Never (Moving Pictures song)
| "Never" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Japan release cover | ||||
| Single by Moving Pictures | ||||
| from the album Footloose | ||||
| B-side | We Share Our Love | |||
| Released | May 28, 1984 (Australia) | |||
| Studio | Record Plant, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | |||
| Genre | Pop rock | |||
| Length | 3:45 | |||
| Label | Columbia EMI (Australia) | |||
| Songwriter(s) | ||||
| Producer(s) | John Boylan | |||
| Moving Pictures singles chronology | ||||
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"Never" is a song written by Dean Pitchford and Michael Gore and recorded by Australian pop rock band Moving Pictures. It was featured on the chart-topping soundtrack album of the 1984 motion picture Footloose. The song is best known for a scene in the film when an angst-ridden Ren McCormack (Kevin Bacon) punchdances around an abandoned warehouse.
The song was also included in the soundtrack of the 2007 film Hot Rod, which parodies the punchdance scene with Rod Kimble (Andy Samberg) in a forest. More recently, on April 27, 2014, the song was used in "Baby Got Black", the eighteenth episode of season 12 of Family Guy, with Peter Griffin parodying the Footloose punchdance scene.
Despite the popularity of the song, Moving Pictures were never paid royalties from its use. According to lead vocalist Alex Smith, “We were just the lowest part of the food chain. Gobbled up by companies and people that suddenly stopped existing, when we asked where our money was. The things you get talked into doing! Anyway we got to record at Sound City and The Record Plant but a couple of bucks would have been nice. Hence, we 'Never' play the song.” Guitarist Garry Frost also commented: "We performed it, it was written by the guys that made the movie, and we got nothing from it. Someone made a lot of money out of that song, and it wasn’t us."