How Sheriff Ended up With a No. 1 Hit Several Years After They Broke Up

Don’t ever assume that there’s a statute of limitations on a song becoming a hit single. Take, for example, the case of Sheriff’s “When I’m With You”. When released originally in 1983, the song came and went and made only a minor rumble.

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Six years later, renewed interest gave the song a second life. And we’re not talking about it making a small impact. Stunningly, “When I’m With You” topped the pop charts the second time around.

Sheriff (Briefly) in Town

The unlikely saga of “When I’m With You” begins with Sheriff, a quintet that first formed in Canada in 1979. Their style was typical of the arena rock of the day, right down to the one-word name of the band (a la Journey, Foreigner, and many others).

1982 witnessed the release of Sheriff’s self-titled debut LP. They came into the process of making the record loaded with uptempo, rocking material. But when their producer asked them if they had anything else to fill out the running order, they chose a ballad called “When I’m With You”.

Guitarist Arnold Lanni, who wrote the bulk of their material, had penned the song as a tribute to his girlfriend. The song offered a chance for lead singer Freddy Curci to cut loose on vocals. “When I’m With You” arrived in 1983 as the second single from the album. It hit the Top 10 in Canada but only made it to No. 61 in the US. Sheriff broke up a few years later without making an album. End of story, right? Well…

Hey Mr. DJ

In 1988, a series of DJs, including ones in Nevada, Arizona, and Illinois, began spinning “When I’m With You” with regularity. While it’s murky which one of these record-spinners started the process and why, the song started to make it to other markets as well. It was re-released as a single and made it to No. 1 in early 1989.

The members of Sheriff had scattered to the winds in the interim. Curci and guitarist Steve DeMarchi spearheaded an effort to reunite the band. But Lanni and bassist Wolf Hassel, who had helped form the band Frozen Ghost when Sheriff broke up, decided against it.

Curci and DeMarchi didn’t flinch. They went out and formed a new band called Alias. And with the song “More Than Words Can Say”, which carried a strong “When I’m With You” vibe, they hit the No. 2 spot in 1990.

Behind the Lyrics of “When I’m With You”

“When I’m With You” doesn’t necessarily say much new that hasn’t been said in love songs before. The narrator has never experienced this kind of feeling before. “And I never lived for nobody,” he explains. “Like I live for you.” “Lost in love is what I feel,” he admits.

But the methods by which the emotions are expressed give the song its power. When Curci lets out a cry of “Baby” leading into the chorus, the song erupts with raw feeling. And his long falsetto note at the end of the song is a nice touch.

Neither Sheriff nor Alias nor, for that matter, Frozen Ghost ever cobbled together anything of the magnitude again. But “When I’m With You” proved that you should never count a song out, even when it’s been mostly forgotten.

Photo by Jim Steinfeldt/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images