The Escape Club are an English

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

band that was formed in London in 1983. They are best known for their 1988 No. 1 US hit "

Wild, Wild West ''Wild Wild West'' is a 1999 American steampunk Western film co-produced and directed by Barry Sonnenfeld and written by S. S. Wilson and Brent Maddock alongside Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman, from a story penned by brothers Jim and Jo ...

" and for their top-ten 1991 hit " I'll Be There".

History

The band formed in 1983, comprising Mad Shadows members lead singer/rhythm guitarist

Trevor Steel Trevor David Steel (born 1958) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is a mainstay member of the alternative rock band, The Escape Club, which formed in 1983, disbanded in 1992 and reformed in 2009. In 1988, with other members of The ...

and guitarist John Holliday, along with former Expressos members bassist Johnnie Christo (a.k.a. John Christoforou) and drummer Milan Zekavica. The seeds for the formation of The Escape Club were sown when Zekavica joined Steel and Holliday in Mad Shadows, who subsequently performed on an album by the obscure early 1980s Stephen Milford-fronted new wave outfit Planning by Numbers. Before long, Christo had also joined the lineup, and The Escape Club was born. The fledgling band quickly released the single "Breathing". In 1985 The Escape Club signed with

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

and recorded the album '' White Fields'', which was released the following year. In 1987, the group moved to

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

and began recording their next album, ''

Wild Wild West ''Wild Wild West'' is a 1999 American steampunk Western film co-produced and directed by Barry Sonnenfeld and written by S. S. Wilson and Brent Maddock alongside Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman, from a story penned by brothers Jim and John ...

''. The album was released in the summer of 1988 and spawned the single "

", which climbed to No. 1 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabu ...

while the song's

video Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syste ...

received major rotation on MTV. However, it was banned from British Television for unclear reasons, reports and band members speculate it was due to the use of disembodied limbs and lingerie in a way that came off as offensive or sexist. One recent reviewer said of the ban and disembodied limbs, "British censors would’ve been acting in the public interest. ..It’s pretty easy psychedelic trick-shot, and it’s also pure nightmare fuel. I hate looking at it." In 1989, they released two more singles from ''Wild Wild West'': "

Shake for the Sheik "Shake for the Sheik" is a song by English pop-rock band The Escape Club, from their 1988 album ''Wild Wild West''. Written by the band members and produced by Chris Kimsey, the song was released as the album's second single and reached number 2 ...

", which climbed to No. 28, and "Walking Through Walls", which peaked at No. 81. The Escape Club's

cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

single of

The Doors The Doors were an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most controversial and influential ro ...

' "20th Century Fox" appeared on '' The Wonder Years: Music From the Emmy Award-Winning Show & Its Era'', which also received airplay on MTV. The song was produced by Doors band member

Ray Manzarek Raymond Daniel Manzarek Jr. (né Manczarek; February 12, 1939 – May 20, 2013) was an American keyboardist. He is best known as a member of the Doors, co-founding the band with singer and lyricist Jim Morrison in 1965. Manzarek was induct ...

. In 1990 the band returned to the studio to record their final album, ''

Dollars and Sex ''Dollars and Sex'' is the third album by rock band The Escape Club The Escape Club are an English pop rock band that was formed in London in 1983. They are best known for their 1988 No. 1 US hit "Wild, Wild West (The Escape Club song), Wi ...

'', which saw a March 1991 release. The first single, "Call It Poison", failed to crack the US

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...

. Atlantic Records then released the song " I'll Be There", which the group said was heavily influenced by the death of a friend's wife. The song has become an anthem among those who have experienced losses of their own. "I'll Be There" reached No. 8 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and achieved

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

status in the US. The group disbanded in 1992. The Escape Club is the only British band to have a No. 1 hit in the U.S. while not charting at all in their native UK. The band self-released a fourth album "Cloud 10" in 2005. Trevor Steel and John Holliday reunited, with new band member Red Broad, in 2009 and self-released a fifth studio album, ''Celebrity'', in February 2012. In 2019, Johnnie Christo returned to the line-up and the Escape Club played as a full band for the first time in 25 years during the U.S. tour Lost 80s Live.

Discography

Studio albums

Charting Singles

References

External links

*
Cloud 10 at CDBaby.com

Trevor Steel's Blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Escape Club, The Musical groups established in 1983 Musical groups disestablished in 1992 Musical groups reestablished in 2009 English pop music groups English pop rock music groups English rock music groups