Rupert Holmes
Rupert Holmes (born David Goldstein on February 24, 1947) is a British-born American composer, singer-songwriter, musician, and author of plays, novels, and stories. He is widely known for his number one pop hit "Escape (The Piña Colada Song)" (1979/1980) and the song "Him", which reached the number 6 position on the Billboard Hot 100 U.S. pop chart in 1980. He is also known for his 1985 Tony Award-winning musical Drood (originally The Mystery of Edwin Drood) and his 2007 Drama Desk Award-winning book for the Broadway musical Curtains, and for his television series Remember WENN.
Life and career
Holmes was born David Goldstein in Northwich, Cheshire, England. His father, Leonard Eliot Goldstein, was a United States Army warrant officer and bandleader. His mother, Gwendolen Mary (nee Pynn), was English, and both were musical. Holmes has dual British and American citizenship. The family moved when Holmes was six years old to the northern New York City suburb of Nanuet, New York, where Holmes grew up and attended nearby Nyack High School and then the Manhattan School of Music (majoring in clarinet). Holmes' brother, Richard, is an opera singer based in New York City and is the principal lyric baritone of the New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players, sings roles with regional opera companies, such as Glimmerglass Opera, Lake George, and Virginia Opera, among others, and has appeared at the Metropolitan Opera.
Escape (The Piña Colada Song)
"Escape", also known as "Escape (The Piña Colada Song)", is a song written and recorded by British-born American singer Rupert Holmes for his album Partners in Crime. 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 in October–November. Rising in popularity, the song peaked at the end of December to become the last U.S. number one song of the 1970s.
Content
The song speaks, in three verses and three choruses, of a man who is bored with his current relationship because it has become routine and he desires some variety. One night, he reads the personal advertisements in the newspaper and spots an ad that catches his attention: a woman who is seeking a man who, among other little things, must like piña coladas. Intrigued, he takes out an ad in reply and arranges to meet the woman "at a bar called O'Malley's," only to find upon the meeting that the woman is actually his current girlfriend. The song ends on an upbeat note, showing that the two lovers realized they have more in common than they had suspected, and that they do not have to look any further than each other for what they seek in a relationship.
Podcasts:
Rupert Holmes
ALBUMS
- Cast of Characters: The Rupert Holmes Songbook released: 2005
- Greatest Hits released: 2000
- Scenario released: 1994
- Full Circle released: 1981
- Adventure released: 1980
- Partners in Crime released: 1979
- Pursuit of Happiness released: 1978
- SINGLES released: 1976
- Rupert Holmes released: 1975
- Widescreen released: 1974
- The Mystery of Edwin Drood (original Broadway cast) released:
- Escape (The Best of) released:
Cast of Characters: The Rupert Holmes Songbook
Released 2005- Widescreen
- Terminal
- Second Saxophone
- Phantom of the Opera
- Talk
- Bagdad
- Our National Pastime
- Letters That Cross in the Mall
- Soap Opera
- Psycho Drama
- Too Scared to Sing
- Brass Knuckles
- You Burned Yourself Out
- Deco Lady
- I Don't Want to Hold Your Hand
- Rifles and Rum
- Studio Musician
- Everything Gets Better When You're Drunk
- The Man Behind the Woman
- The Place Where Failure Goes
Greatest Hits
Released 2000- Remember When (Theme From "Remember WENN")
- Second Saxophone
- Terminal
- Escape (The Pina Colada Song)
- Him
- The Last of the Romantics
- The People That You Never Get to Love
- Weekend Lover
- Answering Machine
- Speechless
- I Don't Need You
- Let's Get Crazy Tonight
- Less Is More
- Widescreen
- Studio Musician
- Morning Man
- Talk
- Town Square & The Old School
The Mystery of Edwin Drood (original Broadway cast)
- There You Are
- A Man Could Go Quite Mad
- Two Kinsmen
- Moonfall
- Moonfall Quartet
- The Wages of Sin
- Ceylon
- Both Sides of the Coin
- Perfect Strangers
- No Good Can Come From Bad
- Never the Luck
- The Name of Love / Moonfall (reprise)
- Settling Up the Score
- Off to the Races
- Don't Quit While You're Ahead
- The Garden Path to Hell
- A Word From Your Chairman...
- Out on a Limerick: Rosa Bud
- Out on a Limerick: Reverend Crisparkle
- Out on a Limerick: Bazzard
- Out on a Limerick: Neville Landless
- Out on a Limerick: Helena Landless
- Murderer's Confession: Jasper
- Murderer's Confession: Puffer
- Murderer's Confession: Rosa Bud
- Murderer's Confession: Bazzard
- Murderer's Confession: Reverend Crisparkle
- Murderer's Confession: Neville Landless
- Murderer's Confession: Helena Landless
- Finale: The Writing on the Wall
