity to this arrangement or mix. If Anne is simply punching the clock, one would never know it. She sounds amazing. Too bad she's riding on top of a flank of schlock guitars and a wooden-stiff rhythm section. Zeppelin, this is not, kids.

That chorus? It's get out your Bic lighters and crowd wave time all the way. The harmonies help add a bit of depth. But all I am thinking is... I wish Elvis had lived long enough to record this song. 

My word. Apparently all the guitars only have one volume in a Zito run studio. Could that instrumental bridge be any more by-the-numbers?

And, as is typical of Anne, with the second chorus, she takes more risks, not that they always pay off. Here? No. No, they do not. 

Leaden drums. 

You know... I was never that enamored with hair metal in it's early stages, and by the time it had been incorporated by bands like Heart, while it sounded great on MTV and made for fun videos, it rarely made for great music. 

Anne came out pushing hard, and she just keeps doing so. Maybe she's trying to propel the whole thing forward so that she can go home?

A bit of muscle appears on the bridge (I like that chugging rhythm) to the key change, and it's a subtle one - it had to be, for if they reached much higher this would end up in shrill territory real fast (not that it isn't already.) 

Well, not a single surprise in the whole thing. Not a breath of air. Nada.

Still... one must say, Anne certainly more than earned her paycheck that day.

Cher

Zito on the board with Bob Rock. The intro is a bit more melodic. Clearly, they noticed the orotund knob and turned it down to eight.

Cher is in halting, vulnerable mode. Three albums into her rocker chick persona, I think she probably was on the look out for a new door to walk through. And clearly, the producers know that Cher is not Anne Wilson and they compensate by toning everything down a notch so that listeners actually notice that a song is being sung. 

Nice harmonies. Same leaden rhythm section, head banger nonsense. But Cher remains true to herself. Love that vibrato. Love her depth of delivery. 

That said, that chorus plods like a Clydesdale in the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade.

Second chorus works a bit better, here. I like that keyboard, with its Asian-tinged vibe.

And there's a hint of that chunky rhythm that played well in Heart's instrumental break. It's too bad that wasn't brought out more often. It would have broken up the predictability of this arrangement.

Oddly enough, when it does come to the instrumental break, the only really interesting thing that was in the Heart version is missing in action.  

Tiny key change. Blah blah. Well, at least it ends.

David Cassidy

This came out immediately after an interesting phase in another former pop idol's output.  Donny Osmond, in 1988, was clearly taking a page out of George Michael's playbook when he suddenly reappeared in the Top 40 with 1988's Soldier Of Love. That album yielded two Top 40 hits. And then he rode that same sound in 1991 for an additional album and was rewarded with a third Top 40 hit. 

Here? I would think Cassidy is taking a page out of Donny Osmond's playbook - except...

Cassidy got there first. 

In 1985 he had a #6 hit in the UK with Last Kiss, a song that featured backing vocals by... George Michael. 

This? This is Father Figure. 

Cassidy's vocals are... all over the place. It's almost like there are three singers in there.  He keeps moving his vocal sound into various cavities, but without reason. Still, pleasant enough. My favorite is his breathy pop sound. It's straight forward, clear, clean and right for the job. My least favorite is that hooded-nasal thing he keeps doing. It's like his eyebrows are bearing down on his sinuses or something. 

That's Treana Morris swooping in. She sounds great. 

And they sound great together. This is such a pleasant surprise. I'm finally getting a sense of this song. It's well-constructed. 

So, the production work here is thin... a little cheap - rather typical of anything ever released on Scotti Brothers Records. That's okay. I'll take this over what came before. This is a lovely Adult Contemporary take. It's clean. And it sounds relatively fresh. 

Oh, I love that fake guitar on the instrumental break. That brought a tear to my eye.

I even like the key change.

I must also say, I'm imagining Cassidy singing this with Cher using this arrangement with a bit of richness added to the mix. 

Interesting ending. 

The Verdict

Heart  and Zito deliver a hunk of steely, predictable, faceless corporate rock. Anne is in great form, but she's merely punching the clock here, kids. The guitars are so overamped they could be playing just about any song from the era. There's a reason that this ended up as an extra track on the Japan release, although, to be honest, it's not all that different than what made the actual album's final cut. A product of its time, to be sure.

Cher, with Zito and Rock in tow, take a bit more melodic approach, toning down the excesses of Heart's version, but it's still a rather by-the-numbers affair. The singer is in fine form, providing a bit of warmth, while clearly more focused on the actual content of the song. Unfortunately, even her well-honed pop smarts can't pull much of a hook out of that plodding chorus.

Going in, I was pretty sure Cher was going to steal this. And I bet, for a number of you, she's still your choice. But...

For me, this goes to Cassidy, as ably assisted by Treana Morris. Yes, it's got a very familiar George Michael quality to it, but the song's not anything Michael would have created. It succeeds despite the thin quality of the production, and I feel Cassidy ends up with the version that does justice to the song itself. 

Sometimes? Songwriters know best. 

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And that's enough of me.

Okay, your turn. Leave your choice and thoughts in the comments section. I love hearing a differing opinion. 

Until next time...

Thanks for reading... and listening!

Last Kiss - David Cassidy