Artist:Rupert HolmesSong:Escape (The Pina Colada Song)
Album:Greatest Hits
Rupert Holmes has said that Escape (The Pina Colada Song) was the success that ruined his career. He's joking of course but most folks only know him for that song when he was a successful songwriter and producer before that hit and since then he's a Tony winning playwright. He was born David Goldstein Feb. 24, 1947 in Northwich, Cheshire, England. His father was in the US Army and his mother is British and the family moved to the New York City suburb of Nanuet when he was age 6. Holmes' brother Richard Goldstein is an opera singer with the New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players. Holmes attended the Manhattan School Of Music and then started working as a session musician with producer Ron Dante in 1970. Dante was the man behind The Archies but at the time he was working on one of his other studio groups The Cuff Links. Like The Archies, Dante sang the lead vocals for The Cuff Links. They had a hit with Tracy in 1969. Archies producer Don Kirshner put an end to The Cuff Links when he found out about it. The Holmes produced song Jenniffer Tompkins was released as The Street People instead of The Cuff Links. Holmes then wrote and produced the 1971 top 40 hit Timothy for The Buoys. Holmes also produced music for Gene Pitney, Dolly Parton and The Partridge Family. He recorded his solo debut Widescreen in 1974. Barbra Streisand like it so much, she had him produce songs for the film A Star Is Born and five of her albums. He also produced Lynsey De Paul and Sparks. Holmes recorded three albums for Epic and one for Private Stock. He signed with MCA's Infinity label for the 1979 album Partners In Crime and Escape (The Pina Colada Song) topped the Billboard Hot 100 in late Dec. 1979 and Jan. 1980. The song is seen today as kitschy and I guess it made pina coladas famous. Holmes has admitted that it was a throwaway song that was written while it was being recorded. The words "pina colada" wasn't in the original lyric. He came up with it at the last minute. The song made him an instant star and he had a top ten hit with the song Him. This comp has both hits on it. As his recording career faded, Rupert Holmes became a playwright and won a Tony for his 1985 musical The Mystery Of Edwin Drood. He has written several musicals and also created the AMC TV series Remember WENN. And he's writing a novel. So there's obviously more to Rupert Holmes than pina colada. Here's Rupert Holmes performing Escape (The Pina Colada Song) on The Midnight Special 1979.
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