"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 RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

. It was recorded the following year by the British/Australian

soft rock Soft rock is a form of rock music that originated in the late 1960s in Southern California and the United Kingdom which smoothed over the edges of singer-songwriter and pop rock, relying on simple, melodic songs with big, lush productions. S ...

duo

Air Supply Air Supply is a soft rock duo formed in Melbourne, Australia, in 1975. It consists of Englishman Graham Russell (vocals, guitar) and Australian Russell Hitchcock (vocals). They had a succession of hits worldwide, including eight top-five ...

and released as the second single from their sixth studio album ''

The One That You Love "The One That You Love" is a song by British-Australian soft rock duo Air Supply, released as a single from their sixth studio album of the same name. It was written by member Graham Russell. The song reached No. 1 in the United States, topping ...

''.

Background

"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,

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 "

" 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 the two vocalists in the group,

Graham Russell Graham Cyril Russell (born 11 June 1950) is an English musician, singer-songwriter, producer and guitarist of the soft rock duo Air Supply. In 1975, with Russell Hitchcock, he formed Air Supply in Australia. The duo have been singing and p ...

and

Russell Hitchcock Russell Charles Hitchcock (born 15 June 1949) is an Australian musician and lead vocalist of the soft rock duo Air Supply. Early life Born in Melbourne, Hitchcock attended South Brunswick State School, and later studied at Princes Hill High ...

Chart performance

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 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...

for 15 weeks. The song also spent three weeks atop the '' Billboard''

Adult Contemporary chart The Adult Contemporary chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary radio stations in the United States. The chart is compiled based on airplay data submitted to ''Billboard'' by sta ...

.Hyatt, Wesley (1999). ''The Billboard Book of No. 1 Adult Contemporary Hits'' (Billboard Publications)

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Reception

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".

Personnel

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

- vocals,

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

References

{{authority control 1980 songs 1980 singles 1981 singles Air Supply songs Norman Saleet songs Songs written by Norman Saleet Song recordings produced by Harry Maslin Arista Records singles RCA Records singles 1980s ballads