“Never Say Never” by Romeo Void

When you think of the iconic pop songs from the 1980’s, Romeo Void’s “Never Say Never” has to be on that list. It's sultry, danceable, and catchy as hell. It’s also a song that ended up catering to the nightclub elite, even though it was recorded by what Columbia Record executives considered an “overweight” singer who they wanted removed or blurred from any promotional materials.

Romeo Void was formed in San Francisco in 1979 and quickly signed a contract with 415 Records. They garnered critical attention with their first release, and by 1981 were recording with Rick Ocasek. In between these sessions, they were improvising an instrumental encore at a show in a Boston nightclub.  Ocasek loved what he heard and nearly pulled the band off the stage to get them back into the studio.  The basic chords from their on stage improvisation became “Never Say Never,” their first top 25 dance hit.
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It wasn’t long before Romeo Void was signed over from 415 Records to Columbia and even less time before Columbia stopped supporting them.  Their reason for this? Romeo Void’s “overweight” singer…
In an industry that is based on what is heard and not seen, it always bothered me that a group as talented as Romeo Void, with actual chart success, was still a casualty of vanity and mis-marketing.