Forever Came Today#The Jackson 5 version

The release of "Forever Came Today" was the result of a work slowdown by Holland-Dozier-Holland in late 1967. The song was originally cut in April 1967 with vocals added in December, 1967 and January, 1968. HDH, and particularly lyricist Eddie Holland, had become dissatisfied with both their pay and the working atmosphere at Motown, and resultantly created very little music during the latter half of the year.{{cite book |author-link=Nelson George |last=George |first=Nelson |year=1985 |title=Where Did Our Love Go: The Rise and Fall of the Motown Sound |url=https://archive.org/details/wheredidourlove000geor |url-access=registration |location=New York |publisher=St. Martin's |isbn=0-312-01109-1 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/wheredidourlove000geor/page/152 152–154]}}

With no other Supremes singles ready for release, Motown had "Forever Came Today" prepared for release as a single.{{cite book |author-link=Gerald Posner |last=Posner |first=Gerald |year=2002 |title=Motown: Music, Money, Sex, and Power |location=New York |publisher=Random House |isbn=0-375-50062-6 |page=205}} Mary Wilson, in her autobiography Dreamgirl: My Life as a Supreme, reported that "Forever Came Today" was the first of a series of Supremes singles she did not sing on.Wilson, Mary. Dreamgirl, My Life as a Supreme. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1986. {{ISBN|0-312-21959-8}} p. 214 Motown used their in-house session singers, The Andantes, to provide background vocal instead.

The single stalled for two weeks at number twenty-eight on the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart in spring 1968.{{cite magazine |year=1968 |title=Billboard Hot 100 |magazine=Billboard |volume=80 |issue=17 |pages=54 |publisher=Nielsen Company |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rwoEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA54 |access-date=10 May 2011 }}{{cite magazine |year=1968 |title=Billboard Hot 100 |magazine=Billboard |volume=80 |issue=18 |pages=61 |publisher=Nielsen Company |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qggEAAAAMBAJ&pg=RA1-PA61 |access-date=10 May 2011 }} It was their first American single not to reach the top 10 since "Nothing but Heartaches". The song's lyrics feature a woman who is amazed by her boyfriend's love that she has waited 'forever' for, hence the saying "my forever came today." In spite of its showings on the pop charts, Holland-Dozier-Holland uphold "Forever Came Today" as one of the best Motown songs they ever wrote.Chin, Brian and Nathan, David (2000). "Reflections Of..." The Supremes [CD boxed set liner notes]. New York: Motown Record Co./Universal Music. Cash Box praised "the stunning vocal sound of Diana Ross" and "superlative orchestral tension," saying the song had "fine dance appeal and lyrical attraction."{{cite magazine |title=CashBox Record Reviews |date=March 16, 1968 |page=16 |access-date=2022-01-12 |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/60s/1968/CB-1968-03-16.pdf |magazine=Cash Box}}

By the time of the single's release in early 1968, Holland-Dozier-Holland had staged a work slowdown and eventually no longer came to Motown's Hitsville U.S.A. studio. Motown sued for breach of contract in August 1968; HDH countersued. The trio went on to eventually start their own labels, Invictus Records and Hot Wax Records. Meanwhile, Berry Gordy was forced to find a new songwriting team for the Supremes, since Holland-Dozier-Holland had written all of the group's hit singles since 1963.

• 7" single (29 February 1968) (North America/United Kingdom/Germany)

1. "Forever Came Today" – 2:59
2. "Time Changes Things" – 2:22

{{Infobox song

| name = Forever Came Today

| image = Forever came today by jackson five New Zealand single side-A.png

| alt = side-A label

| caption = Side A of the New Zealand single

| type = single

| artist = the Jackson 5

| album = Moving Violation

| B-side = All I Do Is Think of You

| released = June 1975

| recorded = March 1975

| studio = Motown Recording Studios, Hollywood, California

| venue =

| genre = Disco, funk

| length = 6:05

| label = Motown
M 1356

| writer = Holland–Dozier–Holland

| producer = Brian Holland

| prev_title = I Am Love

| prev_year = 1974

| next_title = All I Do Is Think of You

| next_year = 1975

}}

The single was revived eight years later in a disco version by another Motown group, the Jackson 5. The Jacksons had replaced the Supremes as the label's top-selling act during the early 1970s and by 1975 were going through problems with Motown and making plans to leave the company. Released in June 1975,{{Cite magazine|date=June 21, 1975|title=Top Single Picks|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/70s/1975/Billboard%201975-06-21.pdf|magazine=Billboard|pages=72}} the Jackson 5's version peaked at number six on the soul chart and at number sixty on the pop chart.{{cite book |title= Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004|last=Whitburn |first=Joel |author-link=Joel Whitburn |year=2004 |publisher=Record Research |page=287}} On the Billboard dance chart, it was the first of two releases by the Jacksons to hit number one.{{cite book |title= Hot Dance/Disco: 1974-2003|last=Whitburn |first=Joel |author-link=Joel Whitburn |year=2004 |publisher=Record Research |page=132}} Record World said that the Jackson 5 "take this opportunity to salute their initial career sparker [Diana Ross] with a smash in return."{{cite magazine|magazine=Record World|date=June 28, 1975|accessdate=2023-03-10|title=Hits of the Week|page=1|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Record-World/70s/75/RW-1975-06-28.pdf}}

The single's B-side, "All I Do Is Think of You", was later extensively covered and sampled by contemporary R&B and hip hop artists.

{{Reflist}}

{{The Supremes}}

{{The Jackson 5 singles}}

{{Jackson5}}

{{Holland–Dozier–Holland}}

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Category:1967 songs

Category:1968 singles

Category:1975 singles

Category:The Supremes songs

Category:The Jackson 5 songs

Category:Songs written by Holland–Dozier–Holland

Category:Song recordings produced by Brian Holland

Category:Song recordings produced by Lamont Dozier

Category:Motown singles

Category:American disco songs