Surprised They Were Hits

[sabre14]

Basically the opposite of the "Songs You Were Surprised Weren't Bigger Hits."

Love and Theft - "Angel Eyes"
Joe Nichols - "Gimme That Girl"
Hot Apple Pie - "Hillbillies" (I love the song but no way I thought this would have gotten to #22 on R&R like it did)
Lee Brice - "Love Like Crazy" (self-explanatory)
Sugarland - "Stay" (no way this would work in 2015, lol)
Steve Holy - "Brand New Girlfriend"
Sherrie Austin - "Streets Of Heaven"
Steve Azar - "Sunshine" (stretching "hit" here, I admit. I thought top 50 at best, not top 30)
Josh Gracin - "We Weren't Crazy"
Big & Rich - "Look At You"
Eli Young Band - "Crazy Girl" (I knew it would do decently but not be named #1 Billboard song of 2011, lol. First and last time my favorite song of the year is also the biggest hit of the year)

[zjames]

"Girl Crush" - Little Big Town

I posted in the song's thread that I believed releasing it as a single was a questionable decision and that "Pain Killer" and "Quit Breaking Up With Me" were better choices. I'm glad to be wrong though.

[Ten Pound Hammer]

I thought for sure that none of the following would be hits, in no order:

"Lover, Lover" — All acoustic instruments, and when's the last time a country cover of a non-country song was a hit? Those usually go over terribly (see "Lips of an Angel"). But being a MASSIVE ear-worm helped this one's cause, I guess.

"Wagon Wheel" — Everything I said about "Lover, Lover" above.

At least half of ZBB's singles to date — They have such a serious case of Genre Roulette that I'm actually surprised that they've had far more hits than misses. But the fact that they've been somewhat well received even when going a little "off the board" with something like "Colder Weather" or "Keep Me in Mind" is encouraging.

"Dirt Road Anthem" — I thought this would get a hot start then flame out because of the rapping. Turns out that Jason was saving the title of "rap flavored song that flames out early" for "1994".

"Creepin'" — I thought for sure that radio would choke completely on this song's bizarro production and that it would return EC to his pattern of stalling out randomly in the teens.

"I Drive Your Truck" — since radio never plays sad songs anymore

"Every Storm (Runs Out of Rain)" — Gary seemed to be riding the melancholy vibe to diminishing returns for quite some time, so this becoming his fastest-rising #1 was a total shocker. Shame he couldn't repeat, though.

"Ready Set Roll" — even when bro-country was much hotter than it is now, this seemed to be the one bro-country song that NOBODY liked (except rsmatto and my sister). I still think it's an ugly, douchey song sung by an ugly douche.

"Nothin' to Lose" — Mainly because of the motor mouth factor. I thought for sure that everyone would say "I don't like this song, I can't tell what the heck he's saying." But there was enough demand for a country equivalent of "One Week", apparently.

"Girl in a Country Song" — I thought that this would end up with more PDs saying "No, I'm not gonna play it, it's making fun of the very songs that our fans want" and thus end up peaking at something like #12. But apparently the buzz and novelty factor were enough to overpower that.

"Country Boy" — because of the massive "dirty old man" vibe it has: why would anyone want to hear a 50-something mumbling lines like "I'm not a stalker" or ham-fisted single entendres like "climb in my bed, I'll take you for a ride"? Especially someone such as Alan Jackson, who's built his career on being a fairly wholesome artist?

[.indulgecountry]

Ashton Shepherd - "Look It Up" (I loved it, but I was surprised it got as far as it did -- and even more so that the more radio-friendly follow-up didn't)
Clay Walker - "She Won't Be Lonely Long"
David Nail - "Turning Home"
Gretchen Wilson - "Work Hard, Play Harder" (after all those diminishing returns, I never thought this would get so high)
Jana Kramer - "Why Ya Wanna"
The JaneDear Girls - "Wildflower" (never expected this to make Top 20)
Josh Turner - "Me and God"
Kellie Pickler - "Didn't You Know How Much I Loved You" (she was coming off her biggest hit yet, otherwise I don't think this would've done that well)
Martina McBride - "Wrong Baby Wrong Baby Wrong"
Sara Evans - "Backseat of a Greyhound Bus"
Sunny Sweeney - "From a Table Away" (still almost can't believe this actually went Top 10)
Thompson Square - "Glass" (I remain pleasantly surprised this got as high as it did)

[sabre14]

Jun 16, 2015 2:10:06 GMT -5 .indulgecountry said:

Sara Evans - "Backseat of a Greyhound Bus"

I was actually disappointed this didn't crack the top 10, lol. I never expected this to be a big hit but a solid peak of #9 or #10 would have been my prediction. Oh well.

Completely agree on "Work Hard, Play Harder". I contemplated listing that one as well. Probably the quietest top 20 single of 2010.

[Deleted]

Little Big Town- Girl Crush
Eric Church- Springsteen
Kacey Musgraves- Follow Your Arrow, Merry Go Round
Hunter Hayes- Wanted
Joey + Rory- Cheater, Cheater
Kelsea Ballerina- Love Me Like You Mean It
Tim McGraw- Diamond Rings & Old Barstools
Tim McGraw- Last Dollar (Fly Away)
Kenny Chesney- You & Tequila
Rascal Flatts- Winner At A Losing Game

[sabre14]

LoCash - "I Love This Life"

[Deleted]

I don't know why, but I was surprised how far "Fly" Maddie & Tae made since the research was middling and the sales were also (they should have gone for "Sierra" instead.

[zjames]

I posted in the "Humble And Kind" thread that releasing that as the second single was a mistake and that he should have released either "Here Tonight" or "California" instead. Well I was wrong. "Humble And Kind" is shaping up to be one of the biggest hits of Tim's career.

[countrymusicjunkie]

I've been really surprised that Rascal Flatts new single "I Like the Sound of That" has become a hit. I was also shocked that "Red Solo Cup" became such a huge hit for Toby Keith.

[CoJoFan]

"Kick The Dust Up", "Country Girl (Shake It For Me)", "Rain Is A Good Thing", "That's My Kind of Night"- Luke Bryan

[sabre14]

Apr 16, 2016 18:04:12 GMT -5 CoJoFan said:

"Kick The Dust Up", "Country Girl (Shake It For Me)", "Rain Is A Good Thing", "That's My Kind of Night"- Luke Bryan

How could you be surprised any Luke Bryan song was a hit? The man is the biggest star in the genre right now. Even "Rain Is A Good Thing" was following a breakthrough, MB #1 single ("Do I").

[Deleted]

I'm surprised that these two songs were as big as they were in 2009 and 2010

Lady Antebellum Need You Now
Taylor Swift You Belong With Me

I knew both would be hits but I never expected both too legitimately be in the Top 5 all genre Hot 100. That's just something I would have never guessed.

[CoJoFan]

Apr 16, 2016 18:51:49 GMT -5 sabre14 said:

Apr 16, 2016 18:04:12 GMT -5 CoJoFan said:

"Kick The Dust Up", "Country Girl (Shake It For Me)", "Rain Is A Good Thing", "That's My Kind of Night"- Luke Bryan

How could you be surprised any Luke Bryan song was a hit? The man is the biggest star in the genre right now. Even "Rain Is A Good Thing" was following a breakthrough, MB #1 single ("Do I").

I am surprised they were chosen as singles I guess more than hits. He has songs that could've been released instead of these that were a whole lot better. Country is too pop sounding anymore. I was born and raised with 90's country. I love some country songs today but for the most part I'm surprised with a lot of songs that are big hits nowadays over songs that should be hits. There are a lot of good songs that never even crack the top 40 anymore.

[Ten Pound Hammer]

A lot of Kenny Chesney's material since about When the Sun Goes Down. There is no way that anyone else could've gotten an acoustic version of a Mac McAnally song to #1, as a duet with Mac no less. Or a sleepy song about college football. Or a duet with a female rock singer that name-drops Bonnaroo. Or a boring song about summertime where some guy who doesn't know what snow cones are belts all the lyrics out of his nose.

[someguy]

Rodney Atkins - "Caught Up In The Country"

I'm very surprised that this even made the top 40, let alone is challenging for the top 20.