"One Step Ahead" is a song by English singer-songwriter

Nik Kershaw Nicholas David Kershaw (born 1 March 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. Kershaw came to prominence in 1984 as a solo artist. He released eight singles that entered the Top 40 of the UK Singles Chart during the ...

, released on 23 January 1989 as the lead single from his fourth studio album '' The Works'' (1989). It was written by Kershaw, and produced by Kershaw and

Julian Mendelsohn Julian Mendelsohn is an Australian record producer, audio engineer and mixer. Early life After completing school in Australia, Mendelsohn moved to the United Kingdom. He secured his first job in 1974 at Milner Sound Fulham Rd. Chelsea, run b ...

. A

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

was filmed to promote the single, and Kershaw also performed it on the Dutch TV show ''POP Formule''. "One Step Ahead" reached No. 55 in the UK and remained in the charts for two weeks. It would be Kershaw's last appearance on the UK singles chart until 1999's " Somebody Loves You".

Background

Kershaw began writing material for his fourth studio album in early 1987 and went to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

later in the year to record with producer

Peter Wolf Peter Wolf (born March 7, 1946) is an American musician best known as the lead vocalist of the J. Geils Band from 1967 to 1983 and as a solo artist. Early life and education Peter Wolf was born Peter Walter Blankfield on March 7, 1946 in The ...

. Ten tracks were completed, but Kershaw was ultimately dissatisfied with the results. When he returned to England, he began remixing and re-recording the material with the help of

. Kershaw also decided to drop two of the intended tracks and replace them with two new ones, "One Step Ahead" and "Elisabeth's Eyes". In a 1989 interview with ''

Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper between 1954 and 1991 for pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after the ''NME'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK album chart was published in ''Re ...

'', Kershaw said of the song, "It was written when the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

were on. All that training for a piece of metal. There must be more to it than that."

Critical reception

On its release, ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later ...

'' described "One Step Ahead" as "well crafted pop with

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

y overtones" and added, "Check out the extended up-beat chorus on the end". Tony Beard of ''

'' commented, "Nik now makes adult pop for people with a Level 42 fixation. It's all fairly jaunty, a semi-serious funk strut, but it sounds as if it's trying too hard, aiming for the charts and the plaudits and just about achieving neither."

Formats

7-inch single #"One Step Ahead" – 3:38 #"When I Grow Up" – 3:39 12-inch single #"One Step Ahead (Industrial Mix)" – 8:14 #"One Step Ahead (7" Version)" – 3:38 #"When I Grow Up" – 3:39 CD single #"One Step Ahead (7" Version)" – 3:38 #"When I Grow Up" – 3:39 #"

Wouldn't It Be Good "Wouldn't It Be Good" is a song by English singer-songwriter Nik Kershaw, released on 20 January 1984 as the second single from his debut studio album, ''Human Racing'' (1984). The release was Kershaw's second single, and features the non-album t ...

" – 4:32 #" The Riddle" – 3:53

Personnel

* Nik Kershaw – producer and mixing on "One Step Ahead" and "When I Grow Up" *

– producer of "One Step Ahead", mixing on "One Step Ahead" and "When I Grow Up", remixer on "One Step Ahead (Industrial Mix)" * Paul Wright – engineer on "One Step Ahead (Industrial Mix)" * Dave Eden – assistant engineer on "One Step Ahead (Industrial Mix)"

Charts

References

External links

* {{Nik Kershaw 1989 singles MCA Records singles Nik Kershaw songs Song recordings produced by Julian Mendelsohn 1989 songs Songs written by Nik Kershaw