LOVE TRAX: The Song That Became a Hit AFTER the Band Broke Up

We’ve been surprised a few times so far with the stories behind our favorite love songs from the ’80s and ’90s.

Our THROWBACK LOVE TRAX features have shed some light on just how and why these songs came to be such a big part of our lives.

Today’s LOVE TRAX is “When I’m With You” by Sheriff.

Keyboardist Arnold Lanni met a woman named Valeri Brown and was instantly smitten. Here’s what he said:

“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.”

The song was released in 1983 in Canada as the second single from their debut album. It got a little airplay in the U.S., but not much.

Sheriff kept at it for a time, but grew frustrated with the lack of success and they broke up around 1985.

Fast forward to 1989. Radio stations in Minneapolis and Milwaukee started playing the song, and Capitol Records re-released it as a single. The song hit No. 1 on February 4, 1989!

Despite the song’s resurgence, Sheriff remained broken up. Lanni and bassist Wolf Hassell formed a duo named Frozen Ghost. Lead vocalist Freddy Curci and guitarist Steve DeMarchi formed the band Alias.

Oh, a couple other notes: singer Freddy Curci held that note for 19.3 seconds, and this is one of the few No. 1 songs to not have a music video running continuously on MTV!