Randy Newman, Warren Zevon, Loudon Wainwright III and Rupert Holmes all share the distinction of having a song grow to such epic proportions that it casts a career-wide shadow. But even before liking piña coladas and getting caught in the rain became a national pastime, Rupert Holmes had a successful career as producer, performer and songwriter. In fact, the New York Times called Holmes “one of the world’s greatest storytellers in song.” Over the course of seven years, Holmes released seven albums on five different labels. All of them are included on this box, as well as a Japanese-only album called Scenario from 1994. As if that weren’t special enough, we’ve also compiled a disc of rarities to go along with the album reissues. Add to that extensive liner notes, rare photographs, a flotilla of song lyrics, and notes from the artist himself, and you have a truly dazzling package. All of the discs have been painstakingly remastered in 2005, and approved by Rupert. In fact, he went back into the studio and cut four songs especially for this release, including his version of the only charting song that had cannibalism as its subject: “Timothy.” He also performs a version of a hit he wrote for the Partridge Family, “Echo Valley 2-6809.” After four successful Broadway shows and multiple Tony Awards, and creating and writing 56 episodes of the critically-acclaimed television series Remember WENN, Holmes is currently promoting his latest novel, Swing, published in March by Random House. [The New York Times called it “smart and impressively elaborate.”] His first novel, Where The Truth Lies (recently released in paperback), has been made into a film starring Kevin Bacon and directed by Atom Egoyan. After its recent Cannes debut, the film was lauded as “terrific” by Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times and “a big, slick and sexy mystery”   
by Ray Bennett of the Hollywood Reporter.