View source for When Will I See You Again

[[File:Placeholder|video|right|300px]] [[File:Placeholder|right|300px]] 
:''Not to be confused with [[When Can I See You]] or [[When Can I See You Again?]]. For other uses, see [[When Will I See You Again (disambiguation)]].''
{{Refimprove|date=March 2014}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2012}}
{{Infobox single <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Sngles -->
| Name           = When Will I See You Again
| Cover          = When Will I See You Again single.jpg
| Artist         = [[The Three Degrees]]
| from Album     = [[The Three Degrees (album)|The Three Degrees]]
| B-side         = "I Didn't Know"
| Released       = September 27, 1974
| Recorded       = 1973
| Genre          = [[Soul music|Soul]], [[Rhythm and blues|R&B]]
| Length         = 3:00
| Writer         = [[Gamble and Huff]]
| Label          = [[Philadelphia International Records]]
| Producer       = Gamble and Huff
| Last single    = "Love Is the Message"<br/>(1974)
| This single    = "'''When Will I See You Again'''"<br/>(1974)
| Next single    = "Get Your Love Back"<br/>(1974)
}}

"'''When Will I See You Again'''" is a song released in 1974 by American soul group [[The Three Degrees]], from their third album ''[[The Three Degrees (album)|The Three Degrees]]''. The song was written and produced by [[Gamble and Huff|Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff]]. [[Sheila Ferguson]] sang the lead, accompanied by [[Fayette Pinkney]] and Valerie Holiday.

It was one of the most successful recordings of the "[[Philadelphia soul|Philly Soul]]" era. In the U.S., the song reached number one on the [[Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks|adult contemporary chart]], number two on the [[Billboard Hot 100|pop singles chart]],<ref>{{cite book |title= Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001|last=Whitburn |first=Joel |authorlink=Joel Whitburn |year=2002 |publisher=Record Research |page=243}}</ref> and number four on the [[Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs|R&B chart]] in the autumn of 1974.<ref>{{cite book |title= Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004|last=Whitburn |first=Joel |authorlink=Joel Whitburn |year=2004 |publisher=Record Research |page=578}}</ref> In the UK, it fared even better, spending two weeks at the top of the [[UK Singles Chart]] in August 1974.<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums">{{cite book
| first= David
| last= Roberts
| year= 2006
| title= [[British Hit Singles & Albums]]
| edition= 19th
| publisher= Guinness World Records Limited 
| location= London
| isbn= 1-904994-10-5
| pages= 303-4}}</ref> The Three Degrees performed the song at [[Prince Charles]]' 30th birthday party at [[Buckingham Palace]] in 1978.

Sheila Ferguson recalled that "the song was played to me by Kenny Gamble at the piano in 1973 and I threw a tantrum. I screamed and yelled and said I would never sing it. I thought it was ridiculously insulting to be given such a simple song and that it took no talent to sing it. We did do it and several million copies later, I realized that he knew more than me."<ref>''1000 UK #1 Hits'' by Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh</ref> She would later have a #60 hit with a solo remake of the track in 1994.<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums 2">{{cite book
| first= David
| last= Roberts
| year= 2006
| title= British Hit Singles & Albums
| edition= 19th
| publisher= Guinness World Records Limited
| location= London
| isbn= 1-904994-10-5
| page= 198}}</ref> The song is unique in that every sentence is a question, heightening the overall effect and emotion. In the film ''[[Kill Bill: Volume 2]]'', Bill cites this song as his "favorite soul song of the 70s".

==Chart performance==
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
===Weekly singles charts===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Chart (1974-75)
!Peak<br />position
|-
|[[ARIA Charts|Australia]] <ref name="australian-charts1970">{{cite web|author=Steffen Hung |url=http://australian-charts.com/forum.asp?todo=viewthread&id=35092 |title=Forum - 1970 (ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts) |website=Australian-charts.com |date= |accessdate=2016-10-10 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160602084720/http://australian-charts.com/forum.asp?todo=viewthread&id=35092 |archivedate=June 2, 2016 |df=mdy }}</ref>
| style="text-align:center;"|2
|-
|Belgium 
| style="text-align:center;"|2
|-
|[[RPM (magazine)|Canada]] 
| style="text-align:center;"|5
|-
|Ireland 
| style="text-align:center;"|2
|-
|Germany 
| style="text-align:center;"|27
|-
|[[Dutch Top 40|Netherlands]] 
| style="text-align:center;"|3
|-
|[[UK Singles Chart]]<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums"/>
| style="text-align:center;"|1
|-
|US [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]]
| style="text-align:center;"|2
|-
|US ''Billboard'' [[Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks]]
| style="text-align:center;"|1
|-
|US ''Billboard'' [[Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs|Hot Black Singles]]
| style="text-align:center;"|4
|-
|US ''[[Cashbox (magazine)|Cash Box]]'' Top 100 <ref>{{cite web|url=http://50.6.195.142/archives/70s_files/19741207.html |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2016-01-19 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518092239/http://50.6.195.142/archives/70s_files/19741207.html |archivedate=May 18, 2015 |df=mdy }}</ref>
| style="text-align:center;"|1
|}
{{col-2}}

===Year-end charts===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!align="left"|Chart (1974)
! style="text-align:center;"|Rank
|-
|Canada <ref>[http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/image.aspx?Image=nlc008388.3893a&URLjpg=http%3a%2f%2fwww.collectionscanada.gc.ca%2fobj%2f028020%2ff4%2fnlc008388.3893a.gif&Ecopy=nlc008388.3893a  Bac-lac.gc.ca]</ref>
| style="text-align:center;"|61
|-
|UK <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.uk-charts.top-source.info/top-100-1974.shtml |title=Top 100 1974 - UK Music Charts |website=Uk-charts.top-source.info |date= |accessdate=2016-10-10}}</ref>
| style="text-align:center;"|2
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!align="left"|Chart (1975)
! style="text-align:center;"|Rank
|-
|Australia <ref name="australian-charts1970"/>
| style="text-align:center;"|21
|-
|US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.musicoutfitters.com/topsongs/1975.htm |title=Top 100 Hits of 1975/Top 100 Songs of 1975 |website=Musicoutfitters.com |date= |accessdate=2016-10-10}}</ref>
| style="text-align:center;"|75
|-
|US ''Cash Box'' <ref>{{cite web|url=http://50.6.195.142/archives/70s_files/1975YESP.html |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2015-01-17 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141021184320/http://50.6.195.142/archives/70s_files/1975YESP.html |archivedate=October 21, 2014 |df=mdy }}</ref>
| style="text-align:center;"|93
|}
{{col-end}}

==Cover versions==
{{Infobox single
| Name           = When Will I See You Again
| Cover          = 
| Artist         = [[Brother Beyond]]
| from Album     = [[Trust (Brother Beyond album)|Trust]]
| Released       = 1989
| Recorded       = 1989
| Genre          = [[Pop music|Pop]]
| Length         = 3:34
| Writer         = [[Gamble and Huff]]
| Label          = [[Parlophone]]
| Producer       = 
| Last single    = "[[Drive On]]"<br/>(1989) 
| This single    = "'''When Will I See You Again'''"<br />(1989)
| Next single    = "[[Trust (Brother Beyond song)|Trust]]"<br />(1990)
}}

* [[:fi:Ami Aspelund|Ami Aspelund]] recorded the Finnish rendering of the song: "Koska Sun Taas Nähdä Saan", on her 1976 album ''Yön Jälkeen''.
* Magda Layna released the song as a single on Megatone Records in 1983.
* British [[boy band]] [[Brother Beyond]] covered the song on their 1989 [[studio album|album]] ''[[Trust (Brother Beyond album)|Trust]]'', peaking at #43 in the [[UK Singles Chart]].
* Japanese singer CINDY covered the song on her 1997 1st compilation album Surprise
* British [[ska]] band [[Bad Manners]] recorded the song for a demo in 1976 and it was finally released as part of their 1999 compilation [[Rare & Fatty]].
* German singer [[Thomas Anders]] covered the song for his 1993 album [[When Will I See You Again (Thomas Anders album)|of the same name]].
* British singer/songwriter [[PJ Harvey]] performed the song in the [[Sarah Miles]] film Amaeru Fallout 1972.
* British [[synthpop]] duo [[Erasure]] covered it for their 2003 [[cover album]] ''[[Other People's Songs]]''.
* [[Billy Bragg]] recorded a cover of the song on his ''[[Must I Paint You a Picture? The Essential Billy Bragg|Must I Paint You A Picture?]]'' compilation; it had previously been featured on the compilation album ''[[Ruby Trax]]''.
* [[Priscilla Chan (singer)|Priscilla Chan]], a Hong Kong-based Cantopop singer, also covered it as a popular bilingual dance song in 1988.
* [[Kyōko Koizumi]] covered the song, retitled "Tenshi no sasayaki", on her 1992 Koizumix Production's ''Bambinater'' mini-album.
*[[Jared Gomes]], vocalist of nu-metal band [[Hed PE]], covered a reggae version of the song, retitled ''When'', on his 2012 solo EP ''Unite''.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{MetroLyrics song|the-three-degrees|when-will-i-see-you-again}}<!-- Licensed lyrics provider -->

{{s-start}}
{{succession box
 | before = "[[Rock Your Baby]]" by [[George McCrae]]
 | title  = [[List of number-one singles (UK)|UK number one single]]
 | years  = August 17, 1974 (2 weeks)
 | after  = "[[Love Me For A Reason]]" by [[The Osmonds]]
}}
{{succession box
  | before = "[[Angie Baby]]" by [[Helen Reddy]]
  | title  = ''Billboard'' [[Adult Contemporary (chart)|Easy Listening Singles]] number-one single by The Three Degrees
  | years  = December 14, 1974
  | after  = "[[Wishing You Were Here]]" by [[Chicago (band)|Chicago]]
}}
{{s-end}}
{{The Three Degrees}}

[[Category:1974 singles]]
[[Category:UK Singles Chart number-one singles]]
[[Category:Songs written by Kenny Gamble]]
[[Category:Songs written by Leon Huff]]
[[Category:Billboard Adult Contemporary number-one singles]]
[[Category:Philadelphia International Records singles]]
[[Category:1973 songs]]
[[Category:Parlophone singles]]