"Don't Leave Me This Way" is a song written by

Kenneth Gamble Kenneth Gamble (born August 11, 1943, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) and Leon A. Huff (born April 8, 1942, Camden, New Jersey) are an American songwriting and production team credited for developing the Philadelphia soul music genre (also known as ...

Leon Huff Kenneth Gamble (born August 11, 1943, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) and Leon A. Huff (born April 8, 1942, Camden, New Jersey) are an American songwriting and production team credited for developing the Philadelphia soul music genre (also known as ...

, and Cary Gilbert. It was originally released in 1975 by

Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes were an American soul and R&B vocal group. One of the most popular Philadelphia soul groups of the 1970s, the group's repertoire included soul, R&B, doo-wop, and disco. Founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in ...

featuring

Teddy Pendergrass Theodore DeReese Pendergrass (March 26, 1950 – January 13, 2010) was an American soul and R&B singer-songwriter. He was born in Kingstree, South Carolina. Pendergrass spent most of his life in the Philadelphia area, and initially rose to musi ...

, an act signed to Gamble & Huff's

Philadelphia International Philadelphia International Records (PIR) was an American record label based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1971 by songwriting and production duo Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff along with their longtime collaborator Thom Bell. I ...

label. "Don't Leave Me This Way" was subsequently covered by American singer

Thelma Houston Thelma Houston ( Jackson; born May 7, 1946) Retrieved . is an American singer. Beginning her recording career in the late 1960s, Houston scored a number-one hit record in 1977 with her recording of " Don't Leave Me This Way", which won the Gramm ...

in 1976 and British duo

the Communards The Communards were a British synth-pop duo formed in London in 1985. The duo consisted of Jimmy Somerville and Richard Coles. They are most famous for their cover versions of "Don't Leave Me This Way", originally by Harold Melvin & the Blue N ...

in 1986, with both versions achieving commercial success.

Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes original version

The Blue Notes' original version of the song, featuring

's lead vocals, was included on the group's 1975 album '' Wake Up Everybody''. Though not issued as a single in the United States at the time, the Blue Notes' recording reached number three on the US ''Billboard'' Hot Disco Singles chart in the wake of

's version. The song proved to be the group's highest-peaking entry in the United Kingdom, reaching number five on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, when released there as a single in 1977. It became the title track of a budget LP issued on the CBS Embassy label in the UK in 1978. The track was finally issued as a 12-inch single in the US in 1979, coupled with "Bad Luck".

Charts

Thelma Houston version

"Don't Leave Me This Way" was

cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

ed by American singer

in 1976. Originally assigned to

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame as the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown's most successful act during the 1960s and one of the world's best-selling girl groups o ...

, it was intended to be the follow-up to her 1976

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

Love Hangover "Love Hangover" is a song by the Motown singer Diana Ross, recorded in 1975 and released as a single on March 16, 1976. It rose to number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and Hot-Selling Soul Singles. It also hit number one on the Record World ...

", but was reassigned to Houston instead. Following the release of Houston's fourth studio

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

, '' Any Way You Like It'' (1976), a

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

record pool A music pool or DJ record pool is a regionalized and centralized method of music distribution that allows DJs (disc jockeys) to receive promotional music to play in nightclubs and other events such as weddings, festivals and on the radio. Record l ...

unanimously reported positive audience response to "Don't Leave Me This Way" in

discothèque A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gener ...

s, and the song was selected for release as a single. Houston's version topped the US soul singles chart and, nine weeks later, the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for one week in April 1977. The song peaked at number 13 in the UK. The song peaked at number one on the disco chart. Later in the year, it was featured on the soundtrack to the film '' Looking for Mr. Goodbar''. In 1978, "Don't Leave Me This Way" won the award for

Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female The Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance (previously called Best Rhythm and Blues Solo Vocal Performance, Female) was an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Award ...

at the 20th Annual Grammy Awards. Houston's version was revived in 1995 in several remixes, which reached number 19 on the US ''Billboard'' dance chart and number 35 in the UK. This version got Houston ranked number 86 on VH1's ''100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders'', as well as the number-two spot on their ''100 Greatest Dance Songs'' list. In 2021, ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' included "Don't Leave Me This Way" in their list of ''500 Best Songs of All Time'' at No. 355, while in 2022, the magazine ranked it No. 121 in their ''200 Greatest Dance Songs of All Time''.

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 Nayland is a village and former civil parish in the Stour Valley on the Suffolk side of the border between Suffolk and Essex in England. In 2011 the built-up area had a population of 938. In 1881 the civil parish had a population of 901. Hi ...

created a work for the 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 The National Gallery of Australia (NGA), formerly the Australian National Gallery, is the national art museum of Australia as well as one of the largest art museums in Australia, holding more than 166,000 works of art. Located in Canberra in th ...

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.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

The Communards version

In 1986, the song was covered by British duo

(

Jimmy Somerville James William Somerville (born 22 June 1961) is a Scottish pop singer and songwriter. He sang in the 1980s with the pop groups Bronski Beat and The Communards, and has also had a solo career. He is known in particular for his powerful and sou ...

and

Richard Coles Richard Keith Robert Coles (born 26 March 1962) is an English writer, radio presenter and Church of England clergyman who was the vicar of Finedon in Northamptonshire from 2011 to 2022. He first came to prominence as the multi-instrumentalis ...

) in a

hi-NRG Hi-NRG (pronounced "high energy") is a genre of uptempo disco or electronic dance music (EDM) that originated in the United States during the late 1970s and early 1980s. As a music genre, typified by fast tempo, staccato hi-hat rhythms (and the ...

version. This recording topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks in September 1986, becoming the best-selling single of the year in the United Kingdom. The featured guest vocalist was the female jazz singer Sarah Jane Morris. The song reached number 40 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 favorite 1980s number one in a poll for

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

. The song also had a music video, which showed the band performing in an underground setting with many fans. This included a blond stoic young man as part of the crowd simply watching. In the video, it turns out that he was chased down and caught and forced to be an informant to secret police. Near the end of the video, he finally radios in to them, and at the end they turn spotlights on the band and the crowd, forcing them to scatter. Several remixes were issued, notably the "Gotham City Mix" which was split across two sides of a 12-inch single and ran for a total of 22 minutes 55 seconds. The album liner notes dedicate the song to the

Greater London Council The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 198 ...

(GLC).

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Sales and certifications

References

Bibliography

* {{authority control 1975 songs 1976 singles 1977 singles 1986 singles Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles The Communards songs Disco songs Dutch Top 40 number-one singles Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes songs Hi-NRG songs Irish Singles Chart number-one singles London Records singles Motown singles Number-one singles in South Africa Philadelphia International Records singles Song recordings produced by Hal Davis Songs written by Kenny Gamble Songs written by Leon Huff Thelma Houston songs UK Singles Chart number-one singles Ultratop 50 Singles (Flanders) number-one singles Ultratop 50 Singles (Wallonia) number-one singles Songs with lyrics by Cary Gilbert