Safety in Numbers is the debut solo album by Margaret Urlich, released in 1989. The first single, "Escaping", was number one for three consecutive weeks in New Zealand and peaked at number 17 in Australia. Urlich won an ARIA Award in 1991 for Best Breakthrough Artist - Album for Safety in Numbers. The album achieved platinum status in New Zealand and triple platinum status in Australia. Safety in Numbers has sold over 265,000 copies. It was recorded at Studios 301 in Sydney, Australia,^[1]^[2] mostly between August and November of 1988 but also in April of 1989.^[2]

Track listing

Side one
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Escaping"	Robyn Smith Barry Blue	4:36
2.	"Number One (Remember When We Danced All Night)"	David Tyson Dean McTaggart	4:08
3.	"Only My Heart Calling"	Smith	5:39
4.	"Give Me Some Credit"	Margaret Urlich	5:42
5.	"Guilty People"	Smith Blue	5:21

Side two
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
6.	"The Tide Keeps Rolling In"	Urlich	4:28
7.	"Your Love"	Harry Vanda George Young	4:32
8.	"Open Up"	Dave Dobbyn	4:05
9.	"Slip On By"	Smith Urlich	4:56
10.	"Deep Down"	Smith	4:26
11.	"God Bless The Child"	Arthur Herzog Jr. Billie Holiday	3:54

Adapted from album notes^[2] and Spotify.^[3]

Personnel

Credits adapted from cassette liner notes.^[2]

Margaret Urlich – lead vocals, arrangements (track 11), backing vocals (tracks 3, 4, 6, 8-10), keyboards (track 11)
Robyn Smith – production (tracks 1-10), arrangements (tracks 1-10), acoustic guitar (track 3), drums (tracks 1-10), keyboards (tracks 1-10), guitar (track 1), Milo tin (track 1), sitar (track 7)
Adrian Bolland – engineering (tracks 1, 2, 7), mixing (tracks 1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 10)
Peter Bondy – additional production (track 11), keyboards (track 11)
Peter Cobbin – mixing (track 11), synthesizer (track 11)
Angelique Cooper – recording engineering assistance (track 11)
Colin Simpkins – recording engineering assistance
Jim Taig – production (track 11), mixing (tracks 3, 4, 6, 9), recording (track 11)
Sid Wells – engineering (tracks 3-6, 8-10)
Phil Whichett – production (track 11), musical direction (track 11)

Kristen Wolek – recording engineering assistance
Leon Zervos – mastering
Karen Boddington – backing vocals (tracks 1-3, 5, 7-9)
Alan Davey – flugelhorn (track 9)
Tommy Emmanuel – guitar (track 5)
Merran Laginestra – backing vocals (tracks 1, 2, 7)
Geoff Lundgren – fretless bass (track 11)
Andrew Oh – saxophone (tracks 2, 5, 6)
Mark Punch – backing vocals (track 8-10), guitar (tracks 2, 4, 6-10)
Mark Williams – backing vocals (tracks 1-3, 5, 7)
Polly Walker – photography
Debbie Watson – hair, makeup, and styling

Charts

Weekly charts

Weekly chart performance for *Safety in Numbers*
Chart (1989/1990)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)^[4]	5
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)^[5]	4

Year-end charts

Year-end chart performance for *Safety in Numbers*
Chart (1990)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)^[6]	13

Certifications


Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)^[7]	3× Platinum	210,000^{^}
New Zealand (RMNZ)^[8]	Gold	7,500^{^}
^{^} Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Awards and recognition

Year	Award-giving body	Award	Result
1989	New Zealand Music Awards	Album of the Year	Won
1989	New Zealand Music Awards	Single of the Year	Won
1989	New Zealand Music Awards	Best Female Vocalist	Won
1989	New Zealand Music Awards	Best Album Cover	Won
1990	New Zealand Music Awards	Best Female Vocalist	Won
1991	ARIA Awards	Breakthrough Artist	Won

References

^ "Deserves a deluxe: Margaret Urlich – Safety in Numbers (1989)". Standing on the Oz Side. 8 February 2016. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Safety In Numbers (Cassette liner notes). Margaret Urlich. Australia: CBS Records International. 1989. 465652 4.((cite AV media notes)): CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^ Safety in Numbers by Margaret Urlich. Spotify. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
^ "Australiancharts.com – Margaret Urlich – Safety in Numbers". Hung Medien.
^ "Charts.nz – Margaret Urlich – Safety in Numbers". Hung Medien.
^ "ARIA Top 50 Albums Chart". ARIA Charts. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
^ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 290.
^ "New Zealand album certifications – Margaret Urlich – Safety in Numbers". Recorded Music NZ. 15 April 1990. Retrieved 6 December 2022.

v t e Margaret Urlich
Studio albums	Safety in Numbers (1989) Chameleon Dreams (1992) Live (1994) The Deepest Blue (1995) Second Nature (1999)
Singles	"Escaping" "Only My Heart Calling" "Number One (Remember When We Danced All Night)" "Guilty People" "Boy in the Moon" "Human Race" "(I Don't Want to Be) Second Best" "Burnt Sienna" "Where Is the Love" (with Rick Price) "I Don't Know How to Love Him" "All by Myself" "Gonna Make You Mine" "Every Little Thing"
Related articles	Peking Man (band) "Room That Echoes" When the Cat's Away (band) "The Horses" Kate Ceberano and Friends Rick Price

v t e ARIA Award for Breakthrough Artist
Album	...Ish by 1927 (1989) Tales of the City by Rockmelons (1989) Matchbook by Ian Moss (1990) Safety in Numbers by Margaret Urlich (1991) Baby Animals by Baby Animals (1992) Marvin the Album by Frente! (1993) Get on Board by The Badloves (1994) Frogstomp by Silverchair (1995) Tu-Plang by Regurgitator (1996) Savage Garden by Savage Garden (1997) Left of the Middle by Natalie Imbruglia (1998) The Living End by The Living End (1999) Reflector by Killing Heidi (2000) Since I Left You by The Avalanches (2001) Polyserena by George (2002) Innocent Eyes by Delta Goodrem (2003) Get Born by Jet (2004) The Sound of White by Missy Higgins (2005) Wolfmother by Wolfmother (2006) Sneaky Sound System by Sneaky Sound System (2007) Lessons to Be Learned by Gabriella Cilmi (2008) Ladyhawke by Ladyhawke (2009) Moonfire by Boy & Bear (2011)
Single	"That's When I Think of You" by 1927 (1989) "Tucker's Daughter" by Ian Moss (1990) "Token Angels" by Wendy Matthews (1991) "Early Warning" by Baby Animals (1992) "Ordinary Angels" by Frente! (1993) "Lost" by The Badloves (1994) "Tomorrow" by Silverchair (1995) "It's Alright" by Deni Hines (1996) "Shut My Eyes" / "Eight Step Rail" by The Superjesus (1997) "Torn" by Natalie Imbruglia (1998) "Lucky Star" by Alex Lloyd (1999) "Get Set" by Taxiride (1999) "Don't Call Me Baby" by Madison Avenue (2000) "Frontier Psychiatrist" by The Avalanches (2001) "Get Free" by The Vines (2002) "Born to Try" by Delta Goodrem (2003) "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" by Jet (2004) "O Yeah" by End of Fashion (2005) "Forever Young" by Youth Group (2006) "Just a Song About Ping Pong" by Operator Please (2007) "Sweet About Me" by Gabriella Cilmi (2008) "My Delirium" by Ladyhawke (2009) "Feeding Line" by Boy & Bear (2011)
Release	I Believe You Liar by Megan Washington (2010) Falling & Flying by 360 (2012) Flume by Flume (2013) The New Classic by Iggy Azalea (2014) Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit by Courtney Barnett (2015) Glorious Heights by Montaigne (2016) Night Thinker by Amy Shark (2017) "Dazed & Confused" by Ruel (2018) "Dance Monkey" by Tones and I (2019) 14 Steps to a Better You by Lime Cordiale (2020) Budjerah by Budjerah (2021) King Stingray by King Stingray (2022) Midnight Driving by Teenage Dads (2023)