"Until You Come Back to Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)" is a song written by

Morris Broadnax Morris Ervin Broadnax (February 9, 1931 – February 17, 2009), sometimes credited as Luvel Broadnax (the name of his first wife), was an American songwriter for Motown in the 1960s, most notably working with Stevie Wonder with whom, along ...

Clarence Paul Clarence Otto Pauling (March 19, 1928 – May 6, 1995) better known and published as Clarence Paul, was an American songwriter, record producer and singer who was best known for his career with Detroit's Motown Records. Early life and career Bo ...

, and

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, pop, s ...

. The song was originally recorded by Stevie Wonder in 1967, but his version was not released as a single and did not appear on an album until 1977's anthology '' Looking Back''. The best-known version of this song is the 1973 release by

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the " Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in '' Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". Wit ...

, who had a million-selling top 10 hit on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

'' charts. The song reached No. 1 on the

R&B chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

and No. 3 on the

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

chart in 1974. It became an

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/ ...

Gold record Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

. With this peak at number three, Franklin became the first artist in the history of the Hot 100 chart to have a hit song peak at each position from one to ten on the chart. To date, only four other artists have achieved this feat:

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...

in 1983,

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

in 1996,

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name ...

in 2013, and

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her vivid songwriting—often inspired by her personal life—has received critical praise and wide media coverage. Bo ...

in 2015. Aretha's version of the song was ranked by ''Billboard'' as the No. 11 song for 1974.

Personnel

;Aretha Franklin version * Aretha Franklin – lead vocals, acoustic piano *

Kenneth Bichel Ken Bichel is an American actor, composer, conductor, pianist, and synthesizer musician. Musical career Bichel attended the Juilliard School where he graduated with a master's degree in piano performance in 1969. While at Juilliard he met Gersh ...

– synthesizer * Margaret Branch – background vocals * Ann S. Clark – background vocals *

Donny Hathaway Donny Edward Hathaway (October 1, 1945 – January 13, 1979) was an American soul singer, keyboardist, songwriter, and arranger whom ''Rolling Stone'' described as a "soul legend". His most popular songs include " The Ghetto", "This Christmas ...

– electric piano *

Hugh McCracken Hugh Carmine McCracken (March 31, 1942 – March 28, 2013) was an American rock guitarist and session musician based in New York City, primarily known for his performance on guitar and also as a harmonica player. McCracken was additionally a ...

– guitar *

Bernard Purdie Bernard Lee "Pretty" Purdie (born June 11, 1939) is an American drummer, and an influential R&B, soul and funk musician. He is known for his precise musical time keeping and his signature use of triplets against a half-time backbeat: the "Purdie ...

– drums *

Chuck Rainey Charles Walter Rainey III (born June 17, 1940) is an American bass guitarist who has performed and recorded with many well-known acts, including Aretha Franklin, Steely Dan, and Quincy Jones. Rainey is credited for playing bass on more than 1,0 ...

– electric bass * Pat Smith – background vocals *

Richard Tee Richard Edward Tee (born Richard Edward Ten Ryk; November 24, 1943 – July 21, 1993) was an American pianist, studio musician, singer and arranger, who had several hundred studio credits and played on such notable hits as "In Your Eyes", " Sl ...

– organ *

Arif Mardin Arif Mardin (March 15, 1932 – June 25, 2006) was a Turkish-American music producer, who worked with hundreds of artists across many different styles of music, including jazz, rock, soul, disco and country. He worked at Atlantic Records for o ...

– horn arrangement, string arrangement * Joe Farrell – flute *

Gene Orloff Gene Orloff (June 14, 1921 – March 23, 2009) was an American violinist, concertmaster, arranger, contractor and session musician. Background The son of a Russian immigrant violin maker, Orloff would try and get his father's violin down from the ...

– concert master

Track listing

*7" single :A. "Until You Come Back to Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)" – 3:25 :B. "If You Don't Think" – 3:49

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Miki Howard version

Miki Howard recorded the song for her 1989 self-titled album. Her version was an R&B hit in 1990 when it peaked at No. 3 on Billboard's Hot Black Singles chart.

Mark Romanek Mark Romanek (; born September 18, 1959) is an American filmmaker whose directing work includes feature films, television, music videos and commercials. Romanek wrote and directed the 2002 film ''One Hour Photo'' and directed the 2010 film '' Neve ...

directed the video for Howard's rendition.

Track listings

*US 7" vinyl single :A: "Until You Come Back to Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)" – 4:03 :B: "

Come Share My Love ''Come Share My Love'' is the debut studio album by American R&B singer Miki Howard. Released on November 19, 1986, under Atlantic Records label, the album peaked at #171 on the Billboard 200 and #19 on the Billboard R&B Albums Chart. Howard scor ...

" – 4:43 *US 12" vinyl single :A: "Until You Come Back to Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)" (Remix 12" Version) – 5:22 :B1: "Until You Come Back to Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)" (LP Version) – 4:00 :B2: "Until You Come Back to Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)" (Remix Dub) – 4:46 *UK 12" vinyl single :A: "Until You Come Back to Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)" (Brixton Bass Mix) – 5:20 :B1: "Until You Come Back to Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)" (LP Version) – 4:00 :B2: "Come Share My Love" (LP Version) – 4:43 *UK CD single # "Until You Come Back to Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)" – 4:05 # "Come Share My Love" – 4:42 # "Until You Come Back to Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)" (Brixton Bass Mix) – 5:20

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Other cover versions

*In 1983,

Leo Sayer Gerard Hugh "Leo" Sayer (born 21 May 1948) is an English-Australian singer and songwriter whose singing career has spanned five decades. He has been an Australian citizen and resident since 2009. Sayer launched his career in the United Kingdom ...

featured a cover on his album '' Have You Ever Been in Love'', and released it as a single, titled "Till You Come Back to Me". It reached no. 51 in the UK. *The song was again covered in 1983 by

Luther Vandross Luther Ronzoni Vandross Jr. (April 20, 1951 – July 1, 2005) was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Known for his sweet and soulful vocals, Vandross has sold over 40 million records worldwide. He achieved eleven consecutive P ...

who released it on his album '' Busy Body'' as part of a medley with "

Superstar A superstar is someone who has great popular appeal and is widely known, prominent, or successful in their field. Celebrities referred to as "superstars" may include individuals who work as actors, musicians, athletes, and other media-based profe ...

", as well as its closing track. The medley peaked at no. 87 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and no. 5 on the

Hot Black Singles The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

chart in 1984. *

Basia Barbara Stanisława Trzetrzelewska (Polish: , born 30 September 1954), better known as Basia, is a Polish singer-songwriter and recording artist noted for her Latin-inspired jazz-pop music. She began singing professionally in various Polish ban ...

recorded this song on her 1990 album ''

London Warsaw New York ''London Warsaw New York'' is the second solo studio album by Polish-born singer–songwriter Basia, released in February 1990 by Epic Records. It spawned one of Basia's biggest hits, " Cruising for Bruising". Overview The album's title was inspi ...

''. When released as a single, her version reached no. 33 on ''

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

chart. The music video for her cover featured footage shot in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...

, with scenes including the

Alaskan Way Viaduct The Alaskan Way Viaduct ("the viaduct" for short) was an elevated freeway in Seattle, Washington, United States, that carried a section of State Route 99 (SR 99). The double-decked freeway ran north–south along the city's waterfront for ...

and the landmark Paramount Theatre. The clip was directed by Nick Morris.

References

{{Authority control 1967 songs Aretha Franklin songs Atlantic Records singles Basia songs Epic Records singles Leo Sayer songs Luther Vandross songs Miki Howard songs Songs written by Clarence Paul Songs written by Morris Broadnax Songs written by Stevie Wonder Sony Music singles Stevie Wonder songs Torch songs 1973 singles