| "The Show Must Go On" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
&sq=&lang=&file=File:Leo-Sayer-The-Show-Must-Go-On.jpg) German vinyl single | ||||
| Single by Leo Sayer | ||||
| from the album Silverbird | ||||
| B-side | "Tomorrow" | |||
| Released | 1973 | |||
| Recorded | 1973 | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 3:30 2:53 (7" version) | |||
| Label | Chrysalis | |||
| Songwriter(s) | ||||
| Producer(s) |
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| Leo Sayer singles chronology | ||||
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&sq=&lang=&file=File:Leo_Sayer_-_TopPop_1974_06.png)
| "The Show Must Go On" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
&sq=&lang=&file=File:The_Show_Must_Go_On_-_Three_Dog_Night.jpg) Dutch vinyl single | ||||
| Single by Three Dog Night | ||||
| from the album Hard Labor | ||||
| B-side | "On the Way Back Home" | |||
| Released | 16 March, 1974[1] | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 4:23 (album version) 3:37 (single version) | |||
| Label | Dunhill | |||
| Songwriter(s) | ||||
| Producer(s) | Jimmy Ienner | |||
| Three Dog Night singles chronology | ||||
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"The Show Must Go On" is a song co-written by Leo Sayer and David Courtney and first recorded by Sayer. It was released in the United Kingdom in 1973, becoming Sayer's first hit record (reaching its chart peak of number 2 in early 1974 in the UK). The song reached number 3 on the Irish Singles Chart in January 1974,[2] and was included on Sayer's debut album Silverbird.
The song was covered by Three Dog Night, whose version was released in 1974, becoming a hit in the United States, peaking at number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and sung by vocalist Chuck Negron. The record reached number one on the Cashbox pop chart, number 2 on the Canadian RPM Magazine charts, and became their seventh and final gold record.
It uses a circus theme as a metaphor for dealing with the difficulties and wrong choices of life. Early in Sayer's career, he performed it dressed and made up as a pierrot clown. Like the album version on Sayer's debut album, Three Dog Night's version also quotes Julius Fučík's "Entrance of the Gladiators" which is commonly associated with circus clowns.
In Sayer's version, the last line of the chorus is "I won't let the show go on". Three Dog Night changed this line to "I must let the show go on", which Sayer has criticized.[3]
- ^ "Cash Box Magazine Record Producers July 6, 1974" (PDF). Retrieved 3 August 2019.
- ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 483. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- ^ Sayer, Leo (8 July 2016). "Leo Sayer on His 'Restless Years' With Hendrix, McCartney and Daltrey (Q&A)". Rock Cellar Magazine (Interview). Interviewed by Frank Mastropolo. Archived from the original on 28 January 2021. Retrieved 2 March 2022.