Well, since I talked about Lindsey Buckingham & “Caroline” on Monday, I’ll talk about Steve Perry and “Sherrie” today.
Sherrie, referring to Sherrie Swafford, was a former girlfriend of Perry’s and also appears in the music video. According to songfacts, he wrote the song with three other people, one of them being Randy Goodrum who once spoke about the track. ”I’d gotten to know him and Sherrie, not really well, but I had a general idea of what they were like as people. I sensed a certain amount of drama in their relationship, to put it mildly. I like to find a premise and go with that, rather than a hook. And as long as I know what the point of the song, or the mission of the song is, then the lyrics usually just fall into place…’”
Oh Sherrie was released in 1984 from Street Talk, Perry’s first solo album since leaving Journey. It went to #3 on Billboard’s Hot 100 and was #1 on Billboard’s Top Tracks. It also went to #1 in Canada.
The couple broke up in 1985.