"Who's Leaving Who" is a song written by

Jack White John Anthony White (; born July 9, 1975), commonly known as Jack White, is an American musician, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the duo the White Stripes. White has enjoyed consistent critical and popular success and is widely c ...

and

Mark Spiro Mark Spiro (born March 28, 1957) is an American songwriter, record producer and recording artist. Represented on millions of records sold worldwide, Spiro has delivered songs to artists such as Julian Lennon, Cheap Trick, John Waite, Heart, Laura B ...

, first recorded by Canadian country singer

Anne Murray Morna Anne Murray (born June 20, 1945) is a retired Canadian singer. Her albums, consisting primarily of pop, country, and adult contemporary music, have sold over 55 million copies worldwide during her over 40-year career. Murray was the fir ...

in 1986. It achieved bigger popularity in Europe when it was covered by British Hi-NRG singer

Hazell Dean Hazell Dean ( Poole; born 27 October 1952) is an English dance-pop singer, who achieved her biggest success in the 1980s as a leading Hi-NRG artist. She is best known for the top-ten hits in the United Kingdom "Searchin' (I Gotta Find a Man)", ...

in 1988.

David Hasselhoff David Michael Hasselhoff (born July 17, 1952), nicknamed "The Hoff", is an American actor, singer, and television personality. He has set a Guinness World Record as the most watched man on TV. Hasselhoff first gained recognition on ''The You ...

covered the song on his 1991 album ''David'', produced by Jack White.

Anne Murray version

The song was first recorded by Anne Murray for her

Gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

-plus 1986 album '' Something to Talk About''. The song was released as the album's second single, following her Canadian and US number one country single, "

Now and Forever (You and Me) "Now and Forever (You and Me)" is a hit song written by David Foster, Randy Goodrum and Jim Vallance and recorded by Canadian country music artist Anne Murray. It was aided by a popular music video, filmed in Toronto. The back-up vocal was sung by ...

". The single failed to reach the same level of success, peaking at number 93 on the Canadian singles chart, and failing to chart on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Its biggest success was on the adult contemporary charts, peaking at number 15 in Canada and number 26 in the US.

Charts

Hazell Dean version

English singer

recorded a cover version of the song for her 1988 album, ''

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''. The song was produced by

Stock Aitken & Waterman Stock Aitken Waterman (abbreviated as SAW) are an English songwriting and record production trio consisting of Mike Stock, Matt Aitken, and Pete Waterman. The trio had great success from the mid-1980s through the early 1990s. SAW is considered ...

and was reworked to suit Hazell Dean's music style as 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 ...

song. Released on March 21, 1988, the single surpassed the popularity of Murray's version and became Dean's biggest international success, peaking at number 4 in the UK and becoming her highest-charting single there, tied with her 1984 single "

Whatever I Do (Wherever I Go) "Whatever I Do (Wherever I Go)" is a Hi-NRG song written and produced by British hit making team Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW), which became a hit for singer Hazell Dean in 1984. Dean, having had a top 10 hit in May 1984 with "Searchin' (I Gotta Fi ...

". It was her first top-40 hit in the UK in four years. When released around Europe, it also became a success, and it appeared on the US dance chart.

Critical reception

Johnny Dee from ''

Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper between 1954 and 1991 for pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after the ''NME'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK album chart was published in ''Re ...

'' said, "Yes this record goes 'boom, chug-a-chug, chug, boom, chug-a-chug, chug." The magazine's James Hamilton wrote in his dance column, "

Stock Aitken Waterman Stock Aitken Waterman (abbreviated as SAW) are an English songwriting and record production trio consisting of Mike Stock, Matt Aitken, and Pete Waterman. The trio had great success from the mid-1980s through the early 1990s. SAW is considered ...

-produced thuddingly bounding 120bpm galloper with an attractive Eurobeat-ish lilt". A review in Pan-European magazine ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later ...

'' stated about the song: "The beat is what used to be called Eurodisco; a stomping, electro dance groove with a very

Abba ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The group's ...

-like song." Retrospectively, in 2021, British magazine ''

Classic Pop Traditional pop (also known as classic pop and pre-rock and roll pop) is Western pop music that generally pre-dates the advent of rock and roll in the mid-1950s. The most popular and enduring songs from this era of music are known as pop standards ...

'' ranked the song number 14 in their list of 'Top 40 Stock Aitken Waterman songs', adding: "When

PWL Pete Waterman Entertainment (PWE) is the production company one-time pop and dance record label owned by British pop mogul Pete Waterman. The label, originally PWL (Pete Waterman Limited), is most famous for being the home of hit record prod ...

added their

motifs to Canadian

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

artist

's version of "Who's Leaving Who" from two years earlier, the song took on

ABBA ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The group's ...

-esque qualities that worked like a charm... When this put her into the Top 40, eventually climbing into the Top 5, things were looking up."

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Authority control 1986 songs 1986 singles 1988 singles Anne Murray songs Hazell Dean songs Song recordings produced by Stock Aitken Waterman Songs written by Jack White Songs written by Mark Spiro