Run to Paradise
{{Use Australian English|date=August 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Run to Paradise
| cover = run_to_paradise.jpg
| type = single
| artist = The Choirboys
| album = Big Bad Noise
| B-side = Struck by Lightning
| released = 31 August 1987{{cite web|url=https://i.imgur.com/NxrHCaO.jpg|title=Australian Music Report No 684 – 31 August 1987 > Singles: New Releases|publisher=Australian Music Report|accessdate=11 December 2019}}
| length = 4:08
| label = Mushroom
| writer = Mark Gable, Brad Carr
| producer = Peter Blyton, Brian McGee, Choirboys
| prev_title = Fireworks
| prev_year = 1986
| next_title = Boys Will Be Boys
| next_year = 1988
}}
"Run to Paradise" is a song by Australian hard rock group the Choirboys which reached No. 3 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart in December 1987.{{cite web|url=https://i.imgur.com/dCYwA9B.jpg|title=Australian ARIA Top 50 Singles – 20th December 1987|publisher=ARIA, via Imgur.com|accessdate=11 December 2019}} The related Big Bad Noise album peaked at No. 5, and was the twenty-first highest-selling album of 1988 in Australia.{{cite web|url=https://www.ariacharts.com.au/annual-charts/1988/albums-chart|title=1988 ARIA Albums Chart|publisher=ARIA|accessdate=11 December 2019}} In New Zealand, "Run to Paradise" attained No. 13 on the RIANZ Singles Chart. Released in the United States in 1989, it appeared on the Billboard Hot 100 and Mainstream Rock charts. The song was re-worked for a 2004 release credited to Nick Skitz vs. Choirboys and reached No. 16 on the ARIA Singles Chart. In January 2018, as part of Triple M's "Ozzest 100", the 'most Australian' songs of all time, "Run to Paradise" was ranked number 24.{{cite news|work=Musicfeeds|title=Here Are The Songs That Made Triple M's 'Ozzest 100'|url= http://musicfeeds.com.au/news/songs-made-triple-ms-ozzest-100/|accessdate=4 January 2020|date=27 January 2018}}
Background
The song is about misspent youth, though upon release in 1987 it was widely believed to be about heroin use due to the lyrics “You don’t need a friend when you can score / You run to paradise”.{{cite web |author1=Phil Stafford |author2=staff at Qweekend |title=The stories behind the songs: Choirboys "Run to Paradise" 1987 |url=https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/qweekend/the-stories-behind-the-songs-choirboys-run-to-paradise-1987/news-story/496c6694701c124df7fabaac5fe77d00 |website=The Courier-Mail |access-date=17 May 2023 |date=October 21, 2017}} Songwriter Mark Gable said: “It’s not specifically about heroin, … it’s more about misspent youth, the waste I saw in the ’70s on the northern beaches of Sydney. It’s more about being on the dole, surfing instead of working, smoking dope and drinking, people getting trashed in pubs on the weekend.”
The Choirboys signed with Mushroom Records and released "Fireworks" in May 1986, they also opened for Deep Purple on their tour of Australia. Brad Carr left the group to be replaced on lead guitar by Brett Williams (ex-Brakes) as they supported Bon Jovi's tour in 1987. They recorded their second album Big Bad Noise with producers Peter Blyton (The Radiators, Machinations) and Brian McGee (The Rolling Stones, Cyndi Lauper). The next single "Run to Paradise" reached No. 3 in December. In New Zealand, it attained No. 13 on the RIANZ Singles Chart. Released in the United States, it appeared on the Billboard Hot 100 and peaked at No. 33 on the Mainstream Rock chart in 1989. Big Bad Noise peaked at No. 5 on the Kent Music Report Albums Chart in April 1988, and was the twenty-first highest-selling album for the year in Australia. Other singles from the album included "Boys Will Be Boys" and "Struggle Town" reaching No. 14 and No. 34 respectively.
In 1998, as part of Mushroom Records' 25th anniversary and concert (showcasing its biggest artists), "Run to Paradise" was reissued on CD Single (for the first time). A rare instrumental version of the song was a bonus track.
The song returned to the Australian singles charts in Australia in July 2004 when dance producer Nick Skitz asked Gable to sing "Run to Paradise" on a dance reworking. The song, billed as "Nick Skitz vs. Choirboys", debuted in the top 20 of the Australian singles charts and stayed in the charts for six weeks before leaving the top 50.
Jay Parrino performed the song during the semi-finals of Australia's Got Talent 2009. With his 'one-man-band' act he recorded live drums into a loop station then played guitar and sang over the top. This arrangement has a swinging 12/8 shuffle feel which is different from the original.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}}
Track listings
Personnel
Choirboys
- Brett Williams – lead guitar
- Mark Gable – lead vocals, guitar
- Ian Hulme – backing vocals, bass guitar
- Lindsay Tebbutt – drums
Production details
- Producer – Peter Blyton, Brian McGee, Choirboys
- Engineer – Greg Henderson, McGee, Mike Duffy
- Assistant engineer – Angie Cooper, Paula Jones, Mark Thomas, Kathy Nauton
- Cutting engineer – Rick O'Neil
- Studio – Studios 301, Rhinoceros, Festival, Glebe Studios, Alberts and Platinum Studios
- Mixing studio – Rhinoceros
- Cover design, inner sleeve – Studio David (David Wardle, Therese Strelein, Rebecca Strelein)
- Cover photography – Sue Stubbs
Charts
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
=Weekly charts=
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" |
| scope="col"| Chart (1987–1989)
! scope="col"| Peak |
|---|
| scope="row"| Australia (Australian Music Report)
| 3 |
| {{singlechart|New Zealand|13|artist=Choirboys|song=Run To Paradise|rowheader=true|accessdate=11 December 2019}} |
| scope="row"| US Billboard Hot 100{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/search?artistname=choirboys&charttitle=run+to+paradise|title=Billboard Chart Search - Choirboys, Run To Paradise|magazine=Billboard|url-access=limited|accessdate=1 March 2021}}
| 80 |
| scope="row"| US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)
| 33 |
Nick Skitz vs. The Choirboys version
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" |
| scope="col"| Chart (2004)
! scope="col"| Position |
|---|
| {{singlechart|Australia|16|artist=Nick Skitz vs. The Choirboys|song=Run To Paradise|rowheader=true|accessdate=11 December 2019}} |
{{col-2}}
=Year-end charts=
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" |
| scope="col"| Chart (1987)
! scope="col"| Position |
|---|
| scope="row"| Australia (Australian Music Report){{cite web|url=https://i.imgur.com/sPdqqRt.jpg|title=Kent Music Report No 701 – 28 December 1987 > National Top 100 Singles for 1987|publisher=Australian Music Report, via Imgur.com|accessdate=11 December 2019}}
| 45 |
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" |
| scope="col"| Chart (1988)
! scope="col"| Position |
|---|
| scope="row"| Australia (ARIA){{cite web|url=https://www.ariacharts.com.au/annual-charts/1988/singles-chart|title=1988 ARIA Singles Chart|publisher=ARIA|accessdate=11 December 2019}}
| 25 |
{{col-end}}
References
{{Refbegin}}
;General
- {{cite encyclopedia |last=McFarlane |first=Ian |author-link=Ian McFarlane |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop |title=Whammo Homepage |url=http://www.whammo.com.au/index.asp |accessdate=15 July 2010 |year=1999 |publisher=Allen & Unwin |location=St Leonards, NSW |isbn=1-86508-072-1 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040405231007/http://www.whammo.com.au/index.asp |archive-date=5 April 2004 }} Note: Archived [on-line] copy has limited functionality.
- {{cite book|title=The Who's Who of Australian Rock|last=Spencer|first=Chris|author2=Zbig Nowara |author3=Paul McHenry |orig-year=1987|year=2002|publisher=Five Mile Press|location=Noble Park, Vic.|isbn=1-86503-891-1}}{{cite book|url=http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/2090055|title=Who's who of Australian rock / compiled by Chris Spencer, Zbig Nowara & Paul McHenry|work=catalogue|year=2002|publisher=National Library of Australia|isbn=9781865038919|accessdate=15 July 2010}}
;Specific
{{Refend}}
{{Reflist|colwidth=25em|refs=
{{cite web | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121010113654/http://hem.passagen.se/honga/database/c/choirboys.html | url = http://hem.passagen.se/honga/database/c/choirboys.html | title = Choirboys | publisher = Australian Rock Database. Passagen.se (Magnus Holmgren) | first1 = Magnus | last1 = Holmgren | last2 = Hopp | first2 = Michael | last3 = Coleman | first3 = Richard | archive-date = 10 October 2012 | url-status = usurped | accessdate = 21 March 2014 }}
{{cite book|last=Kent|first=David|author-link=David Kent (historian)|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992|publisher=Australian Chart Book|location=St. Ives, N.S.W.|year=1993|edition=Illustrated|page=63|isbn=0-646-11917-6}} N.B. the Kent Report chart was licensed by ARIA between mid–1983 and 12 June 1988.
{{cite web|publisher=Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA)|title="Run to Paradise" at APRA search engine|url=http://www.apra-amcos.com.au/worksearch.axd?q=Run%20to%20Paradise|accessdate=18 July 2010}}
}}
{{The Choirboys}}
{{Authority control}}