*Before “No More Tears” conjured up visions of Mary J. Blige or Ariana Grande, it was the groundbreaking 1979 disco duet that went on to make music history for two other vocal powerhouses.
On January 30th of that year, “No More Tears (Enough is Enough)” by Donna Summer and Barbra Streisand became the first 12-inch single to be certified Gold by the RIAA.
The song came about only after Streisand proved months earlier that she could record a disco hit.
The vocal powerhouse went to No. 3 with the Paul Jabara-penned title track to “The Main Event,” a romantic comedy that featured Streisand opposite Ryan O’Neal.
When “The Main Event/Fight” became a hit, Jabara saw dollar signs and began looking for other disco projects for Streisand. He thought it was a no-brainer to pair her with the disco queen of the era, Donna Summer. He introduced them to his latest project, a collaboration with songwriter Bruce Roberts intended as a female duet, where two singers are putting their foot down about lovers that don’t act right.
Jabara later told Us magazine about their recording session, saying the era’s biggest vocal divas were “intimidated by each other.” At one point, he said Summer tried to keep up with Streisand’s long notes and toppled off her stool when she ran out of breath. Jabara continued:
“There was Streisand, hands flaring, and Donna, throwing her head back – and they’re both belting, sparking each other. It was a songwriter’s dream. Seeing them on their stools opposite each other was so mind-boggling, my head nearly turned 360 degrees, like Linda Blair’s did in The Exorcist.” Listen to their raw vocals during the recording session below.
The song’s initial title was “Enough is Enough” and was set for release both as a new track on Summer’s compilation double album On the Radio: Greatest Hits Volumes I & II via her label Casablanca, and on Streisand’s upcoming “Wet” album via her label Columbia Records. But the title didn’t fit theme of “Wet,” where every song had something to do with water. So Jabara added the opening lyrics, “It’s raining, it’s pouring, my love life is boring me to tears,” and tacked on “No More Tears” to the “Enough is Enough” title.
Below, is the finished product.
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After recording “No More Tears,” Summer and Streisand never performed the song together live. But it didn’t stop them from belting it by themselves or with other people…
The song’s intro was even flipped by producer RZA for Raekwon’s track “Rainy Dayz,” on the latter’s 1996 album, “Only Built 4 Cuban Linx.” (beginning at 0:52 below)
“No More Tears (Enough is Enough)” entered the Hot 100 at No. 59 in October 1979 and on November 24 became the first duet between two female singers to top the chart. It was the fourth U.S. No. 1 for both singers, and was released in both 7″ and 12″ versions, as well as different mixes and background vocal arrangements between the two labels. Both the 7″ and the 12″ versions were certified Gold (the 12″ on this day in 1979), and the 7″ single was eventually certified Platinum, signifying sales of two million US copies.
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