Don't Turn Around

"Don't Turn Around" is a popular song written by Albert Hammond and Diane Warren. It was originally recorded by Tina Turner as the B-side to the single "Typical Male" in 1986. Warren is said to have been disappointed that Turner's record company treated the song as a B-side and never included it on one of her albums. However it has since been included on the rarities disc of the 1994 compilation The Collected Recordings – Sixties to Nineties, as well as featuring in the Tina musical in 2018.

"Don't Turn Around"
Song by Tina Turner
A-side"Typical Male"
Released1986
Genre
Length4:16
LabelCapitol
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)

It has been covered by a number of artists, most notably Luther Ingram in 1987, Aswad in 1988, Bonnie Tyler in 1988, and Ace of Base in 1993.

Aswad version
"Don't Turn Around"
Single by Aswad
from the album Distant Thunder
B-side"Woman"
ReleasedFebruary 10, 1988 (1988-02-10)
Recorded1987
GenreReggae fusion
Length3:25
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Chris Porter
Aswad singles chronology
"Hooked On You"
(1987)		 "Don't Turn Around"
(1988)		 "Give a Little Love"
(1988)

British reggae group Aswad heard Luther Ingram's version and recorded a cover of it. It was released on February 10, 1988 and went to number one on the UK Singles Chart in March 1988.[1] It also reached number 45 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs in the US that same year.

Charts
Chart (1988) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[2] 34
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[3] 6
Denmark (IFPI)[4] 7
Germany (Official German Charts)[5] 29
Ireland (IRMA)[6] 4
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[7] 5
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[8] 5
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[9] 1
Norway (VG-lista)[10] 10
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[11] 13
UK Singles (OCC)[12] 1
US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs[13] 45

Year-end charts
Chart (1988) Position
Belgium (Ultratop Flanders)[14] 83
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[15] 65
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[16] 65

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[17] Silver 250,000^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

Ace of Base version
"Don't Turn Around"
Scandinavian CD single; the artwork is used in other European releases with different title layouts
Single by Ace of Base
from the album Happy Nation (US version) & The Sign
B-side"Young and Proud"
Released
  • 14 March 1994 (Europe)
  • 19 April 1994 (US)
  • 30 May 1994 (UK)
Recorded1993
StudioTuffs, Gothenburg, Sweden
Genre
Length3:51
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Tommy Ekman
  • Per Adebratt
Ace of Base singles chronology
"The Sign"
(1994)		 "Don't Turn Around"
(1994)		 "Living in Danger"
(1994)
Music video
"Don't Turn Around" on YouTube

In 1993, Swedish pop group Ace of Base recorded a minor-key version of "Don't Turn Around" for their US debut album, The Sign. It was the follow-up to their very successful single, "The Sign" and was also included on the re-release of Happy Nation the same year. Written by American songwriters Albert Hammond and Diane Warren, the song reached number-one in Canada, number 4 in the US and number 5 in the UK. It was the third most popular song in the United States in the summer of 1994.[18]

Background and release
I thought it was too much in major. We thought, 'If [Arista] really wants us to do it, why not?' The lyrics were good. We thought if we can transform it a bit into minor, in the chorus and so on, it could be OK.

—Jonas Berggren talking to Billboard about the song.[19]

Arista Records suggested that Ace of Base should make a cover of "Don't Turn Around" for their The Sign album. Band member Jonas Berggren hadn't heard the Aswad version, but he liked what he heard and decided to record a cover with Ace of Base.

"Don't Turn Around" also contains a rap segment made by band member Ulf Ekberg.

Critical reception

AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine said that with singles like "All That She Wants", "The Sign", and "Don't Turn Around", "it's easy to see why they were hits -- the beat is relentless and the hooks are incessantly catchy."[20] Annie Zaleski from The A.V. Club noted that Ace of Base "gave it a brisk, breezy vibe that verges on tropical".[21] Larry Flick from Billboard wrote that the Swedish pop phenomenon "will, once again, blaze up the Hot 100 with its slick, lightweight reading of a tune popularized by Aswad." He added that "thin but inoffensive vocals are laid over the kind of synth-smart pop/reggae arrangement that top 40 programmers regularly subscribe to."[22] Cash Box commented, "Can these Swedish hitmakers make it three-for-three? You can bet on it, with the release of the next single from the quartet's smash The Sign, a song made popular in reggae circles by Aswad. Will follow the likes of Big Mountain, etc., up the charts with its easy-listening, synth-flavored mix of reggae and lightweight dance." They also described the track a "potential summertime smash" and added, "One has to wonder. "What's in the water over at Arista?!"".[23] David Browne from Entertainment Weekly wrote that "the jauntily forlorn" song is "preeminent Europop, all brassy hooks, rushing beats, and exuberant singing that brings to mind Swedish cheerleaders in an ABBA cabaret."[24] Dave Sholin from the Gavin Report noted that "for their third time at the plate this sensational pop foursome is about take a trip around the bases with what is another surefire home run!"[25] The Network Forty said that the song is "another bonafide smash", noting it as "pure pop".[26] Bob Waliszewski of Plugged In noted in his review of The Sign, that "Don't Turn Around" and "The Sign" "demonstrate strength in the wake of romantic rejection."[27] The Rolling Stone Album Guide described it as "a funky Diane Warren song".[28] Chuck Campbell from Scripps Howard News Service called it a "reggae-paced" number.[29]

Chart performance

"Don't Turn Around" was a worldwide hit and remains one of the band's most successful songs to date. It reached number-one on the RPM Singles Chart in Canada, and both the Billboard Adult Contemporary and the Cash Box Singles Chart in the United States. In Europe, it managed to climb into the Top 10 in Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Scotland, Sweden (number 2) and the United Kingdom, as well as on the Eurochart Hot 100, where it peaked at number 7. In the UK, "Don't Turn Around" reached number 5 in its third week at the UK Singles Chart, on June 19, 1994.[30] Additionally, it was a Top 20 hit in Belgium, France and Switzerland. Outside Europe, the single also peaked at number 2 on the RPM Dance/Urban Chart, number 3 in Israel, number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US, number 8 in New Zealand and number 19 in Australia. It earned a gold record in Germany, New Zealand and the US, with a sale of 250,000, 5,000 and 500,000 singles.

Airplay

"Don't Turn Around" entered the European airplay chart Border Breakers at number 20 on April 2, 1994, due to crossover airplay in Central Europe and peaked at number 1 twice, first on June 4, followed by July 23. Both times it held on to the top spot for two weeks. Together with "The Sign", "Don't Turn Around" monopolised either the number 1 or 2 spot on Border Breakers for 36 weeks.[31]

Impact and legacy

Rolling Stone listed "Don't Turn Around" at number 16 in their "20 Biggest Songs of the Summer: The 1990s" list in July 2014.[32]

Several reviewers has noted that "Don't Turn Around" might have inspired Lady Gaga for her 2010 hit single "Alejandro". Lindsey Fortier from Billboard compared "Alejandro" to "Don't Turn Around" in her review of Gaga's single.[33] And in 2014, when "Don't Turn Around" was ranked number 16 by Idolator in their ranking of "The 50 Best Pop Singles of 1994", they wrote: "From its spoken-word intro to its insanely catchy pan flute hook, the song encapsulates everything perfect about pop of that era. I can't be the only one who thinks Lady Gaga was inspired by this immortal classic for her own single, "Alejandro," can I?"[34]

Music video

Ace of Base filmed a music video for the song directed by Swedish director Matt Broadley, showing scenes of a couple leaving each other intertwined with scenes of the band on the beach and in a beach house. It was shot in Coconut Grove in Miami, Florida in December 1993.[35] The lighthouse in the video is located in Bill Bags Cape Florida State Park on Key Biscayne, one of Miami’s barrier islands. In some shots featuring the actors you can see Stiltsville in the distance - a group of wooden houses built on the waters of Biscayne Bay. Some parts of the video are in black-and-white, but the scenes with Ace of Base members are in color. The video begins with the group performing inside the beach house. Toward the end, all four members walk along the shore. Broadley had previously directed the music videos for "All That She Wants" and "Happy Nation". "Don't Turn Around" was uploaded to YouTube in January 2015. By September 2020, it had more than 23,8 million views.[36]

Track listing
  • UK CD single
  1. "Don't Turn Around" (The 7" Aswad Mix)
  2. "Don't Turn Around" (Stretch Version)
  3. "Young and Proud"
  • German 4-track CD
  1. "Don't Turn Around" (Radio Groove Mix)
  2. "Don't Turn Around" (The Aswad Mix)
  3. "Don't Turn Around" (Groove Mix Extended)
  4. "Happy Nation" (Moody Gold Mix)
  • European 2-CD set

CD 1:

  1. "Don't Turn Around"
  2. "Don't Turn Around" (Stretch Version)
  3. "Young and Proud"

CD 2:

  1. "Don't Turn Around" (The 7" Aswad Mix)
  2. "Don't Turn Around" (Turned Out Eurodub)
  3. "Don't Turn Around" (Groove Mix Extended)
  4. "Happy Nation" (Moody Gold Mix)
  • Digital download (The Remixes EP, 2009)
  1. "Don't Turn Around"
  2. "Don't Turn Around" (2009)
  3. "Don't Turn Around" (Stretch Version)
  4. "Don't Turn Around" (The 7" Aswad Mix)
  5. "Don't Turn Around" (Turned Out Eurodub)
  6. "Don't Turn Around" (Groove Mix Extended)

Credits and personnel
  • Vocals by Linn Berggren, Jenny Berggren, and Ulf Ekberg
  • Backing Vocals by Linn Berggren and Jenny Berggren
  • Written by Albert Hammond and Diane Warren
  • Produced by Tommy Ekman and Per Adebratt
  • Recorded and produced at Tuff Studios, Gothenburg
  • Mixed at Park Studios, Stockholm

Charts and certifications

Other cover versions

Kim Goody released a single version in 1987. Despite being featured in several episodes of her Saturday morning show No. 73, the song failed to get into the UK Singles Chart.

The younger sister of John Rowles, Tania Rowles, recorded a single version for RCA NZ in 1986.[80][81]

Bonnie Tyler released her version on her 1988 album Hide Your Heart, while soul singer Luther Ingram had a US Billboard R&B chart No. 55 hit with his interpretation.

Loretta Chandler also sung this song on the "Mr. Wacky's World" episode of the 1980s TV show Fame (Ep. 6.8, 1986).

In 1990, a little-known rock band called Eyes, which at one point featured James Christian of House of Lords on lead vocals, covered the song on their self-titled album, which Journey and Talisman frontman Jeff Scott Soto sang on. It was released under the Curb Records label. In 1994, Eyes, this time featuring Jeff Scott Soto on lead vocals, covered the song again on their album "Windows of the Soul."

In 1992, Neil Diamond recorded a version of "Don't Turn Around", which made the Top 20 on the US Adult Contemporary chart and Top 10 AC in Canada.[82] Also in 1992, Swedish pop singer Tone Norum recorded a version, which is included on her album, Don't Turn Around.

In 1998, the Argentinean dance-pop group El Simbolo recorded a Spanish language cover titled "No Llores Más" from their album No Pares.

In 2005, the Utah-based rock with horns band Side Dish recorded and released a version of "Don't Turn Around" which was included on their EP Age of Intent.

In 2010, Albert Hammond, co-writer of the song, recorded the song for his album Legend.

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