Here I Am (Air Supply song)

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"Here I Am (Just When I Thought I Was Over You)"
A-side label of the Australian vinyl single
Single by Air Supply
from the album The One That You Love
B-side"Don't Turn Me Away"
ReleasedAugust 31, 1981
GenreSoft rock
Length3:50
LabelBig Time
Arista (US)
Songwriter(s)Norman Sallitt
Producer(s)Harry Maslin
Air Supply singles chronology
"The One That You Love"
(1981)
"Here I Am (Just When I Thought I Was Over You)"
(1981)
"Sweet Dreams"
(1981)

"Here I Am" (also titled as "Here I Am (Just When I Thought I Was Over You)") is a song written and first recorded by Norman Saleet and released as a single in 1980 on RCA Records. It was recorded the following year by the British/Australian soft rock duo Air Supply and released as the second single from their sixth studio album The One That You Love.

Background[edit]

"Here I Am" was written by singer-songwriter Norman Saleet who released it as a single in 1980, backed with "This Time I Know It's Real". Both songs appear on Saleet's 1982 sole studio album Here I Am.

In 1981, Air Supply released their version which was a top 5 hit in the US. To prevent confusion, the song was originally released as "Here I Am" on the LP but was re-titled "Here I Am (Just When I Thought I Was Over You)" for the release of the single, so as not to be confused with the group's No. 1 hit song "The One That You Love" earlier in the year which contains the lyrics: "Here I am, the one that you love." Lead vocals on "Here I Am (Just When I Thought I Was Over You)" were performed by Russell Hitchcock. Record World described it as an "elegantly harmonized ballad."[1]

Chart performance[edit]

Air Supply's version was released as a single in the fall of 1981, and peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in November of that year, remaining in the top 40 for 15 weeks.[2] The song also spent three weeks atop the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.[3]

Charts[edit]

Reception[edit]

Reviewing a live performance of the song in 2013 for The Paris Review, Robin Hemley described it as sounding "kind of like Every Other Song in the World to Me".[13]

Personnel[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Hits of the Week" (PDF). Record World. 19 September 1981. p. 1. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  2. ^ Whitburn, Joel (1996). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 6th Edition (Billboard Publications)
  3. ^ Hyatt, Wesley (1999). The Billboard Book of No. 1 Adult Contemporary Hits (Billboard Publications)
  4. ^ "Forum – ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts – Top 100 End of Year AMR Charts – 1980s". Australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2016.
  5. ^ "Image : RPM Weekly". Library and Archives Canada. 17 July 2013.
  6. ^ "Air Supply Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  7. ^ "Air Supply Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard.
  8. ^ "Cash Box Top 100 12/05/81". Archived from the original on 3 June 2015. Retrieved 24 December 2016.
  9. ^ "Adult Contemporary Songs – Year-End 1981". Billboard. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  10. ^ "Cash Box YE Pop Singles - 1981". Archived from the original on 22 October 2016. Retrieved 24 December 2016.
  11. ^ "Top 100 Hits of 1982/Top 100 Songs of 1982". Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
  12. ^ "Adult Contemporary Songs – Year-End 1982". Billboard. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  13. ^ Hemley, Robin (19 March 2013). "Ululating to Air Supply". The Paris Review. Retrieved 17 June 2022.