"Escaping" is the debut solo single of New Zealand singer

Margaret Urlich Margaret Mary Urlich (24 January 1965 – 22 August 2022) was a New Zealand singer who lived in Australia for most of her career. Urlich's 1989 debut solo studio album, ''Safety in Numbers'', won " Breakthrough Artist – Album" at the 1991 A ...

. The song was released in September 1989 by

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

and charted at number one for three weeks in the New Zealand singles chart, later reaching number 17 in Australia. It is the opening track on Urlich's debut album, ''

Safety in Numbers Safety in numbers is the hypothesis that, by being part of a large physical group or mass, an individual is less likely to be the victim of a mishap, accident, attack, or other bad event. Some related theories also argue (and can show statistica ...

'' (1989), and also features on her 1994 live album ''

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''.

Awards

At the 1989 New Zealand Music Awards, "Escaping" won Single of the Year. At the same awards, Urlich won Best Female Vocalist, and her debut album ''Safety in Numbers'' won Album of the Year and Best Cover Design.

Track listings

* 7-inch single # "Escaping" – 4:36 # " God Bless This Child" – 3:55 * 12-inch and CD single # "Escaping" – 4:36 # "Your Love" – 4:30 # " God Bless This Child" – 3:55

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Asia Blue version

British female soul trio Asia Blue released a cover of the song as their debut single in 1992 by A&M. Their version was produced by

Barry Blue Barry Blue (born Barry Ian Green; 4 December 1950) is an English singer, producer, and songwriter. As an artist, he is best known for his hit songs "Dancin' (on a Saturday Night)" and "Do You Wanna Dance" (both 1973). Blue has also been a pr ...

, who had originally written the song. The single peaked at number 50 in the UK in June 1992, becoming the group's biggest hit. The trio released two more singles, "Connect" and " Boy in the Moon" (another song originally done by Margaret Urlich) in 1992 and 1993 respectively, which failed to chart inside the UK top 75. A 10-track album titled ''Escaping'' was recorded and set to be released in early 1993, but due to the singles' lack of success it was shelved by the label.

Critical reception

Pan-European magazine ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later m ...

'' wrote in their review that "this female vocal trio excels with a soulful

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

including a virtually classic chorus reminiscent of

Donna Summer Donna Adrian Gaines (December 31, 1948May 17, 2012), known professionally as Donna Summer, was an American singer and songwriter. She gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s and became known as the "Queen of Disco", while her music ...

's '

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'."

Miranda Sawyer Miranda Caroline Sawyer (born 7 January 1967) is an English author, journalist and broadcaster. Education and early life Sawyer was born in Bristol and grew up in Wilmslow, Cheshire with her brother Toby, who is an actor. Sawyer was educated ...

from '' Select'' noted its "gloriously syrupy chorus that would do

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (March 14, 1933 – November 3, 2024) was an American record producer, composer, arranger, conductor, trumpeter, and bandleader. Over the course of his seven-decade career, he received List of awards and nominations re ...

proud. 'Escaping' slicks and smooches in creditable

En Vogue En Vogue is an American vocal girl group whose original lineup consisted of singers Terry Ellis, Dawn Robinson, Cindy Herron, and Maxine Jones. Formed in Oakland, California, in 1989, En Vogue reached No. 2 on the US Hot 100 with the singl ...

style."

Track listings

* 7-inch single # "Escaping" (Cool Blue Mix) - 4:46 # "I Want The Right (To Be Wrong)" - 4:07 * 12-inch single # "Escaping" (A Kiss Across The Sea Mix) - 6:07 # "Escaping" (Sleeping Giant Mix) - 5:32 # "I Want The Right (To Be Wrong)" - 4:07 * CD single # "Escaping" (Cool Blue Mix) - 4:46 # "Escaping" (A Kiss Across The Sea Mix) - 6:07 # "Escaping" (Sleeping Giant Mix) - 5:32 # "I Want The Right (To Be Wrong)" - 4:07

Charts

Dina Carroll version

British singer

Dina Carroll Geraldine "Dina" Carroll (born 21 August 1968) is an English singer. She had a string of hits during the 1990s, including the UK top ten singles "It's Too Late (Carole King song)#Quartz version, It's Too Late" (1991), "Don't Be a Stranger (Din ...

released a cover of the song on 16 September 1996 by Mercury and 1st Avenue. For her version, Carroll and producer Nigel Lowis rewrote a good part of the original lyrics, but maintained the same musical structure of the previous versions. The video clip heavily featured a documentary of

Balinese people The Balinese people (, ) are an Austronesian ethnic group native to the Indonesian island of Bali. The Balinese population of 4.2 million (1.7% of Indonesia's population) live mostly on the island of Bali, making up 89% of the island's population ...

culture and social life. Her first single after a three-year absence, "Escaping" became Carroll's highest-charting hit in the UK, peaking at No. 3, equalling the position of her ballad " Don't Be a Stranger". The B-side, "Mind Body & Soul", was released as a single in Japan on 25 December 1996.

Critical reception

Jon O'Brien from

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

described "Escaping" as a "joint,

worldbeat Worldbeat is a music genre that blends pop music or rock music with world music or traditional music. Worldbeat is similar to other cross-pollination labels of contemporary and roots genres, and which suggest a rhythmic, harmonic or textural co ...

-inspired" song. Irish ''

Evening Herald ''The Herald'' is a nationwide mid-market tabloid newspaper headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, and published by Independent News & Media who are a subsidiary of Mediahuis. It is published Monday–Saturday. The newspaper was known as the ''Ev ...

'' stated that Carroll "certainly knows how to make a comeback in style". Ross Jones from ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' complimented its chorus as "massive" and noted how the "life-affirming refrain sweeps up to the heavens". Pan-European magazine ''

'' wrote, "...Dina Caroll is already receiving airplay with this cover version of the Asia Blue song. Don't expect R&B: this is a well-produced velvety

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

." A reviewer from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as ''Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music We ...

'' rated it three out of five, declaring it "an atmospheric, lushly-arranged ballad, complete with an African feel and touches of Estefan." Another ''Music Week'' editor, Alan Jones, noted that this "strong mid-tempo cut with a soaring chorus" is already a radio favourite, "which should give her a triumphant return to the upper echelons of the chart."

Track listings

* UK and Japanese CD single # "Escaping" # "Escaping" (DARC by Nature remix) # "Mind Body & Soul" (Chicago MVP's Allstar mix) # "Mind Body & Soul" (Jere McAllister Final's remix) * UK 12-inch single :A1. "Mind Body & Soul" (Chicago MVP's Allstar mix) :A2. "Mind Body & Soul" (Bounce Productions Storm dub) :B1. "Mind Body & Soul" (Sci-Fi Learners Vox mix) :B2. "Escaping" (radio edit) * UK cassette single and European CD single # "Escaping" (radio edit) # "Escaping" (DARC by Nature remix) * Japanese mini-CD single ("Mind, Body & Soul") # "Mind Body & Soul" (album version) # "Mind Body & Soul" (Chicago MVP's Allstar mix)

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

External links

1989 original version by Margaret Urlich (YouTube)

1992 cover by Asia Blue (YouTube)
{{Authority control 1989 debut singles 1989 songs 1990s ballads 1992 singles 1996 singles A&M Records singles CBS Records singles Dina Carroll songs First Avenue Records singles Margaret Urlich songs Mercury Records singles Number-one singles in New Zealand Pop ballads Songs written by Barry Blue Songs written by Robyn Smith (record producer)