First recorded (as a demo) by Dionne Warwick (1963).
Hit versions by Lou Johnson (US #49 1964), Sandi Shaw (US #52/UK #1/CAN #1/AUS #16 1964), Dionne Warwick B-side re-recording (US #65 1968), R.B. Greaves (US #27/MOR #3 1971) and Naked Eyes (US #8/UK #59/CAN #9/AUS #7 1983).
From the wiki: “Originally recorded as a demo by Dionne Warwick in 1963, ‘(There’s) Always Something There to Remind Me’ first charted for Lou Johnson whose version (with backing vocals by Doris Troy, Dee Dee Warwick, and Cissy Houston) reached #49 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the summer of 1964. Johnson also recorded the original versions of several other Bacharach and David songs that later proved to be bigger hits for other musicians, including ‘Reach Out for Me’, and ‘Message to Michael (Kentucky Bluebird)‘.
“British impresario Eve Taylor heard Johnson’s version while on a US visit scouting for material for her recent discovery Sandie Shaw, who consequently covered the song for the UK market. Rush-released in September 1964, the song was premiered by Shaw with a performance on Ready Steady Go!, the pop music TV program. Shaw’s version reached #1 on the UK charts in three weeks.
“Dionne Warwick recorded ‘(There’s) Always Something There to Remind Me’ on 13 April 1967 in the same session which produced her Top 40 hit ‘The Windows of the World’. Warwick’s version had a belated single release in August 1968 as the B-side of the Top 40 hit ‘Who Is Gonna Love Me’ but garnered sufficient airplay on its own to reach #65 on the Billboard Hot 100.
“‘(There’s) Always Something There to Remind Me’ – as ‘Always Something There to Remind Me’ – finally entered the US Top 40 for the first time in 1970 via the R. B. Greaves (‘Take a Letter, Maria’, 1969) recording which reached #27 in February 1970. Recorded at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in 1969, with production by Ahmet Ertegun and Jackson Howe, Greaves’ version was also a #3 Easy Listening hit.
“Twenty years after its composition, ‘Always Something There to Remind Me’ (so titled) reached the US Top 20 for the first time via a synthpop reinvention of the song by Naked Eyes, peaking at #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the summer of 1983.
“Band member Bristol Byrne would recall: ‘The record was recorded at Abbey Road, and we were invited to a party downstairs, with Paul McCartney and many other stars … When we returned upstairs to the studio around 1 a.m., I decided to have a go at the vocal, It was the first time I have ever recorded a vocal in one take.'”
Lou Johnson, “Always Something There to Remind Me” (1964):
Sandi Shaw, “There’s Always Something There to Remind Me” (1964):
Dionne Warwick, “Always Something There to Remind Me” re-recording (1968):
R.B. Greaves, “Always Something There to Remind Me” (1970):
Naked Eyes, “Always Something There to Remind Me” (1983):