Carrie Underwood Being played on Kiss 107.1

[robmadden1]

This seems strange. I have never heard Her on Kiss Before.

 

[MikeStandardsFromIndiana]

well if it was "Before He Cheats" that was a big crossover hit for Carrie to Top 40 radio like Kiss FM

 

[KFodor]

You need to listen to A/C radio more.

Carrie Underwood is on A/C. So's Taylor Swift. So's Keith Urban. On some stations, even Tim McGraw.

Crossover Country is big at most A/C's.

 

[MikeStandardsFromIndiana]

Don't forget about Faith Hill, Shania Twain and LeAnn Rimes have been big crossover's as well and to some point LeeAnn Womack and Rascal Flatts have cross over hits

 

[tcsnrayp]

And this would surprise you, why? Country has been crossing over to CHR, HOT and AC forever.

 

[davidduran]

This seems strange. I have never heard Her on Kiss Before.

Just for the record, Kiss has played Before He Cheats since it was popular last spring. They're also playing Talor Swift. I really don't think there's anything strange about it, as was stated earlier, country has always had crossover hits.

For example,
Lonestar - Amazed
Rascal Flatts - What Hurts The Most
Johnny Cash - Ring of Fire

just to name a few

 

[KFodor]

And this would surprise you, why? Country has been crossing over to CHR, HOT and AC forever.

No...not quite.

It's because CHR abandons what stands for true pop music, about 99% of the time now. The pop songwriters had to find work. Where did they go? Nashville, who's been on a youth kick since the early 1980's.

Frankly, some of the nations best tunesmiths are now residents of Tennessee. And country, today enjoys some of the best songwriting of any genre.

 

[tcsnrayp]

No...not quite. And country, today enjoys some of the best songwriting of any genre.

Yes jason, QUITE. You seem to believe that country is crossing now because it is suddenly hot? Check your history. Country has been crossing over to CHR and TOP 40 since the format was develiped in the 1950's.

FIFTY YEARS OF COUNTRY>POP CROSSOVERS...

2007: Before He Cheats - Carrie Underwood;
2006: What Hurts the Most - Rascall Flatts
2004: You'll Think Of Me - Keith Urban
2003: Landslide - The Dixie Chicks
(Picture - Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow?)
2002: Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American) - Toby Keith
(Can't Fight The Moonlight - LeAnn Rimes)
2001: I Hope You Dance - Lee Ann Womack
2000: Amazed - Lonestar
1999: Man! I Feel Like A Woman - Shania Twain
1998: From This Moment On - Shania Twain
1997: How Do I Live - LeAnn Rimes
1996: My Maria - Brooks & Dunn
1995: I Like It, I Love It - Tim McGraw
1994: I Swear - John Michael Montgomery
1993: Passionate Kisses - Mary Chapin-Carpenter
1992: Achy Breaky Heart - Billy Ray Cyrus
1991: God Bless The USA - Lee Greenwood

The late 80's were Country free for the most part... but in the early and mid 80's:
You and I - Eddie Rabbitt and Crystal Gayle; We've Got Tonight - Kenny Rogers and Sheena Easton; Through The Years - Kenny Rogers; Always On My Mind - Willie Nelson; I Wouldn't Have Missed It For The World - Ronnie Milsap; 9 to 5 - Dolly Parton; Elvira - Oak Ridge Boys; On The Road Again - Willie Nelson; Could I Have This Dance - Anne Murray; Lady - Kenny Rogers

In the SEVENTIES:
The Devil Went Down To Georgia - Charlie Daniels Band; You Decorated My Life - Kenny Rogers; You Needed Me - Anne Murray; Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys - Waylon Jennings & Willie Nelson; Heard It In A Love Song - Marshall Tucker Band (rock but major country feel); Wasted Days and Wasted Nights - Freddy Fender; Amie - Pure Prairie League; There Goes Another Love Song - The Outlaws; One Hell Of A Woman - Mac Davis; Dueling Banjos - Eric Weissburg & Steve Mandell; Cover of "Rolling Stone" - Dr Hook & The Medicine Show; Behind Closed Doors - Charlie Rich; I Don't Need No Doctor - New Riders Of The Purple Sage; Mr. Bojangles - Nitty Gritty Dirt Band; For The Good Times - Ray Price; Man In Black - Johnny Cash

But wait... there's the SIXTIES:
Coal Miner's Daughter - Loretta Lynne; Okie From Muskogee - Merle Haggard; Stand By Your Man - Tammy Wynette ; Ruben James - Kenny Rogers & the First Edition; A Boy Named Sue - Johnny Cash; D-I-V-O-R-C-E - Tammy Wynette; Dreams Of The Everyday Housewife - Glen Campbell; Foggy Mountain Breakdown - Flatt & Scruggs; What's Made Milwaukee Famous (Has Made a Loser Out Of Me) - Jerry Lee Lewis; By The Time i Get To Phoenix - Glen Campbell; King Of The Road - Roger Miller;

Finally, just for fun... some pre-Beatles (1958-1963):
The End Of The World - Skeeter Davis; Ring Of Fire - Johnny Cash; I Fall to Pieces - Patsy Cline; Poetry In Motion - Johnny Tillotson; Last Date - Floyd Cramer; Sleep Walk - Santo & Johnny; Heartaches By The Number - Guy Mitchell; Battle Of New Orleans - Johnny Horton; It's Only Make Believe - Conway Twitty; El Paso - Marty Robbins

 

[NoWayNoCC]

The late '80s did have "Bop" by Dan Seals. WCLU (when it was top 40) even played this!

Why, I think even Tantrum 95.7 played the Lee Ann Womack one.

 

[Jeff_Davis]

Bandit,

"Bop" by Dan Seals didn't play on WCLU. I was there from September '85 until the end in April '87 and it wasn't on our list. The song came out in '86 and I played it when I was part time at WUBE in '87-'88, but never at WCLU. Thought you'd want to know since you are the WCLU authority.

JD

 

[NoWayNoCC]

Bandit,

"Bop" by Dan Seals didn't play on WCLU. I was there from September '85 until the end in April '87 and it wasn't on our list. The song came out in '86 and I played it when I was part time at WUBE in '87-'88, but never at WCLU. Thought you'd want to know since you are the WCLU authority.

JD

"Bop" definitely did play on WCLU. It was the only place I ever heard it back then, because I never listened to country radio.

It wasn't just a one-time airing either. "Bop" was heard on WCLU quite a bit.

 

[Jeff_Davis]

OK Bandit. I'm not sure what you remember, but I did the weekly Top 40 list at WCLU during the year and a half that I was there. That was when "Bop" peaked at #42 on the Hot 100. I even had to buy the 45s if the record companies didn't send them, and I can tell you that I never heard "Bop" until I got to WUBE in 1987. Maybe you heard it after they changed format to "Hot Country 1320 WCVG." That would have been the only time you heard it come out of that building. In '85-'87 WCLU was playing the hot hits like "Rock Me Amadeus", "Let's Go All the Way", and "Livin' On A Prayer." No country crossovers from Dan Seals on the list.

JD

 

[NoWayNoCC]

OK Bandit. I'm not sure what you remember, but I did the weekly Top 40 list at WCLU during the year and a half that I was there. That was when "Bop" peaked at #42 on the Hot 100. I even had to buy the 45s if the record companies didn't send them, and I can tell you that I never heard "Bop" until I got to WUBE in 1987. Maybe you heard it after they changed format to "Hot Country 1320 WCVG." That would have been the only time you heard it come out of that building. In '85-'87 WCLU was playing the hot hits like "Rock Me Amadeus", "Let's Go All the Way", and "Livin' On A Prayer." No country crossovers from Dan Seals on the list.

I never listened to it when it was ""Hot Country 1320 WCVG." But then again, nobody else did either.

"Bop" was on WCLU right around the same time as "Rock Me Amadeus" and their cue-burned copy of "(How To Be A) Millionaire."

 

[Jeff_Davis]

Bandit,

You win.

I guess that year and a half of my life never happened. I guess I was never there. I guess I never spent every Saturday afternoon typing that list.

What was I thinking?

JD

 

[RedGreen]

Bandit,

You win.

I guess that year and a half of my life never happened. I guess I was never there. I guess I never spent every Saturday afternoon typing that list.

What was I thinking?

JD

Jeff - if you want to see what you're really up against, go to Bandit's blog:

http://bandit73.pitas.com/

That'll explain it all.

 

[NoWayNoCC]

Jeff - if you want to see what you're really up against, go to Bandit's blog:

http://bandit73.pitas.com/

That'll explain it all.

You don't really have much of a sense of humor, I guess.

 

[KFodor]

Man...somebody remind me not to try and post well into the evening. I completely misrepresented what I was trying to say here. So, let me start again:

I do think that there's a greater percentage of crossover country being played on A/C and Hot A/C stations now than ever. I think that's because some great songwriters (who can no longer find jobs writing pop songs), moved to Nashville and started writing what is today's country. CHR is in a major downcycle right now because the format is being dominated by "extremes" (hard rock/rap). There's no "middle ground" as there needs to be for CHR to surge. CHR has turned its' back on the middle. And that's got to change. (Though I expect it's due for a comeback.)

Country flourishes during CHR downtimes. OK...now, let's talk history here, as a previous poster went to great lengths to embellish. When "Urban Country" hit it big, CHR was in the tank. (post disco and before M-TV). Likewise, when "the Class Of 89" in country had their first big hits and country surged, CHR was in the tank.

I completely agree: there's always been crossover hits in country that dates, frankly, back to, possibly the first crossover artist: Hank Williams, Sr. He was a crossover phenom with his songwriting talents, which often caused his music to top the "Hit Parade" of the 40's, whether he sang them, or not.

But, in the early days of Top 40 radio, country crossover (with just a couple of exceptions) was largely considered "novelty". This was still the day of country records being stamped with "hillbilly" on the label. Most country acts that crossed over had a shelf life of one or two songs. Few had real longetivity with the pop audience. (Eddy Arnold, for example had one top 10 pop hit...and 3 others in the top 40. Marty Robbins did better with 3 major hits and 3 top 20's. His 4 or 5 other songs cracked the top 40, that's about it.)

And, though I hate to contradict someone here, neither "Coal's Miner's Daughter", nor "Okie From Muskogee" ever broke the Billboard Pop Top 40 nationally. Loretta Lynn had no Pop Top 40 hits...The Hag only had 1, "If We Make It Through December". (Look it up in a Joel Whitburn book if you'd like.) Conway Twitty's biggest pop hits were largely in the 50's when he was considered a rock singer. Nothing he recorded after 1973 cracked the pop top 40. Some of their records may have done better at A/C...but Billboard chartwise, the above is correct.

Patsy Cline was a big exception. All 4 of her singles were top 15 or top 10, but then again, her music was really, more pop for the time than the country of the era. And there's where crossover really happens.
Glen Campbell led the way in the mid-60's (again, more pop than country), certainly Crystal Gayle in the 70's (again more pop than country), and Anne Murray, too (mostly more pop than country). Waylon and Willie never broke the Billboard Top 20 (again...more "novelty" to the pop charts.) "On The Road Again" peaked at #20. Willie, though did enjoy 2 top 10 pop hits, "Always On My Mind" and the duet with Julio "To All The Girls I've Loved Before". (both very pop sounding songs.)

Kenny Rogers was huge. He started in folk and rock, went country and hit it really big with big crossover hits (his biggest though, other than "Lucille" and "Coward Of The County" were really pop ballads). His downfall to country radio was having Lionel Richie and Barry Gibb tied so closely to his productions. Country radio seemed to drop him like a stone after that. Which was too bad.

Even as big as they are in country, Alabama charted only 4 songs on the Billboard 40. None broke the top ten, though a lot of stations, granted, played "Love In The First Degree".

I guess what I'm trying to say here: country "crossover" has always been bigger with songs and artists that are pop-friendly...as it is today. The only difference I see, is that as "pop" music fragments down to the A/C and hot A/C genres, today's country (which might have been considered pop 20 years ago) is more "friendly" to A/C and Hot A/C than ever before. And, no one should be surprised, as the original poster was here, that so many country acts are showing up on stations like Kiss. Not when Taylor Swift can command a top spot or near the top spot on i-Tunes. Or Keith Urban. Or Rascal Flatts. Or Carrie Underwood.

So, sorry for my misstating myself big time.

 

[almaniac27]

Frankly, some of the nations best tunesmiths are now residents of Tennessee. And country, today enjoys some of the best songwriting of any genre.

I've listened to some modern country stations and I disagree. For one thing, all of the male singers sound exactly the same to me, all baritone down-home swagger. Most of the girls sound the same to me as well. And as for the songwriting, there's only so many songs to be written about tractors, girlfriends, wives, boyfriends or husbands leaving the singer, and their dog dying. There's an old joke, I forget who said it, that if you play a country song backward, the wife comes back and the dog comes back to life.

I do like some country music. Johnny Cash, George Jones, Hank Williams and old honky-tonk country is pretty good. For modern music, I like the alternative country stylings of the Old 97s, Whiskeytown, Uncle Tupelo, and the Waco Brothers.

 

[KFodor]

Frankly, some of the nations best tunesmiths are now residents of Tennessee. And country, today enjoys some of the best songwriting of any genre.

I've listened to some modern country stations and I disagree. For one thing, all of the male singers sound exactly the same to me, all baritone down-home swagger. Most of the girls sound the same to me as well. And as for the songwriting, there's only so many songs to be written about tractors, girlfriends, wives, boyfriends or husbands leaving the singer, and their dog dying. There's an old joke, I forget who said it, that if you play a country song backward, the wife comes back and the dog comes back to life.

I do like some country music. Johnny Cash, George Jones, Hank Williams and old honky-tonk country is pretty good. For modern music, I like the alternative country stylings of the Old 97s, Whiskeytown, Uncle Tupelo, and the Waco Brothers.

Well you know what? That's OK. You're a guy...and that's what some men think. (By the way, don't think by saying that I don't like Johnny Cash, George Jones, Hank, etc. I cut my country teeth in 1975 backstage visiting at the Opry. I have all of those singers you mention, and more, in my personal collection at the house.)

But, here's the dirty secret of country radio these days: The format once considered to be targeting men, actually targets a more female-leaned audience. Today, the women are driving the boat. That, more than anything else, may be part of the reason why country has become so "pop" sounding.

However, you and I will have to agree to disagree on songwriting here. Country has always been "stories about life". It was true when Johnny Cash sang "Folsom Prison Blues" and it's true in the songwriting style of Tim McGraw's hit, "Live Like You Were Dying". They are songs which evoke emotion. That writing ability...and that emotion is still alive in the music. Please note, in my original post...I didn't comment specifically on "singers", I refered to "songwriting". There's a big difference there.

Are there novelty songs in country today? Of course. But, for every "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy", there was a "Tennesee Bird Walk" way back when. For every "Redneck Woman", there once was a "You're The Reason Our Kids Are Ugly". And, the pop-A/C writers have nothing to write home about in this regard. Let's be honest here. I doubt "Wannabe" by the Spice Girls, "Barbie Girl" by Aqua, "Thong Song" by Cisqo, "Get The Party Started" by Pink, nor "Who Let The Dogs Out" by the Baha Men will ever win any literary awards...

 

[almaniac27]

I see what you're saying. I guess I'm just not into story songs. Different music plays on different people's emotions differently. Some may like the sad country songs, and some, like me, are attracted to the raw energy and emotion and "out-theredness" of artists like the Sex Pistols, Nirvana, Elvis Costello, etc.

And I actually have a recording of the Tennessee Bird Walk somewhere in my room. (Chirp chirp)