The Daily Epic Earworm For December 30, 2025
Everyone gets songs stuck in their heads that just won’t go away. They sneak into your subconscious. They are epic earworms that you find yourself humming uncontrollably, singing in the shower, or tapping the beat to with your foot or ballpoint pen when you should be working. Sometimes they even keep you awake at night. Whether they are current hits, one-hit wonders, movie soundtrack gems, holiday favorites, or songs from your youth, their catchy vocals, riffs, hooks, and choruses seem to linger for days.
Here, those songs find a home, no matter the genre. Here, those epic earworms are revisited, explained, and celebrated. Here, you may find the song that haunts you tomorrow. Here is today’s unescapable song of the day…and the story behind it.
Today’s Epic Earworm: Sheriff — “When I’m with You”
Canadian rockers Sheriff had a major hit in 1989 with their power ballad “When I’m with You.” The epic earworm topped the Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts in the United States. The song, the second single off the band’s self-titled debut album, was certified gold in both Canada and the U.S. “When I’m with You” was a staple on pop and rock radio stations and was used as a prom theme at high schools.
Sometimes Homemade Gifts Are the Best Gifts
Sheriff keyboard player Arnold Lanni wrote the song for his girlfriend at the time, Valeri Brown. The band had not really taken off, and it was all that he had to give her for Valentine’s Day. The song was a hit with her and with the band. Brown married Lanni two years later, and the band started playing the song live and eventually recorded it.
The Song Outlasted the Band
While “When I’m with You” turned out to be a big success, Sheriff was not able to enjoy it. The song was originally released in 1983. It reached #8 on the charts in Canada but only briefly appeared on the U.S. charts at #61. By 1985, the band felt like they were going nowhere and split up.
Lanni and bassist Wolf Hassell went on to form the band Frozen Ghost, which had a string of five Top 40 hits in Canada between 1987 and 1992. They even got nominated for a Juno Award (Canada’s version of a Grammy) in 1987. During the middle of that run, though, a curious thing happened—American radio DJs started playing “When I’m with You” again. The song got popular enough on U.S. radio that Capitol Records decided to re-release the song.
In February of 1989, four years after the band members had gone their separate ways, the song hit #1. Former Sheriff lead singer Freddy Curci and lead guitarist Steve DeMarchi tried to get the band back together, but the other members were not interested in a reunion. The duo eventually joined with Heart founding members Roger Fisher, Steve Fossen, and Mike Derosier to form a new band called Alias. Alias went on to score big hits in the U.S. and Canada with “More Than Words Can Say” and “Waiting for Love.”
Ironies and Oddities
It is incredibly rare for a song to top the charts years after the band has broken up, but that isn’t the only oddball fact about Sheriff’s “When I’m with You.” It was also one of only a few songs to reach #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 during the MTV era (1981 to present) without ever having a promotional music video.
Reaching #1 was not the only milestone that Sheriff missed out on in 1989. When they hit #1, the band landed in the “Guinness Book of World Records” as well. Curci’s final note on “When I’m with You” was the longest sustained vocal note (19.3 seconds) in any chart-topping hit. It is amazing what one can accomplish in life when one just gives up and moves on…
