"Him" | ||||
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![]() German release cover | ||||
Single by Rupert Holmes | ||||
from the album Partners in Crime | ||||
B-side | "Get Outta Yourself" | |||
Released | 7 January 1980 [1] | |||
Recorded | 1979 | |||
Genre | Soft rock | |||
Length | 4:06 (LP version/UK single version/Canadian French single version) 3:34 (7" version/US & Canada single version) | |||
Label | MCA | |||
Songwriter(s) | Rupert Holmes | |||
Producer(s) | Rupert Holmes, Jim Boyer | |||
Rupert Holmes singles chronology | ||||
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Alternative release | ||||
![]() Side A of the US single |
"Him" is a song written and recorded by American singer and songwriter Rupert Holmes. It was released in January 1980 as the second single from the album, Partners in Crime .
The song peaked at number six on the US Billboard Hot 100 on March 29, 1980 and remained at that position for two weeks. It was Holmes' biggest Adult Contemporary hit, peaking at number four in both the United States and Canada. [2]
Holmes had always expected "Him" to be the lead-off single to Partners in Crime, but after record executives heard the album, they concluded that "Escape (The Piña Colada Song)", a song Holmes composed mainly as album filler and never expected to be a single, would be a major hit. After "Escape" proved to be a major hit, "Him" was released as a follow-up and itself became a hit. [3]
The song is sung from the point of view of a man who, when he discovers a pack of cigarettes that do not belong to him, suspects that the woman in his life is cheating on him. He has no idea who this other man may be, but he decides he must confront her; he expects her to say that the other man is "just a friend", and plans to tell her bluntly, "It's me or it's him."[ citation needed ]
The midsection of this song features the melodic wordless sunshine pop chorale singing over the instrumental break that is reminiscent of The Beach Boys and The Association during the first half of the 3rd verse before jumping into "If she wants him, she can have him" in the second half.
In 1980, Holmes re-recorded the song in French under the title "Lui" (MCA 41252) [4] that was backed with an instrumental version of "Guitars" (his previous album had included an English vocal version of the song). The single was released only in Canada by MCA Records Canada. This French version of "Him" ("Lui") has never been released on any vinyl or CD album.
Also Mexican singer Jose Jose covered the song in Spanish language and was titled "Él".
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MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group.
David Goldstein, better known as Rupert Holmes, is a British-American composer, singer-songwriter, dramatist and author. He is widely known for the hit singles "Escape " (1979) and "Him" (1980). He is also known for his musicals The Mystery of Edwin Drood, which earned him two Tony Awards, and Curtains, and for his television series Remember WENN.
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"Escape " is a song written and performed by British-American singer-songwriter Rupert Holmes taken from his fifth studio album Partners in Crime (1979). As the lead single for the album, the pop song was recommended by Billboard for radio broadcasters on September 29, 1979, then added to prominent US radio playlists during October–November. Rising in popularity, the song peaked at the end of December to become the final US number-one song of the 1970s.
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Partners in Crime is the fifth studio album by British-American singer-songwriter and musician Rupert Holmes, released on August 5, 1979. The album was Holmes's most commercially successful record and includes all three of Holmes's solo top 40 hits: "Him", "Answering Machine", and "Escape ". "Escape" was the top Billboard hit of December 1979 and January 1980; it was the only single to hold the number-one position in both years and in different decades. Although "Escape " was released as a single on Infinity Records, "Him" was released on MCA Records; the Infinity catalog had been absorbed by MCA at the time the latter single was released. The album itself reached number 33 on the Billboard 200.
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I Can Dream About You is the fifth studio album from American musician/singer/songwriter Dan Hartman, released on May 3, 1984, by MCA. The album was produced by Hartman and Jimmy Iovine.
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