Why Is "Fast Car" by Luke Combs Getting Top 40 Airplay?

[Gregg.]

Why are Top 40 and Hot AC stations playing "Fast Car" by Luke Combs? It's a well written song and he has a good country voice. But I don't think he does anything with it that Tracy Chapman didn't already do better in 1988.

It's written from the point of view from a woman trying to work her way out of a homeless shelter. Combs is a male country singer who I assume has his own car, even if he has money problems. Do I even hear him say he's working as a "check out girl"? He could change it to "check out clerk" without hurting the rhyme.

Top 40 and Hot AC only play a few crossovers from Country. I don't understand this one.

 

[TheBigA]

We've discussed this in other threads. There's been a shortage of new music by major stars, so they're looking outside of traditional Top 40. Luke Combs is a major star selling out stadiums right now, and his label promoted this song to Top 40. It was slow getting started but the research has been very positive. It follows thee success of another Sony country artist: Kane Brown. In addition, you see Morgan Wallen in the Top 40 with his song Last Night. Both are getting great research, and both are in the Top 40 as well as the country chart right now.

Is Country Having A Moment At CHR? Current Trends Suggest That's The Case.

It's been nearly four decades since country songs crossing to pop radio were a regular occurrence, but currently at CHR, country is making noise again. Three titles in the top

www.countryinsider.com

I just looked and the top spinners (96 spins) are Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Peoria, and Greenville NC. NY has fewer than 20 spins, LA has 11, and Chicago has 29. Both Fast Car and Last Night are in the Top 5 of the Billboard Hot 100.

 

[CTListener]

Joan Baez had a Top 40 hit with Robbie Robertson's "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" in the early '70s singing the lyrics just the way they were written, from the perspective of a male Southerner remembering the final days of the Civil War. It didn't seem to hurt the song's impact or popularity that it began with a female voice singing "Virgil Cain is my name."

 

[semoochie]

We've discussed this in other threads. There's been a shortage of new music by major stars, so they're looking outside of traditional Top 40. Luke Combs is a major star selling out stadiums right now, and his label promoted this song to Top 40. It was slow getting started but the research has been very positive. It follows thee success of another Sony country artist: Kane Brown. In addition, you see Morgan Wallen in the Top 40 with his song Last Night. Both are getting great research, and both are in the Top 40 as well as the country chart right now.

Is Country Having A Moment At CHR? Current Trends Suggest That's The Case.

It's been nearly four decades since country songs crossing to pop radio were a regular occurrence, but currently at CHR, country is making noise again. Three titles in the top

www.countryinsider.com

I just looked and the top spinners (96 spins) are Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Peoria, and Greenville NC. NY has fewer than 20 spins, LA has 11, and Chicago has 29. Both Fast Car and Last Night are in the Top 5 of the Billboard Hot 100.

Both are in the top three right now!

 

[tall_guy1]

It could be the start of a different cycle of music. With it perhaps the pop/rock of the 00s could perhapsmake a return as people may be fatigued with the 10s-ish music which has carried over to this decade, so perhaps this begins a different cycle.

 

[JackindaBox]

For the newer music this would.

 

[golden eagles97]

I believe the lack of guitar-driven pop songs is the main reason country songs are crossing over to CHR.

 

[AbrahamJSimpson]

Or it's a good song someone realized would have appeal?

 

[Kelly A]

Answer: Because it's a good song.

 

[boombox4]

I hadn't heard it until recently. Combs does a good job on it. Gives it a more country flavor.

As for it being an older hit, 1988 was 35 years ago. A lot of modern country listeners probably never heard Chapman's original version.

 

[radiorobert]

Because it checks all kinds of boxes. It’s a country song that is a remake of a Top 40 track. Plain and simple. CHR can utilize a country style with Top 40 sentiment. Luke Combs chose to do it and keeping it solely on Country radio is awkward given it was a Top40/pop track originally. Voila. It also originally had a lot of AC appeal back in the day and that helps.

It wasn’t like modern CHR listeners knew they were dying to hear this song. It’s the circumstances.

 

[TheBigA]

Luke Combs chose to do it and keeping it solely on Country radio is awkward given it was a Top40/pop track originally.

Keep in mind that neither Combs nor Sony released it to country radio. They had another single on the chart at the time. Fast Car actually jumped the official single.

But it's not unusual for country artists to take hits from other genres. Conway Twitty had a #1 with the Eagles song Heartache Tonight.

 

[CTListener]

Keep in mind that neither Combs nor Sony released it to country radio. They had another single on the chart at the time. Fast Car actually jumped the official single.

But it's not unusual for country artists to take hits from other genres. Conway Twitty had a #1 with the Eagles song Heartache Tonight.

And "Slow Hand" and "The Rose," and probably a few others. Those are just two that come to mind immediately.

Another benefit to Combs' double hit is that both "Fast Car" and that other song, "Love You Anyway," are in heavy recurrent rotation at country radio today, while his current single is still climbing the chart. No sign of a second concurrent hit for that one yet.