When I'm with You (Sheriff song)

"When I'm with You" is a power ballad[3] by Canadian arena rock band Sheriff. The song was released in January 1983 in Canada as the second single from their self-titled debut album. A top-ten hit in Canada in 1983 (and a minor US hit at the same time), the song later reached number one in the United States in 1989, four years after the band separated in 1985. This song is also notable in that it was one of the few number-one hits not to have a promotional video during the MTV era.

"When I'm with You"
Single by Sheriff
from the album Sheriff
B-side
  • "Crazy Without You" (1983)
  • "Give Me Rock 'N' Roll" (1988)
Released
  • January 1983 (Canada)
  • May 14, 1983 (1983-05-14), November 16, 1988 (U.S.)[1]
Recorded1982
GenreSoft rock[2]
Length3:58
LabelCapitol
Songwriter(s)Arnold Lanni
Producer(s)Stacy Heydon
Sheriff singles chronology
"You Remind Me"
(1983)		 "When I'm with You"
(1983)		 "When I'm with You"
(1988)
Alternative cover

Composition and inspiration

Sheriff's keyboardist Arnold Lanni wrote the song after meeting Valeri Brown and falling in love with her. 'I sat down, put my coffee on the piano, tinkled some ivories, and four minutes later 80 percent of the song was written. On Valentine's Day I played the song for Valerie and said, "I don't have anything, this is all I can give you right now. It's yours." Valeri loved the song; two years later she married me.'[4]

Lanni also played the song to his bandmates in Sheriff. "The band really liked it, so we started playing it live. That was one of the last songs we recorded when we did the record. The producer said, 'Is there anything else?' I said, 'There's this song we play, it's kind of a wimpy song.' So we played it for him and he said 'Yeah, that's kind of nice.'"

Chart performance

"When I'm with You" was originally released as the third single off Sheriff's debut album. The song reached number eight on the RPM chart in the band's native Canada, where it was their biggest hit. In the US, it entered the Billboard Hot 100 on 14 May 1983 and peaked at number 61 four weeks later. Sometime thereafter, disappointed and frustrated by their continued lack of international success, the band broke up.

In November 1988, Brian Philips, Program Director at KDWB in Minneapolis–Saint Paul, and WKTI in Milwaukee began playing the song, and eventually other radio stations nationally followed suit. This encouraged Capitol Records to re-release the song as a single; the song re-entered the Billboard Hot 100 on 26 November 1988. On 4 February 1989, the song reached number one in the United States, making Sheriff the first Canadian band to do so since Bachman-Turner Overdrive reached number one in November 1974 with "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet".[5] The song only managed to hit number 112 for two weeks in February 89 in the UK.

By that time, former Sheriff members Lanni and bassist Wolf Hassell had formed a duo named Frozen Ghost, and declined to re-form the group. Sheriff's lead vocalist Freddy Curci and guitarist Steve DeMarchi, who had both been working as couriers in the interim,[6] subsequently formed the band Alias and charted the following year with the number-two hit "More Than Words Can Say".

Track listings

7-inch single (1983)[7]

A. "When I'm with You" – 3:51
B. "Crazy Without You" – 3:52

Cassette (1988) and 7-inch single (1989)[8][9]

A. "When I'm with You" – 3:54
B. "Give Me Rock 'N' Roll" – 3:41

Charts

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[17] Gold 50,000^
United States (RIAA)[1] Gold 500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References
  1. "American single certifications – Sheriff – When I'm with You". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  2. What the World Needs Now Is...: The Ultimate Love Collection - Various Artists | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic, retrieved 6 April 2021
  3. "The Number Ones: Sheriff's "When I'm With You"". Stereogum. 23 June 2021. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  4. Billboard Magazine interview of Arnold Lanni by Fred Bronson.
  5. "When I'm With You by Sheriff - Songfacts". Songfacts.
  6. Behind The Vinyl "When I'm With You" by Sheriff, Freddy Curci and Steve DeMarchi @YouTube.com Retrieved 12 May 2017.
  7. When I'm with You (Canadian 7-inch single vinyl disc). Sheriff. Capitol Records. 1983. B-72901.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  8. When I'm with You (US cassette single sleeve). Sheriff. Capitol Records. 1988. 4BX-44302.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  9. When I'm with You (US 7-inch single vinyl disc). Sheriff. Capitol Records. 1989. B-44302.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  10. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 6196." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  11. "The Hot 100 Week of June 11, 1983". Billboard. 11 June 1983. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  12. "Sheriff Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  13. "Sheriff Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  14. "The Top Singles of 1983". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  15. "1989 The Year in Music: Top Pop Singles". Billboard. Vol. 101, no. 51. 23 December 1989. p. Y-22.
  16. "Billboard Top 100 – 1989".
  17. "Canadian single certifications – Sheriff – When I'm with You". Music Canada. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  • Bronson, Fred (2003). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits. ISBN 0-8230-7677-6.


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