"Just Once" is a 1981 single released from

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (March 14, 1933 – November 3, 2024) was an American record producer, composer, arranger, conductor, trumpeter, and bandleader. Over the course of his seven-decade career, he received List of awards and nominations re ...

' album '' The Dude'' on

A&M Records A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and functions as a branch of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Interscope-Geffen-A&M. Established in 1962 by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss, the label initially operated independent ...

. The song features

James Ingram James Edward Ingram (February 16, 1952 – January 29, 2019) was an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He was a two-time Grammy Award-winner and a two-time Academy Award nominee for Best Original Song. After beginning his career ...

on vocals, and reached number 17 on the ''Billboard'' chart in the summer of 1981. Ingram was nominated for

Best Male Pop Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance was a Grammy Award recognizing superior vocal performance by a male in the pop category, the first of which was presented in 1959. It was discontinued after the 2011 Grammy season. The award wen ...

at the 1982 Grammy Awards.

History and composition

On a television program interview, Ingram stated that this song was a $50 demo done by ATV Music, composed by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil. Quincy Jones called back and wanted Ingram to sing on his album.
The song is composed originally in the key of C major. The bridge modulates to the key of A flat major, moves to B major, then to D major for the final chorus, finally ending in B major for the coda, representing the song's sad ending.

Personnel

– lead vocal *

Steve Lukather Steven Lee "Luke" Lukather (born October 21, 1957) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, arranger and record producer, best known as the sole continuous founding member of the rock band Toto. His reputation as a skilled guitarist led to ...

– guitar * Robbie Buchanan – acoustic piano, string synthesizer *

David Foster David Walter Foster (born November 1, 1949) is a Canadian record producer, composer, arranger, and musician. He has won 16 Grammy Awards from 47 nominations. His career began as a keyboardist for the pop group Skylark in the early 1970s befor ...

– acoustic and electric piano *

Greg Phillinganes Gregory Arthur Phillinganes (born May 12, 1956) is an American keyboardist, vocalist, and arranger. A session musician, Phillinganes has contributed to numerous albums over a broad array of artists and genres. He has toured with artists includin ...

– synthesizer *

Ian Underwood Ian Robertson Underwood (born May 22, 1939) is a woodwind and keyboards player, known as a member of the original version of Frank Zappa's band the Mothers of Invention. Following the original band's split in late 1969, Underwood continued to w ...

– synthesizer, synthesizer programming *

Abraham Laboriel Abraham Laboriel López (born July 17, 1947) is a Mexican-American bassist who has played on over 4,000 recordings and soundtracks. ''Guitar Player'' magazine called him "the most widely used session bassist of our time". Laboriel is the fathe ...

– bass guitar * John Robinson – drums *

Paulinho da Costa Paulinho da Costa (, born Paulo Roberto da Costa on May 31, 1948) is a Brazilian percussionist. Beginning his career as a samba musician in Brazil, he moved to the United States in the early 1970s and worked with Brazilian bandleader Sérgio Me ...

– percussion *

Patti Austin Patti Austin (born August 10, 1950) is an American Grammy Award-winning R&B, pop, and jazz singer and songwriter best known for " Baby, Come to Me", her 1982 duet with James Ingram, which topped the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 after its re-release ...

– background vocals *

Jerry Hey Jerry Hey (born 1950) is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, horn arranger, string arranger, orchestrator and session musician who has played on hundreds of commercial recordings, including Michael Jackson's '' Thriller'', '' Rock with Y ...

– horn arrangement, trumpet *

Chuck Findley Charles B. Findley (born December 13, 1947, in Johnstown, Pennsylvania) is an American trumpet player known for his diverse work as a session musician. He also plays other brass instruments such as flugelhorn and trombone. His technical ab ...

– trumpet *

Bill Reichenbach Jr. William Frank Reichenbach Jr. (born November 30, 1949) is an American jazz trombonist and composer. He is the son of Bill Reichenbach, who was the drummer for Charlie Byrd from 1962 to 1973. He is best known as a session musician for television, ...

– trombone * Kim Hutchcroft – saxophone, flute *

Ernie Watts Ernest James Watts (born October 23, 1945) is an American jazz and R&B saxophonist who plays soprano, alto, and tenor saxophone. He has worked with Charlie Haden's Quartet West and toured with the Rolling Stones. On Frank Zappa's album '' ...

– saxophone, flute *

Johnny Mandel John Alfred Mandel (November 23, 1925June 29, 2020) was an American composer and arranger of popular songs, film music and jazz. The musicians he worked with include Count Basie, Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, Anita O'Day, Barbra Streisand, Tony Benn ...

– string arrangement, synthesizer arrangement * Gerald Vinci – concertmaster *

– vocal arrangement, rhythm arrangement

Charts

Popular culture

*The song was featured prominently over the final scene of the 1982 film ''

The Last American Virgin ''The Last American Virgin'' is a 1982 American coming-of-age sex comedy film written and directed by Boaz Davidson, and starring Lawrence Monoson, Diane Franklin, Steve Antin, Joe Rubbo, and Louisa Moritz. A remake of Davidson's 1978 Israel ...

''. *The song was referenced in ''

Quest for Ratings "Quest for Ratings" is the eleventh episode in the South Park season 8, eighth season of the American animated television series ''South Park''. The 122nd episode of the series overall, it originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States ...

'', the 11th Episode of the 8th Season of

South Park ''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boysStan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand the ...

when Stan says "We gave it our best" to which teacher Mr. Meryl responds "And I guess your best wasn't good enough".

References

1981 songs 1981 singles Quincy Jones songs James Ingram songs A&M Records singles Pop ballads Contemporary R&B ballads Songs written by Barry Mann Songs with lyrics by Cynthia Weil {{1980s-R&B-song-stub