kw9461
3x Platinum Member
Joined: January 2007
Posts: 3,767
|
Post by kw9461 on Jan 6, 2020 0:16:11 GMT -5
|
|
kw9461
3x Platinum Member
Joined: January 2007
Posts: 3,767
|
Post by kw9461 on Jan 6, 2020 0:25:10 GMT -5
Coming in just short of the top 15 we find Clay's first RCA single, "A Few Questions". The song would become Clay's first top 10 hit in over 3 years. The song was co-written by singer-songwriter Ray Scott.
Wasn't sure what to expect out of this song, but it wound up doing pretty well. 4 top 10's are lost here, and just one lonely bottom 10. This is a really high concept for what was essentially a comeback single. He tries to be profound without going so far as to question religion, and for the most part it works.
|
|
kw9461
3x Platinum Member
Joined: January 2007
Posts: 3,767
|
Post by kw9461 on Jan 6, 2020 0:27:31 GMT -5
Hope to be back tomorrow evening to start counting down the top 15. Any guesses what misses the top 10?
Remaining Songs:
"What's It to You"
"Live Until I Die"
"Where Do I Fit in the Picture"
"Dreaming with My Eyes Open"
"If I Could Make a Living"
"This Woman and This Man"
"Who Needs You Baby"
"Hypnotize the Moon"
"Only on Days That End in "Y""
"Rumor Has It"
"You're Beginning to Get to Me"
"The Chain of Love"
"I Can't Sleep"
"Fall"
"She Won't Be Lonely Long"
|
|
kw9461
3x Platinum Member
Joined: January 2007
Posts: 3,767
|
Post by kw9461 on Jan 7, 2020 21:25:22 GMT -5
Ok, who's ready to take this down to the top 10!
|
|
kw9461
3x Platinum Member
Joined: January 2007
Posts: 3,767
|
Post by kw9461 on Jan 7, 2020 21:30:51 GMT -5
|
|
kw9461
3x Platinum Member
Joined: January 2007
Posts: 3,767
|
Post by kw9461 on Jan 7, 2020 21:41:52 GMT -5
Coming in at #15 we find "I Can't Sleep", the second single from A Few Questions. Clay co-wrote the song with Chely Wright, who provides backing vocals on the song. If not for a pair of low ranks, this may have snuck into the top 10. Kanenrá:ke loses his #2, and 4 total top 10's are lost, including my first top 10 loss. castleoblivion26 is now the last person with their top 10 still intact. I can see where the vocals on this could be a love or hate kind of thing, but I think it's one of Clay's finest performances, and it's paired with a strong melody. Was hoping this could've done a touch better, though we're getting into big hit range now.
|
|
kw9461
3x Platinum Member
Joined: January 2007
Posts: 3,767
|
Post by kw9461 on Jan 7, 2020 22:14:30 GMT -5
|
|
.indulgecountry
Diamond Member
Best Country Poster 2011, 2017, & 2018
"You left a mark on my face // And brought a dozen red flags in a vase"
|
Post by .indulgecountry on Jan 7, 2020 22:14:58 GMT -5
"A Few Questions" >>> "I Can't Sleep"
These went out in the wrong order imo.
|
|
kw9461
3x Platinum Member
Joined: January 2007
Posts: 3,767
|
Post by kw9461 on Jan 7, 2020 22:16:53 GMT -5
Coming in at #14 is "Only On Days That End in "Y"", the third single from Hypnotize The Moon. This is a fun one, but definetely more of a novelty among Clay's weightier material. Still, it managed to crack 4 top tens. castleoblivion26's finally loses a top 10, and it's a painful one as his #1 bows out.
|
|
kw9461
3x Platinum Member
Joined: January 2007
Posts: 3,767
|
Post by kw9461 on Jan 7, 2020 22:49:16 GMT -5
|
|
kw9461
3x Platinum Member
Joined: January 2007
Posts: 3,767
|
Post by kw9461 on Jan 7, 2020 22:49:51 GMT -5
Next up at #13 is "You're Beginning To Get To Me". This was the second single from Clay's Greatest Hits album in 1998.
Not sure why, but this has always been the forgotten one among Clay's top 2 hits. I've always loved the melody though, and I always forget how much I love it until I revisit the song. Thrilled to see so many agree, as over half ranked this in the top 10, with six rankings of either #9 or #10. If not for a pair of bottom 10's it would've made a run at the top 10.
|
|
kw9461
3x Platinum Member
Joined: January 2007
Posts: 3,767
|
Post by kw9461 on Jan 7, 2020 23:22:08 GMT -5
|
|
kw9461
3x Platinum Member
Joined: January 2007
Posts: 3,767
|
Post by kw9461 on Jan 7, 2020 23:27:26 GMT -5
Coming in just two spots shy of the top 10 is "Who Needs You Baby", the lead single from Hypnotize The Moon.
Three more top 5's are lost here, as the reveals just keep getting more painful. The chorus is so damn catchy on this one, gets me every time. Still, with the strength of what's remaining, I'm not totally surprised to see this out here.
|
|
kw9461
3x Platinum Member
Joined: January 2007
Posts: 3,767
|
Post by kw9461 on Jan 7, 2020 23:58:31 GMT -5
Missing the top 10 by a mere 5 points, we find one of Clay's biggest hits, "Rumor Has It". It was the lead single and title track for Clay's 4th album. The song was released on Clay's website a month before it shipped to radio, a rather forward looking move for 1997. It hit #1 in April of that year, becoming Clay's 6th and final #1. I certainly didn't expect this to be so polarizing, nor did I think it would miss the top 10. This was one of Clay's biggest hits, and with 5 top 5 ranks it certainly acted like a top 10 song, but 3 lower ranks were enough to narrowly push it out. It's kind of fitting it ended up right next to "Who Needs You Baby", as I always associate the songs together and went back and forth on their ranks several times. This is the first Billboard #1 to be eliminated, and therefore only one to miss the top 10.
|
|
kw9461
3x Platinum Member
Joined: January 2007
Posts: 3,767
|
Post by kw9461 on Jan 8, 2020 0:06:59 GMT -5
And we've done it, we're down to the Top 10!
Remaining Songs:
"What's It to You"
"Live Until I Die"
"Where Do I Fit in the Picture"
"Dreaming with My Eyes Open"
"If I Could Make a Living"
"This Woman and This Man"
"Hypnotize the Moon"
"The Chain of Love"
"Fall"
"She Won't Be Lonely Long"
Any surprises? Other thoughts for the top 10?
|
|
gardyfan
2x Platinum Member
Bad Mother Trucker
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 2,742
|
Post by gardyfan on Jan 8, 2020 0:59:20 GMT -5
Biggest surprise is I have 7 songs left in my top 9. Most rankdowns I have maybe 3 or 4 of the top 10 left.
|
|
bboat11
Moderator
Pulse's Resident Martina McBride Expert
Joined: February 2013
Posts: 27,283
Pronouns: He/Him/His
Staff
|
Post by bboat11 on Jan 8, 2020 3:34:14 GMT -5
Shocked to see "Rumor Has It" miss the top 10!! That is by far one of my favorite songs of his, and is also one of the few that I remember hearing on the radio!
I am also a bit shocked to see "I Can't Sleep" do as well as it did. As one of his "newer" songs, I remember that one being on the radio VERY well... I found it to be incredibly overplayed at the time, to the point where I couldn't change the channel quick enough when it came on. Now that some time has passed I can enjoy it again, and the familiarity helped boost it up my list a bit. I agree that the melody is very catchy, but I think Clay's voice makes it slightly annoying when you are not in the right mood for it. This could have been a fantastic song for somebody with a bit smoother of a voice, like Billy Currington perhaps.
|
|
|
Post by tim on Jan 8, 2020 8:23:29 GMT -5
I’ve been a bit under the weather since New Year’s and haven’t been able to comment on any of the reveals that exited in the top 20 thus far. So, before this dives into the top ten I wanted to come back around to some of the songs:
“Then What?” is admittedly a fun song but even still I do remember it wearing on me as radio loved to play this one a lot (in fact I’m pretty certain I still hear this come on from time to time). Enough time has passed, though, that I can enjoy this one a bit more nowadays without even having to turn the radio dial.
I was expecting “A Few Questions” to exit just within the Top 20 and seeing it only miss the Top 15 by a mere nine points stung a little bit, but alas it ended up outperforming my expectations. While I’m not a religious person per se I am spiritual and songs in this vain always tend to resonate with me on a personal level.
While “I Can’t Sleep” has never been one of Clay’s go-to songs for me, I’ve always enjoyed this song. You’d have to go back to 1997/1998 to find the last time that Clay had back-to-back Top 10 hits, so it was great hearing him on the radio a bit more during this time.
“You’re Beginning to Get to Me” has a fantastic melody and is such an earworm. This was also co-written by Aaron Barker who of course was one of George Strait’s go-to songwriters for a long time. I have to wonder if this might’ve been pitched to George first at some point and he just passed on it as it certainly sounds like something he would’ve recorded.
I had “Rumor Has It” pegged as a possible favorite to win the rankdown so I’m surprised to see it leave before the top ten. I’m even more shocked that it was one of the most polarizing songs as nothing about this songs seems the least bit polarizing to me. This was one of Clay’s biggest hits of the late 90s so some of you with these lower rankings need to get your ears checked.
I’m going to swing back around later as I want to post some more of my favorite album tracks from a couple of the albums that have exited from the rankdown.
|
|
|
Post by tim on Jan 8, 2020 20:30:39 GMT -5
Well seeing how both albums Rumor Has It and A Few Questions have been eliminated I thought I'd post a few of my favorite album tracks from them...and while I know most of you won't even listen to them it's always fun for me because I get the chance to revisit them lol. I've mentioned before that 1996 was one of my favorite years in country music and because Clay's RHI album was released that year there's quite a bit of nostalgia wrapped up in it for me. I had this one on repeat quite a bit during that time in which I always seemed to come back around to these tracks:
"i'd Say That's Right" is my favorite of the three and just as I mentioned earlier this is another song by Clay that certainly sounds like one that could've been plucked right from a George Strait album.
I was just deploying to the Middle East when A Few Questions came out and this is one album that I had along with me during that time. It's quite hard to find a good audio version of any of the album tracks as I think this is one of the few albums by Clay that isn't available for streaming (likely due to the fact that this was his only album on RCA), so I'm only going to post my favorite track which is "Heaven Leave the Light On". I've always thought this would've made for a better third single over "Jesus Was a Country Boy", but there were also a couple other songs that could've been selected including "Everybody Needs Love" (co-written by John Rich) and "Sun Sweet Angel".
|
|
kw9461
3x Platinum Member
Joined: January 2007
Posts: 3,767
|
Post by kw9461 on Jan 8, 2020 21:11:41 GMT -5
|
|
kw9461
3x Platinum Member
Joined: January 2007
Posts: 3,767
|
Post by kw9461 on Jan 8, 2020 21:19:45 GMT -5
Kicking off the top 10 we find one of Clay's later hits, "Fall". The song was Clay's first big hit since joining Curb Records, and his first top 5 single in over 7 years.
I thought this one might suffer a similar fate to "I Can't Sleep", but I'm pleased that it was able to make the top 10. Such a great vocal performance from Clay, with a great arrangement to match. Only 2 people had this outside their top 20.
|
|
|
Post by tim on Jan 8, 2020 21:21:54 GMT -5
I’ve long considered “Fall” to be one of Clay’s best songs vocally. I still hear this one on the radio quite a bit down here in Texas and when I do I always have to hear it to the end because it’s such a great song all around.
|
|
kw9461
3x Platinum Member
Joined: January 2007
Posts: 3,767
|
Post by kw9461 on Jan 8, 2020 22:00:51 GMT -5
|
|
kw9461
3x Platinum Member
Joined: January 2007
Posts: 3,767
|
Post by kw9461 on Jan 8, 2020 22:09:49 GMT -5
Next up at #9 finds "Where Do I Fit In The Picture", the third single from Clay's self-titled debut album. It was the only single from his debut to fall short of #1, peaking just outside the top 10. This song is just devastatingly well-written, and Clay just nails the emotion. Not sure why it didn't fare better at radio, but it's long been a favorite of mine. I wasn't alone, as there was quite a bit of passion for this one with 5 top 5's and 8 top 10's, but a couple of lower ranks kept this from doing better. gardyfan also loses his #1.
|
|
|
Post by tim on Jan 8, 2020 22:11:45 GMT -5
I wouldn’t have guessed that “Where Do I Fit in the Picture” would be a top ten contender and somewhat surprised by the amount of support it received if only because it never even made the Top 10 on the charts. I would have of course preferred to see “Rumor Has It” make it in over this, but nonetheless it seems rare that a song such as this one gets so much support on Pulse so because of that I’m pleased to see it do as well as it did.
|
|
kw9461
3x Platinum Member
Joined: January 2007
Posts: 3,767
|
Post by kw9461 on Jan 8, 2020 22:27:44 GMT -5
|
|
kw9461
3x Platinum Member
Joined: January 2007
Posts: 3,767
|
Post by kw9461 on Jan 8, 2020 22:41:04 GMT -5
Coming in at #8 is one of Clay's big early career hits, "This Woman And This Man". This was the first ever multi-week #1 for Clay's label, Giant Records. The song took just 10 weeks to reach the top. If not for a lone low rank by ClevelandRox, this may have made the top 5. Kanenrá:ke loses his #1 here, but otherwise conistency was key, as almost everyone else had the song between 6 and 18. Great story song here, no surprise to see it do well.
|
|
|
Post by tim on Jan 8, 2020 22:43:50 GMT -5
“This Woman and This Man” is one of my favorite ballads from Clay’s discography and I really was expecting it to miss the top ten here. At over four minutes long it almost seems rare to see a song like this become as much of a hit as it was at the time, but it’s such a well-written song that an early Clay Walker really delivers on vocally. And speaking of I absolutely love that thing that he does with his voice
|
|
kw9461
3x Platinum Member
Joined: January 2007
Posts: 3,767
|
Post by kw9461 on Jan 8, 2020 23:12:34 GMT -5
|
|
kw9461
3x Platinum Member
Joined: January 2007
Posts: 3,767
|
Post by kw9461 on Jan 8, 2020 23:22:39 GMT -5
Coming in at #7 is the song that started it all for Clay, "What's It To You". The song made it all the way to #1, a notable accomplishment for a debut single in that era (and it did so in just 3 months - imagine a debut single moving that fast nowadays). The song was written by singer-songwriters Curtis Wright and Robert Ellis Orrall.
Interesting to see how the rankings came in for this one. About half the ranks were top 5's, highlighted by @sabre's #2, with the other half in the mid-teens to early 20's. As Clay's debut hit, it's fitting to see this in the top 10, though I don't quite put it up there with the other singles from his debut. That chorus is really, really strong though.
|
|