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"Runaway"
Single by Nuyorican Soul
from the album Nuyorican Soul
B-side	"Remix"
Released	1996
Genre	Disco pop (original) house garage (remixes)
Length	4:19 (single version) 7:54 (album version)
Label	Mercury Records Talkin' Loud
Songwriter(s)	Janice Gugliuzza Ronnie James Vincent Montana Jr.
Producer(s)	"Little" Louie Vega Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez
Nuyorican Soul singles chronology
"Runaway" (1996) "It's Alright, I Feel It!" (1997)
Music video
"Runaway" on YouTube

"Runaway" is a song by Nuyorican Soul, a project by the American house-garage production and remix team of "Little" Louie Vega and Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez. It features Puerto Rican singer and songwriter India and was released in 1996 by Mercury Records and Talkin' Loud as the first and lead single from their debut album, Nuyorican Soul (1997). The song is a cover of The Salsoul Orchestra's recording "Run Away", featuring American singer Loleatta Holloway from 1977. The new version was very successful in clubs and reached number-one on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart in the US. In Europe, it peaked at number 24 on the UK Singles Chart, but was even more successful on the UK Dance Chart, where it hit number-one. Additionally, it was a top-30 hit in Iceland, and a top-40 hit in Germany. On the Eurochart Hot 100, the song reached number 75 in February 1997.

Critical reception

Scottish Aberdeen Press and Journal complimented the song as "sensational". Barry Walters for The Advocate commented, "This retro-disco interpretation is so joyously reverent, it feels utterly contemporary. The song features refreshingly live strings conducted by the original Salsoul architect, Vince Montana, as well as an appropriately unfettered (and bilingual) vocal by the Latin siren India, the only vocalist to be revered in house, freestyle, and salsa circles." In a retrospective review, Patrick Corcoran from Albumism remarked that it "once again marries the carefree disco sound of the original with a respectful updating of production values." Daryl Easlea for BBC in 2011 wrote that taking the Salsoul Orchestra's 'Runaway' "again reflected the past projected into the future." He added, "A full hands-in the-air anthem, it brought a stately majesty to the original."

Larry Flick from Billboard stated that "as clubland continues to salivate for the onset of the full-length debut from Nuyorican Soul, the act offers this wonderfully faithful rendition of the Loleatta Holloway disco classic with fierce Latin/dance diva India in the vocal seat." Pan-European magazine Music & Media declared it as "a perfect drivetime record, with Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez and Louie Vega packing in every gramme of sunshine they've soaked up during years of fusing latino beats and New York club vibes. Soaring vocals from salsa diva India make this the most accessible track from their self titled album..." Alan Jones from Music Week wrote, "The new version is pleasingly retro, with India replicating Holloway's role with distinction. Radio is already on this one, too, and a hit is the only possible outcome." A reviewer from People Magazine noted that the current "queen of salsa", India, "tears into" the disco standard, while Judson Kilpatrick from Vibe deemed it an "soaring remake". David Sinclair from The Times complimented it as a "buoyant" debut.

Music video

The accompanying music video for "Runaway" takes place in a cramped apartment where there is a house party. India performs the song amidst the crowd of dancing people. Occasionally, the story of three different women are being told; one comes home and finds her boyfriend with another woman. The second woman is tired of cleaning up after her lazy boyfriend, and the third one has had enough of her boyfriend playing nights with the guys. Towards the end while India sings, all three women are packing their cases and running away from their boyfriends.

Impact and legacy

American singer Janet Jackson once told MTV News that her inspiration to write her 1997 hit "Together Again" came from "Runaway" by Nuyorican Soul, as the song reminded her of being in Studio 54 in New York when she was a child. It gave Jackson a kind of New York feel of disco and she wanted to do something like this.

DJ Magazine ranked the song at number 51 in their list of "Top 100 Club Tunes" in 1998.

Disc Over Music main man and UK mainstay Tim Green said that "Runaway" was the first song he remember hearing, and liking, that could be classified as dance music.

Mixmag included the Armand Van Helden mix in their list of "The Best Basslines in Dance Music" in 2020, writing, "A legendary remix from a remix king. Armand Van Helden adds speed garage whizz and bass to Nuyorican Soul's sultry disco jam 'Runaway' with India. No longer a laidback cut for lazy days, AvH's remix is Strictly 4 Tha Clurb, powered by a zig-zag bassline with bundles of energy."

Track listing

• 12", UK (1997)

A1. "Runaway" (Original Flava 12") – 9:55

A2. "Runaway" (Philly Beats) – 2:38

B1. "Runaway" (Mongoloids in Space) – 11:35

B2. "Runaway" (Don't Sample This) (Accapella) – 3:43

• 2 x Vinyl, 12", US (1997)

A1. "Runaway" (Original Flava 12" Mix) – 9:55

A2. "Runaway" (Philly Beats) – 2:38

B. "Runaway" (Mongoloids in Space) – 11:35

C1. "Runaway" (Mousse T's Jazz Funk Experience) – 8:19

C2. "Runaway" (Mousse T's Soul Dub) – 5:46

D1. "Runaway" (Ronnie's Guitar Instrumental) – 9:24

D2. "Runaway" (India's Ambient Dream) – 2:51

D3. "Runaway" (Don't Sample This!) (A Cappella) – 3:43

• CD single, UK (1996)

1. "Runaway" – 4:14
2. "Runaway" (Original Flava 12") – 9:57
3. "Runaway" (Armand Van Helden Remix) – 10:36

• CD maxi, US (1997)

1. "Runaway" (Radio Edit) – 4:19
2. "Runaway" (Original Flava 12") – 12:30
3. "Runaway" (Mongoloids in Space) – 11:35
4. "Runaway" (Mousse T's Jazz Funk Experience) – 8:19
5. "Runaway" (Radio Edit with Spanish) – 4:18
6. "Runaway" (Spanish Underground Mix) – 7:50

Charts

Cover versions, samples and remixes

American DJ Armand van Helden and German DJ Mousse T. made remixes of "Runaway". The van Helden remix became a speed garage club hit.

British singer-songwriter Nate James covered "Runaway" on his 2009 album, Revival.

A Hundred Birds covered "Runaway" in 2016.

See also

• List of number-one dance singles of 1997 (U.S.)

References

1. "Kiss Anthems 97". Aberdeen Press and Journal. November 21, 1997. page 14.
2. Walters, Barry (May 13, 1997). "Disco 2000". The Advocate. Issue 733.
3. Corcoran, Patrick (January 26, 2022). "Nuyorican Soul's Eponymous Debut Album 'Nuyorican Soul' Turns 25 — Anniversary Retrospective". Albumism. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
4. Easlea, Daryl (2011). "Nuyorican Soul Nuyorican Soul Review". BBC. Retrieved March 2, 2020.
5. Flick, Larry (January 18, 1997). "Single Reviews" (PDF). Billboard. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
6. "New Releases: Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 14, no. 1–3. January 18, 1997. Retrieved January 9, 2018.
7. Jones, Alan (January 25, 1997). "Talking Music" (PDF). Music Week. p. 28. Retrieved May 8, 2022.
8. "Picks and Pans Review: Nuyorican Soul". People. May 12, 1997. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
9. Kilpatrick, Judson (April 1, 1997). "Nuyorican Soul - Nuyorican Soul". Vibe. Retrieved March 2, 2020.
10. Sinclair, David (February 1, 1997). "The week's top pop releases; Records". The Times.
11. "Nuyorican Soul - Runaway". YouTube. November 14, 2016. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
12. "Janet Jackson Discusses The Meaning Of "The Velvet Rope," Pt. II". MTV News. Viacom. November 21, 1997. Archived from the original on August 8, 2014. Retrieved June 24, 2014.
13. "DJ Magazine Top 100 Club Tunes (1998)". Discogs. Retrieved March 12, 2017.
14. "Nuyorican Soul's "Runaway" Sends Tim Green Rushing Back into the Past". Thump.vice.com. Retrieved March 12, 2017.
15. "The Best Basslines In Dance Music, According To You". Mixmag. May 7, 2020. Retrieved October 16, 2024.
16. "RPM Dance (Apr 28, 1997)". RPM. April 28, 1997. Retrieved March 9, 2018.
17. "Eurochart Hot 100" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 14, no. 7. February 15, 1997. p. 16. Retrieved January 9, 2018.
18. ^ "Nuyorican Soul feat. India – Runaway (song)". Danishcharts.dk. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
19. "Íslenski Listinn Topp 40 (20.03.1997 - 26.03.1997)" (PDF). Dagblaðið Vísir - Tónlist (in Icelandic). Retrieved February 5, 2018.
20. "Scottish Singles Chart 02 February 1997 - 08 February 1997". Official Charts Company. Retrieved January 16, 2018.
21. "Nuyorican Soul feat India". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
22. "UK Dance Singles Chart Top 40 02 February 1997 - 08 February 1997". Official Charts Company. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
23. ^ "Nuyorican Soul – Chart history". Billboard.com. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
24. "'97 Year End Top 50 Dance Tracks" (PDF). RPM. December 1997. Retrieved November 5, 2023.
25. "The Club Top 100 of 1997" (PDF). Music Week, in RM (Dance Update Supplemental insert). January 10, 1998. p. 5. Retrieved January 9, 2023.

• 1996 songs
• 1996 singles
• Electronic songs
• American house music songs
• House music songs
• Talkin' Loud singles