The Show Must Go on ( Leo Sayer song ) - Wikipedia The Show Must Go on ( Leo Sayer song ) `` The Show Must Go On '' Single by Leo Sayer from the album Silverbird Released 1973 ( 1973 ) Genre Rock Length 3 : 30 Label Chrysalis Songwriter ( s ) Leo Sayer David Courtney Producer ( s ) Adam Faith David Courtney Sayer performing the song on Dutch television ( AVRO 's TopPop ) in 1974 `` The Show Must Go On '' Single by Three Dog Night from the album Hard Labor B - side `` On The Way Back Home '' Released April 1974 ( 1974 ) Genre Rock Length 4 : 23 ( album version ) 3 : 37 ( single version ) Label Dunhill Songwriter ( s ) Leo Sayer David Courtney Producer ( s ) Jimmy Ienner `` The Show Must Go On '' is a song co-written by Leo Sayer and David Courtney and first recorded by Sayer. It was released in the United Kingdom in 1973, becoming Sayer 's first hit record ( reaching its chart peak of # 2 in early 1974 in the UK ). The song reached # 3 on the Irish Singles Chart in January 1974, and was included on Sayer 's debut album Silverbird. The song was covered by Three Dog Night, whose version was released in 1974, becoming a hit in the United States, peaking at # 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and sung by vocalist Chuck Negron. The record reached # 1 on the Cashbox pop chart, # 2 on the Canadian RPM Magazine charts, and became their seventh and final Gold Record. It uses a circus theme as a metaphor for dealing with the difficulties and wrong choices of life. Early in Sayer 's career, he performed it dressed and made up as a pierrot clown. The opening motif quotes Julius Fučík 's `` Entrance of the Gladiators '' which is commonly associated with circus clowns. In Sayer 's version, the last line of the chorus is `` I wo n't let the show go on ''. Three Dog Night sang it as `` I must let the show go on '', which Sayer was reportedly not happy about. Contents 1 Personnel 2 Chart performance 2.1 Leo Sayer version 2.2 Three Dog Night version 2.3 Weekly charts 2.4 Year - end charts 3 References 4 Bibliography Personnel Leo Sayer - vocals Russ Ballard - keyboard David Courtney - piano Robert Henrit - drums Dave Wintour - bass Chart performance Leo Sayer version Weekly chart ( 1974 ) Peak position Australia ( Kent Music Report ) 10 UK Singles Chart Ireland Year - end chart ( 1974 ) Rank Australia 76 Three Dog Night version Three Dog Night 's cover of `` The Show Must Go On '' became their last Top 10 hit in the U.S., where it reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Cash Box Top 100, as well as in Canada, where it reached number two. It also reached # 11 in the Netherlands and # 12 in Germany. Weekly charts Chart ( 1974 ) Peak position Canadian RPM Top Singles Belgium 23 Netherlands 6 New Zealand ( Listener ) 9 US Billboard Hot 100 US Cash Box Year - end charts Chart ( 1974 ) Rank US Billboard Hot 100 42 US Cash Box 63 Canada 43 Netherlands 71 References Jump up ^ Roberts, David ( 2006 ). British Hit Singles & Albums ( 19th ed. ). London : Guinness World Records Limited. p. 483. ISBN 1 - 904994 - 10 - 5. Jump up ^ Kent, David ( 1993 ). Australian Chart Book 1970 - 1992. St Ives, N.S.W. : Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0 - 646 - 11917 - 6. Jump up ^ `` Official Singles Chart Top 50 Official Charts Company ''. Officialcharts.com. Retrieved 2016 - 10 - 10. Jump up ^ The Irish Charts, January 3, 1974 Jump up ^ Australian-charts.com Jump up ^ https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=nl&u=http://www.dutchcharts.nl/weekchart.asp%3Fcat%3Ds&prev=search Jump up ^ `` Flavour of New Zealand - search listener ''. Flavourofnz.co.nz. Retrieved 2016 - 10 - 10. Jump up ^ `` Lyrics : The Show Must Go On by Three Dog Night ''. Top40db.net. 1974 - 03 - 16. Retrieved 2016 - 10 - 10. Jump up ^ `` Archived copy ''. Archived from the original on 2014 - 08 - 10. Retrieved 2014 - 11 - 03. Jump up ^ `` Top 100 Hits of 1974 / Top 100 Songs of 1974 ''. Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved 2016 - 10 - 10. Jump up ^ `` Archived copy ''. Archived from the original on October 19, 2014. Retrieved May 28, 2015. Jump up ^ `` RPM - Library and Archives Canada RPM - Bibliothèque et Archives Canada ''. Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Archived from the original on 2016 - 08 - 01. Retrieved 2016 - 10 - 10. Jump up ^ `` Jaaroverzichten -- Single 1974 '' ( in Dutch ). Single Top 100. Hung Medien. Retrieved March 2, 2018. Bibliography Gogan, Larry ( 1987 ). The Larry Gogan Book of Irish Chart Hits ( Maxwell Publications ) ISBN 9781870846004 Whitburn, Joel ( 1996 ). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 6th Edition ( Billboard Publications ), ISBN 978 - 0823076321 Leo Sayer Studio albums Silverbird Just a Boy Another Year Endless Flight Thunder in My Heart Leo Sayer Here Living in a Fantasy World Radio Have You Ever Been in Love Cool Touch Compilation albums The Very Best of Leo Sayer All the Best Soundtrack albums All This and World War II Lake Freeze -- The Raccoons Songtrack Singles `` The Show Must Go On '' `` One Man Band '' `` Moonlighting '' `` You Make Me Feel Like Dancing '' `` When I Need You '' `` How Much Love '' `` Thunder in My Heart '' `` I Ca n't Stop Loving You ( Though I Try ) '' `` Raining in My Heart '' `` More Than I Can Say '' `` Orchard Road '' `` Till You Come Back to Me '' `` Unchained Melody '' Related topics Le Chaînon manquant The Raccoons on Ice Book Three Dog Night Danny Hutton Michael Allsup Paul Kingery Pat Bautz Eddie Reasoner David Morgan Cory Wells Chuck Negron Jimmy Greenspoon Floyd Sneed Joe Schermie Skip Konte Al Ciner Gary Moon Richard Campbell Studio albums Three Dog Night ( 1968 ) Suitable for Framing ( 1969 ) It Ai n't Easy ( 1970 ) Naturally ( 1970 ) Harmony ( 1971 ) Seven Separate Fools ( 1972 ) Cyan ( 1973 ) Hard Labor ( 1974 ) Coming Down Your Way ( 1975 ) American Pastime ( 1976 ) It 's a Jungle ( 1983 ) Live albums Captured Live at the Forum ( 1969 ) Around the World with Three Dog Night ( 1973 ) Compilations Golden Bisquits ( 1971 ) Joy to the World : Their Greatest Hits ( 1975 ) The Best of 3 Dog Night ( 1982 ) Celebrate : The Three Dog Night Story, 1965 -- 1975 ( 1993 ) 20th Century Masters -- The Millennium Collection : The Best of Three Dog Night ( 1999 ) Singles `` Nobody '' `` Try a Little Tenderness '' `` One '' `` Easy to Be Hard '' `` Eli 's Coming '' `` Celebrate '' `` Mama Told Me ( Not to Come ) '' `` Out in the Country '' `` One Man Band '' `` Joy to the World '' `` Liar '' `` An Old Fashioned Love Song '' `` Never Been to Spain '' `` The Family of Man '' `` Black & White '' `` Pieces of April '' `` Shambala '' `` Let Me Serenade You '' `` The Show Must Go On '' `` Sure As I 'm Sittin ' Here '' `` Play Something Sweet ( Brickyard Blues ) '' `` Til the World Ends '' `` Everybody Is a Masterpiece '' `` It 's a Jungle Out There '' Discography Book This 1970s single -- related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Show_Must_Go_On_(Leo_Sayer_song)&oldid=841171720 '' Categories : 1974 singles 1973 songs Three Dog Night songs Leo Sayer songs Songs written by Leo Sayer Songs written by David Courtney Chrysalis Records singles Dunhill Records singles 1970s single stubs Hidden categories : CS1 Dutch - language sources ( nl ) Articles with hAudio microformats All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from April 2017 All stub articles Talk Contents About Wikipedia Nederlands Edit links This page was last edited on 14 May 2018, at 12 : 59 ( UTC ). Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: three dog night the show must go on album
Answer: Hard Labor