Tony Rich Project - "Nobody Knows"

[A Thug Named Slickback]

Rember this song?
I recall it playng on VH1 all the time when it came out back in 1995/1996. For some reason, I remember thinking that this guy was really gonna blow up after this song. He was all over the TV and radio... But then he vanished just as quickly as he appeared.

... Ah well, I guess I'm not too great at picking them. Hell, I also thought that acts like Shai, H-Town, & CeCe Peniston were going to dominate the 1990s...

[Ky]

I thought Shai and CeCe Peniston would've had more success than they did too. I got sick of this song.. really liked "Leavin" which I think was the 3rd single from his album.

I saw Tony Rich live a few years ago and he was awful. Don't really have any interest in his new or old stuff anymore.

[tico]

Never liked this song.

[billme]

Incredible song penned by LaFace records or Babyface's company. Kevin Sharp took his version to #1 on the country chart for 4 weeks. With Sharp's battle from bone cancer '88-'91, it sure gave this song a different meaning.

[euge]

I liked it but he remined me too much of Babyface.

[jimmy74747]

One of the best songs of the 90's. I never got sick of it and still play it ocassionaly myself.

Why can't there be more r&b songs like this today?

[PaNdeM0niuM!]

pretty song !!
i loved it

[Journey]

Tony's brother wrote the song.

I'm a huge Tony Rich fan. Disappointed that he never quite got the success he could have had. This is still one of my favs of all time.

Wish there was more songs like this today in R&B.

[BillboardBoy]

It was OK.

[bamafan2102]

I remember thinking that this guy was the next big thing but it never materalized. I also loved Leavin'. Where did it peak?(both songs)

[reception]

I like it.

[Devil Marlena Nylund]

I don't mind it. I have his CD (but like most R&B CDs, I never became a fan) and the radio here (C100) plays it once in a while, but it annoys me because they play the album version and not the radio version.

[JCMF3]

I really like this song. This is one of the few true R&B songs that actually did quite well on mainstream AC and still gets some decent recurrent airplay on that format. I wish I heard it more. :(

[Hervard]

cuidado said:

Rember this song?

Well, I'm not sure if I rember it, but I definitely do remember it, unfortunately. It was grossly overplayed in early 1996 and I never even liked it in the first place.

Thank God "Missing" by Everything But The Girl gained more points than the song, as well as an even worse song down at number three, for the Top 100 of 1996!

[hidizzyguy]

Babyface could have sung it better

[die Lotterie]

I remember this song, I believe it was nominated for a Grammy.

[strong4PMB!]

euge said:

I liked it but he remined me too much of Babyface.

I always thought it was Babyface back then. When I found out who really sang it..."Tony Rich who?"

I think it's a JAM in small doses. It sounds great on the radio late at night.

[KikiMets]

I love this song. Z100 still plays it fairly often.

[Twiloboy]

LOVE this. Tony's 1st album came out when I worked at Sam Goody and so I've heard it 500 times, since it was one of our in-store cd's. Eddie F's Untouchable Remix is pretty great as well.

Peace,
Ben

[themakshack]

One of my favorite singles of all time.

[reception]

On the AC chart it peaked at #2 for four weeks.

[top30countdown]

Great song! Still love it.

The Tony Rich Project - not to be confused with the Louis Rich Project, which sings songs about sandwich meat (OK, I couldn't resist - I stole that joke from the Woody & Jim morning team on FLY 92 Albany - actually, they're in Nashville now.)

[JCMF3]

ulij20 said:

Well, I'm not sure if I rember it, but I definitely do remember it, unfortunately.  It was grossly overplayed in early 1996 and I never even liked it in the first place.

Thank God "Missing" by Everything But The Girl gained more points than the song, as well as an even worse song down at number three, for the Top 100 of 1996!

You're complaining about overplay for this song, yet you praise Missing, which was a more annoying song that got tons of overplay as well?

[Hervard]

Well, that's your opinion, and there's nothing wrong with that. But, according to me, of the Top Three of 1996, "Missing" was my favorite of the three. Quite frankly, neither of them were that great (so I don't praise "Missing" THAT much!). 1996 just wasn't a very good year IMO, both musically and personally.

[cartman2002]

reception said:

On the AC chart it peaked at #2 for four weeks.

is also peaked #2 on the pop chart

[Hervard]

reception said:

On the AC chart it peaked at #2 for four weeks.

And, strangely enough, it ranked at #2 for the entire year of 1996. What's so strange is that below it, at #3 was a song that was at #1 for 13 weeks. That, of course, was "Change The World" by Eric Clapton. True, "Nobody Knows" had been out since the beginning of 1996 while "Change The World' was released in late spring, so it jumped on a little late. But still, with all the weeks it spent at #1, I figured it would at least be #2. But I have a feeling that it didn't miss by much; the margin between "Nobody Knows" and "Change The World" was paper-thin, I'll bet!

[joker]

I like it.

[JCMF3]

cartman2002 said:

reception said:

On the AC chart it peaked at #2 for four weeks.

is also peaked #2 on the pop chart

Not R&R's pop chart. It was #1 for 2 weeks.

[ChartKid]

#1 pop hit for 2 weeks. Peaked at #2 on BB. #2 pop song of 1996. Also did good on AC and Hot AC from what I remember. Great one, love it! I'm sure people can relate with the focus on the song, holding emotions inside, keeping to yourself and what not. Anyways, yeah, I like it. :)

[Ky]

I really liked the song at the time. Liked another single, "Leaving" better though. Saw him live a few years ago, and he was VERY disappointing. I actually like his songs much less now.