Sheriff - "When I'm with You"

Sheriff
"When I'm with You"
#1 (February 4, 1989)

Arena rock. It dominated the 80s. And it produced one particular #1 hit from a band that would never score another hit again.

Sheriff originally released "When I'm with You" in 1983 as the third single from their self-titled debut album. However, it stalled at #61 and disappointed with their lack of success, Sheriff broke up.

However, there was still one more light of hope for Sheriff. In 1988, a Las Vegas disc jockey started playing the song. Other stations followed, and the soon the song rose sky high to the top of the charts (see Benny Mardones's "Into the Night" for a similar phenomenon). However, band members Lanni and Wolf Hassell had since formed another band, and declined to reform the group. And without their permission, the idea of reforming Sheriff was destroyed, and "When I'm with You" was still their only hit.

However, band members Freddy Curci and Steve DeMarchi would then form Alias and peak #2 with yet arena rock song, "More Than Words Can Say".

"When I'm with You" is arena rock at its best, featuring the standard soft opening and the fact that the song gets louder as it progresses. Not to mention the high notes that Freddy hits at the end of the song. In fact, he's currently in the Guinness Book of World Records for "Longest Note in a Pop Song". Impressive.