The Show Must Go On - Three Dog Night (1974) 3/26/21

With all the "Great Songs" Three Dog Night had during their career, it's hard to believe their run of 11 Top 10 hits came during a short, 5-year period. Their first was "One" (#5) in1969, and their last was today's "Great Song of the '70s: "The Show Must Go On" (#4) in 1974!

(Note: Of course, they had several other hit songs that charted Between #11 and #20, but even so, their last of those, "Til the World Ends," came in at #11 in 1975. (See link below.)

"The Show Must Go On" was originally written and performed by Leo Sayer. Leo, who had a penchant for dressing up as a clown, certainly made the song a "three-ring circus" of sorts, reaching #2 on the British charts in 1973. It opened with a calliope version of Julius Fusik's classic circus melody, "Entrance of the Gladiators," and continued with an arrangement that featured piano and banjo under Leo's screaming vocals.

When Three Dog Night got hold of it in '74, they took it a few steps further, with a fully orchestrated version of "Gladiators," followed by Chuck Negron's completely over-the-top vocals. He also changed the ending lyric from "Leo's "I WON'T let the show go on" to "I MUST let the show go on. Word has it that Leo was NOT amused.

Be that as it may, Chuck and the boys (Cory and Danny) not only took it to #4 in the US, but #2 in Canada, #6 in the Netherlands, and #9 in New Zealand.

"The Show Must Go On:" A "Great Song of the '70s" for Three Dog Night---thanks to Leo Sayer.

Three Dog Night:

Leo Sayer:

And, for the record, Here's Three Dog Night's last Top 20 hit: "Til the World Ends" (1975):