Home | Songs By Year | Songs from 1979
Escape (The Pia Colada Song)
Buy Escape (The Pia Colada Song) now from AmazonFirst, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the song. And once you've experienced the song, tell everyone what you thought about it.
Wikipedia article
"'Escape (The Pia 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 OctoberNovember. Rising in popularity, the song peaked at the end of December to become the final US 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 day, he reads the personal advertisements in the newspaper and spots an ad that catches his attention: a woman seeking a man who, among other little things, must like pia coladas (hence it being known as "the pia colada song"). 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 partner. The song ends on an upbeat note, showing 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.
Background and writing
Recorded for Holmes's 'Partners in Crime' (1979) album, the song came from an unused track for which Holmes wrote temporary or "dummy" lyrics. This version, "The Law of the Jungle", was released as part of his 'Cast of Characters' (2005) box set and was inspired by a want-ad he read whilst idly scanning the personals one day. As Holmes put it, "I thought, what would happen to me if I answered this ad? I'd go and see if it was my own wife who was bored with me." The title of the song was originally going to be "People Need Other People", and was later to be revealed that it was a true story.
The chorus originally started with "If you like Humphrey Bogart", which Holmes changed at the last minute, replacing the actor with the name of the first exotic cocktail that came to mind and fit the music.
Holmes said in 2019 that he still does not drink pia coladas.
Reception and legacy
The song shot up through the US charts, becoming the country's last number-one 'Billboard' Hot 100 hit of 1979 and of the 1970s. "Escape" was knocked out of the top spot but returned to number one on the 'Billboard' Hot 100 chart during the second week of 1980, having been displaced for a week by KC and the Sunshine Band's "Please Don't Go". It was the first pop song to ascend to #1 on the 'Billboard' pop chart in two different decades.If a decade is measured instead by the traditional definition of a ten-year period starting on 1 January in a year whose last digit is "1" and ending on 31 December in a year whose last digit is "0", then Chubby Checker's "The Twist" is the first pop song to ascend to No. 1 on the 'Billboard' pop charts in two different decades, once on 19 September 1960 (inside the decade 1 January 1951 - 31 December 1960), and again on 13 January 1962 (inside the decade 1 January 1961 - 31 December 1970). The song was the US's 11th-best-selling single of 1980 on the 'Billboard' Hot 100. The song was also featured on "Waterworks", the penultimate episode of the AMC television series 'Better Call Saul', and titular protagonist Jimmy McGill sings it in "Nailed".
Personnel
*Rupert Holmes vocals, keyboards, synthesizer
*Dean Bailin guitar
*Frank Gravis bass
*Leo Adamian drums
*Steve Jordan "double drumming" with Adamian
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
All-time charts
Certifications
See also
*List of 'Billboard' Hot 100 number-one singles of 1979
*List of 'Billboard' Hot 100 number-one singles of 1980
References
Category:1979 songs
Category:1979 singles
Category:Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles
Category:Cashbox number-one singles
Category:RPM Top Singles number-one singles
Category:Songs about alcohol
Category:Songs about infidelity
Category:Rupert Holmes songs
Category:Songs written by Rupert Holmes
Category:Infinity Records singles
Buy Escape (The Pia Colada Song) now from Amazon
<-- Return to songs from 1979