You Can't Win (song)

Infobox Single
Name = You Can't Win


Artist = Michael Jackson
from Album =
A-side = "You Can't Win (Pt. 1)"
B-side = "You Can't Win (Pt. 2)"
Released = January 11, 1979
Format = 7" single
12" single
Recorded = 1978
Genre = Pop
Length = 3:43
7:17 (12" mix)
Label = Epic Records
Writer = Charlie Smalls
Producer = Quincy Jones
Certification =
Last single = "Ease on Down the Road" (1978)
This single = "You Can't Win (Pt. 1)" (1978)
Next single = "A Brand New Day" (1979)
Misc =

"You Can't Win" is a song performed by American singer Michael Jackson in the 1978 musical "The Wiz".

Written by Charlie Smalls, songwriter for the 1975 Broadway version of "The Wiz", "You Can't Win" was originally intended to be sung in the musical by the Winkies to Dorothy, when she is trapped in the lair of Eviliene the Wicked Witch of the West. However, the song was dropped from the musical's score after its Boston tryout.

When Quincy Jones began reworking the score of "The Wiz" for Motown/Universal's film adaptation, he asked Smalls to write a new song to replace the Scarecrow's solo "I Was Born on the Day Before Yesterday". Smalls responded by offering "You Can't Win", which was worked into the film as a solo for the character. cite book | last =Jones | first =Quincy | authorlink =Quincy Jones | coauthors = | title =Q: The Autobiography of Quincy Jones | publisher =Broadway Books | date =2002 | location = | pages =Pages 229, 259 | url = | doi = | id = | isbn = 0767905105]

A rerecorded version of "You Can't Win", also produced by Jones and recorded by Jackson, was released as a single for Jackson on Epic Records. "The Wiz" film soundtrack, on the other hand, was issued on MCA Records. Jackson's recording of "You Can't Win" for Epic, a seven-minute recording, was split into a two-part single when it was issued in 1979, although a full-length twelve-inch mix was issued in the United Kingdom. "You Can't Win" was Jackson's first solo single for Epic; his last solo single before this point had been "Just a Little Bit of You", issued on Motown Records in 1975.

However, around the 1978–1979 era, Michael Jackson recorded a disco-themed version of the song, and basically the disco-themed version sounded a lot of different than the original version by Jackson. The single reached #81 during a three week stay on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.

References