"One Step Ahead" is a song by New Zealand art rock group Split Enz. It was released November 1980 as the lead single from their sixth studio album Waiata.
After Split Enz's dissolution in 1984, singer and composer Neil Finn continued to perform "One Step Ahead" with his next group Crowded House, in particular, the group performed the song live at their 1987 concert in Daytona known as Spring Break '87.
The single's B-side, "In the Wars" was recorded in the Waiata recording sessions, but it was not originally released as a track on the album, though it was later appended as track twelve in the album's 2006 re-release.
Music video The video clip for the song was one of the first ever videos screened on MTV. In a documentary for Radio New Zealand, Neil Finn expressed surprise at the song's success, stating that it "hasn't got a proper chorus".
The video starts with Neil Finn walking down a blue and red staircase and continuing to walk through a hallway with different coloured walls and shadows of what seems to be other members of the band playing instruments. He then enters a room with the five members.
The video clip for "One Step Ahead" has keyboardist Eddie Rayner performing "Marche sur place", the pantomime illusion walk created by Decroux and Barrault (seen in the 1945 French film Children of Paradise) that is the technique Michael Jackson would base his moonwalk on in 1983.
Track listings "One Step Ahead" – 2:51 "In the Wars" – 3:32
Personnel Neil Finn – vocals and guitar Tim Finn – backing vocals Noel Crombie – percussion Eddie Rayner – keyboards Malcolm Green – drums Nigel Griggs – bass guitar
Charts Weekly charts +Weekly chart performance for "One Step Ahead" Chart (1980–1981) Peakposition Australia (Kent Music Report) NOTE: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1970 until ARIA created their own charts in mid-1988. 5Canada (CBC)17US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles104 Notes:
Year-end charts +Year-end chart performance for "One Step Ahead" Chart (1981) Position Australia (Kent Music Report) 42 New Zealand (RIANZ) 45
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