Sailing Away (All of Us song)

Not to be confused with Come Sail Away.
"Sailing Away"
Single by All Of Us
B-side"Pick It Up"
Released1986
RecordedAuckland, 1986
GenrePop
Length3:59
LabelCBS
Songwriter(s)
  • Lyrics: Len Potts, Charlie Sutherland and Paul Katene
  • Music: Traditional
Producer(s)Murray Grindlay

"Sailing Away" is a 1986 single by a supergroup of New Zealand singers and personalities, to promote New Zealand yacht KZ 7 in the 1987 America's Cup. It spent nine weeks at #1 in the single chart, the longest run of a New Zealand single until 2009. While the song is conceptually similar to the many charity supergroup singles released in the mid 1980s, "Sailing Away" has its origins as a television advertisement and was not a charity record.[1]

The song uses the melody of the Māori folk song "Pokarekare Ana", and is bookended with a verse of the original song sung by Michelle Sadgrove.[2]

All Of Us (in singing order)

Choir included:

Charts

Chart (1986) Peak
position
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[3] 1

The single spent nine weeks at #1 in the New Zealand chart in 1986, the longest run for any single by a New Zealand artist until "Brother" by Smashproof and Gin Wigmore in 2009.[4]

Reception

New Zealand Herald entertainment critic Paul Casserly notes that the song reflects a different New Zealand: "We are no longer 'One nation on the water'. The chances of us all getting behind a yachting event to this extent again seem unlikely, absurd even."[5] However, the song "Loyal" by Dave Dobbyn (who featured in "Sailing Away") would later be adopted by Team New Zealand for the 2003 America's Cup defence.

References

  1. ^ "Sailing Away by All of Us". NZ Film Archive. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
  2. ^ "Pokarekare Ana". New Zealand Folk Song. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
  3. ^ "All of Us – Sailing Away". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
  4. ^ "Smashproof break chart record". The New Zealand Herald. 29 April 2009. Retrieved 9 July 2010.
  5. ^ Casserly, Paul (21 September 2012). "Feed the World (And Stuff Like That)". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 2 April 2013.
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