Nowhere to Run (Martha and the Vandellas song)

This article is about the song by Martha and the Vandellas. For other uses, see Nowhere to Run.

"Nowhere to Run"
Single by Martha and the Vandellas
from the album Dance Party
B-side	"Motoring"
Released	February 10, 1965
Format	7" single
Recorded	Hitsville U.S.A. (Studio A); October 21, 1964
Genre	Pop/soul
Length	2:48
Label	Gordy G 7039
Writer(s)	Holland–Dozier–Holland
Producer	Lamont Dozier, Brian Holland
Martha and the Vandellas singles chronology
"Wild One" (1964) "Nowhere to Run" (1965) "You've Been in Love Too Long" (1965)

"Nowhere to Run" is a 1965 pop single, b/w "Motoring", by Martha and the Vandellas for the Gordy (Motown) label and is one of the group's signature songs. The song, written and produced by Motown's main production team of Holland–Dozier–Holland, depicts the story of a woman trapped in a bad relationship with a man she cannot help but love. Holand-Dozier-Holland and the Funk Brothers band gave the song a large, hard-driving instrumentation sound similar of the sound of prior "Dancing In The Street" with snow chains used as percussion alongside the tambourine and drums.

Included on their third album, Dance Party, "Nowhere to Run" hit number eight on the Billboard Pop Singles chart, and number five on the Billboard R&B Singles chart. It also charted in the UK peaking at number twenty-six on the chart.

This version was ranked #358 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.^[1]

Later use

The record's brass-heavy arrangement and chorus of "nowhere to run to, baby/nowhere to hide" have made the song a popular one at sporting events, whether played in its original version or reinterpreted by a marching band. The song has also been seen as one of the songs played heavy by troops during the Vietnam War and has since been a title and inspiration in TV shows such as Quantum Leap and Murphy Brown.

This song is used in the Sky News advertising for United Kingdom general election debates, 2010

This song is contained within the in-game soundtrack of the PC game Battlefield Vietnam. It is also included in the soundtrack of Good Morning Vietnam.

This song is also featured in the 1995 movie Crimson Tide.

The song is featured in the Martin Scorsese film, Bringing Out the Dead.

Laura Nyro covered the song on her 1971 album Gonna Take a Miracle, with backing vocals by Labelle.

Arnold McCuller performed a disco-style cover version which appeared on the soundtrack for The Warriors in 1979. A snippet was sung by Patti Scialfa as part of the mood-setting introduction to Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's live version of "Cover Me", included on their album Live/1975-85. The song was also sampled by N.W.A. on their 1991 hit, "100 Miles and Runnin'". The song is interpolated in the Gravediggaz song Nowhere to Run, Nowhere to Hide. A cover version was featured in the 1991 film The Commitments (based upon the Roddy Doyle novel of the same name) as performed by Maria Doyle Kennedy (no relation).

A cover by John Avila was featured in "An Extremely Goofy Movie". A cover by Stephen Cummings featured in the film "The Crossing" (1990). A cover sung in Vietnamese by Khanh Ha appears in Gleaming the Cube.

According to Janet Jackson's collaborators Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, there was talk of her covering "Nowhere to Run" for her 1989 album Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814. But instead, Jackson chose to do an original song inspired by the dance-pop approach of "Nowhere to Run", titling it "Escapade".

A power pop version of the song was released by The Knack in their 2002 album Serious Fun.^[2]

Phil Collins recorded a cover during the sessions of his 2010 album Going Back

Personnel

• Lead vocals by Martha Reeves
• Background vocals by Rosalind Ashford & Betty Kelly
• Written by Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Edward Holland, Jr.
• Produced by Lamont Dozier and Brian Holland
• All instrumentation by The Funk Brothers
  • Richard "Pistol" Allen: drums
  • James Jamerson: bass guitar
  • Earl Van Dyke: electric piano
  • Jack Ashford: percussion, tambourine, vibes
  • Ivy Jo Hunter: percussion (snow chains)
  • Robert White: guitar
  • Eddie Willis: guitar

Notes

1. ^ "The RS 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". RollingStone.com. http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/6596203/nowhere_to_run/1. Retrieved 2008-06-19. 
2. ^ Ruhlmann, William. "Serious Fun (Bonus Tracks) - Overview". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r587015. Retrieved April 9, 2010.