Songoftheday 4/17/23 - Here's how it goes you and me up and down, but maybe this time we'll get it right worth the fight...
"Escape" - Enrique Iglesias
from the album Escape (2001)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #12 (one week)
Weeks in the Top-40: 14
Today's song comes from Enrique Iglesias, whose lead single from his second album, "Hero", rode the post 9/11 train back into the top ten of Billboard magazine's Hot 100 in the fall of 2001. Iglesias' follow-up was the set's title track, "Escape". Written by the singer and producer Steve Morales along with Kio DioGuardi (who would later be an American Idol judge) and David Siegel, the song's title seems like a possible ode to getaway with a paramour, but in reality it's pretty stalkerish, with Iglesias negotiating a breakup before warning that "you can run, you can hide, but you can't escape my love". The music video features his real-life girlfriend, tennis ace Anna Kournikova, with whom he is still together with two children, who I hope never see this video of their dad cornering then macking on their mom in the women's bathroom of a club...
"Escape" became the second top-40 pop hit from Escape in April of 2002. On the radio, the song went to #7 on the Mainstream Top-40 chart, #33 on the older-skewing Adult Top-40 format, #25 on the Adult Contemporary (or "easy listening") radio panel, and #37 on the dance-oriented Rhythmic airplay list. The remixes of the track, done by club legends like Giorgio Moroder and Thunderpuss, helped it spend a week at #1 on Billboard's Dance Club Play chart. Internationally, the single reached the top ten in Ireland (#2), Portugal (#2), Romania (#2), Czechia (#2), the United Kingdom (#3), the Netherlands (#4), New Zealand (#4), Austria (#5), Belgium (#5 Flanders/#29 Wallonia), Germany (#6), Croatia (#6), Australia (#7), and Spain (#9). It also hit the top-40 in Switzerland (#11), Sweden (#14), Denmark (#15), Norway (#16), Italy (#24), and Greece (#26).
The third single from Escape was "Don't Turn Off The Lights", written by the same team. The song went to #24 on Billboard's Mainstream Top-40 airplay chart, but only "bubbled under" the main Hot 100 at #110. Internationally, it got as high as #6 In New Zealand, #8 in Australia, and #18 in Romania. That was followed internationally by "Love To See You Cry", co-written by Mark Taylor and Paul Barry (who he wrote "Hero" with). This one topped the chart in Czechia, and made the top 40 in Romania (#2), Portugal (#5), the United Kingdom (#12), Ireland (#12), Greece (#15), France (#17), Canada (#17), Spain (#19), Belgium (#26 Wallonia/#32 Flanders), New Zealand (#26), Italy (#30), Switzerland (#35), and the Netherlands (#37). Finally, the song "Maybe", done by the Iglesia/DioGuardi/Siegel/Morales writing team, topped the Romanian singles chart for two weeks, and reached the top-40 in the UK (#12), Ireland (#16), the Netherlands (#22), and New Zealand (#29).
Enrique will be back to the series.
(5/10)
(Click below to see the rest of the post)
The Spanish-language version of the song, "Escapar", went to #2 on Billboard's Hot Latin Songs chart...
Here's Enrique performing the song on British TV...
...and lastly in concert in Belfast, Northern Ireland...
Up tomorrow: This R&B newcomer is feeling stupid.
Comments