Up Escalator

For its release as a single, "Up Escalator" was remixed by Chris Lord-Alge. The B-side "Soon" and the two additional tracks on the 12-inch and CD versions, "Thistlekiss" and "History", were all new tracks exclusive to the single. At the time of its release, the band revealed that the three new tracks marked the beginning of their move towards a more blues and country-orientated sound.{{cite news |last=Russell |first=Ian |date=3 November 1989 |title=New direction for Love and Money |newspaper=The Kilmarnock Standard |page=7}}

Grant revealed that "Soon" was a difficult song for the band to complete. He told The Kilmarnock Standard, "[It] had been a thorn in our side for some time – we simply could not get it together. We broke out the cheap champagne the night it was completed." "Thistlekiss" originated as a "ragtime tune" that bassist Bobby Paterson had written. While recording Strange Kind of Love in New York, Grant decided to develop the song and "display the hammier side of my nature". He described the song at the time as being "the most relaxed I've been on record without external sedation". Grant was inspired to write "History" after he was unable to see his sister and her husband when they travelled from Canada to Dundee to attend a family gathering. Grant wrote the song in the summer of 1989 "by way of an apology".

"Up Escalator" received airplay on BBC Radio 1 after being added to the station's B-list.{{cite magazine |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-and-Media/80s/1989/M&M-1989-10-28.pdf |title=Station Reports |magazine=Music & Media |volume=6 |issue=43 |pages=46 |date=28 October 1989 |via=World Radio History |access-date=19 April 2022}}

On its release as a single, Iestyn George of Record Mirror described "Up Escalator" as "a typical example of Love and Money's funked up brand of R&B". He felt the band's material in general failed to live up to Grant's earlier work with Friends Again and predicted the song would fail to become a hit, stating, "I'll eat my record collection if this is a hit".{{cite magazine |last=George |first=Iestyn |date=28 October 1989 |title=Singles |magazine=Record Mirror |page=14 |issn=0144-5804}} Marcus Hodge of the Cambridge Evening News felt the song had "more than enough hooks even if it does not quite have the atmosphere of [the band's] earlier singles". He added that the song's "urgency compensates for any shallowness".{{cite news |last=Hodge |first=Marcus |date=30 October 1989 |title=Singles |newspaper=Cambridge Evening News |page=15}}

7-inch single (UK and Europe){{cite AV media notes|title=Up Escalator|others=Love and Money|year=1989|type=UK 7-inch single sleeve|publisher=Fontana Records|id=MONEY 8, 876 058-7}}

1. "Up Escalator" – 3:51
2. "Soon" – 4:34

Cassette single (UK and Europe){{cite AV media notes|title=Up Escalator|others=Love and Money|year=1989|type=UK cassette liner notes sleeve|publisher=Fontana Records|id=MONMC 8, 876 058-4}}

1. "Up Escalator" (Extended Mix) – 6:05
2. "Soon" – 4:34

12-inch single (UK){{cite AV media notes|title=Up Escalator|others=Love and Money|year=1989|type=UK 12-inch single sleeve notes|publisher=Fontana Records|id=MONMC 8, 876 058-4}}

1. "Up Escalator" (Extended Mix) – 6:05
2. "Soon" – 4:37
3. "Thistlekiss" – 1:58
4. "History" – 2:22

CD single (Four Songs from Love and Money) (UK and Europe){{cite AV media notes|title=Jocelyn Square|others=Love and Money|year=1989|type=UK and German CD single liner notes|publisher=Fontana Records|id=MONCD 8, 876 059-2}}

1. "Up Escalator" – 3:51
2. "Soon" – 4:37
3. "Thistlekiss" – 1:58
4. "History" – 2:22

Credits are adapted from the UK CD single liner notes and the Strange Kind of Love booklet.{{cite AV media notes|title=Strange Kind of Love|others=Love and Money|year=1988|type=UK/European album CD booklet|publisher=Fontana Records|id=836 498-2}}

Love and Money

• James Grant – lead vocals, backing vocals, electric guitar, horn arrangement
• Paul McGeechan – organ
• Bobby Paterson – bass, backing vocals, horn arrangement

Additional musicians on "Up Escalator"

• Jeff Porcaro – drums
• Ronnie Goodman – percussion
• Paul Griffin – clavinet
• Dave Tofani – horns
• Don Brooks – harmonica
• Ronnie Cuber, Dave Bargeron, Lou Sollof – horns
• Merle Miller, Kati McGunigle – backing vocals
• Rick Derringer – slide guitar
• Dave Chesky – horn arrangement charting

Production

• Gary Katz – producer on "Up Escalator"
• Chris Lord-Alge – remix of "Up Escalator"
• Love and Money – producers of "Soon", "Thistlekiss" and "History"

Other

• Stylorouge – design
• Trev Rogers – photography

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Category:1988 songs

Category:1989 singles

Category:Fontana Records singles

Category:Love and Money (band) songs

Category:Songs written by James Grant (musician)

Category:Song recordings produced by Gary Katz