AC-only artists

[shocker]

"AC-only artists" is a phrase I coined to describe the singers that have either:

(a). Had huge success on the pop charts in the past, but whose newer material is confined to airplay on adult contemporary or "soft rock" stations only.

(b). Seldom or never hit the pop chart, but have been successful with multiple hits on the AC circuit.

In the '80s, many big-time pop stars from the '70s became confined to AC-only status, including Barry Manilow, James Taylor, and Neil Diamond.

Later in the '90s, artists like Michael Bolton and Kenny G became AC-only. Even though Bolton & K.G. have always been considered AC artists, they had enough pop success at one time.

These days, there seem to be many AC-only artists that can't seem to do well on the pop cicruit anymore: Celine Dion, Faith Hill, Simply Red, John Mellencamp, and even a few of my old faves: Hall & Oates, Rod Stewart, Phil Collins, & Elton John! Then there are the crooners like Michael Buble & Josh Groban that really don't stand a chance at ever going pop, but are huge at AC.

Can anybody think of any other AC-only artists I left out?

[Hervard]

She hasn't hit the chart lately, but back in the 1990s, especially the early part of the decade, Beth Nielsen Chapman had several Top Ten AC hits, yet she never even so much as cracked the Hot 100 with any of them. Sort of like Michael Buble and Josh Groban now (although their songs might have hit the Hot 100, but only because that chart takes AC airplay into consideration, whereas back during Beth Nielsen Chapman's heyday, the chart was a Top 40 format chart.

[tico]

A lot of the artist shocker mentioned were the ones I was going to mention as well. It's such a shame that some artists like Phil Collins are relegated to AC when they do have so much to offer to CHR. But with CHR skewing ever so younger, almost anybody over 40 will be off-limits. I believe soon, Sheryl Crow will be an AC/hot AC-only artist. Norah Jones is also typecasted to AC, which isn't too suprising, given that her style of music doesn't fit in quite well with CHR these days.

By the way, shocker mentioned Faith Hill. Since she's still a draw on the country charts, I won't put her on the AC-only list for now.

While it's fresh on my mind, what about some of the newer artists out there, like Kelly Sweet, Nicol Sponberg and Corinne Bailey Rae (although Corinne is getting urban AC play, too, particularly with "Like A Star")?

[shocker]

tico said:

It's such a shame that some artists like Phil Collins are relegated to AC when they do have so much to offer to CHR. But with CHR skewing ever so younger, almost anybody over 40 will be off-limits.

One artist who almost never hit the AC chart in his 1970s heyday was Rod Stewart. Back then he was considered too raunchy, or too rock 'n' roll for many AC playlists.

What a difference time makes. These days his music is AC-only. I'm sure a lot of it has to do with the fact that he's much older, and far more mature-sounding than he was in the '70s.

I think the best Rod Stewart songs came along in the 80s and early 90s during the time that he was crossing over between pop and AC. "Love Touch" and "Rhythm of My Heart" are 2 of my favorites.

[EmersonDrive13Rocks]

Kimberly Locke who finished 3 on season 2 of AI is an AC - Only artist. So are Five For Fighting with their latest album.

[johnnywest]

Shania Twain might fit.

[winner2000]

Alanis maybe?

[tico]

Alanis hasn't been much of an AC artist as she has been hot AC. Another artist you may add to the list is Sarah McLachlan. She hadn't had much of an impact on CHR since the late 90s. Also, I expect future releases from Dido to be relegated to the AC and hot AC formats as well.

[WotUNeed]

Olivia Newton-John might count, although I suppose she's not exactly huge at AC now either.

Rita Coolidge sort of had an AC-only period late in her career before just dropping off the charts completely.

A lot of traditional vocalists ended up going through this too, like Jerry Vale and Vic Damone, and maybe Johnny Mathis to some degree.

Would Donny Osmond, Jordan Knight, and Deborah Gibson count as current ones?

[Marv]

CHR/Pop, CHR/Rhythmic and Urban stations have been super-focused on the 18-34 demos for well over a decade, as CHR/Pop gave up its orginally created purpose as a mass-appeal format, a distinction which now belongs to either AC or Hot AC (aka Adult Top 40).

As I've mentioned before, the fact that 'Soak Up The Sun' THE quntessential POP single of the past fifteen years, couldn't crack R&Rs top ten yet spent TWO MONTHS at #1 at Hot AC remains the most glaring examples of how CHR/Pop has tossed millions of baby-boomers and other adult listeners over the age of 25 overboard since the late eighties, a trend started by KIIS here in LA in 1987.

The fact that Elton John leads EVERYBODY with TWENTY #1 singles at AC to go along with his numerous charttoppers at CHR/Pop (9) (solo/duets/background vocals) is another dead giveaway as well.

Finding AC only artists is a pretty tricky proposition, but there are indeed a handful of them out there.

[shocker]

19forever said:

Olivia Newton-John might count, although I suppose she's not exactly huge at AC now either.

Rita Coolidge sort of had an AC-only period late in her career before just dropping off the charts completely.

A lot of traditional vocalists ended up going through this too, like Jerry Vale and Vic Damone, and maybe Johnny Mathis to some degree.

Would Donny Osmond, Jordan Knight, and Deborah Gibson count as current ones?

The traditional artists you mentioned could count as AC-only artists from the '60s & '70s - back when AC was dubbed "easy listening".

Johnny Mathis certainly fit that category. He was pretty big on the pop scene in the late '50s & early '60s before there was an AC-type of chart. By the late '60s & into the '70s, he was confined only to the AC chart, and even had some top 10 AC hits that didn't make the Hot 100 - that is, until "Too Much Too Little Too Late" put him back on the pop chart in '78.

Here's another surprising artist that became AC-only in the '90s: Huey Lewis! This guy strugged to make the AC chart early in his career because his music was too rock-sounding; but really became AC-friendly in the '90s. By 2000, he was recording sappy ballads like "Cruisin", which was an AC-only hit.

[Rumors]

I see Norah Jones as more of a AAA artist than an AC artist. Was her first single the only real success she's had at AC?

There are very few artists over 35 that still get substantial pop airplay...Mariah and Gwen...and that's due to the type of music they produce. Therefore, as a natural progression many artists that were once successful on pop now only find success on AC and HotAC. My favorite artist, Rob Thomas, would fall into this category. I still think Rob might be able to get a top 15 pop hit with an upbeat song but I doubt it would go much higher than that.

Looks like Taylor Hicks has been regulated to the AC chart only right out of the gate and he's not even doing well here. Maybe another single off his second album will fare better somewhere. I'm not much of a fan but do think he has some talent.

Clay Aiken...enough said.

[tico]

shocker said:

19forever said:

Here's another surprising artist that became AC-only in the '90s: Huey Lewis! This guy strugged to make the AC chart early in his career because his music was too rock-sounding; but really became AC-friendly in the '90s. By 2000, he was recording sappy ballads like "Cruisin", which was an AC-only hit.

Huey started becoming more AC-friendly with the Fore album ("Stuck On You", "Jacob's Ladder", etc.) in the mid-80s.

EDIT: I had previously mentioned Josh Groban, but his name had already been called by Hervard.

[somelikeitwhen]

Jim Brickman

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned him.

[tico]

Jim Brickman is another great example. I was debating on John Tesh as well, but he also performs Christian music, too, so I don't know if he would qualify as an AC-only artist.

[Arson]

It seems like AC radio isn't doing much for these AC-only artists these days...

In the top 20, there are only 4 true AC-only artists: Michael Buble, Jim Brickman, Josh Groban and Rod Stewart.

And even these AC-only artists will find it difficult to get success beyond their second single at AC, because of overplay and ridiculous longevity of their first single.

Most of the spots on the chart are taken by pop or Hot AC cross-overs including Gwen Stefani, Nickelback, Daughtry, Beyonce and Snow Patrol.

As I also listen to CHR/Pop and Hot AC, I personally tune in to AC to NOT hear these same artists. But I suppose I'm in the minority.

There are also a few country crossovers, which are good.

[shocker]

All right, I finally looked it up.

According to Joel Whitburn's Top AC Hit book 1961-2001, here are the artists that have had the most AC hits without ever hitting the Hot 100:
1. Marilyn Maye (8)
2. Beth Nielsen-Chapman (8)
3. John Davidson (7)
4. Dave Koz (6)
5. King Richard's Fluegel Knights (6)
6. Paul Delicato (5)
7. Tony Sandler & Ralph Young (5)

Here are the artists that have hit the Hot 100 during their career, but have had the most non-Hot 100 AC hits:
1. Johnny Mathis (34)
2. Jerry Vale (22)
3. Barbra Streisand (21)
4. Eydie Gorme (21)
5. Steve Lawrence (19)
6. Andy Williams (18)
7. Henry Mancini (17)
8. Perry Como (16)
9. Tony Bennett (16)
10. Barry Manilow (16)

[HolidayGuy]

Shania does enjoy a decent level of country airplay, though, with new projects ("Party For Two" did hit the top 10). But if you're talking about just a pop/AC comparison...

[Matt4319]

A few of these artists mentioned get AAA airplay and chart hits.

Simply Red (I think)
John Mellencamp
Corinne Bailey Rae
Norah Jones (like Rumors mentioned)
Sarah McLachlan (theoretically)

[shocker]

holidayguy said:

Shania does enjoy a decent level of country airplay, though, with new projects ("Party For Two" did hit the top 10). But if you're talking about just a pop/AC comparison...

I think Shania might be an AC-only singer in a few years if she pulls a "Kenny Rogers" & starts recording softer ballads.

As for me, I rarely listen to country; but Shania is an exception. I like a lot of her more upbeat songs such as "That Don't Impress Me Much" and "I'm Gonna Getcha Good".

Speaking of country - Leann Rimes probably could now be defined as an AC-only artist being that she's rarely heard on pop stations, and seems to be declining in popularity at country radio.

[shocker]

Another artist that became AC-only sometime in the 90s: Kenny Loggins.

Most of his big pop hits from the '70s & '80s are AC-friendly, except maybe for "Footloose" and "Danger Zone". But even those songs are played occasionally on AC stations nowadays.

[WotUNeed]

shocker said:

Speaking of country - Leann Rimes probably could now be defined as an AC-only artist being that she's rarely heard on pop stations, and seems to be declining in popularity at country radio.

I think Rimes still has too much country cred to be classed as AC-only. "Nothing 'Bout Love Makes Sense" was pretty big when it came out, at least, and that wasn't too long ago.

I think she could be successful (possibly moreso than now?) if she chose to go down that path, though, with songs like her and Ronan Keating doing "The Last Thing on My Mind" coming to mind.

[Arson]

19forever said:

I think Rimes still has too much country cred to be classed as AC-only. "Nothing 'Bout Love Makes Sense" was pretty big when it came out, at least, and that wasn't too long ago.

I think she could be successful (possibly moreso than now?) if she chose to go down that path, though, with songs like her and Ronan Keating doing "The Last Thing on My Mind" coming to mind.

Rimes' last album was "back to country", and it seems like she got back some of her popularity on country radio. Releasing songs to AC became secondary compared to a few years ago, when that seemed to be her focus (along with sending her songs to pop). This was similar to what Faith Hill did as well... her last album was mostly country material.

A few of these artists mentioned get AAA airplay and chart hits.

When I think of AAA-exclusive artists, I don't usually think of Norah Jones even though she has been doing well there recently.