Love Can't Turn Around

"Love Can't Turn Around" is a 1986 song by Farley "Jackmaster" Funk featuring Darryl Pandy. It holds an important place in the history of house music as the first record in that genre to cross over from the clubs into the UK Singles Chart.

History

The song's origin was "I Can't Turn Around", the lead single from Isaac Hayes' 1975 album Chocolate Chip. This album was notable for being the first on which Hayes moved on from funk to embrace the then fashionable disco sound. Hayes' original version remained a club favourite for many years and was often played at The Warehouse, the influential Chicago nightclub which was the focus of the house music scene in the mid-1980s.

In 1986, Steve "Silk" Hurley, working under the name J.M. Silk, recorded a house version of the song with vocalist Keith Nunnally, which reached number one on the Billboard magazine Hot Dance Club Play chart. However, the record did not cross over onto any other chart.

Hearing Hurley's version of the song, Farley Keith, who was living with Hurley at the time, teamed up with Jesse Saunders to make his own version which would move even further away from Hayes' original. Keeping much of Hurley's instrumental arrangement, Farley changed the hook from "I Can't Turn Around" to "Love Can't Turn Around" and dropped the rest of Hayes' original lyric, substituting new words by Vince Lawrence. The new words completely changed the outlook of the song; where Hayes' lyric had been about finding lasting love, with "I Can't Turn Around" being a declaration of intent to stay with a partner, the new lyric described a break-up, with "Love Can't Turn Around" now implying that the affair was over and would not be renewed. Vocals were performed by Darryl Pandy, who had been a lead performer with the acclaimed choir of Chicago's Church of Universal Awareness. Pandy died on June 10, 2011.^[1]

The record was a club hit, but also crossed over into the mainstream in the UK, where it was released by London Records. The track entered the UK Singles chart in the week ending August 27, 1986, and peaked at number 10 five weeks later. At the time, writing credits were given to Farley Keith and Vince Lawrence, though it was later agreed through a deal with Universal Music that Hayes' song was the inspiration, and it is now officially credited to Hayes. Following the success of "Love Can't Turn Around", J.M. Silk's version of "I Can't Turn Around" also charted in the UK, reaching a peak of number 62.

In 1996, Keith's version was re-released in the UK featuring Daryl Pandy, and peaked at number #40.^[2]

Track listing / mixes

Main UK formats:

7" - London Records LON 105

A. "Love Can't Turn Around" – 3:45
B. "Dub Can't Turn Around" – 4:00

12" - London Records LONX 105

A1. "Love Can't Turn Around" (Club Mix) – 7:25
A2. "Love Can't Turn Around" (radio edit) – 3:25
B. "Dub Can't Turn Around" – 9:16 (Despite the title, this is the full vocal 12" version which has to date yet to appear on CD)

Remix 12" - London Records LONXR 105

A. "Love Can't Turn Around" (House Remix) – 7:11
B1. "Love Can't Turn Around" (Houseappella) – 9:30
B2. "Love Can't Turn Around" (Houseappella Instrumental) – 7:13

The mix usually included on house music compilations is the 5:38 "Farley Remix #2", originally released on a DJ International Records sampler, which combines the intro from the Houseappella mix and elements from the House Remix.

References