Sailing Away (All of Us song)

"Sailing Away" is a 1986 single by a supergroup of New Zealand singers and personalities, to promote New Zealand yacht KZ 7 in the 1987 America's Cup. It spent nine weeks at #1 in the single chart, the longest run of a New Zealand single until 2009. While the song is conceptually similar to the many charity supergroup singles released in the mid 1980s, "Sailing Away" has its origins as a television advertisement and was not a charity record.[1]

"Sailing Away"
Single by All Of Us
B-side"Pick It Up"
Released1986
RecordedAuckland, 1986
GenrePop
Length3:59
LabelCBS
Songwriter(s)
  • Lyrics: Len Potts, Charlie Sutherland and Paul Katene
  • Music: Traditional
Producer(s)Murray Grindlay

The song uses the melody of the Māori folk song "Pokarekare Ana", and is bookended with a verse of the original song.[2]

All Of Us (in singing order)

Choir included:

Charts
Chart (1986) Peak
position
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[3] 1

The single spent nine weeks at #1 in the New Zealand chart in 1986, the longest run for any single by a New Zealand artist until "Brother" by Smashproof and Gin Wigmore in 2009.[4]

Reception

New Zealand Herald entertainment critic Paul Casserly notes that the song reflects a different New Zealand: "we are no longer "One nation on the water". The chances of us all getting behind a yachting event to this extent again seem unlikely, absurd even."[5] However, the song "Loyal" by Dave Dobbyn (who featured in "Sailing Away") would later be adopted by Team New Zealand for the 2003 America's Cup defence.

References
  1. "Sailing Away by All of Us". NZ Film Archive. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
  2. "Pokarekare Ana". New Zealand Folk Song. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
  3. "Charts.nz – All of Us – Sailing Away". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
  4. "Smashproof break chart record". The New Zealand Herald. 29 April 2009. Retrieved 9 July 2010.
  5. Casserly, Paul (21 September 2012). "Feed the World (And Stuff Like That)". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 2 April 2013.
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