Margaret Urlich

Margaret Mary Urlich (24 January 1965 – 22 August 2022 ) 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. 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 and Australian musician Jen Cloher.

Life and career

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).

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

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. 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.

Discography Studio albums + List of studio albums, with selected chart positions and certifications Title Album details Peak chart positions Certifications NZ AUS Safety in Numbers Released: November 1989 Label: CBS Records Australia (465652 2) Format: LP, cassette, CD 45 NZ: Gold AUS: 3× Platinum Chameleon Dreams Released: 25 September 1992 Label: Columbia (472118-2) Released: LP, cassette, CD 18 5 AUS: Platinum "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Live albums + List of live albums Title Details Live Released: 1994 Label: Columbia (474455-2) Format: CD Recorded in 1992/1993 during Chameleon Dreams tour

Singles

Year Title Peak chartpositions Album NZ 1986 1989 Safety in Numbers Album of the Year Polly Walker and Debbie Watson for Safety in Numbers Album Cover of the Year "Escaping" Single of the Year 1990 Margaret Urlich Female Vocalist of the Year Margaret Urlich International Achievement "Number One (Remember When We Danced All Night)" Single of the Year 1991 Safety in Numbers ARIA Music Awards Breakthrough Artist – Album Album of the Year Best Female Artist 1992 Margaret Urlich World Music Awards Best-Selling New Zealand Artist of the Year 1993 Chameleon Dreams ARIA Music Awards Best Female Artist 1994 "Burnt Sienna" Best Female Artist "Where is the Love?" (with Rick Price) Best Adult Contemporary Album 2000 Kimberley Renwick for Second Nature New Zealand Music Awards Album Cover of the Year 2021 Margaret Urlich and When the Cat's Away New Zealand Music Hall of Fame

Television appearances