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Rupert Holmes has written Broadway Musicals, including "Drood: The Mystery of Edwin Drood" (which many of my acting friends and I have performed in Community Theatre).
He created the TV series "Remember Wenn," wrote a novel called "Where the Truth Lies," and composed songs for Barbra Streisand, Judy Collins, and even Britney Spears.
He's won Tony and Emmy Awards, but the thing Rupert is most famous for is a song he wrote and sang himself as a solo artist:--a song that ended up being the last #1 song of the '70s: "Escape (The Pina Colada Song)."
In 1979, Rupert was one song short for an album he was putting together, and he was desperate. He had written something called "People Need Other People," which he didn't think was very good--unless it was completely redone.
So he decided to re-do it.
According to Rupert, his budget was non-existent, and time was of the essence, so he quickly took 16 bars that had already been recorded, spliced them together more than SIXTY times, and then wrote some new lyrics.
His first try sounded like a Billy Joel ripoff. His second try used the lyric "cruel to be kind," but then he remembered that Nick Lowe had already written a "Great Song" with that title.
Finally, down to his last day before heading into the studio,, he saw a personal ad in the Village Voice, written by a woman looking for companionship. She described herself in such glowing terms that Rupert wondered why she needed to advertise for a date. He thought to himself, "With my luck, I'd answer an ad like that and find out the woman was my current girlfriend!"
And "The Pina Colada Song" was born.
Rupert still didn't think the song was all that "Great" but radio listeners disagreed--BIG TIME. The song sold more than a million copies as it shot to #1 in both the US and Canada. As I mentioned above, it was the last #1 song of the '70s. The following week, in 1980, it dropped to #2.
And Pina Coladas became the drink of choice in bars everywhere.
Rupert still shakes his head at the success of the song... but he also realizes that the people have spoken...and to them, "Escape (The Pina Colada Song)" is undoubtedly a "Great Song of 1979!"
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