Billie Jean by Michael Jackson is back on the charts now - in the Top 20 on Billboard US and just under the Top 20 in Billboard Canada as a result of the MJ biopic.

There are also instances where a song wasn't a hit the first time it was released and only achieved huge success the second time around.

One of my favourites is "Solitary Man" by Neil Diamond. In its first release, it hit the lower depths of the Top 40, if that. When it came out a few years later, it was a huge smash.

Same for "Dream On" by Aerosmith. I remember first hearing it on WGRQ in or around 1973, and then it disappeared. Some two and half years later, it was reissued and hit the Top 10. 

No idea why these things happen, but sometimes timing really is everything. 

Chrisphen wrote:

One Cancon note - Sheriff had a small hit in Canada with the song 'When I'm With You' in the early '80s. About seven years later, long after the band called it quits, some DJ in Las Vegas dug out the single and started playing it. BOOM. Big hit!

According to wiki When I'm With You was originally released in 1983 and was a hit in Canada reaching #8 on the RPM Top 100 chart.  In the US peaking at #61 on the Billboard Top 100 the first time around.  Wiki says it was WDWB in Minneapolis/St. Paul who started playing the song again in November 1988. WKTI in Milwaukee also soon picked up the single.  Because of this Capitol records decided to re-release the tune and it entered Billboard at #26.  When I'm With You became #1 in the US on both the top 100 and A/C charts in February 1989.  It was the first #1 song by a Canadian band since BTO You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet in 1974. 

The song didn't do well in the UK, only on the chart two weeks at #112.  By the time Sheriff had the big hit in the US, most of the band had already formed a new band years before as Frozen Ghost.  They opted not to bring Sheriff back. 

paterson1 wrote:

Chrisphen wrote:

One Cancon note - Sheriff had a small hit in Canada with the song 'When I'm With You' in the early '80s. About seven years later, long after the band called it quits, some DJ in Las Vegas dug out the single and started playing it. BOOM. Big hit!

According to wiki When I'm With You was originally released in 1983 and was a hit in Canada reaching #8 on the RPM Top 100 chart.  In the US peaking at #61 on the Billboard Top 100 the first time around.  Wiki says it was WDWB in Minneapolis/St. Paul who started playing the song again in November 1988. WKTI in Milwaukee also soon picked up the single.  Because of this Capitol records decided to re-release the tune and it entered Billboard at #26.  When I'm With You became #1 in the US on both the top 100 and A/C charts in February 1989.  It was the first #1 song by a Canadian band since BTO You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet in 1974. 

The song didn't do well in the UK, only on the chart two weeks at #112.  By the time Sheriff had the big hit in the US, most of the band had already formed a new band years before as Frozen Ghost.  They opted not to bring Sheriff back. 

Wikipedia doesn't say that it entered the Billboard chart at #26, which would have been an extremely high debut position for a band that had never reached the top 40 before; it states that "the song re-entered the Billboard Hot 100 on 26 November 1988." (It actually re-entered the chart at #84.) Also, it was just two members of Sheriff that went on to form Frozen Ghost, with two others opting to form Alias with some former members of Heart when their former bandmates declined to re-form Sheriff.
 

Interestingly too, when Capitol re-released the self-titled "Sheriff" album again in 1988, they substituted the 45 version of "When I'm With You" in place of the original LP version. The album version contains a few subtle differences, most notably, Freddy Curci doesn't sustain the last note near as long as he does on the 45 version.

I've been looking for the album version of the song online to no avail. I do know this version exists, though, because when I was in the radio broadcasting course at my college back in the late '80s, they had the original 1982 pressing of the album and I noticed the differences between the LP and 45 versions. That album would probably be something of a collector's item these days.


PJ

Last edited by Paul Jeffries (June 21, 2026 9:24 pm)

I recall hearing that Arnold Lanni (one-half of Frozen Ghost, along with Wolf Hassel) had purchased the rights to Sheriff's catalogue from the other band members after Sheriff broke up.

When the song became a hit in the late 80s, Lanni apparently became pretty wealthy as a result.

Lorne wrote:

Wikipedia doesn't say that it entered the Billboard chart at #26, which would have been an extremely high debut position for a band that had never reached the top 40 before; it states that "the song re-entered the Billboard Hot 100 on 26 November 1988." (It actually re-entered the chart at #84.) Also, it was just two members of Sheriff that went on to form Frozen Ghost, with two others opting to form Alias with some former members of Heart when their former bandmates declined to re-form Sheriff.