Never (Moving Pictures song)

"Never"
Japan release cover
Single by Moving Pictures
from the album Footloose
B-sideWe Share Our Love[1]
ReleasedMay 28, 1984 (1984-05-28) (Australia)[1]
StudioRecord Plant, Los Angeles, California, U.S.[2]
GenrePop rock
Length3:45
LabelColumbia
EMI (Australia)[1]
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)John Boylan
Moving Pictures singles chronology
"Back to the Blues and Booze"
(1983) 		"Never"
(1984) 		"What About Me (Re-release)"
(1989)

"Never" is a song written by Dean Pitchford and Michael Gore and recorded by Australian pop rock band Moving Pictures. It was featured on the chart-topping soundtrack album of the 1984 motion picture Footloose.[3][4] The song is best known for a scene in the film when an angst-ridden Ren McCormack (Kevin Bacon) punchdances around an abandoned warehouse.[5][2]

The song was also included in the soundtrack of the 2007 film Hot Rod, which parodies the punchdance scene with Rod Kimble (Andy Samberg) in a forest.[6][7] More recently, on April 27, 2014, the song was used in "Baby Got Black", the eighteenth episode of season 12 of Family Guy, with Peter Griffin parodying the Footloose punchdance scene.[8]

Despite the popularity of the song, Moving Pictures were never paid royalties from its use. According to lead vocalist Alex Smith, “We were just the lowest part of the food chain. Gobbled up by companies and people that suddenly stopped existing, when we asked where our money was. The things you get talked into doing! Anyway we got to record at Sound City and The Record Plant but a couple of bucks would have been nice. Hence, we 'Never' play the song.”[2][5][8][9] Guitarist Garry Frost also commented: "We performed it, it was written by the guys that made the movie, and we got nothing from it. Someone made a lot of money out of that song, and it wasn’t us."[10]

  1. ^ a b c "Moving Pictures - "Never"/"We Share Our Love"". 45cat. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  2. ^ a b c "Moving Pictures: Never paid for 'Never'". Newcastle Live!. 20 April 2016. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  3. ^ Footloose: Original Soundtrack Of The Paramount Motion Picture, 1 January 1987, ASIN B0000025YY
  4. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Footloose [Original Soundtrack]". AllMusic. TiVo Corporation. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  5. ^ a b Spree, Kylie (1 May 2011). "Return to Innocence for Iconic Eighties Band Moving Pictures". The Sunday Telegraph. News Limited (News Corporation). Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  6. ^ "Hot Rod (2007)". The SoundtrackInfo Project. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  7. ^ Tyner, Adam (16 December 2008). "Hot Rod (Blu-ray)". DVDTalk. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  8. ^ a b Cashmere, Paul (29 April 2014). "Moving Pictures Family Guy Synch Is Bittersweet For Alex Smith". Noise11. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  9. ^ Chrisfield, Bryget (30 November 2015). "That Time Alex Smith From Moving Pictures Asked, "Who's Shannon Noll?"". The Music. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  10. ^ Rockman, Lisa (22 April 2016). "Moving Pictures are back on the road and ready to record". The Newcastle Herald. Retrieved 17 February 2020.