Never Ever (All Saints song)

For the song by Ayumi Hamasaki, see Never Ever (Ayumi Hamasaki song).

"Never Ever"
Single by All Saints
from the album All Saints
B-side	"I Remember"
Released	November 19, 1997 (1997-11-19) July 7, 1998 (1998-07-07) (U.S.)
Format	CD, 12", cassette
Recorded	1997
Genre	R&B
Length	6:29 (album version) 5:15 (single version) 4:54 (radio edit)
Label	London Records
Producer	Cameron McVey Magnus Fiennes
All Saints UK chronology "I Know Where It's At (1997) "Never Ever" (1997) "Under the Bridge/Lady Marmalade (1998) All Saints Japan chronology "Let's Get Started" (1997) "Never Ever" (1997) "Under the Bridge" / "Lady Marmalade" (1998) Audio sample file info · help

"Never Ever" is a song by All Saints, released as the second single from their debut album, All Saints. It became a very successful worldwide hit and was the first of five #1 singles in the UK for the group. (See also: 1998 in British music). The single was released in the United States on July 7, 1998, with a new music video. It is also the band's most successful single to date. The single debuted at #13 on the US charts on 25 July 1998 and reached #4.

The song entered the UK Singles Chart at #3 on 22 November 1997 and stayed in the Top 5 for 8 weeks before climbing to #1 on 17 January 1998 for 1 week. The song went on to spend a total of 24 weeks in the chart. A total of 1,263,658 copies^[1] of the single were sold in the UK, making it All Saints' biggest hit; 770,000 copies were sold before it became #1 which makes it more than any single ever before in the UK chart history. All Saints won two BRIT Awards for this single in 1998: Best Single and Best Video.

The music of the song is based upon an overlay of Amazing Grace which according to Ger Tillekens is the reason why it became so successful. Even though the lyrics are very different and the music sounds different, it is based on a familiar and popular song.^[2]

Track listings and formats

These are the formats and track listings of major single releases of "Never Ever".

CD 1 / Australian CD
1.	"Never Ever"	5.15
2.	"Never Ever" (Nice Hat Mix)	5.13
3.	"I Remember"	4.08
CD 2
1.	"Never Ever"	5.15
2.	"Never Ever" (Booker T's Vocal Mix)	6.19
3.	"Never Ever" (Booker T's Down South Dub)	6.28
4.	"Never Ever" (Booker T's Up North Dub)	5.55
Cassette/Two track
1.	"Never Ever"	5.15
2.	"I Remember"	4.08
12 inch
1.	"Never Ever" (All Star Remix)	3.59
2.	"Never Ever" (Booker T's Vocal Mix)	6.19

Song information

Duty	Performed by
Lyrics and Music	Robert Jazayeri, Shaznay Lewis and S. Mather
Producer	Cameron McVey, Magnus Fiennes, Robert Jazayeri and S. Mather

Charts and sales

Peak positions Chart (1997/1998) Peak position Australian ARIA Singles Chart[3] 1 Austrian Singles Chart[4] 7 Canadian Singles Chart[5] 4 Dutch Top 40[6] 4 Finnish Singles Chart[7] 12 French SNEP Singles Chart[8] 4 German Singles Chart[9] 18 Irish Singles Chart[10] 2 New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart[11] 1 Norwegian Singles Chart[12] 6 Swedish Singles Chart[13] 3 Swiss Singles Chart[14] 4 UK Singles Chart[15] 1 U.S. Billboard Hot 100[16] 4

End of year charts End of year chart (1997) Position UK Singles Chart[15] 13 End of year chart (1998) Position UK Singles Chart[15] 17 U.S. Billboard Hot 100[17] 42 Certifications Country Certification Date Sales certified[18] Australia[3] 2 x Platinum March 1998 > 140,000 Switzerland[19] Gold 1997 25,000 UK[15] 2 x Platinum January 4, 1998 1,254,604

Preceded by "Perfect Day" by Various Artists	UK Singles Chart number-one single 11 January, 1998 (1 week)	Succeeded by "All Around The World" by Oasis
Preceded by "As Long As You Love Me" by Backstreet Boys	New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart number-one single 11 January, 1998 - 22 February, 1998 (5 weeks)	Succeeded by "Cherish" by Pappa Bear
Preceded by "It's Like That" by Run DMC vs Jason Nevins	Australian ARIA Singles Chart number-one single 22 March, 1998 - 3 May, 1998 (7 weeks)	Succeeded by "You're Still the One" by Shania Twain

Music video

When this song was first released in the UK and Europe, it featured the girls first in a swimming pool and later in a house. The video was shot by fashion photographer Sean Ellis. The song became an immediate hit record.

For the United States, the video was re-shot and re-edited in a church. When All Saints - The Video was released, it was decided to release both versions on the video, because the British and European audience never had the opportunity of seeing both. In Canada Much Music played both versions.

Quotes

"I never believed that so much good could come out of such a bad situation."

—Shaznay Lewis in tears over the success of "Never Ever", since it was written about a personal broken relationship.^[20]

Remixes

• Album Version
• All Star Remix
• Booker T Vocal Mix
• Booker T's Down South Dub
• Booker T's Up North Dub
• Nice Hat Mix
• Rickidy Raw Urban Mix

References

1. ^ Top 100 UK single
2. ^ Soundscape.info November 1999 Volume 2: The Amazing Grace of Never Ever
3. ^ ^{a b} NewsFeeds Australian Music Charts Accessed October 15, 2006
4. ^ AustrianCharts.at "Never Ever" page. Retrieved: October 28, 2006
5. ^ MuchMusic archive Canadian chart July 17, 1998 Retrieved: November 2, 2006
6. ^ "Single top 100 over 1997" (in Dutch) (pdf). Top40. http://www.top40.nl/pdf/Top%20100/top%20100%20-%201997.pdf. Retrieved 20 April 2010. 
7. ^ FinnishCharts.com "Never Ever" page. Retrieved: October 29, 2006
8. ^ LesCharts.com "Never Ever" page. Retrieved: October 29, 2006
9. ^ Infinity Charts German Top 20 - The Chart Of March 1998 Retrieved: November 2, 2006
10. ^ IrishCharts.ie Irish chart search (Accessed: November 2, 2006)
11. ^ charts.org.nz "Never Ever" page. (Retrieved June 8, 2008)
12. ^ NorwegianCharts.com "Never Ever" page. Retrieved: October 28, 2006
13. ^ SwedishCharts.com "Never Ever" page. Retrieved: October 29, 2006
14. ^ SwissCharts.com "Never Ever" page. Retrieved: October 29, 2006
15. ^ ^{a b c d} "Never Ever, Certification". BFI. http://www.bpi.co.uk/platinum/platinumright.asp?rq=search_plat&r_id=27331. Retrieved 2006-10-29. ^{[dead link]}
16. ^ Billboard.com All Saints page. Retrieved: October 15, 2006
17. ^ "Billboard Top 100 - 1998". http://longboredsurfer.com/charts.php?year=1998. Retrieved 2010-08-28. 
18. ^ "Certification for every country in the world". IFPI. http://www.ifpi.org/content/library/certification-award-levels.pdf. Retrieved 2008-08-06. 
19. ^ "1997 Swiss certifications". Swisscharts. http://www.swisscharts.com/awards.asp?year=1998. Retrieved 2006-10-29. 
20. ^ All Saints - The Video