What do UB40's "Red Red Wine" and Sheriff's "When I'm With You" have in common? Well, each record would spend a week atop the Billboard Hot 100 during the late 80s. "Red Red Wine" would reach the top spot in October of 1988, while Sheriff would hit #1 in February of 1989. But that's not where the similarities end.
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| The band was a hit in '89, but these fashions are so '83... |
Both songs had been released as singles earlier in the decade, with neither enjoying great success. Sheriff would debut "When I'm With You" in May of 1983, enjoying 3 weeks on the chart and peaking at #61. UB40 would ride "Red Red Wine" to #34 in early 1984 (though, to be fair, UB40 did take the song to #1 in Great Britain.
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| I got high-fived by Astro (middle, with dreads). Enough said. |
Later in the decade, however, both songs were resurrected by DJs in different cities. An Atlanta dance club DJ began playing "Red Red Wine" in 1988, prompting A&M Records to re-release the song later that summer. Later that fall, a Las Vegas DJ gave "When I'm With You" new life, and Capitol Records re-released the record.
Sadly, that's where the similarities end. By the time Sheriff reached the top spot on the charts, the band had been broken up for several years. UB40, however, was just getting started; they would enjoy several hits throughout the late 80s and early 1990s.
* To be filed in "Brushes With Fame" category: Sitting in the second row at a 1990 UB40 concert, I was high-fived by Astro during a song. It has been referred to as "Astro-skin" ever since, and was the highlight of my life up to that point.
