It sometimes takes a new outlook on a track for it to reach chart success, as Jeffrey Comanor‘s “We’ll Never Have to Say Goodbye Again” became a standout hit about love covered by multiple artists.
Comanor wrote the track and was the first to release it in 1976 for his album A Rumor in His Own Time. While the soft rock track focused on a couple spending one magical night together, they wished would never end, the song and album failed to chart.
The inspiration behind “We’ll Never Have to Say Goodbye Again” reportedly came from two pivotal moments in Comanor’s love life. One stemmed from an ex-girlfriend who owned a wooden KLH radio that continued playing softly even after it was turned off. The other came from his next girlfriend, who was preparing to move away, leaving the two reluctant to see their final night together come to an end. Blending those memories, Comanor crafted the heartfelt lyrics that became “We’ll Never Have to Say Goodbye Again.”
The track would reach a new level of visibility when it was discovered by Arista Records four months after it was released. They originally wanted to give the song to Melissa Manchester, who had recently released her hit track “Midnight Blue.” Instead, the song was given to Danny Deardorff and Marcus Joseph, also known as Deardorff & Joseph.
They ended up releasing their cover of the track in 1977 and landed at No. 22 on the Easy Listening chart for two weeks, but did poorly on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It just so happens that Deardorff & Joseph would later disband, and “We’ll Never Have to Say Goodbye Again” would be covered by two other music acts.
Deardorff’s new manager, Marcia Day, also managed singerMaureen McGovern, who recorded a cover of “We’ll Never Have to Say Goodbye Again” in 1978. Believing England Dan & John Ford Coley had no plans to record the song, Joseph’s new manager, Susan Joseph—who also represented the soft rock duo—reportedly told Day that McGovern was free to release her version. However, England Dan & John Ford Coley ultimately recorded the track as well, and their rendition became the hit.
The soft rock duo covered the song that same year for their album Some Things Don’t Come Easy. Their version of the track would become the most successful, having landed at No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart for 14 weeks.
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