It's Better than Walking Out

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It's Better than Walking Out is a 1976 single by Marlena Shaw from her album Just a Matter of Time. It was written by Lee Garrett and Robert Taylor and produced by Tony Silvester and Bert DeCoteaux for Penumbra Music Company.

Background
The song is a disco-influenced R&B track and was the first single from Marlena Shaw’s Just a Matter of Time album. Critics called it a driving disco/R&B record with a catchy, repetitive chorus. The arrangement was slick, with drums that emphasized the backbeat and Shaw’s phrasing.

Airplay
In May 1976, Cash Box reported the song was added to several R&B playlists, including WAMO (Pittsburgh), WADS (Philadelphia), WILD (Boston), and WDAO (Dayton).

Charts
The single debuted at number 83 on Cash Box’s Top 100 R&B chart (the week of June 12, 1976) and stayed on the chart for one week. On Billboard, it peaked at number 74 on the R&B chart and reached number 103 on the Bubbling Under The Hot 100. It also hit number 10 on Billboard’s Disco Action chart for Colony Records, New York, and charted in the UK Disco Top 20.

Other versions
Lee Garrett recorded his own version on the 1976 album Heats for the Feats. Denny McCaffrey covered the song on his 2014 album Come On In.