"When Will I See You Again" is a song released in 1974 by American soul group

The Three Degrees The Three Degrees is an American female vocal group formed circa 1963 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Although 16 women have been members over the years, the group has always been a trio. The current line-up consists of Helen Scott, Valerie Holi ...

from their third album, ''

''. The song was written and produced by

Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff Kenneth Gamble (born August 11, 1943, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) and Leon A. Huff (born April 8, 1942, Camden, New Jersey) are an American songwriting and production team credited for developing the Philadelphia soul music genre (also known a ...

. Sheila Ferguson sang the lead, accompanied by

Fayette Pinkney Fayette Regina Pinkney (January 10, 1948 – June 27, 2009) was an American singer and one of the original members of musical group The Three Degrees. Early life and career Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Pinkney was one of three young tee ...

and Valerie Holiday. ''Billboard'' named the song #67 on their list of 100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time.

Background

Sheila Ferguson recalled that "the song was played to me by Kenny Gamble at the piano in 1973 and I threw a tantrum. I screamed and yelled and said I would never sing it. I thought it was ridiculously insulting to be given such a simple song and that it took no talent to sing it. We did do it and several million copies later, I realized that he knew more than me." She would later have a #60 hit with a solo remake of the track in 1994. The song is unique in that every sentence is a question, heightening the overall effect and emotion. The Three Degrees performed the song at

Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to a ...

' 30th birthday party at

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...

in 1978.

Music video

The YouTube music video of this song is blocked in the USA, United Kingdom, and Germany because of Sony Music Entertainment copyright grounds.

Chart performance

It was one of the most successful recordings of the "

Philly Soul Philadelphia soul, sometimes called Philly soul, the Philadelphia sound, Phillysound, or The Sound of Philadelphia TSOP, is a genre of late 1960s–1970s soul music characterized by funk influences and lush instrumental arrangements, often featu ...

" era. In the U.S., "When Will I See You Again" peaked at #2 on the pop singles chart, behind "

Kung Fu Fighting "Kung Fu Fighting" is a disco song by Jamaican vocalist Carl Douglas, written by Douglas and produced by British-Indian musician Biddu. It was released in 1974 as the first single from his debut album, '' Kung Fu Fighting and Other Great Lo ...

" by

Carl Douglas Carlton George Douglas (born 10 May 1942) is a Jamaican recording artist based in the UK who is best known for the 1974 disco single "Kung Fu Fighting". Early life Carlton George Douglas was born in Kingston, Colony of Jamaica. He later liv ...

. The song reached #1 on the

adult contemporary chart The Adult Contemporary chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary radio stations in the United States. The chart is compiled based on airplay data submitted to ''Billboard'' by stat ...

, and #4 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 ...

in the autumn of 1974. In the UK, it fared even better, spending two weeks at the top of the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in August 1974.

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Brother Beyond version

British

boy band A boy band is loosely defined as a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform love songs marketed towards girls and young women. Ma ...

Brother Beyond covered the song on their 1989

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records c ...

'' Trust'', that was also released in the Compilation ''Ronny's Pop Show 990/1– Hochfeine Pop-Musik-Schallplatte''.

Track listing

CD maxi # "When Will I See You Again" (Radio Mix) – 4:28 # "New Heights (The Clompete Mix)" (Cloud 9 Mix) – 4:25 # "When Will I See You Again (Extended)" (Gee Extended Mix) – 6:42 7" Single # When Will I See You Again – 3:35 # New Heights (Edit) – 3:20

Charts

Thomas Anders version

In 1993,

Thomas Anders Bernd Weidung (born 1 March 1963), known by his stage name Thomas Anders, is a German singer, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as the lead vocalist of the pop duo Modern Talking. Starting his singing career while still in school ...

released his version of the song with

, which appeared on the same-named album. The success of the cover version was modest. The following year, Anders released a Spanish-language version of the song titled Una mañana de sol.

Track listing

CD maxi # When Will I See You Again – 3:30 # Thomas Anders – Is It My Love 3:40 # When Will I See You Again (Extended Version) – 5:15 7" Single # When Will I See You Again (Precious String-House Mix) – 4:45 # When Will I See You Again (Precious Club Mix) – 5:10 # When Will I See You Again (Precious Outerspace Mix) – 5:32 # When Will I See You Again (Precious Pop Mix) – 5:28

Charts

Other cover versions

* Geoffrey Chung arranged a reggae version released as a 7" on the Antrim label in 1974 with vocals by

Marcia Griffiths Marcia Llyneth Griffiths (born 23 November 1949) is a Jamaican singer. One reviewer described her by noting "she is known primarily for her strong, smooth-as-mousse love songs and captivating live performances". Biography Born in West Kingst ...

(A) and Onika (B). * Magda Layna released the song as a single on Megatone Records in 1983. *

The O'Jays The O'Jays are an American R&B group from Canton, Ohio, formed in 1958 and originally consisting of Eddie Levert, Walter Lee Williams, William Powell, Bobby Massey, and Bill Isles. The O'Jays made their first chart appearance with the minor ...

covered the song on their 1983 album, ''When Will I See You Again''. *

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...

Cantopop Cantopop (a contraction of "Cantonese pop music") or HK-pop (short for "Hong Kong pop music") is a genre of pop music written in standard Chinese and sung in Cantonese. Cantopop is also used to refer to the cultural context of its production ...

singer

Priscilla Chan Priscilla Chan (born February 24, 1985) is an American philanthropist and a former pediatrician. She and her husband, Mark Zuckerberg, a co-founder and CEO of Meta Platforms, established the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative in December 2015, with a p ...

(陳慧嫻) released a

Cantonese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding a ...

cover version "幾時再見?!" (lit.: "When Will I See You Again?!") on her album, '' 秋色'' (lit. "Autumn Colours"), in 1988. *

Billy Bragg Stephen William Bragg (born 20 December 1957) is an English singer-songwriter and left-wing activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, with lyrics that mostly span political or romantic themes. His music i ...

's version is the second song on the NME's 1992 covers compilation '' Ruby Trax''. * Japanese Singer CINDY covered the song on her 1997 compilation album ''Surprise''. * U2 played the song on the

Elevation Tour The Elevation Tour was a worldwide concert tour by Irish rock band U2. Staged in support of the group's 2000 album ''All That You Can't Leave Behind'', the tour visited arenas across North America and Europe in 2001. Contrasting with the extrav ...

. It was most remembered when the band played it at Slane Castle on 25 August and 1 September 2001. *

Erasure Erasure () is an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1985, consisting of lead vocalist and songwriter Andy Bell with songwriter, producer and keyboardist Vince Clarke, previously known as co-founder of the band Depeche Mode and a membe ...

covered the song on their 2002 album '' Other People's Songs''. * Guitarist Peter White remade the song for his 2016 album ''Groovin, with Amber DiLena providing vocals.

References

External links

Lyrics of this song
* {{Authority control Songs about parting 1973 songs 1974 singles 1989 singles 1993 singles Songs written by Kenny Gamble Songs written by Leon Huff Cashbox number-one singles UK Singles Chart number-one singles Philadelphia International Records singles Parlophone singles Polydor Records singles Billy Bragg songs