Recorded 1975 | ||
B-side "To Be Free to Be Who We Are" Released November 1975 (as an album track)
November 1977 (as a single) Format album track
7" vinyl
12" vinyl Genre Disco
soul
rhythm and blues Length 6:08 (Album version)
3:59 (7' edit)
7:07 (12" version)
11:00 (1988 version) | ||
"Don't Leave Me This Way" is a song written by Kenneth Gamble, Leon Huff and Cary Gilbert. First charting as a hit for Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, an act on Gamble & Huff's Philadelphia International label in 1975, "Don't Leave Me This Way" was later a huge disco hit for Motown artist Thelma Houston in 1977. The song was also a major hit for British group The Communards in 1986.
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Thelma Houston version
"Don't Leave Me This Way" was covered by Motown in 1976. Originally assigned to Diana Ross, it was intended to be the follow-up to her hit "Love Hangover" but was reassigned and given to the upcoming Motown artist Thelma Houston instead. Studio musicians on the track included James Gadson on drums, Henry E. Davis (of the band L.T.D.) on bass, and John Barnes on keyboards.
Following the release of her third album Any Way You Like It, a Boston record pool unanimously reported positive audience response to "Don't Leave Me This Way" in discos, and the song was selected for release as a single. Houston's version became a massive international hit, topping the soul singles chart and, nine weeks later, the Billboard Hot 100 for one week in April 1977. The song peaked at #13 in the UK. The song went to number one on the disco chart. Later in the year, it was featured on the soundtrack of the movie, Looking for Mr. Goodbar. In 1978, "Don't Leave Me This Way" won the award for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female at the 20th Annual Grammy Awards.
Houston's version was revived in 1995 in several remixes, which reached #19 on the US Billboard Dance Chart and #35 in the UK. This version got Houston ranked #86 on VH1's "100 Greatest One-hit Wonders", as well as the #2 spot on their "100 Greatest Dance Songs" list.
The 1994/1995 remixes are: R&B vs 4:00 | Remix radio vs 4:00 | 7” radio edit 4:00 | Club remix vertigo 5:40 | House club remix 5:40 | Factory team remix 5:50 | U.S. club edit 5:50 | Serious rope club remix 7:10 | Serious rope 7” remix 4:10 | Jazz voice's classic club trax 6:10 | Jazz voice's dub mix 7:35 | Xs'2 house pump mix 7:30 | Joe T. Vanelli dubby mix 8:40 | Joe T. Vanelli light mix 5:20 | Joe T. Vanelli Radio Cut 3:54 | Joe T. Vanelli Extra Dubby 5:17 | Junior sound factory mix 9:30 | Tribe dub (acid vocal) 7:20 | Junior's factory dub 9:30 | Junior gospel dub 7:55 | Junior's Tribe Prank Mix and Radio Edit 3:20.
HIV/AIDS significance
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Houston's version of the song became an unofficial theme song for the AIDS epidemic in gay male communities of the west. American artist Nayland Blake created a work for American Foundation of AIDS research about the epidemic that referenced the song and its significance in the community. An art exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia entitled "Don't Leave Me This Way - Art in the age of AIDS" opened in 1994 containing various works about the epidemic. A 246-page publication of the exhibition also followed.
The Communards version
The song was covered by The Communards in a Hi-NRG version. This recording topped the UK charts for four weeks in September 1986, becoming the biggest selling record of the year in the process. The featured guest vocalist was the female jazz singer Sarah Jane Morris. The song became a Top 40 hit on the US Billboard Hot 100 and topped the Billboard Dance chart. In 2015 the song was voted by the British public as the nation's 16th favourite 1980s number one in a poll for ITV.
Several remixes were issued, notably the "Gotham City Mix" which was split across two sides of a 12" single and ran for a total of 22 minutes 55 seconds.
The album liner notes dedicate the song to the GLC.
Notable cover versions
A version of the song is featured in the stage musical, Priscilla Queen of the Desert – the Musical during a funeral scene.
The Eurodisco song "Yes Sir, I Can Boogie" by Baccara (1977) borrows heavily from this song, sharing the intro and the bass line but with a different chorus line.
Episode 6 of the 2004 BBC miniseries Blackpool featured the Communards version, accompanied on screen by the singing and dancing of the characters, as part of the story.
The 2012 song "Lying Together" by French Kiwi Juice samples vocals from Houston's cover.
Dami Im covered the Houston-inspired version on 1 September 2013 during Week 3, Top 10 Hits Themed Round of the fifth season of The X Factor Australia competition. Her performance was received by a unanimous standing ovation from all four judges and audience. It was her third consecutive standing ovation since Week 1 of the Live Shows and her performance of the song debuted on the ARIA Singles Chart at number 67. Im went on to win the competition and received a contract with Sony Music Australia. Later that year, Im recorded a version for her self-titled album. The album debuted at #1 in the Australian Charts and was certified platinum.
The song appeared in the 2015 movie The Martian directed by Ridley Scott and starring Matt Damon.