Customer Reviews

Partners in Crime

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Rupert Holmes writes songs about love, just as many popular artists do. But what sets his style apart from the rest of the pack is his use of playful stories and insightful lyrics set in modern situations that we can all relate to. It's all the more impressive because these songs are every bit as touching and relevant today as they were over twenty years ago when the album was first released.

Partners In Crime (1979), his most commerically successful album, contains his smash hit, "Escape (The Pina Colada Song)". Because of its success, it has become the butt of jokes, but a close listen to the lyrics shows that it is actually a very clever song about a man and a wife, who, bored with their marriage, submit personal ads for romance to a newspaper, not realizing the other has done the same. When they finally arrange the meeting, they find none other than their better halves waiting for them, discovering that they had made the right choice long ago.

"Him" was another Top Ten hit, although this one tends to be forgotten by those who label Holmes as a "one-hit wonder". Here his character complains that his lover is not only having an affair, but doing a poor job on concealing it. Holmes's character can tell, among a number of reasons, because she carelessly leaves behind evidence of a foreign brand of cigarettes: "Sometimes the girl forgets."

If you want to impress your friends when they call you, then you should use the refrain to "Answering Machine", yet another Top Forty hit from the album. Here our hero suddenly decides to propose marriage to his lady, but she's not home. The thirty-second length capacity of the standard machine back in those days frustrates him by cutting off the most important words of his message. Unfortunately for our anxious suitor, while he is out "buying dog food for the cat", the machine does the same to her response.

Other classics include tracks such as "Lunch Hour", which details the frantic social chaos the takes place during the confines of the standard weekday lunchtime break. "The People That You Never Get To Love" is a gem written about a common feeling that rarely finds its way into song -- those fleeting moments when you match a gaze with a beautful stranger, but she disappears from your life just as quickly as she enters it. What would life have been like if you had made that gesture in the library or on the elevator?

On top of the clever and profound lyrics, Holmes's voice is deep and soothing, and the production is first-class soft pop.

Rupert Holmes is definitely the hero for the average working fellow who just wants to make enough sense out of the hectic pace of modern life to find and keep love.

"Partners In Crime" is recommended to such souls without hesitation.

This album is awesome. When I bought the record I only knew the Pina Colada Song, but I had no idea the rest of it would be equally as funny. For those who are unfamiliar with Rupert, I like to think he's a cross between Barry Manilow & Weird Al.

I first heard Rupert Holmes' "Him" in 1979, and although it's been relegated to the attic of campy songs, "Partners in Crime" is an audio masterpiece along the lines of a fine Steely Dan album. "Escape" and "Him" are some of the weaker tracks on the album: "In You I Trust" and "Partners in Crime" have some of the most creative lyrics penned by Rupert Holmes. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

I don't know what made me buy the tape all those years ago but it hooked me on Rupert Holmes. "The People You Never get to Love" is the single most awe inspiring lyrics I've ever heard. If you ever find "Full Circle" get it. It will not disappoint.

Partners In Crime" is a curious album about the continuing ironies of love, affection, and cheating. The first hit single, "Escape (The Pina Colada Song)" presents our narrator feeling the depressions of rutine in his relationship. Egotistically, he searchs the connections section in a newspaper for running away from the boredom of having a steady girlfriend. When he mets his connection, he finds out she's his own girlfriend, also running away from him. The funny thing is they both love Pina Coladas, and to get caught in the rain. But they were long-time lovers, and love, Rupert says, is a fading flower in a world where trust is also fading each and every day.

The journey continues with the album's title track as we follow two couples: one, a teenager hooker that doesn't tell the difference between love, need, affection and self-esteem. The other couple, a dominatrix and his slave who during office hours is her boss. They have to know that something's wrong with their lifestyles, isn't it? How an innocent girl could be treated that way and feel that need for a pimp? How come work is a great aphrodisiac, turning simple people into power and pain? This song is a funky-cheating-adult-oriented number with excellent horn arrangements, putting us in the key-city of the cheating events: New York. The center of the cheating culture.

After a lament of being "Nearsighted" and being rejected by girls, Rupert sighs and takes the story on the Lunch Hour in Manhattan, where a girl takes the cab to visit her current lover in a hotel, just when she was supposed to have a meal. "Whatever had for lunch agrees with you", Rupert comments with her. With the fast paced rhythm, he also introduces us to a "lunch hour" of a Brooklyn businessman and the hot stewardess from Air Canada. It's the most colorful and descriptive song of the album, and Holmes proves himself as a first-level narrator. "Him" is the moment when the singer finds out he's been cheated for a while, probably the same way he's been doing it. A pack of cigarrettes, next to the window, that is not his brand proves it, and he sings with the biggest self-compassion ever present in a pop song. This guy, Holmes, must really know about love and deception, we think. And the songs' order is a good proof of that. After "Him", we can tell the broken hearted guy's is compulsevly searching for love with his "Answering Machine", he wonders about the women he'll never get to love and feels a lot of nostalgia, and goes down to the bottom of his moods. But at the near end of the album, he decides to be sincere with himself and start believing that there must me something better than the life he's been thru. "Get outta yourself".

The end of the album is a resolution, a conclusion, a bet for love. "In You I Trust" completes the circle and leaves the listener ready for another pass of that sweet and sour taste of love, need, infatuation and cheat. A must for all wives and lovers around the world.

No less a personality than Barry Manilow has once cited Rupert as being one of his favourites. His metaphors, biting satires and the ability to put his great insight on human relationships in a humourous guise are just a joy to listen to.

His writing reminds me a lot of Steely Dan in this way which by the way is another great group of musicians and songwriters. The age of the singer-songwriter has perhaps been dead for quite some time but if you want to hear great, well-written music as well as very well-crafted lyrics with tongue in cheek humour, well, you can't do much better than this.

Other than the very popular "Pina Colada Song," check out "Answering Machine", "Him" (my favourite), "Near-sighted" and "The People that you Never Get to Love." In fact, all the songs are great but the ones just mentioned do stand out.

I'm just hoping they'll remaster and release this in cardboard sleeve soon. Given the great advances in sound technology these days and the fact that almost every album released before the nineties seems to already have been remastered, this album could definitely do with the treatment as well.

Definitely one of the top 5 albums I'd take with me to a desert island; not that I'm planning on making the trip anytime soon.. : )

Rupert Holmes' "Partners In Crime" was originally released in/ around September of 1979, and it's where you'll find the huge/ notorious #1 hit "Escape" aka "The Pina Colada Song". Although the song is sly as well as well-crafted & insanely catchy, its whimsical nature might lead listeners to think this 1979 album is some kind of wacky late '70s relic that's best forgotten. That couldn't be less true. Like usual, Rupert wrote every song on this album himself, & he displays his boundless songwriting creativity by unleashing one astonishingly well-crafted, inspired gem after another. "The Pina Colada Song" starts the album off in great fashion, but it's only the tip of the iceberg. The title track makes great use of a galloping drum line, features mind-bogglingly crafty lyrics, and has a deathless chorus. "Nearsighted" is a sentimental, melodic ballad and a solid example of Holmes' knack for writing lyrics that are at once humorous & moving. "Lunch Hour" has an off-kilter verse melody, a hilarious chorus, & an extended salsa-flavored instrumental coda. The reggae-flavored "Drop It" is about wanting a girlfriend to just lighten up & not be so serious & it features some laugh-out-loud humorous lyrics. "Him", another big hit, is a haunting song about a cheating girlfriend and features a punchy, dramatic chorus. "Answering Machine", like "Escape", is another highly whimsical song & unsurprisingly was released as a single (it reached the top 40)--with its mockery of the 30-second time limit of "old-fashioned" answering machines, the lyrics are, in a sense, quite dated in today's high-tech world, but the song is lots of fun nonetheless. He delivers another splendid ballad with the wistful "The People That You Never Get To Love", & song that neatly points out how certain people you casually pass by each day could have been "the one". The album ends with the ultra-catchy minor-keyed "In You I Trust" which is about the comfort of being able to depend on/ have trust in your companion in an otherwise devious, ever-changing (for the worse) world--it's also got a cool, Genesis-y instrumental break. If you're looking for an album that's loaded with catchy hooks, you've come to a great place--it's simply incredible how consistently super-catchy this album is. The production values are absolutely first-rate as well, as are the performances--aside from a Chrissy Faith vocal part on "Answering Machine", Rupert does all the vocals on here & plays all the keyboards, & guitarist Dean Bailin does masterful work playing all the guitars on the album. Rupert's vocals are loaded with personality & he gives just the right vocal treatment to suit each song. To make some comparisons, Rupert's songwriting fluency along with his ease of incorporating various styles brings to mind early Joe Jackson, but without the anger. At the same time, his combination of seedy lyrics & musically sophisticated, at times jazzy, soft rock strongly brings to mind Steely Dan. If you're a Dan fanatic, I can't imagine not loving this. By all means, this is complimentary! One thing about this album though is that his one of a kind knack for humorous-yet-charming romantic lyrics isn't very strongly in evidence. And that's the only thing that makes me hesitant in recommending this album as an ideal place to start discovering Rupert--his smile-inducing, sweetly romantic and tender side is in relatively low abundance on here. It's by no means absent--"Nearsighted" is a solid example, & in a way, so is "Escape", yet "Escape" feels more like a comedy skit-ish song than a heart-tugging romantic one. His 1981 album "Full Circle", as well as his brilliant 1994 "comeback" album "Scenario" both feature his tender side much more strongly on such terrific tracks as "Loved By the One You Love", "You Remind Me Of You", "One Born Every Minute", "The Eighties Never Happened", & "The Hurting Part". Admittedly, this album ends up being pretty low in the `heart-tugging' department--if you`re afraid that might turn you off, try starting with his "Full Circle" album. That's not an actual complaint though--"Partners In Crime" is a unique, brilliant, & irresistibly fun album that any serious music listener will get a blast out of.

(P.S. The standard MCA Records CD version of "Partners In Crime" does feature printed lyrics for each song & thorough album credits, but the sound quality overall is very disappointing, plus certain tracks fade out quite early--considerably earlier than they do on the original vinyl on Infinity Records.)

Rupert Holmes created a dynamic album in 1979, writing nearly all of his own material and combining disco, pop, reggae, ballads and his unique flair and sense of humour. Partners in Crime explores the intricacies of modern relationships. Side one starts off with "The Pina Colada Song," obviously the most well-known song by Holmes. It is a sample of what's to come. Featuring themes of infidelity, proposal, cheating, domination, self-image and true love, this seemingly carefree album proves to be deep and worth analysis. The spritely ditty, "Lunch Hour," is a study in quickies and one-hour stands. Other memorable tracks include, "Him" and "The People That You Never Get To Love."

Ultimately, the title track serves as the most haunting piece of the album, implying that daily ins and outs of love, in addition to more discreet themes, will wear us down as we become complacent and as we develop comfort zones. Illustrated by the cover photograph perfectly, the practice of trying to find love fast and furiously will only lead one to self-loathing, disappointment and eventual desensitization to love. Holmes' insightful and not unfunny portrayal of the modern condition of relationships leaves the listener informed yet confused, delighted yet unfulfilled, not unlike the modern relationship rat race itself.

The pina colada song has been an emotional force in my life. After my pet armadillo, "Pancho" lost his life unexpectedly, I was left looking for something to comfot me. In the pina colada song I found escape from the traumas of losing my very best friend Pancho. I know you're up there Pancho-and this pina coladas for you. Rupert, thank you!XXOO

This album is worth the money for the Pina Colada song alone...that is an amazing song.