"The Show Must Go On" is a song co-written by

Leo Sayer Leo Sayer (born Gerard Hugh Sayer, 21 May 1948) is an English-Australian singer and songwriter who has been active since the early 1970s. He has been an Australian citizen and resident since 2009. Sayer launched his career in the United Kingd ...

and

David Courtney David Courtney (born David Alexander Cohen, 18 December 1949, Brighton, East Sussex) is a British singer, songwriter and record producer. Courtney's first big break was as a songwriter with Adam Faith and Leo Sayer; Courtney co-wrote several hit ...

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 The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are ...

in January 1974, and was included on Sayer's debut album '' Silverbird''. The song was covered by

Three Dog Night Three Dog Night is an American rock band formed in 1967, founded by vocalists Chuck Negron, Cory Wells, and Danny Hutton. This lineup was soon augmented by Jimmy Greenspoon (keyboards), Joe Schermie (bass), Michael Allsup (guitar), and Floyd Sn ...

, 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 Charles Negron II (born June 8, 1942) is an American singer-songwriter. He is best known as a founding member and lead vocalist of the rock band Three Dog Night. Early life Chuck Negron was born on June 8, 1942, in Manhattan, New York City, to ...

. The record reached number one on the '' Cashbox'' pop chart, number 2 on the Canadian

RPM Magazine ''RPM'' ( and later ) was a Canadian music-industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. ''RP ...

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 Pierrot ( , ; ), a stock character of pantomime and commedia dell'arte, has his origins in the late 17th-century Italian troupe of players performing in Paris and known as the Comédie-Italienne. The name is a hypocorism, diminutive of ''Pierr ...

clown. Like the album version on Sayer's debut album, Three Dog Night's version also quotes Julius Fučík's "

Entrance of the Gladiators "Entrance of the Gladiators" op. 68 or "Entry of the Gladiators" () () is a military march composed in 1897 by the Czech-born Austrian composer Julius Fučík. He originally titled it "", reflecting the use of chromatic scales throughout the p ...

" 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.

Personnel

* Leo Sayer - vocals *

Russ Ballard Russell Glyn Ballard (born 31 October 1945) is an English rock singer, guitarist, songwriter and producer. Originally rising to prominence as the lead singer and guitarist of the band Argent, Ballard became a prolific songwriter and producer b ...

- banjo *

– piano * Robert Henrit - drums *

Dave Wintour David M. Wintour (1 September 1944 – 12 July 2022) was an English bass guitarist and session musician. Wintour is best known for his active part as a member of The Wurzels from 1995 to 2002. Life and career Wintour was born on 1 September 194 ...

- bass

Chart performance

Leo Sayer version

Three Dog Night version

Three Dog Night's cover of "The Show Must Go On" became their last Top 10 hit in the U.S., where it reached number four on the

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the 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), ...

and number one on the

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

Top 100, as well as in Canada, where it reached number two. It also reached number 11 in the Netherlands and number 12 in Germany. ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of three major weekly music industry trade magazines in the United States, with ''Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 as ''Music Vendor''. In 1964, it was changed to ''Record World'' under the ...

'' said that "3DN's treatment of this Leo Sayer English smash is a superb example of their interpretive power." Several AM radio edits have shortened the instrumental introduction, due to time constraints and limitations.

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Pasadena Roof Orchestra version

The

Pasadena Roof Orchestra The Pasadena Roof Orchestra (PRO) is a contemporary band from England that specialises in the jazz and Swing music, swing genres of music of the 1920s and 1930s, although their full repertoire is considerably wider. The orchestra has existed s ...

's 1977 album "The Show Must Go On" takes its name from the track, and (in an unusual departure into contemporary music) features their cover version of the song; it was re-released as part of their Jubilee Collection CDs in 2018.

References

Bibliography

*Gogan, Larry (1987). ''The Larry Gogan Book of Irish Chart Hits'' (Maxwell Publications) * Whitburn, Joel (1996). ''The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits'', 6th Edition (Billboard Publications),

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Show Must Go On, The 1974 singles 1973 songs Three Dog Night songs Cashbox number-one singles Leo Sayer songs Songs written by Leo Sayer Songs written by David Courtney Chrysalis Records singles Dunhill Records singles Song recordings produced by Jimmy Ienner