Sheriff has one of the most unique stories in rock history, among the many high energy rock bands of the late 70's and early 80's.
Sheriff formed in 1979 in Toronto, Canada. Their popularity in the club circuit garnered the attention of Capital records, which led to their self-titled release Sheriff. Sheriff's singles received a large amount of air play and reached the #1 spot in Canada, due to the success of "When I'm with You." But south of the border, promotion and distribution problems stalled the records initial American momentum. Still, reached a respectable #61 on the Billboard spot.
Reports of fans not being able to buy the record in their local shops plagued Sheriff's American tour. Rigorous touring, frustrations, and disappointments caused tensions that split the band in two. In 1985 Sheriff disbanded.
The history has always been told as this: Three years after the demise, a disc jockey in Las Vegas named Jay Taylor, created a nationwide chain reaction when he pulled "When I'm With You" from the vaults and aired it on his nightly show. The song was his personal favorite and quickly became the listeners favorite too. Requests piled up until the single hit their top 10.
According to John Edwards, however, Gabe Baptiste and the guys at KRXY in Denver, should be given credit instead of the Las Vegas DJ.
Gabe Baptiste, Program Director at KBPI Denver, had a list of music he put into rotation, which he called "secret weapons." In mid 1980s Gabe played "When I'm With You" and the phones went crazy.
KBPI was the Arbitron ratings leader for Denver music stations, so they sent the song to KBPI's music research test tape. The song tested through the roof. "When I'm With You" went into three hour rotation and within a short period of time Gabe Baptiste and John Edwards
(the Music Director) forced the CHR in Denver (then KRXY, now KS107.5) to add the song and report it to the trades.
The Capitol rep in Denver, Randy Robins, begged Capitol to re-release the record. In the meantime KRXY's airplay had a domino effect with other stations across the country and the song was added everywhere.
Stations began adding the track from a record that was no longer available. In January of 1989, Capitol re-released Sheriff in America. An unprecedented move. Even without a band, without a video and without changing the album cover or artwork "When I'm with You" hit #1 on Billboard. During that time, Freddy and Steve were recording in the evenings what would later become the debut Alias album.
To pay their bills, the boys held jobs as couriers during the day. A Toronto reporter did a segment that went nationwide when he tracked down both Freddy and Steve on the job. With parcels in hand they were asked, "What's it feel like, having the #1 single in America?"
With a startled look Freddy hesitated, stumbling,"Uhhhhhh, ahhh ummm. Great?" No one had bothered to tell them Sheriff had been re-released.
Chart (1983) |
Peak
position |
| Canadian Singles Chart |
8 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 |
61 |
Chart (1989) |
Peak
position |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 |
1 |
| U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary |
1 |
|
 |
|
Sheriff made a live musical appearance on TV's "Live At the Improv"
Freddy is listed in the Guinness Book of Records for holding the longest note in a pop song, timed and submitted by a Houston university, at the ending line of "When I'm with You." Some skeptics doubted Freddy's ability and accused electronic manipulation of the note. So Freddy recorded a new live version of "When I'm With You" for Then and Now.
