Never for Ever

Co-produced with Jon Kelly, it was the first album by a British female solo artist to reach number one in the UK and the first by any female solo artist to enter the chart at the top. It was also her first record to use the Fairlight CMI, programmed by Richard James Burgess and John L. Walters. The singles were Breathing, Army Dreamers and Babooshka, which reached number five. The album went gold in the UK.

It was her second foray into production after the On Stage EP. She briefly considered Eric Stewart as producer, then chose to work with Kelly, who had engineered Lionheart, and did not use Andrew Powell, saying she had nothing against him but wanted to make more creative decisions herself. It was also the first of her albums with digital synthesizers and drum machines. It entered the chart at number one for the week ending 20 September 1980, stayed there one week and remained in the top 75 for 23 weeks. A record-signing tour of the UK followed release, with long queues down Oxford Street.

Songs and reception

The sources are often films. The Infant Kiss comes from the 1961 film The Innocents, itself based on Henry James's The Turn of the Screw. The Wedding List draws on Truffaut's 1968 film The Bride Wore Black, and Delius (Song of Summer) on Ken Russell's 1968 television film about the composer. Blow Away (for Bill) commemorates her lighting director Bill Duffield, who was killed in an accident at Poole Arts Centre during the 1979 tour. It is the only studio album before Director's Cut without a title track. She said the title meant that we must tell our hearts it is never for ever. The cover is a pencil illustration by Nick Price.

Breathing and Army Dreamers each reached number 16 in the UK, and Babooshka reached number two in Australia. Record Mirror found the album depressing, but it was otherwise well received. On the strength of it she was voted best female artist of 1980 in polls run by Melody Maker, Sounds, the Sunday Telegraph and Capital Radio. Rolling Stone included it in its list of the 80 greatest albums of 1980 in 2020. It was not released in the US until 1984, after The Dreaming charted. Violin and Egypt were played on the 1979 tour, and The Wedding List was aired in a BBC Christmas Special on 28 December 1979.