"Forever and Ever" is a UK number-one single by Scottish

glam rock Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was primarily defined by the flamboyant clothing, makeup, and hairstyles of its musicians, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists d ...

band

Slik Slik were a Scottish pop group of the mid-1970s, most notable for their UK number 1 hit " Forever and Ever" in 1976. Initially glam rock, the band later changed their style to soft rock/ bubblegum. It was the first band with whom singer and g ...

, released in 1975. It was number one for one week in February 1976, knocking

ABBA ABBA ( ) were a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. They are one of the most popular and successful musical groups of all time, and are one of the List ...

's " Mamma Mia" off the number-one position. It was also a hit in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, reaching number two on the charts there. The song was written by the songwriting partnership of Bill Martin and Phil Coulter who had recently stopped writing for the

Bay City Rollers The Bay City Rollers are a Scottish pop rock band known for their worldwide teen idol popularity, as a band in the 1970s. One of many 70s acts heralded as the "biggest group since the Beatles", they were called the "tartan teen sensations fro ...

History

"Forever And Ever" was originally recorded by

Kenny Kenny is a surname, a given name, and a diminutive of several different given names. In Ireland, the surname is an Anglicisation of the Irish ''Ó Cionnaith'', also spelt ''Ó Cionnaoith'' and ''Ó Cionaodha'', meaning "descendant of Cionnaith". ...

, appearing on their 1975 debut LP ''The Sound Of Super K''. Slik covered the song with a heavier arrangement after the

had refused it. The song was the band's only UK number-one single, and their only UK top 20 hit. Their ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...

'' performance of the song was lead singer

Midge Ure James "Midge" Ure (; born 10 October 1953) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and record producer. His stage name, Midge, is a phonetic reversal of Jim. Ure enjoyed particular success in the 1970s and 1980s in bands including Slik, Thin Lizzy, ...

's first television appearance; he went on to success with

Ultravox Ultravox (earlier styled as Ultravox!) were a British new wave band, formed in London in April 1974 as Tiger Lily. Between 1980 and 1986, they scored seven Top Ten albums and seventeen Top 40 singles in the UK, the most successful of which wa ...

and as a solo artist. The single reached number 2 in the Netherlands and the Top 30 in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. In 1976,

EMI Electrola Electrola is a German record label and subsidiary of Universal Music Group. Based in Munich, its roster has included Chumbawamba, Matthias Reim, Helene Fischer, Brings, Höhner and Santiano. History On 8 May 1925, the British Gramophone Compa ...

released a German edition of the single. After another hit, and a flop, the band disbanded in early 1977.

Track listing

* A-side: "Forever and Ever" (Bill Martin/Phil Coulter) * B-side: "Again My Love" (Jim McGinlay)

Personnel

: lead vocals, guitar. *

Jim McGinlay James Anthony McGinlay (born 9 March 1949 in Lennoxtown, Stirlingshire, Scotland) is a Scottish bass guitarist who formed along his elder brother Kevin a hard-rock band called Salvation, in Glasgow, which after numerous line-up changes included M ...

: bass. *

Billy McIsaac Billy McIsaac (born William McIsaac, 12 July 1949 in Rothesay, Scotland) is a musician, who played mainly keyboards since his early days with different pop bands. Biography Previously, he worked as a telephone engineer and played with a band ca ...

: piano, guitar. *

Kenny Hyslop Kenneth John Hyslop (14 February 1951 – 15 September 2024) was a Scottish drummer. Life and career Hyslop was born in Helensburgh, Scotland, on 14 February 1951. He joined the band Salvation with Midge Ure, which later became Slik and, afte ...

: drums. * Bill Martin and Phil Coulter: producers.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Forever And Ever (Slik Song) 1975 singles Slik songs UK singles chart number-one singles Songs written by Bill Martin (songwriter) Songs written by Phil Coulter 1975 songs