Margaret Urlich
Margaret Urlich | |
|---|---|
 Urlich performing in Hawke's Bay, 2008 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Margaret Mary Urlich |
| Born | 24 January 1965 Auckland, New Zealand |
| Died | 22 August 2022 (aged 57) Southern Highlands, New South Wales, Australia |
| Genres | |
| Occupation | Singer |
| Years active | 1985–2022 |
| Labels | |
Margaret Mary Urlich (24 January 1965 – 22 August 2022[1]) was a New Zealand singer who lived in Australia for most of her career.
Urlich's 1989 debut solo studio album, Safety in Numbers, won "Breakthrough Artist – Album" at the 1991 ARIA Awards.[2] Its 1992 follow-up, Chameleon Dreams, was also a success. Urlich was successful in both New Zealand and Australia, selling over 400,000 albums during her career, ranking her as one of New Zealand's most successful recording artists. She was the cousin of both fellow New Zealand singer Peter Urlich[3] and Australian musician Jen Cloher.[4]
Life and career
[edit] | This section needs additional citations for verification. (August 2022) |
Urlich began her career as lead vocalist for the new wave band Peking Man with her brother Pat, Tim Calder, Perry Marshall, Jay F-Bula (Jay Foulkes), Neville Hall, John Fearon. Peking Man won the 1984 Shazam! Battle of The Bands (a TVNZ pop show) and had a number of hit songs in New Zealand, including "Good Luck to You" (No. 6), "Lift Your Head Up High" (No. 21) and 1985's "Room That Echoes" (No. 1).[5]
Urlich was later a member of an all-girl pop group in New Zealand called When the Cat's Away. Urlich moved to Australia in 1988. She recorded her debut solo studio album, Safety in Numbers, at Studios 301 in Sydney and released it in New Zealand in 1989 and Australia in March 1990. The album peaked at No. 4 on the New Zealand album charts in December 1989[6] and No. 5 on the Australian album charts in December 1990[7] and went triple platinum in Australia. Urlich won an ARIA Award in 1991 for "Best Breakthrough Artist".[8]
In 1990, Urlich, then little known outside New Zealand, provided backing vocals on a track for Australian artist Daryl Braithwaite on his second solo album, Rise, which was released in November 1990. The song she featured in was the Rickie Lee Jones ballad "The Horses", which was a No. 1 hit for Braithwaite.[9] The video clip featured Braithwaite singing on a beach, with New Zealand model Gillian Mather (riding a horse), lip-syncing Urlich's voice. Urlich chose not to appear in Braithwaite's film clip as she had just released Safety in Numbers and was working to establish herself as a solo artist.
In March 1991, Urlich, armed with a half-million-dollar recording budget, returned to the studio to commence pre-production for her second album, Chameleon Dreams, with English writer/producer Robyn Smith, the man behind her highly successful debut. By mid-year, Urlich and Smith had entered Studios 301 to record their two songs, plus a third track written by Smith and Barry Blue. The same team had been responsible for two of the tracks on Safety in Numbers ("Escaping" and "Guilty People") and their latest offering, "Boy in the Moon", proved pivotal to the sound of the new album. Other tracks were collected by travelling around the world.
Urlich went to London to co-write with writers such as Rob Fisher, with whom she wrote the album's title track, "Chameleon Dreams". She then went on to Los Angeles, where she met with Grammy Award-winning writer/producer Ian Prince, with whom she wrote two songs for the album and he produced four tracks. She returned to London, where she co-wrote a number of songs with Simon Law and Tony Swain, before completing the project with three tracks produced by Swain. The success of Chameleon Dreams earned Urlich the "Best Selling New Zealand Artist of the Year" award at the 1992 World Music Awards in Monte Carlo. She attended the awards ceremony and performed "Love Train".
In 1993, Urlich was part of Export Music Australia (EMA) and Austrade's second Wizards of Oz promotion. She toured Japan with fellow singer Rick Price and the group Yothu Yindi. Urlich and Dale Barlow recorded a version of "I've Got You Under My Skin" for Kate Ceberano's 1994 album Kate Ceberano and Friends.
She spent much of 1994 living back in New Zealand and appeared as Mary Magdalene in a major concert production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar. Urlich released a version of "I Don't Know How to Love Him" that reached No. 44 on the New Zealand singles charts.[6]
For her third studio album, The Deepest Blue, Urlich returned to her long-standing partnership with British writer/producer Robyn Smith. She and Smith co-wrote all but two of the tracks on the album. The Deepest Blue was released in August 1995 but failed to have the same impact as her previous two albums, reaching No. 18 on the New Zealand charts[6] and No. 17 on the Australian charts.[7]
In 1998, her contract with Sony Music having expired, she moved to the Southern Highlands of New South Wales where she set up home and a new recording studio with her partner. Here she produced her fourth album, Second Nature, a recording project produced by Eddie Rayner from Split Enz that was recorded on and off over 12 months and involved musicians from Australia and New Zealand. The album comprised cover versions of some of Urlich's favourite New Zealand songs that she grew up with. These included songs from artists such as Split Enz, Crowded House, Dave Dobbyn, Max Merritt, Shona Laing, Don McGlashan and Tim Finn. The album was released in New Zealand in 1999 and reached No. 11 on the charts, achieving platinum status. This was her final studio album.[6]
Urlich made a special guest performance on series 1, episode 6 of The Micallef Program, performing a comical duet of the Carly Simon classic "You're So Vain" with Shaun Micallef. The two had previously performed a comical duet of the Frank and Nancy Sinatra song "Somethin' Stupid", with Micallef in his Milo Kerrigan persona, on the sketch comedy programme Full Frontal.
After a two-and-a-half-year struggle with cancer, Urlich died on 22 August 2022, at the age of 57, surrounded by her family at her home in the Southern Highlands.[10][11]
Discography
[edit]Studio albums
[edit]| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NZ [6] |
AUS [7] | ||||
| Safety in Numbers |
|
4 | 5 | ||
| Chameleon Dreams |
|
18 | 5 | ||
| The Deepest Blue |
|
18 | 17 | ||
| Second Nature |
|
11 | — |
| |
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||||
Live albums
[edit]| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| Live |
|
Singles
[edit]| Year | Title | Peak chart positions |
Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NZ [6] |
AUS [7] | |||
| 1989 | "Escaping" | 1 | 17 | Safety in Numbers |
| 1990 | "Only My Heart Calling" | — | 46 | |
| "Number One (Remember When We Danced All Night)" | 10 | 24 | ||
| 1991 | "Guilty People / Give Me Some Credit" | — | 99 | |
| 1992 | "Boy in the Moon" | 9 | 21 | Chameleon Dreams |
| "Human Race" | — | 55 | ||
| 1993 | "(I Don't Want to Be) Second Best" | 39 | 132 | |
| "Burnt Sienna" | — | 33 | ||
| "Man Overboard" | — | 127 | ||
| "Where Is the Love" (with Rick Price) | — | 31 | Live | |
| 1994 | "I Don't Know How to Love Him" | 44 | — | Jesus Christ Superstar: New Zealand Cast Recording |
| "All by Myself" | 26 | 100 | Non-album single | |
| 1995 | "Gonna Make You Mine" | — | 29 | The Deepest Blue |
| "Every Little Thing" | — | 50 | ||
| 1996 | "All for the Love" | — | 148 | |
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | ||||
Awards and nominations
[edit]| Year | Work | Award | Category | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Margaret Urlich | New Zealand Music Awards | Female Vocalist of the Year | Won | [15] |
| 1986 | Won | ||||
| 1989 | Won | ||||
| Safety in Numbers | Album of the Year | Won | |||
| Polly Walker and Debbie Watson for Safety in Numbers | Album Cover of the Year | Won | |||
| "Escaping" | Single of the Year | Won | |||
| 1990 | Margaret Urlich | Female Vocalist of the Year | Won | ||
| Margaret Urlich | International Achievement | Nominated | |||
| "Number One (Remember When We Danced All Night)" | Single of the Year | Nominated | |||
| 1991 | Safety in Numbers | ARIA Music Awards | Breakthrough Artist – Album | Won | |
| Album of the Year | Nominated | ||||
| Best Female Artist | Nominated | ||||
| 1992 | Margaret Urlich | World Music Awards | Best Selling New Zealand Artist of the Year | Won | |
| 1993 | Chameleon Dreams | ARIA Music Awards | Best Female Artist | Nominated | |
| 1994 | "Burnt Sienna" | Best Female Artist | Nominated | ||
| "Where is the Love?" (with Rick Price) | Best Adult Contemporary Album | Nominated | |||
| 2000 | Kimberley Renwick for Second Nature | New Zealand Music Awards | Album Cover of the Year | Nominated | |
| 2021 | Margaret Urlich and When the Cat's Away | New Zealand Music Hall of Fame | inductee | [16] |
Television appearances
[edit]| Year | Title | Performance | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Shazam! Battle of the Bands | Herself (with Peking Man "Good Luck to You") | NZ series |
| 1989 | MTV | Singer (5 songs) | Concert series, 1 episode |
| 1989; 1990 | Countdown Revolution | Singer ("Escaping" / "Number One") | 3 episodes |
| 1989–1992 | Aotearoa Music Awards | Singer | NZ TV special, 3 episodes |
| 1989–1995 | The Midday Show | Singer | 6 episodes |
| 1990 | MTV in Concert | Singer ("Escaping") | TV special |
| 1990–1993 | Tonight Live with Steve Vizard | Singer | 6 episodes |
| 1990–1996 | Hey Hey It's Saturday | Singer | 12 episodes |
| 1992 | In Sydney Today | Singer ("Boy in the Moon" / "Human Race") | 2 episodes |
| Video Smash Hits | Singer ("Burnt Sienna") | 1 episode | |
| World Music Awards | Singer ("Love Train") | TV special | |
| 1992; 2012 | The Morning Show | Singer | 2 episodes |
| 1993 | Australian Fashion Awards | Singer ("Fashion") | TV special |
| Ernie and Denise | Singer ("Second Best") | 1 episode | |
| Good Morning Australia | 3 episodes | ||
| Ray Martin at Midday | 1 episode | ||
| Live and Sweaty | Singer ("Boy in the Moon" / "Second Best") | 1 episode | |
| 1994 | Kate Ceberano and Friends | Singer ("I've Got You Under My Skin") | 1 episode |
| Full Frontal | Singer ("Somethin' Stupid" with Shaun Micallef) | 1 episode | |
| 1994 Rugby League Grand Final | Singer ("Advance Australia Fair") | TV special | |
| The Australia Remembers When Gala Tribute Concert | Singer ("Lilli Marlene") | TV special | |
| 1995 | Ernie and Denise | Singer ("Every Little Thing") | 1 episode |
| Don't Forget Your Toothbrush | 1 episode | ||
| Today | Singer ("All By Myself") | 1 episode | |
| Carols By Candlelight | Singer ("Song for the Unborn Child") | TV special | |
| 1996 | Monday to Friday | Singer ("All for the Love") | 1 episode |
| Talking Telephone Numbers | 1 episode | ||
| Carols in the Domain | Singer ("God Bless the Child") | TV special | |
| 1998 | Good Vibrations: The Concert for Marc Hunter | Singer ("Young Years", with Kevin Bennett and Sharon O'Neill) | TV special |
| 1999 | The Micallef Program | Singer ("You’re So Vain" with Shaun Micallef) | 1 episode |
| 2003 | Mornings with Kerri-Anne | Singer ("Killing Me Softly With His Song") | 1 episode |
References
[edit]- ^ "ASCAP – ACE search engine results". American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). Retrieved 24 September 2020.
- ^ "1991 ARIA Award winners". ALLdownunder.com. Archived from the original on 25 February 2009. Retrieved 18 March 2010.
- ^ "Margaret Urlich – AudioCulture". audioculture.co.nz.
- ^ "Jen Cloher - My beautiful cousin Margaret Urlich (bottom..." www.facebook.com. Retrieved 18 August 2025.
- ^ "charts.org.nz > Peking Man in New Zealand Charts". Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f "charts.nz > Margaret Urlich in New Zealand Charts". Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
- ^ a b c d Australian (ARIA) chart peaks:
- Top 50 peaks: "australian-charts.com > Margaret Urlich in Australian Charts". Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
- Top 100 peaks to December 2010: Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (pdf ed.). Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 290.
- "(I Don't Want to Be) Second Best" and "All for the Love": "Response from ARIA re: chart inquiry, received 15 July 2015". Imgur.com. Archived from the original on 16 July 2015. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
- "Man Overboard": "Response from ARIA re: chart inquiry, received 4 April 2017". Imgur.com. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
- "All by Myself": "The ARIA Australian Top 100 Singles Chart – Week Ending 4 Dec 1994". Imgur.com (original document published by ARIA). Retrieved 1 September 2016. N.B. The HP column displays the highest peak reached.
- ^ "ARAI Awards – Margaret Urlich". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 19 March 2010.
- ^ "Daryl Braithwaite – The Horses". Australian-charts.com. Retrieved 18 March 2010.
- ^ "Margaret Urlich, Aria winner and popular New Zealand singer, dies aged 57". The Guardian. 23 August 2022.
- ^ "New Zealand musician Margaret Urlich dies after cancer battle". Newshub. 22 August 2022. Archived from the original on 22 August 2022. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
- ^ "Official Top 40 Albums". Recorded Music NZ. 15 April 1990. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
- ^ a b Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (pdf ed.). Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 290.
- ^ "Official Top 40 Albums". Recorded Music NZ. 22 August 1999. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
- ^ "Aotearoa Music Awards". aotearoamusicawards.nz. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
- ^ Skipwith, David (17 December 2021). "L.A.B. and Teeks reign supreme at 2021 Aotearoa Music Awards". Stuff. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
External links
[edit]- Official website (archived at Internet Archive)
- Margaret Urlich at AllMusic
- Margaret Urlich discography at Discogs
- Margaret Urlich at IMDb
| International | |
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| National | |
| Artists | |
