COUNTRY CHARTBEAT (Read 14,377 times)

[countrychartnut]

1. ALLEN'S BEST: For the second week, Jimmie Allen has the top song in country with Best Shot. It is his first #1 hit.
2. HIS 25TH, THEIR SECOND: Burning Man, the duet between Dierks Bentley and the Brothers Osborne eases up one to #10 this week. It is Bentley's 25th top ten hit and the Brothers Osborne's second. The duo's only other top ten is Stay A Little Longer (#2 in 2016).
3. BUCKED OFF ALL RIGHT: After debuting at #24 last week with Bucked Off, Brad Paisley tumbles seventeen spots to #41 this week.
4. COMBS IS FAST: Luke Combs has the fastest climbing song of the week with Beautiful Crazy (#57 to #46).
5. LANE KNOWS: Chris Lane has the Hot Shot Debut of the week with I Don't Know About You at #59. This is the second Laps Around The Sun single. Lead single, Take Back Home Girl with Tori Kelly peaked at #8 this year.
6. PEARCE IS CLOSER: Carly Pearce debuts at #60 with Closer To You. This is the lead single to her second album. Her debut album, Every Little Thing yielded the title track (#1 in 2017) and Hide The Wine (#13 in 2018).
7. EVEN MORE CHRISTMAS: We have three more Christmas albums re-entering the top 25 on the country albums chart this week. They are:
1. Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer-Burl Ives-#14
2. Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer And Other Christmas Classics-Gene Autry-#16
3. My Kind Of Christmas-Reba McEntire-#23
8. A 90S LOOK: These were the chart topping songs during the last week of November during the 1990s:
1990: Come Next Monday-K.T. Oslin-RCA
1991: Forever Together-Randy Travis-Warner Bros.
1992: I'm In A Hurry And Don't Know Why-Alabama-RCA
1993: Reckless-Alabama-RCA
1994: The Big One-George Strait-MCA
1995: Check Yes Or No-George Strait-MCA
1996: Strawberry Wine-Deana Carter-Capitol
1997: Love Gets Me Every Time-Shania Twain-Mercury
1998: Wide Open Spaces-Dixie Chicks-Monument
1999: I Love You-Martina McBride-RCA
9. MILESTONE TOP TEN CHART: In 2015, Warner Bros. released On The Other Hand: All The Number Ones on Randy Travis. The track listing is as follows:
1. On The Other Hand-1986
2. Diggin' Up Bones-1986
3. Forever And Ever, Amen-1987
4. I Won't Need You Anymore Always And Forever-1987
5. Too Gone Too Long-1988
6. I Told You So-1988
7. Honky Tonk Moon-1988
8. Deeper Than The Holler-1989
9. Is It Still Over-1989
10. It's Just A Matter Of Time-1989
11. Hard Rock Bottom Of Your Heart-1990-chart wise, his biggest hit
12. If I Didn't Have You-1992
13. Look Heart, No Hands-1993
14. Whisper My Name-1994
15. Three Wooden Crosses-2003
I thought Travis had sixteen chart toppers. He does. Warner Bros. left off Forever Together, our #1 song from 27 years ago this week.
I had saluted Travis a few weeks ago when he landed his fourth straight #1 platinum album, No Holdin' Back. That disc produced three top two hits: It's Just A Matter Of Time (1989), Hard Rock Bottom Of Your Heart (1990), and He Walked On Water (#2 in 1990). His next album was a duets disc called Heroes & Friends. The list of his duet partners were: Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Vern Gosdin, Loretta Lynn, B.B. King, George Jones, Kris Kristofferson, Tammy Wynette, Clint Eastwood (yes), Conway Twitty, and Roy Rogers. Lead single, A Few Ole Country Boys was a duet with Jones. That was released in August. It peaked at #8 in October, giving Jones his 79th and final top ten hit. It also gave him top tens in five consecutive decades: 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. The album was released and it became Travis' fifth consecutive #1 country album while peaking at #31 on the top 200 chart. After that, Billboard proclaimed Travis the top country artist of the year. The title track was the second and final single. Released in January 1991, it peaked at #3 in April. After that platinum album album ran its course, Travis began recording his next album. That was High Lonesome. Its lead single, Point Of Light was written for President Bush's Thousand Points Of Light program. Released in April, it peaked at #3 in June. Second single, Forever Together was released in September. That tune was written by Travis and Alan Jackson while they were touring together between 1990-1991 (Travis was the headliner). It became Travis' twelfth chart topping hit in November. It gave Travis #1s in six consecutive years (1986-1991). Third single, Better Class Of Losers was released in December. That was the second tune that was written by Travis and Jackson. It climbed all the way to #2 in February, 1992 and stayed there for three weeks, unable to dethrone Garth Brooks' What She's Doing Now from #1. It became Travis' biggest #2 hit. After that near miss of the top, Travis released the fourth and final single, I'd Surrender All. Released in March, the third Travis/Jackson written tune peaked at #20 in June. The High Lonesome album peaked at #3 country and #43 top 200. It is certified platinum. Jackson became a recipient of the writing he had with Travis. His single, She's Got The Rhythm And I Got The Blues topped the chart in 1992.
The On The Other Hand: All The Number Ones album remains the last to be released by Travis so far. The following year he was inducted to the Country Music Hall of Fame. This is what the chart looked like back then:

BILLBOARD TOP TEN FOR WEEK ENDING NOVEMBER 30, 1991:
1. FOREVER TOGETHER-RANDY TRAVIS-WARNER BROS.
2. Shameless-Garth Brooks-Capitol
3. For My Broken Heart-Reba McEntire-MCA
4. You Don't Count The Cost-Billy Dean-Capitol
5. Then Again-Alabama-RCA
6. The Chill Of An Early Fall-George Strait-MCA
7. Like We Never Had A Broken Heart-Trisha Yearwood-MCA
8. Hurt Me Bad In A Real Good Way-Patty Loveless-MCA
9. My Next Broken Heart-Brooks & Dunn-Arista
10. Anymore-Travis Tritt-Warner Bros.

[countrychartnut]

1. BROWN LOSES #1: Kane Brown collects his third #1 hit this week with Lose It. It is the lead single to his just released chart topping album, Experiment.
2. CRAZY FAST: Luke Combs has the fastest climbing song of the week with Beautiful Crazy (#46 to #33).
3. BROOKS IS STRONGER: Garth Brooks has the Hot Shot Debut of the week with Stronger Than Me at #56. He debuted the song at this year's C.M.A. Awards. This is the second single to an upcoming album. Lead single, All Day Long peaked at #11.
4. SWINDELL'S LATE: Cole Swindell debuts at #57 with Love You Too Late. This is the second All Of It single. Lead single, Break Up In The End peaked at #2.
5. LOVING LANGSTON: Jon Langston debuts at #60 with When It Comes To Loving You. This is his seventh single and first to chart.
6. CHRISTMAS: We have six more Christmas albums in the top 25 on the country albums chart this week. They are:
1. It's Christmas Time-Elvis Presley-#3
2. The Best Of Brenda Lee: 20th Century Masters: The Christmas Collection-Brenda Lee-#11
3. Glow-Brett Eldredge-#17
4. Cheers, It's Christmas-Blake Shelton-#18
5. Christmas Together-Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood-#21
6. On This Winter's Night-Lady Antebellum-#25
7. A 90S LOOK, PART II: These were the top selling albums during the first week of December during the 1990s:
1990: No Fences-Garth Brooks-Capitol
1991: Ropin' The Wind-Garth Brooks-Capitol
1992: The Chase-Garth Brooks-Liberty
1993: Common Thread: The Songs Of The Eagles-Various Artists-Giant
1994: Not A Moment Too Soon-Tim McGraw-Curb
1995: Fresh Horses-Garth Brooks-Capitol
1996: Everything I Love-Alan Jackson-Arista
1997: Come On Over-Shania Twain-Mercury
1998: Double Live-Garth Brooks-Capitol
1999: Breathe-Faith Hill-Warner Bros.
8. MILESTONE TOP TEN CHART: Let us review those topics that were discussed in this section over the past year. Ready?
1. Four RCA artists land #1 hits in 1988-1989. They are: Restless Heart, Keith Whitley, K.T. Oslin, and the Judds.
2. A review of #1 hits in 1992.
3. Conway Twitty lands the last #1 of the 1970s, Happy Birthday Darlin' in 1979.
4. Highway 101 lands the first #1 of the 1990s, Who's Lonely Now in 1990.
5. T.G. Sheppard lands a #1, Slow Burn in 1984.
6. Carrie Underwood has the #1 single with Jesus, Take The Wheel and the #1 album with Some Hearts in 2006.
7. Ronnie Milsap's 40 #1 Hits sells big in 2001.
8. Drive is a top seller for Alan Jackson in 2002.
9. The Oak Ridge Boys and Waylon Jennings score hits written by Rodney Crowell in 1980.
10. There Is No Arizona tops the chart for Jamie O'Neal in 2001.
11. Walk On Faith becomes the sole chart topper in Mike Reid's career in 1991.
12. Reba McEntire's Sing It Now: Songs Of Faith & Hope is a top seller in 2017.
13. Lorrie Morgan's hits collection, To Get To You: Greatest Hits Collection sells big in 2000.
14. Is It Raining At Your House is a big hit for Vern Gosdin in 1991.
15. Roll On Eighteen Wheeler tops the singles chart while Roll On tops the albums chart for Alabama in 1984.
16. Martina McBride lands her final chart topper, Blessed in 2002.
17. None
18. Down Home becomes Alabama's 30th #1 hit in 1991.
19. Kenny Rogers and Dottie West top the chart with Every Time Two Fools Collide in 1978. A year later, they do the same with All I Ever Need Is You.
20. Beyond The Blue Neon is a top seller for George Strait in 1989.
21. Bring Back Your Love To Me is a big hit for Earl Thomas Conley in 1990.
22. Sonny James scores a chart topper with Is It Wrong For Loving You in 1974.
23. Mark McGuinn scores his only top ten, Mrs. Steven Rudy in 2001.
24. The Statler Brothers score their final top ten, More Than A Name On A Wall in 1989.
25. Give It All We Got Tonight becomes George Strait's final top ten in 2013.
26. They Rage On breaks Dan Seals' chart topping streak in 1989.
27. Yes! becomes Chad Brock's only #1 in 2000.
28. From There To Here: Greatest Hits tops the albums chart for Lonestar in 2003.
29. When The Stars Go Blue is a big hit for Tim McGraw in 2006.
30. Somebody's Needin' Somebody tops the chart for Conway Twitty in 1984.
31. Livin' It Up tops the albums chart for George Strait in 1990.
32. Dixie Road is a #1 hit for Lee Greenwood in 1985.
33. Dolly Parton scores a #1 hit with You're The Only One in 1979.
34. Rhett Akins scores his only chart topper, Don't Get Me Started in 1996.
35. Here We Are becomes Alabama's first #2 hit in 1991.
36. Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man tops the chart for Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty in 1973. A year later, they top it again with As Soon As I Hang Up The Phone.
37. Charley Pride scores his last top ten for RCA, The Power Of Love in 1984.
38. Million Mile Reflections is a top seller for the Charlie Daniels Band in 1979.
39. It Must Be Love hits #1 for Alan Jackson in 2000.
40. NOW That's What I Call Country is a top seller in 2008.
41. The Bellamy Brothers score their final top ten, I Could Be Persuaded in 1990.
42. City Of New Orleans is a big seller for Willie Nelson in 1984.
43. You've Never Been This Far Before/Baby's Gone tops the albums chart for Conway Twitty in 1973.
44. Greatest Hits becomes Kenny Chesney's first #1 album in 2000.
45. It Just Comes Natural hits the top of the albums chart for George Strait in 2006.
46. Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes is a big hit for George Jones in 1985.
47. No Holdin' Back becomes Randy Travis' fourth consecutive #1 album in 1989.
48. The Greatest Hits Collection tops the albums chart for Alan Jackson in 1995.
49. Ronnie Milsap's Prisoner Of The Highway is a top ten hit in 1984.
50. None
51. Forever Together is a chart topper for Randy Travis in 1991.

More to come!

[countrychartnut]

1. I HAVE RETURNED: Well, after topping the chart for two weeks and then dropping to #2 last week, Jimmie Allen returns to the top spot for a third week with his first chart topper, Best Shot. The last time a chart topper returned to #1 happened in 2008 when Jimmy Wayne collected his only #1 with Do You Believe Me Now. He gave up the top spot for a week while Brad Paisley squeaked in with Waitin' On A Woman. Wayne returned to #1 the following week for a cumulative total of two weeks.
2. BRING IT FAST: Billy Currington has the fastest climbing song of the week with Bring It On Over. It goes up five to #47.
3. DICKERSON DEBUTS: Russell Dickerson has the only new song on the chart as Every Little Thing debuts at #57. This is the third Yours single and it follows the #1s Yours and Blue Tacoma.
4. DUMPLIN' PARTON: Dolly Parton debuts at #16 on the country albums chart with Dumplin'. 6000 copies of the soundtrack were sold last week.
5. #1 HITS: These were the chart topping songs in 2013, 2008, 2003, 1998, and 1993:
2013: Sunny And 75-Joe Nichols-Red Bow
2008: Chicken Fried-Zac Brown Band-Atlantic
2003: I Love This Bar-Toby Keith-DreamWorks
1998: Let Me Let Go-Faith Hill-Warner Bros.
1993: My Second Home-Tracy Lawrence-Atlantic
6. MILESTONE TOP TEN CHART: This week, Garth Brooks is celebrating the first anniversary of his first #1 hit in a decade. That song that topped the chart a year ago was Ask Me How I Know.
Let's go back to 2007 when Brooks last had a #1 hit. That came from a 2CD/DVD set called The Ultimate Hits. Four new songs were added and the lead single made history. That was More Than A Memory. Released in August, it debuted at #1 in September, becoming the only single to do so. The Ultimate Hits was released and that debuted at #1 country and #3 on the top 200 chart. Second single, Workin' For A Livin' was a remake. Brooks' version is a duet with the original artist, Huey Lewis. Lewis' version peaked at #41 pop in 1982. The duet version was released in December and peaked at #19 in February, 2008. Third single, Midnight Sun barely scraped the top 40 at #36. The Ultimate Hits is certified diamond. Brooks was inducted to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2012. Brooks was off the chart for five years. He came back in 2013 via a duet with Trisha Yearwood called The Call. The promo single peaked at #49. Brooks released a box set in 2013 called Blame It All On My Roots: Five Decades Of Influences. It contained four CDs and a rerelease of The Ultimate Hits. The box set reached #1 on country and top 200 charts. It is certified quadruple platinum. After The Ultimate Hits was released on Pearl, his label, Brooks decided to partner with RCA Records for the 2014 album, Man Against Machine. RCA was the home for Brooks' rival, Clint Black. Lead single, People Loving People was released in September. It debuted and peaked at #19 that month. The album was released in November and it debuted at #1 country and #4 on the top 200. Second and final single, Mom was released in December. Bonnie Tyler recorded the tune in 2012. Brooks' version peaked at #32 in January, 2015. Man Against Machine is certified platinum. Brooks then embarked on a world tour between 2014-2017.
After that one album association with RCA/Pearl, it was back to just Pearl for the 2016 album, Gunslinger. Lead single, Baby, Let's Lay Down And Dance was released in October. In November, Brooks won his fifth C.M.A. Entertainer of the Year Award against the likes of Luke Bryan, Chris Stapleton, Carrie Underwood, and Keith Urban. Gunslinger was released and that made #4 country and #25 top 200. It should be noted that Brooks flooded the market with his music at the time. Gunslinger was paired with a Christmas duets album with Yearwood called Christmas Together (#3 country and #21 top 200). Then Brooks released another box set called The Ultimate Collection which was sold only at Target. The ten CD set reached #1 country and #6 top 200. It is certified quintuple platinum. Baby. Let's Lay Down And Dance peaked at #15 in February, 2017. Second and final single, Ask Me How I Know was released in March. Brooks would repeat as C.M.A. Entertainer at the show in November. His fellow nominees were Bryan, Eric Church, Stapleton, and Urban. He released another box set called The Anthology Part I: The First Five Years. It covers the time period between 1988-1993. Ask Me How I Know topped the chart in December, giving Brooks his twentieth chart topping hit. It took him 37 weeks to hit the top, his slowest climb ever. When Brooks hit #1, he had chart toppers in four consecutive decades: 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s. It also happened during the 28th anniversary of his first, If Tomorrow Never Comes. He announced a stadium tour for 2019. In the meantime, he released a single from an upcoming album for 2019 called All Day Long. Released in June 2018, it peaked at #11 in September. A second single, Stronger Than Me was performed at this year's C.M.A. Awards. It just made its debut on the chart. This is what the chart looked like back then:

BILLBOARD TOP TEN FOR WEEK ENDING DECEMBER 16, 2017:
1. ASK ME HOW I KNOW-GARTH BROOKS-PEARL
2. Light It Up-Luke Bryan-Capitol
3. Greatest Love Story-LANco-Arista
4. I'll Name The Dogs-Blake Shelton-Warner Bros.
5. Unforgettable-Thomas Rhett-Valory
6. Like I Loved You-Brett Young-BMLG
7. Round Here Buzz-Eric Church-EMI
8. When It Rains It Pours-Luke Combs-Columbia
9. I Could Use A Love Song-Maren Morris-Columbia
10. Losing Sleep-Chris Young-RCA

[countrychartnut]

1. THEY TAKE THE FIFTH: Dan + Shay collect their fifth #1 hit this week with Speechless. It is the second single and second chart topper from their current self-titled album. Tequila topped the chart in July. In the meantime, Dan + Shay become the 131st artist in country music history to collect five #1s.
2. THEIR SMALL TOWN: Brantley Gilbert and Lindsey Ell have the Hot Shot Debut of the week with What Happens In A Small Town at #32. This is from an upcoming Gilbert album. His previous album, The Devil Don't Sleep produced two singles: The Weekend (#7 in 2017) and The Ones That Like Me (#15 in 2018). Ell is having a great 2018. She collected her first top 40 hit with Criminal (#19).
3. KEITH'S MAN: Toby Keith debuts at #43 with Don't Let The Old Man In. This is from the soundtrack The Mule. This is Keith's first chart appearance in two years. He peaked at #47 in 2016 with A Few More Cowboys.
4. A TIE: We have two songs taking seven point jumps for fastest climbing songs of the week. They are:
1. Love You Too Late-Cole Swindell-#53 to #46
2. Every Little Thing-Russell Dickerson-#57 to #50
5. THEIR NAME IS ANNIES: The Pistol Annies debut at #59 with Got My Name Changed Back. This is the lead single to their just released #1 album, Interstate Gospel.
6. MCBRYDE'S GOING SOMEWHERE: Ashley McBryde debuts at #60 with Girl Goin' Nowhere. This is the third Girl Going Nowhere single. A Little Dive Bar In Dahlonega peaked at #30 this year while Radioland did not chart. Garth Brooks covered Girl Goin' Nowhere as Guy Goin' Nowhere for his Triple Live album this year.
7. YOUNG'S TICKET: Brett Young debuts at #1 on the country albums chart with Ticket To L.A.. 26,000 copies were sold last week. It features lead single, Here Tonight. His self-titled debut album peaked at #2 in 2017.
8. A JACKSON CHRISTMAS: Alan Jackson re-enters the top 25 on the albums chart with Let It Be Christmas at #25.
9. #1 CDS: These were the top selling CDs in 2013, 2008, 2003, 1998, and 1993:
2013: Blame It All On My Roots: Five Decades Of Influences-Garth Brooks-Pearl
2008: Fearless-Taylor Swift-Big Machine
2003: Shock'n Y'all-Toby Keith-DreamWorks
1998: Double Live-Garth Brooks-Capitol
1993: Common Thread: The Songs Of The Eagles-Various Artists-Giant
10. MILESTONE TOP TEN CHART: While a country act, Exile released six studio albums between 1983-1991. Only one topped the country albums chart and that is 1984's Kentucky Hearts. It was our top seller 34 years ago this week.
After releasing their first single in 1968 called Come Out, Come Out Whoever You Are (did not chart), Exile finally found their name on the pop chart in 1976 with the #97 peaking Try It On. Shortly after that, Exile signed to the Warner Bros. label and issued an album for them in 1978 called Mixed Emotions. A single was released called Kiss You All Over. That topped the chart for four weeks in September and October. It crossed over to #19 adult contemporary. Another single was released in Never Gonna Stop, which did not chart. 1979 was kicked off with You Thrill Me (#40). Later that year, they made their final chart appearance with How Could This Go Wrong (#88). Between 1980-1982, they released two albums and five singles. During this time, Exile saw success when country acts were covering their tunes. Alabama took Take Me Down (1982) and The Closer You Get (1983) to the top. Janie Frickie got a chart topper in It Ain't Easy Bein' Easy in 1982. Sensing a change, Exile signed to the Epic label in 1983 as a country act. They issued their debut single for the label in August called High Cost Of Leaving. It peaked at #27 in October. Their self-titled debut album was released and that reached #10 on the country albums chart in 1984. Second single, Woke Up In Love was released in November. It became the first of ten #1s in March, 1984. Third and final single, I Don't Want To Be A Memory was released in March and became their second chart topper in July. With their country conversion being a success, they went to work on their second Epic album, Kentucky Hearts. The track listing for the album is as follows:
1. She's A Miracle-1985-#1
2. Comin' Apart At The Seams
3. I've Never Seen Anything
4. Just In Case
5. Give Me One More Chance-1984-#1
6. You Make It Easy
7. Somethin' You Get
8. If I Didn't Love You
9. Ain't That A Pity
10. Crazy For Your Love-1985-#1
All songs on the album were written by Sonny LeMaire and J.P. Pennington except for Comin' Apart At The Seams, which was written by Jerry Marcum and Les Taylor. Lead single Give Me One More Chance was released in July. It topped the chart in November. The Kentucky Hearts album was released in September. It topped the country albums chart for four weeks in December and January, 1985. Second single, Crazy For Your Love was released in November and topped the chart in March, 1985. One more single was released and that was She's A Miracle. Released in March, it was the group's fifth #1 in July. Exile could have reeled in another hit off of Kentucky Hearts. Their version of Just In Case sat as an album cut. The Forester Sisters released their version in late 1985. It was their second #1 hit in January, 1986.
Since Kentucky Hearts, Exile released four more albums and fourteen more singles (charted) between 1985-1991. They are:
1. Hang On To Your Heart-1985-#2
a. Hang On To Your Heart-1985-#1
b. I Could Get Used To You-1986-#1
c. Super Love-1986-#14
d. It'll Be Me-1986-#1-chart wise, their biggest hit
e. She's Too Good To Be True-1987-#1
2. Shelter From The Night-1987-#13
a. I Can't Get Close Enough-1988-#1
b. Feel Like Foolin' Around-1988-#60
c. Just One Kiss-1988-#9
d. It's You Again-1988-#21
3. Still Standing-1990-#42
a. Keep It In The Middle Of The Road-1990-#17
b. Nobody's Talking-1990-#2
c. Yet-1990-#7
d. There You Go-1991-#32
4. Justice-1991-#66
a. Even Now-1991-#16-their final chart appearance
Exile's current album is called Hits (2018). It is a rerecording of all of their biggest hits. This is what the chart looked like back then:

BILLBOARD TOP TEN FOR WEEK ENDING DECEMBER 22, 1984:
1. KENTUCKY HEARTS-EXILE-EPIC
2. Greatest Hits Vol. 2-the Oak Ridge Boys-MCA
3. Country Boy-Ricky Skaggs-Epic
4. Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind-George Strait-MCA
5. City Of New Orleans-Willie Nelson-Columbia
6. Roll On-Alabama-RCA
7. Why Not Me-the Judds-RCA
8. Treadin' Water-Earl Thomas Conley-RCA
9. You've Got A Good Love Comin'-Lee Greenwood-MCA
10. Too Good To Stop Now-John Schneider-MCA

P.S.: Merry Christmas!

[countrychartnut]

1. STILL D + S: Dan + Shay continue to have the #1 song in country music with Speechless. This is their second week at #1. Their previous single, Tequila spent two weeks at the top in July. If Speechless tops the chart next week, it will be their biggest hit.
2. A YEAR'S WORTH OF MOORE: Kip Moore slides one to #9 with Last Shot. It is spending its 52nd week on the chart.
3. PEARCE IS FAST: Carly Pearce has the fastest climbing song of the week with Closer To You (#51 to #42).
4. OUCH!: After debuting at #32 last week with What Happens In A Small Town, Brantley Gilbert and Lindsay Ell tumble eighteen to #50.
5. ZERO: We have no new songs making their debut on the chart this week.
6. AN 80S LOOK: These were the chart topping songs during the last week of December during the 1980s:
1980: One In A Million-Johnny Lee-Asylum
1981: Love In The First Degree-Alabama-RCA
1982: Wild And Blue-John Anderson-Warner Bros.
1983: Houston Means I'm One Day Closer To You-Gatlin Brothers-Columbia
1984: Why Not Me-the Judds-RCA
1985: Have Mercy-the Judds-RCA
1986: Mind Your Own Business-Hank Williams, Jr., Reba McEntire, Willie Nelson, Tom Petty, and Reverend Ike-Warner Bros.
1987: Somewhere Tonight-Highway 101-Warner Bros.
1988: When You Say Nothing At All-Keith Whitley-RCA
1989: A Woman In Love-Ronnie Milsap-RCA
7. MILESTONE TOP TEN CHART: 1993 was a great year for country music. Garth Brooks was the top country artist of the year when you combine singles and albums chart activity. Alan Jackson had the biggest hit of the year with Chattahoochee. Billy Ray Cyrus had the top album of the year with Some Gave All. I will furnish the list of those singles that hit the top during Billboard 1993 (December, 1992-November, 1993). The numbers after the label indicate how many weeks the song stayed at #1. Then the top ten hits of the year will be revealed. The American Country Countdown and Billboard agreed with each other on the ten biggest hits of the year. Ready?

The #1 Hits In Billboard 1993:
1. I Cross My Heart-George Strait-MCA-2 weeks
2. She's Got The Rhythm And I Got The Blues-Alan Jackson-Arista-1
3. Don't Let Our Love Start Slippin' Away-Vince Gill-MCA-3
4. Somewhere Other Than The Night-Garth Brooks-Liberty-1
5. Look Heart, No Hands-Randy Travis-Warner Bros.-2
6. Too Busy Being In Love-Doug Stone-Epic-1
7. Can I Trust You With My Heart-Travis Tritt-Warner Bros.-2
8. What Part Of No-Lorrie Morgan-BNA-3
9. Heartland-George Strait-MCA-1
10. When My Ship Comes In-Clint Black-RCA-2
11. The Heart Won't Lie-Reba McEntire and Vince Gill-MCA-2
12. She Don't Know She's Beautiful-Sammy Kershaw-Mercury-1
13. Alibis-Tracy Lawrence-Atlantic-2
14. I Love The Way You Love Me-John Michael Montgomery-Atlantic-3
15. Should've Been A Cowboy-Toby Keith-Mercury-2
16. Blame It On Your Heart-Patty Loveless-Epic-2
17. That Summer-Garth Brooks-Liberty-1
18. Money In The Bank-John Anderson-BNA-1
19. Chattahoochee-Alan Jackson-Arista-4
20. It Sure Is Monday-Mark Chesnutt-MCA-1
21. Why Didn't I Think Of That-Doug Stone-Epic-1
22. Can't Break It To My Heart-Tracy Lawrence-Atlantic-1
23. Thank God For You-Sawyer Brown-Curb-2
24. Ain't Going Down 'til The Sun Comes Up-Garth Brooks-Liberty-1
25. Holdin' Heaven-Tracy Byrd-MCA-1
26. Ain't Going Down 'til The Sun Comes Up-Garth Brooks-Liberty-1
27. One More Last Chance-Vince Gill-MCA-1
28. What's It To You-Clay Walker-Giant-1
29. Easy Come, Easy Go-George Strait-MCA-2
30. Does He Love You-Reba McEntire and Linda Davis-MCA-1
31. She Used To Be Mine-Brooks & Dunn-Arista-1
32. Almost Goodbye-Mark Chesnutt-MCA-1
33. Reckless-Alabama-RCA-1

THE TOP TEN SONGS OF 1993:
1. CHATTAHOOCHEE-ALAN JACKSON-ARISTA
2. What's It To You-Clay Walker-Giant
3. Can't Break It To My Heart-Tracy Lawrence-Atlantic
4. Thank God For You-Sawyer Brown-Curb
5. One More Last Chance-Vince Gill-MCA
6. Easy Come, Easy Go-George Strait-MCA
7. Ain't Going Down 'til The Sun Comes Up-Garth Brooks-Liberty
8. It Sure Is Monday-Mark Chesnutt-MCA
9. I Love The Way You Love Me-John Michael Montgomery-Atlantic
10. Why Didn't I Think Of That-Doug Stone-Epic

P.S.: Happy New Year!

[countrychartnut]

1. THEIR BIGGEST: Dan + Shay rule the roost for a third week with Speechless. Out of their five chart topping hits, this is their longest reign and biggest hit.
2. A FAST TOWN: Brantley Gilbert and Lindsay Ell have the fastest climbing song of the week with What Happens In A Small Town (#50 to #40).
3. THE FIRST CHRISTMAS: We have two Christmas songs on the chart this week. They are:
1. O Holy Night-Luke Bryan-re-enters at #58
2. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town-Dylan Scott-new at #60
4. #1 CHRISTMAS: Gene Autry has the #1 country album this week with Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer And Other Christmas Classics. This is his first #1 country album and the first Christmas album to top the country chart since 2016's Christmas Together by Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood.
5. AN 80S LOOK, PART II: These were the top selling albums during the first week of January during the 1980s:
1980: Kenny-Kenny Rogers-United Artists
1981: Greatest Hits-Kenny Rogers-Liberty
1982: Feels So Right-Alabama-RCA
1983: Mountain Music-Alabama-RCA
1984: Eyes That See In The Dark-Kenny Rogers-RCA
1985: Kentucky Hearts-Exile-Epic
1986: The Heart Of The Matter-Kenny Rogers-RCA
1987: The Touch-Alabama-RCA
1988: Always & Forever-Randy Travis-Warner Bros.
1989: Old 8 X 10-Randy Travis-Warner Bros.
6. MILESTONE TOP TEN CHART: In December 1980, Billboard proclaimed Kenny Rogers the #1 country artist of the year and the #1 pop artist of the year. He started the year by having the first #1 country hit with Coward Of The County.
In 1979, he released an album called Kenny. Lead single, You Decorated My Life was released in August. It topped the country chart for two weeks in November. It crossed over to #7 pop and #2 adult contemporary. Second and final single, Coward Of The County was released while You Decorated My Life was at the top of the country chart. It was a crossover hit, peaking at #1 for the first three weeks on the country chart in 1980, #3 on the pop chart, and #5 on the A.C. chart. Coward Of The County is in a four way tie for the longest reign at the top of the country chart during the 1980s. It is joined by My Heart by Ronnie Milsap (1980 and the biggest hit of the year), Lookin' For Love by Johnny Lee (1980 and chart wise, his biggest hit), and Forever And Ever, Amen by Randy Travis (1987 and the biggest hit of the year). The Kenny album logged 25 weeks at the top of the country albums chart, his longest reign there while hitting #5 on the top 200 chart. It is certified triple platinum. The follow-up album, Gideon was released in 1980. The concept album's tracks were written by Kim Carnes and David Ellingson. The lone single, Don't Fall In Love With A Dreamer was a duet with Carnes. That was released in March and hit the top five on three charts: country (#3), pop (#4), and A.C. (#2). The album topped the country chart for seven weeks while peaking at #12 on the top 200. It is certified platinum. It should be noted that You Were A Good Friend is on this album. It was later released on Rogers' Twenty Greatest Hits album of 1983. It peaked at #20 in 1984.
Rogers would contribute a song for the Urban Cowboy soundtrack. It was Love The World Away. That was released in June. It topped off at #4 country, #14 pop, and #8 A.C.. While Rogers was charting with Love The World Away, his label, United Artists went through a name change to Liberty Records. They prepared a greatest hits album and wanted a new song to promote it. That was Lady and it was written by Lionel Richie. Lady was released in September. It topped the country chart for a week in November while topping the pop chart for six week weeks in November and December becoming Rogers' biggest hit there. It topped the A.C. chart for four weeks in November and December. Because Richie was associated with the song, it managed a peak of #42 on the r&b chart. The Greatest Hits album topped the country chart for eleven weeks and the top 200 chart for two weeks. It is certified diamond. In December, Billboard ranked Rogers the #1 country artist when you combine his chart activity on the country singles and country albums chart and the #1 pop artist when you combine his Hot 100 and top 200 chart activity. In 2013, Rogers was inducted to the Country Music Hall of Fame. His farewell tour was to extend to 2018, but health issues forced him to cancel those dates. This is what the chart looked like back then:

BILLBOARD TOP TEN FOR WEEK ENDING JANUARY 5, 1980:
1. COWARD OF THE COUNTY-KENNY ROGERS-UNITED ARTISTS
2. Happy Birthday Darlin'-Conway Twitty-MCA
3. Missin' You-Charley Pride-RCA
4. Help Me Make It Through The Night-Willie Nelson-Columbia
5. Pour Me Another Tequila-Eddie Rabbitt-Elektra
6. Oh, How I Miss You Tonight-Jim Reeves and Deborah Allen-RCA
7. Holding The Bag-Moe Bandy and Joe Stampley-Columbia
8. Tell Me What It's Like-Brenda Lee-MCA
9. Leaving Louisiana In The Broad Daylight-the Oak Ridge Boys-MCA
10. You Know Just What I'd Do/The Sadness Of It All-Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty-MCA

[countrychartnut]

1. 75 AND 55: This week marks the 75th anniversary of the first Billboard country singles chart and the 55th anniversary of the first Billboard country albums chart.
2. D + S TO THE FOURTH: Dan + Shay have the #1 song in country this week with Speechless. This is their fourth week at the top. The last time a duo had a four week #1 was back in January, 2014 when Florida Georgia Line reigned for that long with Stay.
3. MOORE'S #6: Kip Moore holds steady at #9 with Last Shot. He has been on the chart for 54 weeks, a little over a year. Other songs to spend 54 weeks or more on the chart are:
1. 56 weeks-Love Like Crazy-Lee Brice-2010
2. 56 weeks-Hooked-Dylan Scott-2018
3. 54 weeks-Bouquet Of Roses-Eddy Arnold-1948
4. 54 weeks-Outta My Head-Craig Campbell-2013
5. 54 weeks-Make You Mine-High Valley-2017
6. 54 weeks-Last Shot-Kip Moore-2019
4. LOVE FAST: Cole Swindell has the fastest climbing song of the week with Love You Too Late (#48 to #42).
5. SOME OF CHURCH: Eric Church has the Hot Shot Debut of the week with Some Of It at #54. This is the second Desperate Man single and it follows the title track (#13 in 2018).
6. BROWN IS GOOD: Kane Brown debuts at #55 with Good As You. This is the second Experiment single and it follows the chart topping Lose It from December.
7. NO MORE CHRISTMAS: No Christmas songs are on the airplay chart and no Christmas albums are on the country albums chart this week. Will be back in about eleven months.
8. #1 HITS: These were the chart topping songs in 2014, 2009, 2004, 1999, and 1994:
2014: Stay-Florida Georgia Line-Republic Nashville
2009: Here-Rascal Flatts-Lyric Street
2004: There Goes My Life-Kenny Chesney-BNA
1999: You're Easy On The Eyes-Terri Clark-Mercury
1994: Wild One-Faith Hill-Warner Bros.
9. MILESTONE TOP TEN CHART: Mark Wills released his first greatest hits album in 2002. A new song from the set became his biggest hit. That was 19 Somethin' and it was our top song sixteen years ago this week.
The track listing for Greatest Hits is as follows:
1. Jacob's Ladder-1996-#6
2. Places I've Never Been-1997-#5
3. I Do Cherish You-1998-#2
4. Don't Laugh At Me-1998-#2
5. Wish You Were Here-1999-#1
6. She's In Love-1999-#7
7. Back At One-2000-#2
8. Almost Doesn't Count-2000-#19
9. I'm Not Gonna Do Anything Without You-with Jamie O'Neal-2002-#31
10. 19 Somethin'-2003-#1
11. When You Think Of Me-2003-#28
Lead single, 19 Somethin' was released in September, 2002. It topped the chart for six weeks in January and February, 2003. The title refers to events that happened during the 1970s (first verse and chorus) and the 1980s (second verse and chorus). 19 Somethin' became Wills' eighth and final top ten hit. Second and final single, When You Think Of Me was released in March. It topped off at #28 in July. The greatest hits album reached #16 on the country albums chart and #140 on the top 200 chart. The American Country Countdown named 19 Somethin' as the second biggest hit of the year while Billboard ranked it third. For a follow-up, Wills released the And The Crowd Goes Wild album in 2003. Lead single, the title track was released in July and peaked at #29 in September. Second and final single, That's A Woman was released in October. It became his sixteenth and final top 40 hit when it peaked at #40 in January, 2004. The album contains his versions of Prisoner Of The Highway (Ronnie Milsap) and What Hurts The Most (Rascal Flatts). In 2004, Wills was dropped by Mercury after nine years together.
His next album would not surface until 2008. That was Familiar Stranger on Tenacity Records. The first two singles released became his final chart appearances between 2007-2008: Take It All Out On Me (#47) and Days Of Thunder (#50). Three more singles were released, but did not chart. In 2010, Wills had a health scare when his large intestine ruptured. He recovered just fine. His last studio album was released in 2011 called Looking For America on the Gracie Productions label. Other Wills compilation albums include:
1. The Best Of Mark Wills-2003
2. 20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection-2004
3. The Definitive Collection-2007
4. 2nd Time Around-2009
Mark Wills is set to become the newest member of the Grand Ole Opry this month. This is what the chart looked like back then:

BILLBOARD TOP TEN FOR WEEK ENDING JANUARY 11, 2003:
1. 19 SOMETHIN'-MARK WILLS-MERCURY
2. She'll Leave You With A Smile-George Strait-MCA
3. Who's Your Daddy-Toby Keith-DreamWorks
4. These Days-Rascal Flatts-Lyric Street
5. Fall Into Me-Emerson Drive-DreamWorks
6. The Baby-Blake Shelton-Warner Bros.
7. I Just Wanna Be Mad-Terri Clark-Mercury
8. A Lot Of Things Different-Kenny Chesney-BNA
9. Somebody Like You-Keith Urban-Capitol
10. Red Rag Top-Tim McGraw-Curb

[countrychartnut]

1. LYNCH IS GOOD AT #1: Dustin Lynch lands his sixth #1 hit this week with Good Girl. It is the lead single to an upcoming album. His previous album, Current Mood yielded a trio of chart singles. They are: Seein' Red (#1 in 2017), Small Town Boy (#1 in 2017-chart-wise, his biggest hit), and I'd Be Jealous Too (#34 in 2018).
2. BROWN IS FAST: Kane Brown has the fastest climbing song of the week as Good As You zooms eighteen spots to #37.
3. YOUNG'S COUNTRY: Chris Young has the only new song on the chart as Raised On Country enters at #56. It is the lead single to an upcoming album. His previous album, Losing Sleep yielded two singles in 2018: the title track (#1) and Hangin' On (#2).
4. #1 CDS: These were the top selling CDs in 2014, 2009, 2004, 1999, and 1994:
2014: Crash My Party-Luke Bryan-Capitol
2009: Fearless-Taylor Swift-Big Machine
2004: Shock'n Y'all-Toby Keith-DreamWorks
1999: Double Live-Garth Brooks-Capitol
1994: Common Thread: The Songs Of The Eagles-Various Artists-Giant
5. MILESTONE TOP TEN CHART: Clint Black scored his biggest hit with his third single, Nobody's Home. That was our top hit from 29 years ago this week. It came amid changes with the country chart.
Black signed to the RCA label in 1988. He went to work on his debut album, Killin' Time. ALL ten songs on the disc were written by Black. Six were co-writes with Hayden Nicholas and one had a third writer, Dick Gay on Walkin' Away. Lead single, A Better Man was released in February, 1989 during Black's 27th birthday. A Better Man not only became Black's first top ten, but first chart topping hit as well in June. The Killin' Time album was released in May and would top the country albums chart in September. Second single, the title track was released in July. It repeated A Better Man's success when it topped the chart in October. That October, Black won the C.M.A. Horizon Award against the likes of the Desert Rose Band, Patty Loveless, Shenandoah, and Keith Whitley. After that success, Black released his third single, Nobody's Home in October. It should be noted that Billboard named A Better Man the biggest hit of the year while Killin' Time placed second. Nobody's Home topped the chart for three weeks in January and February, 1990. The fourth single, Walkin' Away was released in February. Black reeled in his fourth #1 hit in May for two weeks. At the A.C.M. Awards, Black won Album of the Year for Killin' Time, Single of the Year for A Better Man, Top New Male Vocalist, and Top Male Vocalist. Could Black collect his fifth chart topping hit with his fifth single? That fifth single, Nothing's News was released in June. It topped off at #3 in August. By this time, Killin' Time was certified gold and platinum (total sales are over three million). In October, Black won the Male Vocalist of the Year from the C.M.A.. His fellow nominees were Garth Brooks, Rodney Crowell, George Strait, and Ricky Van Shelton (the 1989 winner). In December, Billboard named Nobody's Home the biggest hit of the year while Walkin' Away finished fifth and Nothing's News placed 24th. Killin' Time was named the top album of the year by Billboard after spending 31 weeks at #1 between 1989-1990 (it peaked at #31 on the top 200 chart).
Black's Nobody's Home marked a new beginning in country music. Billboard changed the way they compile the country chart. They decided to do away with station playlists and started to track airplay electronically. The Broadcast Data Systems Era started. The previous week, the chart consisted of 100 titles when Keith Whitley topped it with his fifth and final #1, It Ain't Nothin'. Black presided over a 75 song chart. That lasted until January, 2001 when Billboard debuted a 60 position chart. Finally, Billboard renamed the country chart to Hot Country Singles And Tracks from Hot Country Singles. Presently, it is known as Country Airplay. Billboard started a Hot Country Songs chart in October, 2012. This is what the chart looked like back then:

BILLBOARD TOP TEN FOR WEEK ENDING JANUARY 20, 1990:
1. NOBODY'S HOME-CLINT BLACK-RCA
2. My Arms Stay Open All Night-Tanya Tucker-Capitol
3. Statue Of A Fool-Ricky Van Shelton-Columbia
4. Southern Star-Alabama-RCA
5. It Ain't Nothin'-Keith Whitley-RCA
6. It's You Again-Skip Ewing-MCA
7. When I Could Come Home To You-Steve Wariner-MCA
8. Many A Long And Lonesome Highway-Rodney Crowell-Columbia
9. That Just About Does It-Vern Gosdin-Columbia
10. Start All Over Again-Desert Rose Band-MCA

[countrychartnut]

1. SIXTEEN IS TWELFTH: Thomas Rhett collects his twelfth #1 hit this week with Sixteen. This is the fifth single and fifth chart topper from the Life Changes album. It follows:
1. Craving You-2017
2. Unforgettable-2017
3. Marry Me-2018
4. Life Changes-2018
Furthermore, the Life Changes album becomes the fifth in country music to contain five #1 hits. The others:
1. Diamonds & Dirt-Rodney Crowell
a. It's Such A Small World with Rosanne Cash-1988
b. I Couldn't Leave You If I Tried-1988
c. She's Crazy For Leavin'-1989
d. After All This Time-1989
e. Above And Beyond-1989
2. 5th Gear-Brad Paisley
a. Ticks-2007
b. Online-2007
c. Letter To Me-2008
d. I'm Still A Guy-2008
e. Waitin' On A Woman-2008
3. Based On A True Story-Blake Shelton
a. Sure Be Cool If You Did-2013
b. Boys 'Round Here-2013
c. Mine Would Be You-2013
d. Doin' What She Likes-2014
e. My Eyes-2014
4. Crash My Party-Luke Bryan
a. Crash My Party-2013
b. Drink A Beer-2014
c. Play It Again-2014
d. Roller Coaster-2014
e. I See You-2015
2. HIS THIRD: Easing up two to #9 is Chris Stapleton with Millionaire. This is the lead single to his From A Room: Volume 2 album and third top ten overall. It follows: Nobody To Blame (#10 in 2016) and Broken Halos (#1 in 2018).
3. HIS SECOND: Jordan Davis eases up two to #10 with Take It From Me. This is his second top ten following Singles You Up (#1 in 2018). Both are from his debut album, Home State.
4. MORRIS' GIRL: Grabbing the Hot Shot Debut of the week is Maren Morris with Girl at #28. It is the lead single to an upcoming album. This is her best start on the chart. Her next highest debut was at #29 in 2017 with Dear Hate. Her debut album, Hero yielded a quartet of chart singles. They are:
1. My Church-2016-#9
2. 80s Mercedes-2017-#12
3. I Could Use A Love Song-2018-#1
4. Rich-2018-#4
5. CHURCH IS FAST: Eric Church has the fastest climbing song of the week with Some Of It (#51 to #40).
6. SCOTT'S TOWN: Dylan Scott debuts at #55 with Nothing To Do Town. This is the follow up to Hooked, which spent a record tying 56 weeks on the chart and peaked at #2 last year.
7. HIS FIRST: Adam Hambrick debuts at #60 with Rockin' All Night Long. This is his first time charting as an artist.
8. #1 HITS: These were the chart topping songs in 2014, 2009, 2004, 1999, and 1994:
2014: Stay-Florida Georgia Line-Republic Nashville
2009: Start A Band-Brad Paisley and Keith Urban-Arista
2004: There Goes My Life-Kenny Chesney-BNA
1999: Wrong Again-Martina McBride-RCA
1994: Wild One-Faith Hill-Warner Bros.
9. MILESTONE TOP TEN CHART: Believe it or not, Alabama had a crossover era that started in 1981 and ended in 1991. Toward the end of that era, they scored a #1 country hit with Forever's As Far As I'll Go. That crossed over to the top twenty on the adult contemporary chart. It was our top song 28 years ago this week.
It all started with their 1981 album, Feels So Right. Lead single, Old Flame was released in January. It became their third chart topping hit in April. Second single, the title track was released in April. It topped the chart for two weeks in July. In the meantime, it became their debut on pop (#20) and A.C. charts (#9). Third and final single, Love In The First Degree was released in September. It too topped the country chart for the last two weeks of 1981 while topping off at #15 pop and #5 A.C.. 1982 saw Alabama release the Mountain Music album. The title track was the lead single. Released in February, it became the group's sixth #1 country hit in April. It saw no crossover action. However, the next single did and that was Take Me Down. That was originally an Exile single in 1980. Released in May, it topped the country chart in July. It peaked at #18 pop and #5 A.C.. Third and final single, Close Enough To Perfect was released in August. It completed their perfect 1982 by hitting #1 in October. It peaked at #65 pop.
1983 started with Dixieland Delight, the lead single to their album, The Closer You Get. Released in January, it topped the country chart in April. No crossover action there. However, they did get crossover with the next two singles. The Closer You Get was released in April. That was a remake of the Don King hit of 1981 (#27). In Alabama's hands, it became their tenth #1 country hit in July while peaking at #38 pop and #9 A.C.. Third and final single, Lady Down On Love was released in August. It topped the country chart in October. It hit #76 pop and #18 A.C.. 1984 saw the Roll On album released. The title track, as Roll On Eighteen Wheeler was released in January. It became a country chart topper in March while being shut out on pop and A.C. charts. They did see all three charts with the next single, When We Make Love. Released in April, it hit #1 country in June while peaking at #72 pop and #8 A.C.. Two more singles were released and they only made the country chart: If You're Gonna Play In Texas, You Gotta Have A Fiddle In The Band (#1 in 1984) and There's A Fire In The Night (#1 in 1985).
1985 saw Alabama release the 40 Hour Week album. Lead single, There's No Way was released in February. It topped the chart in May. It peaked at #32 A.C. and would be their last crossover hit from one of their albums for six years. The title track was the next release and it made history when it became their seventeenth consecutive #1 hit in August. It broke Sonny James' record when he collected his sixteenth consecutive chart topper in 1971 with Here Comes Honey Again. Alabama would get another chart topper in 1985 with Can't Keep A Good Man Down. Lionel Richie gave them their next crossover hit. He released an album in 1986 called Dancing On The Ceiling. The album's fifth single, Deep River Woman was a duet with Alabama. Released in November, it peaked at #10 country in January, 1987. It peaked at #71 pop and #28 A.C..
Fast forward three years. In 1990, Alabama released the Pass It On Down album. Lead single, the title track was released in March. It proceeded to a #3 peak in June. Second single, Jukebox In My Mind was released in July. It became their biggest hit when it topped the chart for four weeks in September. Third single, Forever's As Far As I'll Go was released in October. It rang the bell at #1 country in January, 1991. After seeing no crossover action with one of their singles for six years, Forever's As Far As I'll Go peaked at #15 A.C.. Alabama would release two more singles: Down Home (#1) and Here We Are (#2). A second greatest hits album was released in 1991 called Greatest Hits Vol. II. Lead single, Then Again was released in September. It peaked at #4 country in December. It also peaked at #33 A.C.. It would be their final A.C. chart appearance. Not so on the pop chart. In 1999, they released Twentieth Century. Lead single, God Must Have Spent A Little More Time On You was a duet with the original artist, *NSYNC. It was originally a #8 pop and #2 A.C. hit for *NSYNC in 1998. The duet version was released in April, 1999. That peaked at #3 country in August. It peaked at #29 pop. Three more singles were released (all in 2000): Small Stuff (#24), Twentieth Century (#51), and We Made Love (#63). Their final crossover hit occurred in 2011. Brad Paisley released the second This Is Country Music single, Old Alabama. That was a duet with Alabama. Released in March, it topped the country chart for two weeks in June. It became Paisley's seventeenth #1 hit and Alabama's 33rd chart topping hit. It crossed over to #38 pop. To date, it is Alabama's last chart appearance. Their last album was released in 2017 called American Christmas. They were inducted to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2005. They are embarking on a 50th anniversary tour this year. This is what the chart looked like back then:

BILLBOARD TOP TEN FOR WEEK ENDING JANUARY 26, 1991:
1. FOREVER'S AS FAR AS I'LL GO-ALABAMA-RCA
2. Daddy's Come Around-Paul Overstreet-RCA
3. Come On Back-Carlene Carter-Reprise
4. Rumor Has It-Reba McEntire-MCA
5. Unanswered Prayers-Garth Brooks-Capitol
6. Brother Jukebox-Mark Chesnutt-MCA
7. Life's Little Ups And Downs-Ricky Van Shelton-Columbia
8. I've Come To Expect It From You-George Strait-MCA
9. These Lips Don't Know How To Say Goodbye-Doug Stone-Epic
10. A Few Good Things Remain-Kathy Mattea-Mercury

[countrychartnut]

1. ALDEAN'S #1 GIRL: Jason Aldean collects his twentieth #1 hit this week with Girl Like You. It is the third single and third chart topper from his current album, Rearview Town. It follows the #1s from last year: You Make It Easy and Drowns The Whiskey. In the meantime, Aldean becomes the 24th artist in history to have at least twenty chart topping hits.
2. TWICE THE COMBS: Luke Combs has two songs in the top ten this week: his former #1, She Got The Best Of Me at #8 and Beautiful Crazy at #10. The last artist to accomplish that feat was Toby Keith with two solo singles: I Love This Bar at #4 and American Soldier at #8 in January, 2004.
3. A TIE: We have three songs taking four point jumps for fastest climbers of the week. They are:
1. Good As You-Kane Brown-#32 to #28
2. What Happens In A Small Town-Brantley Gilbert and Lindsay Ell-#39 to #35
3. Nothing To Do Town-Dylan Scott-#55 to #51
4. STELL PRAYED: Matt Stell has the Hot Shot Debut of the week with Prayed For You at #58. This is his first chart appearance.
5. ALLEN WANTS TO: Jimmie Allen debuts at #60 with Make Me Want To. This is the follow up to his three week #1, Best Shot.
6. JOHNSON'S #1: Cody Johnson debuts at #1 on the country albums chart with Ain't Nothin' To It. 23,000 copies were sold last week. This is his debut album for Warner Bros. after signing with them last year. This album joins two others in the top ten for Johnson:
1. Cowboy Like Me-2014-#7
2. Gotta Be Me-2016-#2
7. A 70S LOOK: These were the chart topping songs during the last week of January during the 1970s:
1970: A Week In A Country Jail-Tom T. Hall-Mercury
1971: Flesh And Blood-Johnny Cash-Columbia
1972: Carolyn-Merle Haggard-Capitol
1973: She Needs Someone To Hold Her When She Cries-Conway Twitty-Decca
1974: Jolene-Dolly Parton-RCA
1975: City Lights-Mickey Gilley-Playboy
1976: This Time I've Hurt Her More Than She Loves Me-Conway Twitty-MCA
1977: Let My Love Be Your Pillow-Ronnie Milsap-RCA
1978: Out Of My Head And Back In My Bed-Loretta Lynn-MCA
1979: Why Have You Left The One You Left Me For-Crystal Gayle-United Artists
8. MILESTONE TOP TEN CHART: This section is taking a week off. Will be back next week!

[countrychartnut]

1. STILL #1: Jason Aldean rules the roost for a second week with Girl Like You. So far, all Rearview Town singles have spent two weeks at the top (both from last year): You Make It Easy (in May) and Drowns The Whiskey (in August).
2. THEIR SECOND: Midland collects their second top ten this week with Burn Out (#12 to #10). Their debut single, Drinkin' Problem peaked at #3 in 2017. Their second single, Make A Little peaked at #15 last year.
3. COUNTRY FAST: Chris Young has the fastest climbing song of the week with Raised On Country (#49 to #37).
4. THOUGHT ABOUT MCGRAW: Tim McGraw has the only new song on the chart with Thought About You at #59. This is the second single to an upcoming album. Lead single, Neon Church peaked at #20.
5. STRAIT RETURNS: George Strait returns to the top ten on the country albums chart with his two CD set, 50 Number Ones (#10). Originally released in 2004, it features his 39th #1 hit, I Hate Everything.
6. A 70S LOOK, PART II: These were the top selling albums during the first week of February during the 1970s:
1970: The Best Of Charley Pride-Charley Pride-RCA
1971: For The Good Times-Ray Price-Columbia
1972: Charley Pride Sings Heart Songs-Charley Pride-RCA
1973: It's Not Love But It's Not Bad-Merle Haggard-Capitol
1974: Behind Closed Doors-Charlie Rich-Epic
1975: Heart Like A Wheel-Linda Ronstadt-Capitol
1976: Black Bear Road-C.W. McCall-MGM
1977: Waylon Live-Waylon Jennings-RCA
1978: Here You Come Again-Dolly Parton-RCA
1979: The Gambler-Kenny Rogers-United Artists
7. MILESTONE TOP TEN CHART: It was a case of country opposites during the early part of 1997. Kevin Sharp just wrapped up a four week stay at the top with Nobody Knows. Peaking at #3 that week was Everybody Knows by Trisha Yearwood. Both resided in the top five 22 years ago this week.
Yearwood released an album in 1996 called Everybody Knows. Lead single, Believe Me Baby I Lied was released in June. It became her fourth #1 hit in October for two weeks. Second single, the title track was released in October. It peaked at #3 in February, 1997. Third and final single, I Need You was released in March. She faltered a bit when it peaked at #36. Her last chart appearance happened in 2016. That was a duet with Garth Brooks called Baby, It's Cold Outside (#49). Her current album, Let's Be Frank was released last year.
Sharp signed to Asylum Records in 1996. He released an album that year called Measure Of A Man. Lead single, Nobody Knows was released in September. It was a remake of The Tony Rich Project hit of 1996 (#2 pop, #2 adult contemporary, and #11 r&b). Sharp's version topped the chart for the first four weeks of 1997. Second single, She's Sure Taking It Well was released in February. It topped off at #3 in June. Third single, If You Love Somebody was released in July. It peaked at #4 in October. He opened 1998 with the #43 peaking There's Only You. He would release one more album for Asylum in 1998 called Love Is. Two singles were released and they became his final chart appearances (both in 1998): Love Is All That Really Matters (#51) and If She Only Knew (#61). He was dropped by Asylum in 1999. He released his third and final album in 2005 on the Cupit label called Make A Wish. Sadly, Sharp died in 2014 at the age of 43. This is what the chart looked like back then:

BILLBOARD TOP TEN FOR WEEK ENDING FEBRUARY 8, 1997:
1. It's A Little Too Late-Mark Chesnutt-Decca
2. Is That A Tear-Tracy Lawrence-Atlantic
3. EVERYBODY KNOWS-TRISHA YEARWOOD-MCA
4. Pretty Little Adrianna-Vince Gill-MCA
5. NOBODY KNOWS-KEVIN SHARP-ASYLUM
6. A Man This Lonely-Brooks & Dunn-Arista
7. Half Way Up-Clint Black-RCA
8. I Can't Do That Anymore-Faith Hill-Warner Bros.
9. Amen Kind Of Love-Daryle Singletary-Giant
10. Friends-John Michael Montgomery-Atlantic

[countrychartnut]

1. IT IS MCCREERY: Scotty McCreery collects his second #1 hit this week with This Is It. It is the second single and second chart topper from his current album, Seasons Change. Five More Minutes became his first #1 in March of last year.
2. HIS FIRST: Riley Green collects his first top ten with his first single, There Was This Girl (#11 to #9).
3. HIS THIRD: Michael Ray eases up two to #10 with One That Got Away. It is his third top ten following: Kiss You In The Morning (#1 in 2015) and Think A Little Less (#2 in 2017).
4. YOUNG'S FAST: For the second week, Chris Young has the fastest climbing song with Raised On Country (#37 to #30).
5. IT'S 1991: It is. Grabbing the Hot Shot Debut of the week is Brooks & Dunn with Luke Combs on Brand New Man at #49. This is the lead single to the duo's Reboot album. It is also a remake of Brooks & Dunn's first #1 of 1991. They would top the chart another nineteen times. Combs is on the chart with his solo Beautiful Crazy (#3).
6. A HARDY REDNECKER: Hardy makes his debut on the chart with Rednecker at #50.
7. MUSGRAVES' RAINBOW: Making her debut at #358 is Kacey Musgraves with Rainbow. This is the fifth song released from her current album, Golden Hour. Only Butterflies has charted (#56 in 2018).
8. #1 HITS: These were the chart topping songs in 2014, 2009, 2004, 1999, and 1994:
2014: Drink A Beer-Luke Bryan-Capitol
2009: She Wouldn't Be Gone-Blake Shelton-Warner Bros.
2004: Remember When-Alan Jackson-Arista
1999: Stand Beside Me-Jo Dee Messina-Curb
1994: I Swear-John Michael Montgomery-Atlantic
9. MILESTONE TOP TEN CHART: Only six volumes of Totally Country were released. The final CD of the series was our top seller twelve years ago this week.
The first five volumes, their years of release, and chart positions are:
1. Volume 1-2002-#2
2. Volume 2-2002-#5
3. Volume 3-2003-#2
4. Volume 4-2005-#1
5. Volume 5-2006-#4
The track listing for Totally Country Vol. 6 is as follows:
1. The World-Brad Paisley-2006-#1
2. Sunshine And Summertime-Faith Hill-2006-#7
3. Who You'd Be Today-Kenny CHesney-2005-#2
4. Don't Forget To Remember Me-Carrie Underwood-2006-#2
5. Leave The Pieces-The Wreckers-2006-#1
6. Something More-Sugarland-2005-#2
7. Life Ain't Always Beautiful-Gary Allan-2006-#4
8. Mountains-Lonestar-2006-#10
9. Must Be Doin' Something Right-Billy Currington-2005-#1
10. Something To Be Proud Of-Montgomery Gentry-2005-#1
11. Every Time I Hear Your Name-Keith Anderson-2006-#7
12. Nobody But Me-Blake Shelton-2006-#4
13. Last Day Of My Life-Phil Vassar-2006-#2
14. California Girls-Gretchen Wilson-2006-#25
15. I Never Promised You A Rose Garden-Martina McBride-2005-#18
16. She Let Herself Go-George Strait-2006-#1
17. 8th Of November-Big & Rich-2006-#18
When Totally Country Vol. 6 was released, it sold 37,000 copies to debut at #1 on the country albums chart and #18 on the top 200 chart. Why there hasn't been any more Totally Country CDs is a mystery to me. They were very popular between 2002-2007. This is what the chart looked like back then:

BILLBOARD TOP TEN FOR WEEK ENDING FEBRUARY 17, 2007:
1. TOTALLY COUNTRY VOL. 6-VARIOUS ARTISTS-SONY/BMG
2. Me And My Gang-Rascal Flatts-Lyric Street
3. Some Hearts-Carrie Underwood-Arista
4. If You're Going Through Hell-Rodney Atkins-Curb
5. Love, Pain, And The Whole Crazy Thing-Keith Urban-Capitol
6. For The Love-Tracy Lawrence-Rocky Comfort
7. Taylor Swift-Taylor Swift-Big Machine
8. Time Well Wasted-Brad Paisley-Arista
9. Your Man-Josh Turner-MCA
10. Enjoy The Ride-Sugarland-Mercury

[countrychartnut]

1. MCCREERY AGAIN: Scotty McCreery has the #1 song in country for the second week with This Is It. This is his first multi week chart topper as his first, Five More Minutes was tops last year for seven days.
2. STRAIT'S BACK: Blasting his way to #20 and getting the Hot Shot Debut of the week is George Strait with Every Little Honky Tonk Bar. This is the lead single to his upcoming Honky Tonk Time Machine album. This is his first chart appearance since 2015's Cold Beer Conversation (#33). This is Strait's second highest debut following the #19 debut of I Saw God Today in 2008.
3. RAINBOW FAST: Kacey Musgraves has the fastest climbing song of the week with Rainbow. It arcs its way to #40 from #58.
4. TOWNES' DAUGHTER: Tenille Townes debuts at #56 with Somebody's Daughter. This is her chart debut and lead single to an upcoming album.
5. ALL D + S: Dan + Shay debut their third Dan + Shay single, All To Myself at #57. It follows the chart toppers from last year Tequila and Speechless.
6. THEY KNOW: At #60 is the Zac Brown Band with Someone I Used To Know. It is the lead single to an upcoming album. Their previous album, Welcome Home yielded two chart singles (both from last year): My Old Man (#14) and Roots (#36).
7. MUSGRAVES IS GOLDEN: Reclaiming the top spot on the country albums chart is Kacey Musgraves with Golden Hour. 20,000 copies were sold last week. This follows her Grammy wins for Album of the Year and Best Country Album.
8. #1 CDS: These were the top selling CDs in 2014, 2009, 2004, 1999, and 1994:
2014: Here's To The Good Times-Florida Georgia Line-Republic Nashville
2009: Feel That Fire-Dierks Bentley-Capitol
2004: When The Sun Goes Down-Kenny Chesney-BNA
1999: Wide Open Spaces-the Dixie Chicks-Monument
1994: Kickin' It Up-John Michael Montgomery-Atlantic
9. MILESTONE TOP TEN CHART: Eddie Rabbitt and the Oak Ridge Boys have seventeen chart toppers each. They collected their final #1s back to back in 1990. Respectively, they are On Second Thought and No Matter How High, both in the top two 29 years ago this week.
Rabbitt signed to RCA Records in 1985 after a hit-filled career at Elektra/Warner Bros. from 1974-1985. His RCA hits are:
1. A World Without Love-1985-#10
2. Repetitive Regret-1986-#4
3. Both To Each Other Friends And Lovers-with Juice Newton-1986-#1
4. Gotta Have You-1987-#9
5. I Wanna Dance With You-1988-#1
6. The Wanderer-1988-#1
7. We Must Be Doin' Somethin' Right-1988-#7
Rabbitt opened his 1989 with the fourth I Wanna Dance With You single, the #66 peaking That's Why I Fell In Love With You. Shortly after that peaked, he signed to the Universal label. His debut single for Universal, On Second Thought was released in November. In December, Jimmy Bowen, the president of Universal Nashville took his artists over to Capitol Records, making it the biggest label in town. That December, one of its artists, Garth Brooks scored his first #1 with If Tomorrow Never Comes. Universal became Capitol when 1990 started. By the time Rabbitt topped the chart in February (for two weeks), it was listed as a Capitol single. It was his seventeenth and final chart topping hit. The parent album, Jersey Boy was released in April under the Capitol banner. Second single, Runnin' With The Wind was released in March. It peaked at #8, becoming Rabbitt's 34th and final top ten hit. Third single, It's Lonely Out Tonite was released in August. Rabbitt faltered a bit when it peaked at #32. American Boy, the fourth single was released in September. It almost made the top ten when it peaked at #11 before year's end. It was his 40th and final top 40 hit. Rabbitt started his 1991 with the fifth single, the #58 peaking Tennessee Born And Bred. He released just one more album for Capitol and that was 1991's Ten Rounds. His final chart appearance comes from there and that is Hang Up The Phone (#50). Another single, You Look Like An Angel did not chart. Capitol and Rabbitt parted ways in 1992. Rabbitt passed away in 1998 at the age of 56. You can find On Second Thought on his last CD released, 2009's Number One Hits.
After the Oak Ridge Boys and William Lee Golden parted ways in 1987, Steve Sanders joined the group that year. Their hits between Heartbeat (1987) and Monongahela (1988) are:
1. Time In-1987-#17
2. True Heart-1988-#5
3. Gonna Take A Lot Of River-1988-#1
4. Bridges And Walls-1989-#10
5. Beyond Those Years-1989-#7
The American Dreams album was released in 1989. Lead single, An American Family was released in August. It peaked at #4 in November. Second single, No Matter How High was released in November. It became their seventeenth and final #1 in March, 1990. It was their last hit at MCA Records. A third single, Baby, You'll Be My Baby bombed at #71. After being at ABC/Dot and MCA since 1977, the Oaks signed to RCA in 1990. Their debut single for them, You're My Soul And Inspiration came from the My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys soundtrack. It was a remake of the Righteous Brothers' #1 pop hit of 1965. The Oaks took their version to #31 in 1991. They released an album for RCA called Unstoppable in 1991. Lead single, Lucky Moon was released in March. It became their 34th and final top ten in June when it peaked at #6. It was their 40th and final top 40 hit. Two more singles were released (both in 1991): Change My Mind (#70) and Baby On Board (#44). They released one more album for RCA and that is 1992's The Long Haul. One single was released and it made a chart appearance: Fall (#69). RCA and the Oaks parted ways in 1993. Their final chart appearance happened in 1999 and that is the #71 peaking Ain't No Short Way Home. Their current album is last year's 17th Avenue Revival. They were inducted to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2015. They sang Amazing Grace at George Bush's funeral in December of last year. This is what the chart looked like back then:

BILLBOARD TOP TEN FOR WEEK ENDING FEBRUARY 24, 1990:
1. ON SECOND THOUGHT-EDDIE RABBITT-CAPITOL
2. NO MATTER HOW HIGH-THE OAK RIDGE BOYS-MCA
3. Southern Star-Alabama-RCA
4. Chains-Patty Loveless-MCA
5. Fast Movin' Train-Restless Heart-RCA
6. Statue Of A Fool-Ricky Van Shelton-Columbia
7. Hard Rock Bottom Of Your Heart-Randy Travis-Warner Bros.
8. Nobody's Home-Clint Black-RCA
9. Overnight Success-George Strait-MCA
10. Start All Over Again-Desert Rose Band-MCA

[countrychartnut]

1. A CRAZY #1: Luke Combs makes history this week. His fifth This One's For You single, Beautiful Crazy becomes his fifth #1 hit. He becomes the first artist to take their first five singles to the top. They are:
1. Hurricane-2017
2. When It Rains It Pours-2017
3. One Number Away-2018
4. She Got The Best Of Me-2018
5. Beautiful Crazy-2019
Three acts have come close to taking their first five singles to the top. The albums, artists, and singles are:
1. Killin' Time-Clint Black
a. A Better Man-1989-#1
b. Killin' Time-1989-#1
c. Nobody's Home-1990-#1
d. Walkin' Away-1990-#1
e. Nothing's News-1990-#3
2. Brand New Man-Brooks & Dunn
a. Brand New Man-1991-#1
b. My Next Broken Heart-1991-#1
c. Neon Moon-1992-#1
d. Boot Scootin' Boogie-1992-#1
e. Lost And Found-1992-#6
3. Here's To The Good Times-Florida Georgia Line
a. Cruise-2012-#1
b. Get Your Shine On-2013-#1
c. Round Here-2013-#1
d. Stay-2014-#1
e. This Is How We Roll-with Luke Bryan-2014-#2
Ironically, Combs is on the chart with Brooks & Dunn with Brand New Man (#51).
2. SEVENTH HEAVEN: Easing up one to #10 is Old Dominion with Make It Sweet. It is their seventh top ten hit.
3. TOWNES IS FAST: Tenille Townes has the fastest climbing song of the week with Somebody's Daughter (#56 to #43).
4. TO A HURD: Ryan Hurd has the Hot Shot Debut of the week with To A T at #57. This is his second chart appearance following 2017's Love In A Bar (#50).
5. LATER WITH TENPENNY: Mitchell Tenpenny debuts at #60 with Alcohol You Later. This is his second Telling All My Secrets single following the #2 peaking Drunk Me.
6. STILL PERFECT: Florida Georgia Line debut at the top of the country albums chart with their fourth studio album, Can't Say I Ain't Country. 29,000 copies were sold last week. This is their fourth #1 album following:
1. Here's To The Good Times-2012
2. Anything Goes-2014
3. Dig Your Roots-2016
7. OTHER ALBUMS: We have two more albums making top 20 debuts this week. They are (no sales figures were available):
1. Elvis: The '68 Comeback Special: The Best Of-Soundtrack-#9
2. American Love Song-Ryan Bingham-#12
8. A 60S LOOK: These were the chart topping songs during the last week of February during the 1960s:
1960: He'll Have To Go-Jim Reeves-RCA
1961: Don't Worry-Marty Robbins-Columbia
1962: Walk On By-Leroy Van Dyke-Mercury
1963: Don't Let Me Cross Over-Carl Butler and Pearl-Columbia
1964: Begging To You-Marty Robbins-Columbia
1965: I've Got A Tiger By The Tail-Buck Owens-Capitol
1966: Waitin' In Your Welfare Line-Buck Owens-Capitol
1967: Where Does The Good Times Go-Buck Owens-Capitol
1968: Skip A Rope-Henson Cargill-Monument
1969: To Make Love Sweeter For You-Jerry Lee Lewis-Smash
9. MILESTONE TOP TEN CHART: Ricky Van Shelton has three chart topping albums. His third, RVS III reigned at nine weeks. It was our top seller 29 years ago this week.
His first two albums and hits are:
1. Wild-Eyed Dream-1987-#1 for two weeks
a. Wild-Eyed Dream-1987-#24
b. Crime Of Passion-1987-#7
c. Somebody Lied-1987-#1
d. Life Turned Her That Way-1988-#1
e. Don't We All Have The Right-1988-#1
2. Loving Proof-1988-#1 for ten weeks
a. I'll Leave This World Loving You-1988-#1
b. From A Jack To A King-1989-#1
c. Hole In My Pocket-1989-#4
d. Living Proof-1989-#1
While Shelton was charting with I'll Leave This World Loving You, the biggest hit of the year according to the American Country Countdown, he won the C.M.A. Horizon Award. While Living Proof charted, he won the C.M.A. Male Vocalist of the Year Award. By this time, he was working on the RVS III album. The track listing is as follows:
1. I've Cried My Last Tear For You-1990-#1
2. Statue Of A Fool-1990-#2-his biggest #2 hit
3. You Would Do The Same For Me
4. Life's Little Ups And Downs-1991-#4
5. I'm Starting Over
6. Love Is Burnin'
7. Not That I Care
8. Oh, Pretty Woman
9. I Meant Every Word He Said-1990-#2
10. I Still Love You
11. Sweet Memories-with Brenda Lee
Lead single, Statue Of A Fool was released in November. It was a hit twice for Jack Greene (#1 in 1969) and Brian Collins (#10 in 1974). Shelton took his version to #2 in February, 1990 for two weeks. The first week, Clint Black was tops with his biggest hit, Nobody's Home while Southern Star by Alabama blocked Shelton for the second week. The RVS III album was released in late January. It took a month for the album to claim the #1 position on the country albums chart. It interrupted the reign of Black's debut album, Killin' Time. Second single, I've Cried My Last Tear For You was released in February. It became Shelton's seventh chart topper in June. It gave him #1 hits during the 1980s and 1990s. It was his fourth consecutive year topping the chart. Third single, I Meant Every Word He Said was released in June. It became Shelton's second #2 hit in September and could not topple Alabama's biggest hit, Jukebox In My Mind from the top. Fourth and final single, Life's Little Ups And Downs was a remake. Charlie Rich took his version to #41 in 1969. Shelton's version was released in October. It peaked at #4 in January, 1991. Check out Shelton's version of the Roy Orbison classic Oh, Pretty Woman. After reaching #1 on the country albums chart, it peaked at #53 on the top 200 chart. It is certified platinum.
Since then, Shelton has released three more hit albums. Those albums and hits are:
1. Backroads-1991-#3 country album
a. Rockin' Years-with Dolly Parton-repeated from the Parton album, Eagle When She Flies-1991-#1
b. I Am A Simple Man-1991-#1
c. Keep It Between The Lines-1991-#1-chart wise, his biggest hit
d. After The Lights Go Out-1992-#13
e. Backroads-1992-#2
2. Greatest Hits Plus-1992-#9
a. Wear My Ring Around Your Neck-repeated from the Honeymoon In Vegas soundtrack-1992-#26
b. Wild Man-1993-#5
c. Just As I Am-1993-#26
3. A Bridge I Didn't Burn-1993-#17
a. A Couple Of Good Years Left-1993-#44
b. Where Was I-1994-#20
After eight years together, Shelton and Columbia parted ways in 1994. His last charted single was The Decision in 2000 (#71). His last studio album was released in 2000 called Blue Christmas. He retired in 2006 after twenty years in the business. This is what the chart looked like back then:

BILLBOARD TOP TEN FOR WEEK ENDING MARCH 3, 1990:
1. RVS III-RICKY VAN SHELTON-COLUMBIA
2. Killin' Time-Clint Black-RCA
3. No Holdin' Back-Randy Travis-Warner Bros.
4. Pickin' On Nashville-Kentucky Headhunters-Mercury
5. Simple Man-Charlie Daniels Band-Epic
6. Willow In The Wind-Kathy Mattea-Mercury
7. Leave The Light On-Lorrie Morgan-RCA
8. Garth Brooks-Garth Brooks-Capitol
9. Lone Wolf-Hank Williams, Jr.-Warner Bros.
10. Reba Live-Reba McEntire-MCA

[countrychartnut]

1. STILL BEAUTIFUL: For the second week, Luke Combs has the top song in country with his history making Beautiful Crazy. It is the fifth single and fifth #1 hit off his debut album, This One's For You.
2. RHETT'S GOD: Grabbing the Hot Shot Debut of the week is Thomas Rhett with Look What God Gave Her at #20. This is the lead single to his upcoming album, Center Point Road. His previous album, Life Changes yielded a quintet of chart topping hits. They are:
1. Craving You-2017
2. Unforgettable-2017
3. Marry Me-2018
4. Life Changes-2018
5. Sixteen-2019
3. SHE DOES IT AGAIN: For the second week, Tenille Townes has the fastest climbing song of the week with Somebody's Daughter (#43 to #34).
4. ALDEAN'S TOWN: Debuting at #54 is Jason Aldean with the title track to his current album, Rearview Town. It is the fourth single and follows the #1s: You Make It Easy (2018), Drowns The Whiskey (2018), and Girl Like You (2019).
5. JANSON'S VIBES: Coming in at #57 is Chris Janson with Good Vibes. This is a lead single to an upcoming album. His previous album, Everybody yielded two chart singles: Fix A Drink (#2 in 2017) and Drunk Girl (#7 in 2018).
6. HE'S LIVING: I hope so. Dierks Bentley debuts at #58 with Living. This is the third The Mountain single following: Woman, Amen (#1 in 2018) and Burning Man with the Brothers Osborne (#2 in 2019).
7. A 60S LOOK, PART II: These were the top selling albums during the first week of March during the 1960s:
1964: Ring Of Fire: The Best Of Johnny Cash-Johnny Cash-Columbia
1965: I Don't Care-Buck Owens-Capitol
1966: My World-Eddy Arnold-RCA
1967: There Goes My Everything-Jack Greene-Decca
1968: Sing Me Back Home-Merle Haggard-Capitol
1969: Wichita Lineman-Glen Campbell-Capitol
8. MILESTONE TOP TEN CHART: John Denver has seven top ten hits. The seventh and final one, Dreamland Express peaked at #9 thirty-three years ago this week.
Denver released his third greatest hits album in 1984. While lead single, The Gold And Beyond did not chart anywhere, his duet with Sylvie Vartan did. That was Love Again and that hit #85 pop and #30 adult contemporary. It was time to release a studio album and Denver did so in 1985 called Dreamland Express. Lead single, Don't Close Your Eyes, Tonight only made the A.C. chart at #37. The title track was the second and final single. Released in November, it peaked at #9 in March, 1986. It stayed at that position for two weeks. It was his first top ten country hit in five years since Some Days Are Diamonds Some Days Are Stone peaked at #10 in 1981. Dreamland Express became Denver's swan song at A.C. when it peaked at #34. The album contains his version of Got My Heart Set On You, which became John Conlee's final #1 in 1986. Check out Denver's version of Claudette, his remake of the Everly Brothers' hit of 1958 (#15 country and #30 pop). It was the beginning of the end of Denver's stay at RCA. A final album called One World was released in 1986. Lead single, Along For The Ride '56 T-Bird was his last charted song at RCA when it peaked at #57. A second single, Let Us Begin What Are We Making Weapons For did not chart. After seventeen years, Denver was dropped by RCA Records.
In 1987, Denver started his Windstar label. It was the second label he launched following Windsong Records in 1975. The Windsong label had its greatest success with the Starland Vocal Band with Afternoon Delight (#1 pop and #5 A.C. in 1976). The Higher Ground album was released in 1988. To date, Denver's last solo chart appearance comes from that album and that is Country Girl In Paris (#96). He would appear on the country chart just one more time. That would be his duet with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band called And So It Goes. That was pulled from the Dirt Band's Will The Circle Be Unbroken: Volume Two album. The duet peaked at #14 in 1989. He would release four more albums on his label. They are:
1. Earth Songs-1990
2. The Flower That Shattered The Stone-1990
3. Christmas, Like A Lullaby-1990
4. Different Directions-1991
In 1997, RCA released the four CD box set called The Country Roads Collection. In October of that year, Denver died in a plane crash off the California coast. He was two months shy of 54. So far, his last release was another four CD box set called All Of My Memories: The John Denver Collection in 2014. Dreamland Express can be found on BOTH box sets. This is what the chart looked like back then:

BILLBOARD TOP TEN FOR WEEK ENDING MARCH 8, 1986:
1. Think About Love-Dolly Parton-RCA
2. I Could Get Used To You-Exile-Epic
3. What's A Memory Like You Doing In A Love Like This-John Schneider-MCA
4. Fast Lanes And Country Roads-Barbara Mandrell-MCA
5. You Should Have Been Gone By Now-Eddy Raven-RCA
6. Don't Underestimate My Love For You-Lee Greenwood-MCA
7. Your Memory Ain't What It Used To Be-Mickey Gilley-Epic
8. 100% Chance Of Rain-Gary Morris-Warner Bros.
9. DREAMLAND EXPRESS-JOHN DENVER-RCA
10. Cajun Moon-Ricky Skaggs-Epic

[countrychartnut]

1. A COMBS TRIFECTA: For the third week, Luke Combs has the top song with Beautiful Crazy. If he manages a fourth week at the top, it will match the stay of She's Got The Best Of Me from last year.
2. ARTIST OF THE DECADE: Last week, the A.C.M. named Jason Aldean its Artist of the Decade. This week, he has the fastest climbing song of the week with Rearview Town (#54 to #44).
3. NO NEW SONGS: We have no debuting songs on the chart this week. We have two re-entries at #59 with Adam Hambrick's Rockin' All Night Long and Alcohol You Later by Mitchell Tenpenny at #60.
4. #1 HITS: These were the chart topping songs in 2014, 2009, 2004, 1999, and 1994:
2014: When She Says Baby-Jason Aldean-Broken Bow
2009: Sweet Thing-Keith Urban-Capitol
2004: American Soldier-Toby Keith-DreamWorks
1999: You Were Mine-the Dixie Chicks-Monument
1994: Tryin' To Get Over You-Vince Gill-MCA
5. MILESTONE TOP TEN CHART: How do you follow up on a monster known as Check Yes Or No? George Strait did so in 1996 when I Know She Still Loves Me peaked at #5 twenty-three years ago this week.
Both tunes were new to the 1995 box set called Strait Out Of The Box. The four CD, 72 song box set features:
1. Three songs cut by Strait for D Records during the 1970s.
2. 43 hit singles between 1981-1994.
3. 42 top ten hits.
4. 26 #1 hits.
5. Choice album cuts.
6. Strait's version of Heartbroke (#1 for Ricky Skaggs in 1982).
7. Strait's version of What Would Your Memories Do (#10 for Vern Gosdin in 1984).
8. Duet with Hank Thompson on Thompson's hit of 1960, A Six Pack To Go (#10).
9. Duet with Asleep At The Wheel called Big Ball's In Cowtown.
10. Duet with Frank Sinatra called Fly Me To The Moon which was supposed to be on one of the Duets album by Sinatra.
Lead single, Check Yes Or No was released in September, 1995. It topped the chart for four weeks in November becoming Strait's 27th #1 hit. I Know She Still Loves Me was released in December. It topped off at #5 in March, 1996 becoming Strait's 47th top ten hit. Strait Out Of The Box was released in September, right when Check Yes Or No was released. It peaked at #9 on the country albums chart and #43 on the top 200 chart. It is the best selling title of Strait's catalog (eight times platinum, meaning two million physical copies were sold).
Strait won the A.C.M. and C.M.A. Award for Single of the Year for Check Yes Or No. At the 1996 C.M.A.s, he also won Male Vocalist of the Year and Album of the Year for Blue Clear Sky. By the time the awards were presented, the album yielded two chart toppers: Blue Clear Sky and Carried Away. Strait was charting with I Can Still Make Cheyenne (#4) when the awards were televised. Strait Out Of The Box has a companion. That would be Strait Out Of The Box: Part 2 that was released in 2016. A single was released called Goin', Goin', Gone. That was originally on the Strait album of 2015 called Cold Beer Conversation. It did not chart. Between the release of both box sets, Strait was inducted to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2006 and was named Artist of the Decade by the A.C.M. in 2009. He embarked on a farewell tour between 2013-2014. He won Entertainer of the Year awards from the C.M.A. (2013) and A.C.M. (2014). His current single, Every Little Honky Tonk Bar recently debuted at #20 on the chart. It is the lead single to his upcoming Honky Tonk Machine album. This is what the chart looked like back then:

BILLBOARD TOP TEN FOR WEEK ENDING MARCH 16, 1996:
1. The Beaches Of Cheyenne-Garth Brooks-Capitol
2. You Can Feel Bad-Patty Loveless-Epic
3. I'll Try-Alan Jackson-Arista
4. Wild Angels-Martina McBride-RCA
5. I KNOW SHE STILL LOVES ME-GEORGE STRAIT-MCA
6. Walkin' Away-Diamond Rio-Arista
7. If You Loved Me-Tracy Lawrence-Atlantic
8. To Be Loved By You-Wynonna Judd-MCA
9. Hypnotize The Moon-Clay Walker-Giant
10. Too Much Fun-Daryle Singletary-Giant

[countrychartnut]

1. A MONTH'S WORTH OF CRAZY: Luke Combs hangs on to the #1 position with his latest single, Beautiful Crazy for a fourth week. It matches the four week stay he had last year with She Got The Best Of Me. If Beautiful Crazy manages a fifth week at the top, it will be Combs' biggest hit.
2. HIS THIRD: Chase Rice takes a four point jump to #9 with Eyes On You. This is his third top ten hit following Ready Set Roll (#5 in 2014) and Gonna Wanna Tonight (#2 in 2015).
3. TWO FOR TWO: Jake Owen eases up two to #10 with Down To The Honkytonk. This is his second Big Loud single and second top ten hit for the label. The first, I Was Jack You Were Diane topped the chart last year.
4. RAINBOW FAST: Kacey Musgraves has the fastest climbing song of the week with Rainbow (#40 to #33).
5. AFTER DENNING: Travis Denning has the Hot Shot Debut of the week with After A Few at #58. This is his second chart appearance after last year's David Ashely Parker From Powder Springs (#32).
6. COMBS' PROBLEM: While enjoying the view from the penthouse this week, Luke Combs finds himself in the basement of the chart as well. At #60 is Houston, We Got A Problem. It is currently charting as an album cut.
7. #1 GIRL: Maren Morris debuts at the top of the country albums chart with her second album, Girl. 25,000 copies were sold last week. She replicates the chart topping feat of her debut album, Hero from 2016.
8. C.M.H.O.F.: I want to congratulate Jerry Bradley, Ray Stevens, and Brooks & Dunn for making it to the Country Music Hall of Fame this year.
9. THE GREATEST HITS 2009-2019: This week marks the tenth anniversary of this column. I can not believe how time flies. I thought I would write a few columns and be done with it. However, I really got into it and started to enjoy writing them (still do). Over the past ten years, I learned a lot about the music I enjoy and that is country music. I learned about the artists, songs, and albums we all enjoy. It was my pleasure to dig a little deeper to find more information on those artists, songs, and albums. I hope I did justice to your favorites over the years. It was easy to write a lost of those columns as I already knew the essential facts and figures about the artists, songs, and albums I was talking about. However, I was constructing a timeline and that is where the research kicks in. It is one thing to have a conversation about a particular topic. It is another when you write about it. I must say that as an amateur writer, I did quite well. If I was a professional writer, I'd be starving. My work has appeared on five different websites. In chronological order they are: Country Music Television, the 9513 (where I was a moderator), Country Chart Talk, Pulse Music Board, and Country Chart Connection. I tried to get on a few more websites, but nothing happened there. I want to thank you for your support over the years. Whether you read the columns every week, just once in awhile, or never, my thanks and appreciation goes out to you. I will be making a major announcement about this column next week. Stay tuned!
10. #1 CDS: These were the top selling CDs in 2014, 2009, 2004, 1999, and 1994:
2014: 10,000 Towns-Eli Young Band-Republic Nashville
2009: Fearless-Taylor Swift-Big Machine
2004: When The Sun Goes Down-Kenny Chesney-BNA
1999: Come On Over-Shania Twain-Mercury
1994: Kickin' It Up-John Michael Montgomery-Atlantic
11. MILESTONE TOP TEN CHARTS: This is what the top ten looked like on BOTH singles and albums charts ten years ago this week when I first started writing this column. Enjoy!

BILLBOARD TOP TEN FOR WEEK ENDING MARCH 21, 2009:
1. Sweet Thing-Keith Urban-Capitol
2. It Won't Be Like This For Long-Darius Rucker-Capitol
3. Cowgirls Don't Cry-Brooks & Dunn and Reba McEntire-Arista
4. God Love Her-Toby Keith-Show Dog
5. River Of Love-George Strait-MCA
6. White Horse-Taylor Swift-Big Machine
7. Down The Road-Kenny Chesney and Mac McAnally-BNA
8. Don't Think I Can't Love You-Jake Owen-RCA
9. It's America-Rodney Atkins-Curb
10. Nothin' To Die For-Tim McGraw-Curb

BILLBOARD TOP TEN FOR WEEK ENDING MARCH 21, 2009:
1. Fearless-Taylor Swift-Big Machine
2. Raising Sand-Alison Krauss and Robert Plant-Rounder
3. Learn To Live-Darius Rucker-Capitol
4. The Foundation-Zac Brown Band-Atlantic
5. Taylor Swift-Taylor Swift-Big Machine
6. Love On The Inside-Sugarland-Mercury
7. Carnival Ride-Carrie Underwood-Arista
8. Feel That Fire-Dierks Bentley-Capitol
9. That Lonesome Song-Jamey Johnson-Mercury
10. Easy Does It-Jake Owen-RCA

[countrychartnut]

1. COMBS' BIGGEST: For the fifth week, Luke Combs has the #1 song in country with Beautiful Crazy. It is also the fifth single from his debut album, This One's For You. The last time we had a five week chart topper was when Lady Antebellum topped the chart for that long with Need You Now. They did so during the last five weeks of 2009. If Combs manages a sixth week at #1, it will be the first since Thomas Rhett did so during the first six weeks of 2016 with Die A Happy Man.
2. ALDEAN'S FAST: Jason Aldean has the fastest climbing song of the week with Rearview Town (#41 to #36).
3. REBA RETURNS: Reba McEntire has the Hot Shot Debut of the week with Freedom at #52. This is the lead single to her Stronger Than The Truth album. Her previous album, Sing It Now: Songs Of Faith & Hope yielded two chart singles (both 2017): Back To God (#41) and God And My Girlfriends (#53).
4. MIZE IS BETTER: Logan Mize debuts at #60 with Better Off Gone. This is a lead single to an upcoming album. He has charted before with 2015's Can't Get Away From A Good Time (#58).
5. A 50S LOOK: These were the chart topping songs during the last week of March during the 1950s:
1950: Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy-Red Foley-Decca
1951: The Rhumba Boogie-Hank Snow-RCA
1952: When You Feel Like You're In Love Don't Just Stand There-Carl Smith-Columbia
1953: Kaw-Liga-Hank Williams-MGM
1954: Slowly-Webb Pierce-Decca
1955: In The Jailhouse Now-Webb Pierce-Decca
1956: Heartbreak Hotel-Elvis Presley-RCA
1957: There You Go-Johnny Cash-Sun
1958: Ballad Of A Teenage Queen-Johnny Cash-Sun
1959: Don't Take Your Guns To Town-Johnny Cash-Columbia
6. MY PEN RAN DRY: Let's go out in a blaze of glory. All good things must end. Like two heroes in a story. Let's go out like we came in. In a blaze of glory. That is the chorus to Kenny Rogers' 1982 hit, Blaze Of Glory (#9 country, #66 pop, and #25 adult contemporary). It is also my philosophy about this column that I started ten years ago this month. In other words, I have reached the end of the road. It is time I put down my pen for the last time and see if someone else wants to pick theirs up. There is certainly a lot of talent here in the Country Forum for someone to write a Billboard-style chart report. You can use the same format I have used for ten years or come up with something new and exciting. Why ten years? I feel like that is long enough for me to write this column. You can say it is my way of passing the torch to someone who is enterprising enough to start one. I have enjoyed the past ten years writing about country music. However, I feel like I have only scratched the surface. After all, too much history has been made for one person to try to capture it all in a decade. Even if I were to write this column for another ten years, I would not cover enough ground to make any serious dent in country music, its artists, songs, and albums. I know there is a ton of music out there that I did not cover. It would take a huge team of writers to cover everything. You would have to do a daily column as well. I am very proud of the fact that I never missed a week writing this column. To be sure, there were a few near misses. I was disciplined enough to get one out every week, but not always disciplined enough to write a milestone top ten chart feature every week. Some of those I wrote in the morning, edited those over lunch, and posted them in the afternoon. If I were working for someone, I am more than sure they would not like my work ethic and be nervous about me not coming up with a topic to talk about until the last minute. The only thing I lament was not having a fact checker. I could certainly use one. I am proud of the fact that I only made fourteen errors during the past ten years (I have issued eight corrections and on six different occasions, have been corrected by others). I strived to be accurate each and every week. Sometimes, things fell through the cracks and during the edit process, everything looked fine, but wasn't. During those times, nothing jumped out at me and said it was wrong. I just posted away and then saw the error(s). I would love to see someone else write a weekly column with fewer mistakes. I thought I did quite well, thus the need of a fact checker. Like I said last week, I still enjoy writing this column, but a ten year time period is a nice amount of time to end things. I have always kept in the back of my mind that this column would have a natural end. In other words, I was not keeping this column around just to say I write one. I did this as a labor of love and I hope it showed every week. I'd love to thank you for the support over the years. I hope you got something out of it like I did. I did not write the column to show you how much I knew about a particular topic, but for your curiosity to take over and see what I was talking about. When you take the columns as a whole, there has been a lot of reference material that is there for the taking. As I said in the A.C.M. Artist of the Decade thread, an eight track of Marty Robbins' greatest hits got me into country music. However, Conway Twitty remains my all-time favorite artist (with Robbins being in the top ten as well). Sadly, both legends are no longer with us as Robbins died a couple of months after being inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1982 while Twitty died three months shy of 60 in 1993. He would be inducted to the Hall in 1999. I'd like to thank my family as well at this time. My mother and sister are huge country music fans. My mother is the biggest Alan Jackson fan out there, so I'll settle for second there. It was my pleasure assisting her on some Jackson album purchases. She really appreciated that. Let me thank you one more time for letting me write this column for you for the past ten years. It was my ultimate pleasure to do so, That doesn't mean I won't be active here, it's just that I am ending one facet of what I do around here. I will continue to update this thread with the #1 single and album every week. I will continue to update other threads as well. I hope to see all of you somewhere down the road. Thanks again and take care!

[ozbest1]

Jiminy! James is now retiring as well as Zazie retiring soon???!!! You will be missed more than you can imagine. Feeling very appreciative and sad at the same time. I am still trying to get back on my feet and haven’t kept up like before, but always thought you two would still be here when I felt better. Thank you for brightening so many days! ;(

[countrychartnut]

Apr 25, 2019 12:17:16 GMT -6 ozbest1 said:

Jiminy! James is now retiring as well as Zazie retiring soon???!!! You will be missed more than you can imagine. Feeling very appreciative and sad at the same time. I am still trying to get back on my feet and haven’t kept up like before, but always thought you two would still be here when I felt better. Thank you for brightening so many days! ;(

Thanks for the kind words. After ten years, it was time to retire the column. Maybe I'll branch out and do something different. Suggestions are always welcomed.

[ozbest1]

Apr 25, 2019 15:01:53 GMT -6 countrychartnut said:

Apr 25, 2019 12:17:16 GMT -6 ozbest1 said:

Jiminy! James is now retiring as well as Zazie retiring soon???!!! You will be missed more than you can imagine. Feeling very appreciative and sad at the same time. I am still trying to get back on my feet and haven’t kept up like before, but always thought you two would still be here when I felt better. Thank you for brightening so many days! ;(

Thanks for the kind words. After ten years, it was time to retire the column. Maybe I'll branch out and do something different. Suggestions are always welcomed.

Just don’t go away! (:

[countrychartnut]

Thank you for the views. We just passed 10,000 of them. Not bad for a thread that hasn't been updated in four months.

[countrychartnut]

BACK FOR ONE WEEK ONLY!

1. NOT LEAVING #1: Luke Combs has the #1 song in country music for the second week with Even Though I'm Leaving. It is the lead single to his current album, What You See Is What You Get. So far, Combs has spent 20 weeks at the top with his seven chart toppers. They are:
1. Hurricane-2017-2 weeks
2. When It Rains It Pours-2017-2
3. One Number Away-2018-1
4. She Got The Best Of Me-2018-4
5. Beautiful Crazy-2019-7-chart wise, his biggest hit
6. Beer Never Broke My Heart-2019-2
7. Even Though I'm Leaving-2019-2 so far
2. THEIR SEVENTH, HIS FIRST: 10,000 Hours, the duet between Dan + Shay and Justin Bieber eases up two to #10, becoming the duo's seventh top ten hit and Bieber's first.
3. IT COMES DOWN: Miranda Lambert takes a ten point tumble to #24 with It All Comes Out In The Wash. It is the lead single to her current album, Wildcard.
4. FAST STANDARDS: Ashley McBryde has the fastest climbing song of the week with One Night Standards (#60 to #49).
5. DRINK HIGH: Teddy Robb has the Hot Shot Debut of the week with Really Shouldn't Drink Around You at #58. It is his debut single as well.
6. THEY'RE OVER: Runaway June debuts at #59 with Head Over Heels. It is the follow up to their first top ten, Buy My Own Drinks (#5).
7. A MASTERPIECE: Thompson Square debuts at #60 with Masterpiece. It is their debut single for Reviver. While they were at Stoney Creek, they charted ten singles between 2010-2016. They have two chart toppers: Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not (2011) and If I Didn't Have You (2013).
8. THEIR OCEAN'S HERE: Lady Antebellum debuts at #2 on the country albums chart with Ocean. 21,000 copies were sold during the first week. It is their debut disc for Big Machine. While at Capitol, they charted a sextet of studio albums. They are:
1. Lady Antebellum-2008-#1
2. Need You Now-2010-#1
3. Own The Night-2011-#1
4. Golden-2013-#1
5. 747-2014-#2
6. Heart Break-2017-#1
For good measure, they charted a Christmas album in On This Winter's Night in 2012 (#2).
9. SPEAKING OF CHRISTMAS: We have three Christmas albums in the top 25 this week. They are:
1. Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer-Burl Ives-#16
2. Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer And Other Christmas Classics-Gene Autry-#17
3. It's Christmas Time-Elvis Presley-#20
10. #1 HITS: These were the chart topping songs in 2014, 2009, 2004, 1999, and 1994:
2014: Sunshine And Whiskey-Frankie Ballard-Warner Bros.
2009: Need You Now-Lady Antebellum-Capitol
2004: Mr. Mom-Lonestar-BNA
1999: I Love You-Martina McBride-RCA
1994: The Big One-George Strait-MCA
11. #1 CDS: These were the top selling CDs in 2014, 2009, 2004, 1999, and 1994:
2014: Man Against Machine-Garth Brooks-RCA
2009: Play On-Carrie Underwood-Arista
2004: Greatest Hits-Shania Twain-Mercury
1999: Breathe-Faith Hill-Warner Bros.
1994: Lead On-George Strait-MCA
12. MILESTONE TOP TEN CHART: Let us review those topics that were discussed in this section between December, 2018 to March, 2019. Ready?
1. Ask Me How I Know becomes Garth Brooks' 20th chart topping hit in 2017.
2. Exile's Kentucky Hearts tops the country albums chart in 1984.
3. The #1 hits of 1993.
4. Kenny Rogers lands a classic with Coward Of The County in 1980.
5. 19 Somethin' becomes Mark Wills' biggest hit in 2003.
6. Nobody's Home becomes Clint Black's biggest hit in 1990.
7. Forever's As Far As I'll Go hits the top for Alabama in 1991.
8. None
9. Everybody Knows by Trisha Yearwood shares the same top ten space with Kevin Sharp's Nobody Knows in 1997.
10. Totally Country, Vol. 6 is a chart topping album in 2007.
11. Eddie Rabbitt and the Oak Ridge Boys collect their 17th chart toppers with On Second Thought and No Matter How High, respectively in 1990.
12. Ricky Van Shelton has a top seller with RVS III in 1990.
13. Dreamland Express becomes John Denver's final top ten in 1986.
14. I Know She Still Loves Me becomes a big hit for George Strait in 1996.
15. My tenth anniversary column.
16. My farewell column.
13. 1994 IN REVIEW: 1994 was a great year for country music. Garth Brooks was the top country artist of the year when you combine singles and albums chart activity. John Michael Montgomery had the biggest hit of the year with I Swear. Tim McGraw had the top album of the year with Not A Moment Too Soon. I will furnish the list of those singles that hit the top during Billboard 1994 (December, 1993 to November, 1994). The numbers after the label indicate how many weeks the song stayed at #1. Then the top ten hits of the year will be revealed. It will be from the American Country Countdown. Ready?

The #1 Hits In Billboard 1994:
1. American Honky-Tonk Bar Association-Garth Brooks-Liberty-1 week
2. My Second Home-Tracy Lawrence-Atlantic-1
3. I Don't Call Him Daddy-Doug Supernaw-BNA-2
4. Wild One-Faith Hill-Warner Bros.-4
5. Live Until I Die-Clay Walker-Giant-1
6. I Swear-John Michael Montgomery-Atlantic-4
7. I Just Wanted You To Know-Mark Chesnutt-MCA-1
8. Tryin' To Get Over You-Vince Gill-MCA-1
9. No Doubt About It-Neal McCoy-Atlantic-2
10. My Love-Little Texas-Warner Bros.-2
11. If The Good Die Young-Tracy Lawrence-Atlantic-2
12. Piece Of My Heart-Faith Hill-Warner Bros.-1
13. A Good Run Of Bad Luck-Clint Black-RCA-1
14. If Bubba Can Dance I Can Too-Shenandoah-RCA-1
15. Your Love Amazes Me-John Berry-Capitol-1
16. Don't Take The Girl-Tim McGraw-Curb-2
17. That Ain't No Way To Go-Brooks & Dunn-Arista-1
18. Wink-Neal McCoy-Atlantic-4
19. Foolish Pride-Travis Tritt-Warner Bros.-1
20. Summertime Blues-Alan Jackson-Arista-3
21. Be My Baby Tonight-John Michael Montgomery-Atlantic-2
22. Dreaming With My Eyes Open-Clay Walker-Giant-1
23. Whisper My Name-Randy Travis-Warner Bros.-1
24. XXX's And OOO's An American Girl-Trisha Yearwood-MCA-2
25. Third Rock From The Sun-Joe Diffie-Epic-2
26. Who's That Man-Toby Keith-Polydor-1
27. She's Not The Cheatin' Kind-Brooks & Dunn-Arista-2
28. Livin' On Love-Alan Jackson-Arista-3
29. Shut Up And Kiss Me-Mary Chapin Carpenter-Columbia-1
30. If I Could Make A Living-Clay Walker-Giant-1
31. The Big One-George Strait-MCA-1

THE TOP TEN SONGS OF 1994:
1. I SWEAR-JOHN MICHAEL MONTGOMERY-ATLANTIC
2. Wink-Neal McCoy-Atlantic
3. Livin' On Love-Alan Jackson-Arista
4. Wild One-Faith Hill-Warner Bros.
5. Shut Up And Kiss Me-Mary Chapin Carpenter-Columbia
6. Live Until I Die-Clay Walker-Giant
7. Third Rock From The Sun-Joe Diffie-Epic
8. Summertime Blues-Alan Jackson-Arista
9. XXX's And OOO's An American Girl-Trisha Yearwood-MCA
10. Dreaming With My Eyes Open-Clay Walker-Giant

P.S.: Happy Thanksgiving!