"Get-A-Way"
Single by Maxx
from the album To the Maxximum
Released27 October 1993
Recorded1993
GenreEurodance
Length3:45
Label
  • Blow Up
  • Intercord
Songwriter(s)
  • Dakota O'Neill
  • Dawhite
  • Gary Bokoe
  • George Torpey
  • The Hitman
Producer(s)The Movement
Maxx singles chronology
"Get-A-Way"
(1993)		 "No More (I Can't Stand It)"
(1994)
Music video
"Get-A-Way" on YouTube
Original Scandinavian Release

"Get-A-Way" is a song by German Eurodance project Maxx, released in October 1993 as the debut single from the project's first album, To the Maxximum (1994). In Germany, the song reached Gold status for selling over 250,000 units. It peaked within the top 10 in at least 13 countries; Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Scotland, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. By mid-1994, it sold over 1.1 million singles in Europe. Its music video was directed by Jonathan Bate.

Background

"Get-A-Way" originally featured vocals by rapper Boris Köhler (Gary Bokoe) and singer Samira Besic. It was inspired by Ice MC's "Take Away the Colour"[1] and became a major club hit in Germany upon release in October 1993. For unknown reasons, Besic did not participate further in Maxx beyond recording vocals for "Get-A-Way." A model-dancer named Eliz Yavuz (Alice Montana) was hired to lip-sync Besic's vocals for the accompanying music video.[2] British singer Linda Meek was later recruited into the act early in 1994. She quickly became associated with "Get-A-Way," by the media due to her regularly performing the song live in concert and on music television programs with Köhler for music programs like Top of the Pops, Dance Machine, MTV and many more.

Critical reception

American magazine Billboard complimented the song as "quality dancefloor music", noting "its creative mixture of reggae, rap and speed muffin."[3] In his weekly UK chart commentary, James Masterton stated, "This record could hardly miss, being a proven formula. Just like Apache Indian's "Boom-Shack-A-Lack" and Shaggy's "Oh Carolina" before it, "Get-A-Way" is a frenetic ragga track, enough to wear out even the most hardened dancer yet commercial enough for radio to love it to death."[4]

Pan-European magazine Music & Media wrote that "this steaming houser has it all: a thumping beat that should get the crippled going, pulsating synthesizers that provide both the slightly ambient melody and the background, and a prominent rap to put the icing on the cake. It definitely has huge international chart potential."[5] James Hamilton from Music Week's RM Dance Update described the song as a "ragga 'white man' and raucous girl chanted cheesy" 2 Unlimited-like galloper.[6]

Chart performance

"Get-A-Way" became a huge dancefloor hit in Europe, peaking at number eleven in Germany,[7] and within the top 5 in Austria (3), the Czech Republic,[8] Denmark (4), Finland (5), the Netherlands (3), Sweden (3) and the UK. In the latter, it peaked at number four in its third week at the UK Singles Chart, on May 29, 1994.[9] It stayed at that position for two weeks. On the UK Dance Singles Chart, it reached number five. The single also became a top 10 hit in Flemish Belgium (8), Ireland (8), Norway (8), Scotland (6) and Switzerland (8),[10] as well as on the Eurochart Hot 100, where it reached number ten in June 1994. "Get-A-Way" was later certified with a gold record in Germany for selling over 450,000 units[11] and a silver record in the UK for selling over 200,000.[12] By mid-1994, the single reached a total of 1.1 million in European commercial sales.[3]

Outside Europe, it was a top 10 hit in Japan[13] and on the RPM Dance/Urban chart in Canada, where it peaked at number three. In Israel, it was a top 20 hit, peaking at number eleven, while it only reached number 196 in Australia.

Music video

The accompanying music video for "Get-A-Way" was directed by Jonathan Bate.[14] It was filmed in Sweden.[15] The video was later published on Altra Moda Music's official YouTube channel in 2016 and had generated more than 75 million views as of December 2022.[16] Bate would also go on directing the video for the project's next single, "No More (I Can't Stand It)".

The video begins with a man at a cemetery. On a grave he lays down a piece of jewelry and leaves. Then another scene begins in a parking garage, with several men wearing gas masks, raiding a Securitas van and escaping. A detective, the man from the cemetery, appears on the scene. Afterwards a young woman is seen fleeing with two suitcases. She loses a piece of jewelry when she is picked up by a man in a white car, apparently her lover who has been involved in the robbery. The detective finds the piece of jewelry lying on the ground, picks it up and starts chasing the couple. They drives through a winter landscape and visits a petrol station before they arrives a caravan in the forest. They kiss each other and run into the woods. The detective has been on the petrol station and through the forest he has come to the caravan. Right afterwards, the couple returns from the trip in the woods and enters the caravan, unaware that they have been found. Through the video, Gary Bokoe is seen rapping at the scene in the parking garage, surrounded by flashing police lights, police officers and barrier tape around him. Alice Montana performs the chorus as she walks through the cemetery. Other scenes shows her sitting in the back seat of a car.

Track listings

Charts

References

  1. ↑ Hamilton, James (18 March 1995). "Dj directory" (PDF). Music Week, in Record Mirror (Dance Update Supplemental Insert). p. 15. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
  2. ↑ "Eliz Yavuz". Discogs. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
  3. 1 2 Spahr, Wolfgang (3 December 1994). "Germany: Hitmakers '94". Billboard. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  4. ↑ Masterton, James (15 May 1994). "Week Ending May 21st 1994". Chart Watch UK. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
  5. ↑ "Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. 12 February 1994. p. 6. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  6. ↑ Hamilton, James (21 May 1994). "Dj directory" (PDF). Music Week, in Record Mirror (Dance Update Supplemental Insert). p. 7. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  7. ↑ "Charts.de: Top 100 Single (February 28, 1994)". Media Control. Charts.at. Retrieved 23 July 2011.
  8. ↑ "The Talents Behind The Dance Hits Of 94: Maxx" (PDF). Music Week. 17 December 1994. p. 34. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  9. ↑ "Official Singles Chart Top 100 29 May 1994 - 04 June 1994". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  10. ↑ "Maxx: Get-A-Away". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  11. 1 2 "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Maxx)" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 23 July 2011.
  12. 1 2 "Certified Awards Search". BPI. Archived from the original on 11 May 2011. Retrieved 27 December 2009.
  13. ↑ "The Talents Behind The Dance Hits Of 94: Maxx" (PDF). Music Week. 17 December 1994. p. 34. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  14. ↑ "maxx - get-a-way ( viva tv )". YouTube. Retrieved 16 December 2018.
  15. ↑ Soininen, Juha (26 August 2020). Move Your Body (2 The 90's): Unlimited Eurodance. BoD - Books on Demand. p. 79. ISBN 9789528026303. Retrieved 28 August 2021.
  16. ↑ "Maxx - Get A Way (Official Video)". YouTube. 12 July 2016. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 "Get-A-Way", in various Singles Chart Lescharts.com (Retrieved 10 February 2008)
  18. ↑ "Maxx – Get-A-Way" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
  19. ↑ Belgian peak Archived 9 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  20. ↑ "Canadian dance peak". Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
  21. ↑ Billboard: Hits of the World Section, April 16, 1994
  22. ↑ "Eurochart Hot 100" (PDF). Music & Media. 11 June 1994. p. 12. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  23. ↑ "European Dance Radio Top 25" (PDF). Music & Media. 26 March 1994. p. 26. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  24. ↑ Billboard: Hits of the World Section, April 9, 1994
  25. ↑ "Charts.de: Maxx (Singles)" (in German). Charts.de. Retrieved 23 July 2011.
  26. ↑ Search for Ireland peak positions Archived 5 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  27. ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40: Maxx". Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 23 July 2011.
  28. ↑ "Maxx – Get-A-Way" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  29. ↑ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100 24 April 1994 - 28 May 1994". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
  30. ↑ "Official Singles Chart Top 100 29 May 1994 - 04 June 1994". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
  31. ↑ "Dance Singles" (PDF). Music Week. 21 May 1994. p. 28. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  32. ↑ "The RM Club Chart" (PDF). Music Week, in Record Mirror (Dance Update Supplemental Insert). 7 May 1994. p. 4. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
  33. ↑ "JAHRESHITPARADE 1994" (in Austrian German). austriancharts.at. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  34. ↑ "jaaroverzichten 1994" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
  35. ↑ "1994 Year-End Sales Charts: Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. 24 December 1994. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  36. ↑ "Top 100 Singles – Jahrescharts 1994" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  37. ↑ "Jaarlijsten 1994" (in Dutch). Stichting Nederlandse Top 40. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
  38. ↑ "JAAROVERZICHTEN - Single 1994" (in Dutch). dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
  39. ↑ "Årslista Singlar, 1994" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
  40. ↑ "SCHWEIZER JAHRESHITPARADE 1994". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  41. ↑ "Top 100 Singles 1994". Music Week. 14 January 1995. p. 9.
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