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Various Rucker

S

Scooter Lesley

Guest
No,...tis not a stab, but let me pay tribute, and close with a Programming Ponder: "Various" because Darius Rucker can do it all!
Outta Charleston, we South Carolinian Sandlappers lay claim to a brillant Singer, Songwriter, and Musician! It was my sister in Broadcasting, the incomperable Dyana Daniels that first granted airplay to Hootie & The Blowfish; via a little 6-song CD EP, entitled "Koochie Pop". That airplay alone, found me to be one of only seven there that faithful Wednesday night, when they first played Al's Pump House.
Later, I would see them paired/packaged with the likes of Uncle Mingo, The Next Move,...and "Various" others on the college circuit. A cool guy, B-93's Hawk Harrison, was/is a Big fan, as well. Sadly, Darius was recently the victim of some shameful racial tweets, telling him to leave Country Music to the white people. For the Love of Pete, I thought that we were past this with Charlie Pride...O.B. McClinton...Sheeeesh! Rucker's performance at the Oklahoma benefit was flawless.
So, here I close with this Programming Ponder: AC's play Hootie.
They also play (worthless!)Country-crossovers...Underwood, Hill(&her husband), Lady Anti-ceptic,...but no Darius(solo) Country songs.
Now, if you Hootie, and you crossover, then why no airplay for solo Rucker? How does your Consultant explain this one?
 
The simple answer is: Capitol records hasn't pursued AC/Hot AC airplay for Darius as a solo act.

A slightly more involved answer: Hootie as a band is almost an "oldies" act, so Darius as a solo act isn't a pressing concern for anyone involved.

An even more behind-the-scenes answer: most of Darius' hit country singles have been slightly more country than AC programmers would feel comfortable playing. "Wagon Wheel", "Don't Think I Don't Think About It" being two good examples.

And then there's the answer no one wants to hear: Hootie is by and large a product of, and a staple of, South Carolina radio stations. Alternative stations played them. Hot AC. AC. CHR. Of course, that was 15-20 years ago. But outside of the Palmetto State, how many Hootie songs do you think still get played with any regularity? "Only Wanna Be With You" and......? let's look at Mediabase and find out...

Yup - "OWBWY" is the ONLY song being played with any regularity on monitored Mediabase AC stations.

So, with all of that and zero interest by AC/Hot AC stations in taking a leap of faith on music by a B-level country artist that consultants, labels, and the artist themselves have shown no desire in pushing outside the country format, and you have a collective shrug of the programming shoulders towards his music.

Oh, and since most South Carolina stations are programmed from beyond the station walls, you won't find any SC PD's and MD's taking a flyer on a non-charting, non-testing song - even if it is by a South Carolina legend.
 
The real answer comes from Darius himself. He wants to be a country act. He feels he can make more money that way as a touring act. If his country songs cross over, that gives country programmers a sense that he's not committed to their format. There's a very similar process going on now with Sheryl Crow, who has dabbled a bit in country for the last 5 or so years, but now seems to be going after it full time. When you're a country act and you cross over, you get a pass. When you're a pop act who crosses over to country, and then cross back, you're a turn coat. And let's face it: Country radio has an over-abundance of stars now, and can afford to be picky.
 
i think the purpose of the post was to spotlight the cleverness of the name of the thread and not the content in the body of the post jmo
 
Wab, It's always good to hear from you.
A Brillant post (Duck Season!).

...and Shockingly y'all a Brillant post from
The Big A?

Freqy, you Flubbed, as usual!
 
Actually, Magic 98.9 plays "Hold My Hand", "Let Her Cry", "Only Wanna Be With You", and "Time." Seems like I might have heard them play "I Go Blind" in the past, as well. That station has always played an abundance of H&TBF material (and, in the mid-90s, the group was a success on the AC format).
 
freqdev is spot on.

Darius is a remarkable talent that has continued to grow over the years. I am told he always wanted to do country. Smart move. It used to be said you had one country hit and you could be set for life touring and making appearances because country music fans are that loyal. He's had a bunch of hits. His retirement and kid's college accounts are secure.

The pop and urban music world have always been fickle. It's always what is hot. And once you are not hot, you're in a virtual Siberia. Ask Mark McGrath, so was all over TV when Sugar Ray was hot. In fact, I think he runs a booth at the flea market next to Scooter's.

Hootie is a nostalgia act and is toast. File them with the Marshall Tucker Band.

Only a few Hootie songs research well now and those were their big, big hits.

Part of it is the band's fault, and most of it is not. After years of hard work and delighting live audiences in the South East, they blew up. Big and fast. Atlantic Records milked the heck out of that. They struck while the iron was hot and made sure everyone knew who they were and effectively sold a lot of records. And burned the audience out in the process. The end result was a lot of money was made, but the band became the butt of jokes. Familiarity sells records. But it always breeds contempt.

However, the band creatively shot their wad on Cracked Rear View. That record was the result of years of touring and honing their original tunes. The follow up records were nice sounds, but hooks were few and far between and the pop music scene shifted sounds fairly quickly away from what made them a success. The solo work of the members of the band other than Darius demonstrates where the talent was centered in Hootie.

The other thing is that the members of the band decided to capitalize on their fame and did the celebrity circuit outside of the music industry. They were everywhere: golf tournaments, ESPN, sports championships, etc. I don't think any of us would turn down those invites, but it certainly didn't not throw gasoline on the embers of public burn-out.

Darius has a well-managed career. If he has a crossover hit, great for him, but I think he'll solidly be a star in the country constellation for a long time. His Cotton Candy Christmas still gives me shivers when we play it at Christmas. Amazing talent.
 
The thing I'll share is if you go to a Darius country show today anywhere in the country, and he breaks into OWBWY or any of the Hootie hits, the crowd goes wild. It's an "oh wow" song for them. They didn't come to see Hootie, but when he pulls out the old hits, they love it. It's a show!
 
TheBigA said:
The thing I'll share is if you go to a Darius country show today anywhere in the country, and he breaks into OWBWY or any of the Hootie hits, the crowd goes wild. It's an "oh wow" song for them. They didn't come to see Hootie, but when he pulls out the old hits, they love it. It's a show!
Click to expand...

I think we can also guarantee that the show was sold out. People LOVE him.
 
Who started this thread and what meaning does it have comparing something 15/20 years ago
Country is the hottest thing going now days
 
Scooter Lesley said:
Will he, and he certainly can, re-boot the Hoot?
Click to expand...

According to Darius himself, they have a reunion project and tour in the works at some point. Perhaps after his current solo tour and album promotion ends. Maybe for next year.

However, having said that, the chances of getting any radio airplay for that project are pretty slim. I'm saying that based on other similar reunion projects in the past ten years. And yes, his clock on country radio is ticking. But he likely just had the biggest hit of his solo career.

I agree with Dudefan that the reunion will likely kill his solo career, so I'd give it a little more time. But I think he feels he owes it to the guys. They simply can't tour without him. Like the Rolling Stones without Jagger.
 
I'm sure the "Reunion Tour" will be a one-off thing. Atlantic reissues Cracked Rear View, Box Set, Best of, etc. They tour on it to generate sales and then "poof."

Dean Felber has stayed under the radar for years.

Soni and Mark have released solo projects. In kindest terms, none of it is Hootie material. In blunt terms, all of it is crap.
 
It's funny that when some one post anything that relates to older stuff they get flack, even Scooter. I wonder what is going to happen in about 4 years when things start to swing back in the other direction in more ways than one. Right now a lot of people will give flack for just that statement but in about 4 years they will be very quite, it never fails. Darious Rucker is making good money, putting out good music, at least it sounds country unlike a lot of stuff coming out that's called country today. I see no reason to rock the boat in his current success, if I was him I would enjoy it and keep on doing good music and making all his fans happy. As for the over load of country singers/acts that is even more reason to split the country formats a little and give a chance for some of the traditional country singers to either get a restart and some of the new young people coming along that don't care for the newer country music to get a start, people like Amber Digby, Britni Hendrickson, Chuck Day, Herold Dodd, ect... If anybody listens to them and says their not any good then change out of the music or radio business, your in the wrong business. Their only problem is they don't care to preform country pop or country rap or country rock just regular country music and there is a bunch of really good people out there both fans and preformers if given a chance. Darious Rucker is very talented and shouldn't change a thing.
 
even acts who have some radio airplay do not sell tickets. many locals have tried to turn a quick buck being a show promoter it is expensive to promote good music. it is also expensive to promote bad music
 
Whether it was a repeat or not, Darius Rucker just played Letterman. Pimpin' the CD "True Believers", he performed some song about "Ridin' down the highway......listenin' to the Radio". It was impressive, and I don't follow his solo material or what is known as "Today's Country". A good single, should or already is garnering airplay. It's easy to understand that drill.
If you subtract or de-twang the piece...both the Banjo, and The Petal Steel...out, it's a Hootie song. I'm just telling the truth.
De-twanged, that song is Hootie & The Blowfish! Add those two instruments back in, and...Bootie & The Catfish!
 
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