Low-charting songs you're surprised you remember

[Ten Pound Hammer]

So it happens sometimes. There's a song from many years back that didn't get very far up the charts, yet you remember it plain as day. Could be something that didn't hit the 40; could be something that barely did.

Here are some of mine.

1990
* Matraca Berg - "Baby, Walk On" (#36)
* Travis Tritt - "Put Some Drive in Your Country" (#28)

1991
* Eddy Raven - "Hot Pink" (did not chart) (I distinctly recall seeing a music video for this, featuring a man playing a steel guitar in the street, and somehow thinking the song was by Joe Diffie for many years. And the fact that I own the Eddy Raven album in question verified that yes, my mind was remembering this very song, just mis-remembering the artist. I have yet to find any proof of the song having ever had a video.)
* Martin Delray - "Lillie's White Lies" (#58)
* Mark O'Connor et al. - "Restless" (#25)
* Clinton Gregory - "If It Weren't for Country Music I'd Go Crazy" (#26)

1992
* Dwight Yoakam - "Suspicious Minds" (#35)
* Clinton Gregory - "Play, Ruby, Play" (#25)

1993
* The Bellamy Brothers - "Rip Off the Knob" (#66) (mom loved this one, too, and we would quote the title often)
* Mark Collie - "Shame Shame Shame Shame" (#26) and "Something's Gonna Change Her Mind" (#24)
* Neal McCoy - "Now I Pray for Rain" (#26)

1994
* Aaron Tippin - "Honky Tonk Superman" (#47)
* Gibson/Miller Band - "Stone Cold Country" (#40)
* Billy Dean - "Cowboy Band" (#24) (heard this on a recent ACC Rewind and remembered almost every word within 30 seconds)
* Lorrie Morgan - "Heart over Mind" (#39)

1995
* Gino the New Guy - "Any Gal of Mine" (#56)
* Cledus T. Judd - "Stinkin' Problem" (did not chart)
* Wesley Dennis - "Who's Counting" (#58)
* Daron Norwood - "Bad Dog, No Biscuit" (#50)
* Ken Mellons - "Rub-a-Dubbin'" (#39)
* The Mavericks - "All That Heaven Will Allow" (#49)
* Billy Ray Cyrus - "One Last Thrill" (did not chart)
* 4 Runner - "Cain's Blood" (#26)
* Shenandoah - "Heaven Bound (I'm Ready)" (#24) (those "Bayooma yoomba hum"s sure stick with you)
* Tanya Tucker - "Find Out What's Happenin'" (#40)

1996
* Ty Herdon - "In Your Face" (#63)
* Aaron Tippin - "How's the Radio Know" (#69)
* John Berry - "Every Time My Heart Calls Your Name" (#34)
* The GrooveGrass Boyz - "Macarena (Country Version)" (#70) (I don't think I ever heard it on the radio, but when I was in 5th grade, a student's father put on a dance for the class since he was a DJ, and he played this song especially for me since it was the only country record he had)
* Pam Tillis - "Betty's Got a Bass Boat" (#63)
* Stephanie Bentley - "Who's That Girl" (#33)
* Western Flyer - "What Will You Do with M-E?" (#32) (I remember hearing this in WKJC's office back-to-back with "That's Enough of That" by Mila Mason. I found at least one chart that has these two songs next to each other, so I wonder if they were playing the countdown at the time?)

1997
* The Buffalo Club - "Nothing Less than Love" (#26)

1998
* The Mavericks - "Dance the Night Away" (#63)
* Danni Leigh - "If the Jukebox Took Teardrops" (#57)
* The Warren Brothers - "Guilty" (#34)

1999
* Shane McAnally - "Are Your Eyes Still Blue" (#31) (my God, do I love this one…)
* Steve Wariner - "Every Little Whisper" (#36)
* Chad Brock et al. - "A Country Boy Can Survive (Y2K Version)" (#31)
* The Warren Brothers - "She Wants to Rock" (#37)

2000
* Jennifer Day - "The Fun of Your Love" (#31)
* Blackhawk - "I Need You All the Time" (#40)
* Neal McCoy - "Forever Works for Me (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday)" (#38)
* The Wilkinsons - "Jimmy's Got a Girlfriend" (#34)
* Sawyer Brown - "800 Pound Jesus" (#40)
* Wade Hayes - "Up North (Down South, Back East, Out West)" (#48)
* The Kinleys - "She Ain't the Girl for You" (#34)
* Diamond Rio - "Stuff" (#36)
* Sammy Kershaw - "Me and Maxine" (#35)

2001
* The Kentucky Headhunters - "Louisianna CoCo" (did not chart)
* Daisy Dern - "Getitn' Back to You" (#43)
* The Charlie Daniels Band - "America, F*** Yeah" "This Ain't No Rag, It's a Flag" (#33)

2002
* Mark Wills/Jamie O'Neal - "I'm Not Gonna Do Anything Without You" (#31)
* Marie Sisters - "Real Bad Mood" (#46)
* Aaron Tippin - "I'll Take Love over Money" (#46)
* Daryle Singletary - "I'd Love to Lay You Down" (#43)

2003
* Billy Dean - "I'm in Love with You" (#52)
* Jamie Lee Thurston - "It Can All Be Gone" (#59)
* Rebecca Lynn Howard - "I Need a Vacation" (#49)
* The Warren Brothers - "Hey Mr. President" (#28)

Note: I think most of the 1994-96 ones came from the times I'd listen to After Midnite with Blair Garner late at night. I know "Any Gal of Mine" was. Most of the ones from 1999-2000 seem to be from when we'd go up to Hillman for a meeting my mom went to, which meant we had to switch over to WATZ. However, I distinctly remember hearing "Stuff" on WKJC. From about 2004 onward, I started listening to WATZ more, along with Bob Kingsley, so the low-charters became less of a surprise.

[sabre14]

Just to make it clear, I remember most everything from the past 14-15 years since my memory bank for lower-charting is absurdly deep.

Having said that, these ones I'm listing are the songs that I remember because WYRK actually played them and was blown away they didn't get higher since my memory of hearing them was very vivid.

R&R peaks:

Rebecca Lynn Howard - "I Need A Vacation" (#45)
Ryan Tyler - "Run, Run, Run" (#33)
Billy Dean - "I'm In Love With You" (#44)
Scotty Emerick - "The Watch" (#46)
Buddy Jewell - "One Step At A Time (#41)
Anthony Smith - "Half A Man" (#34)
Brett James - "After All" (#32)
Brian McComas - "The Middle Of Nowhere" (#39)

WYRK played the RLH song all. The. time. I learned of its peak about three years later and was floored.

[bboat11]

When Sara Evans released "Feels Just Like A Love Song" as the supposed debut single for her comeback album, I heard it a handful of times in the couple weeks it was out. If my local radio station was any indication of the overall reception to that song, I think it was on its way to becoming quite a successful hit! Does anyone know, was it Sara or the label that chose to pull that song right after it was released?

Either way, I cannot complain, because "A Little Bit Stronger" was a PERFECT comeback single, so pretending that FJLALS never happened certainly worked out alright for Sara.

[Deleted]

Here are some more recent

Love & Theft Running Out Of Air
Jana Kramer I Hope It Rains
Kip Moore Mary Was The Marrying Kind
Sunny Sweeney Staying's Worse Than Leaving
Gloriana How Far Do You Wanna Go?
Dierks Bentley Draw Me A Map
Gary Allan It Ain't The Whiskey
Maggie Rose Looking Back Now

ZUUS Country recently played the videos for these songs and I instantly remembered each song word for word which surprised me.

[Deleted]

Erika Jo- I Break Things
Katie Armiger- Better In A Black Dress
Kellie Coffee- Texas Plates
SheDaisy- God Bless The American Housewife
Tim McGraw- Drugs Or Jesus

[sabre14]

Sept 2, 2015 14:55:09 GMT -5 @carrieflattsfan said:

Tim McGraw- Drugs Or Jesus

This song got to #11 on R&R and #14 on Billboard, so I'm not sure this is quite what Ten Pound Hammer had in mind.

[Ten Pound Hammer]

Yeah, I'm talking more like mid 20s or lower. I can almost always remember something that got within striking distance of top 20.

[sabre14]

A few more, with R&R peaks:

Ray Scott - "My Kind Of Music" (#35) (mainly because the music video was always on CMT and it actually made a Totally Country album)
Terri Clark - "Three Mississippi" (#28)
Donovan Chapman - "House Like That" (#42)
Catherine Britt - "The Upside Of Being Down" (#34)
Mark Wills - "And The Crowd Goes Wild" (#27) (I actually liked this one)
Chris Cagle - "Wal-Mart Parking Lot" (#41) (still have no idea how this bombed so bad)
Trent Willmon - "Beer Man" (#27)
Chely Wright - "Back Of The Bottom Drawer" (#38)
Cyndi Thomson - "When I'm Gone" (#27)

[Ten Pound Hammer]

Thought of a couple more: "Highway Patrol" (#73, 1993) and "My Wife Thinks You're Dead" (#68, 1995) by Junior Brown. I remember hearing a commercial for him performing locally in concert about a decade ago; they used both songs and I recognized them immediately. I was floored when I found out how low both of them peaked, as I remembered them so vividly that I thought both were at least Top 20.

[Deleted]

Sept 2, 2015 15:13:48 GMT -5 sabre14 said:

Sept 2, 2015 14:55:09 GMT -5 @carrieflattsfan said:

Tim McGraw- Drugs Or Jesus

This song got to #11 on R&R and #14 on Billboard, so I'm not sure this is quite what Ten Pound Hammer had in mind.

I actually wasn't sure how low some of these had charted, so I'm not surprised I was off with that one.

[zebra71]

Toby Keith-Drunk Americans (27 at the beginning of the year).

[dajross6]

Sons of the Desert - Albuquerque
Mark Nesler - Used to the Pain (better than Tracy's version)
David Kersh - Wonderful Tonight

[vamp111]

I will go off songs that didn't hit the top 25, or barely did:

Jana Kramer- "I Hope It Rains" (#42)
Lauren Alaina- "Georgia Peaches" (#28)
Sarah Buxton- "Outside My Window" (#23)
Whitney Duncan- "Skinny Dippin'" (#48)
Scotty McCreery- "Water Tower Town" (#38)
Sugarland- "Tonight" (#32)
Phil Vassar- "I Would" (#26)
Bomshel- "Fight Like A Girl" (#30)
Shania Twain- "Don't!" (#24)
Kristy Lee Cook- "15 Minutes of Shame" (#28)
Emerson Drive- "You Still Own Me" (#22)

Interesting that most of them are female.

[.indulgecountry]

Sept 2, 2015 2:51:21 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

When Sara Evans released "Feels Just Like A Love Song" as the supposed debut single for her comeback album, I heard it a handful of times in the couple weeks it was out. If my local radio station was any indication of the overall reception to that song, I think it was on its way to becoming quite a successful hit! Does anyone know, was it Sara or the label that chose to pull that song right after it was released?

Either way, I cannot complain, because "A Little Bit Stronger" was a PERFECT comeback single, so pretending that FJLALS never happened certainly worked out alright for Sara.

Sara Evans. She didn't feel that it was the right time for her comeback and she went back into the studio and worked more on the album that eventually became Stronger. I loved that song though and I think it had potential to be a hit, but Sara wasn't ready at the time and asked her label to pull it. It was a really catchy uplifting song though and I really liked it a lot, but ALBS obviously wound up being the perfect comeback single the next year anyway as you said.

[Zazie]

I don't read these threads often, so I wanted to thank everyone who has posted here, for coming up with such great songs in response to an inspired first post. And reminding me of songs I loved, by Daisy Dern and Anthony Smith and Trent Willmon and the Kinleys and others. I have only one contribution to make, Ricky Skaggs' song Halfway Home Café from 2002. It only charted once, "peaking" at #56 thanks to a surprise spin from Bob Kingsley on American Country Countdown. I'm curious to see if anybody is familiar with that one -- one spin only (multiplied, of course, by the syndication factor).

[Ten Pound Hammer]

I also remember "Catahoula" by the Bellamy Brothers, Eddy Raven, and Jo-El Sonnier (1997) plain as day even though it didn't chart.

Also, did I say "Gettin' Back to You" by Daisy Dern? If so then I will mention it again. I remember WKJC 104.7 used to count down their 104 songs of the year on New Years week. "The One" by Gary Allan was the top song of 2002, and I believe Daisy was near the bottom.

Zazie: interesting information. Didn't know that about the Ricky song. Title sounds vaguely familiar.

[sabre14]

Jeff Bates - "Good People" (WYRK absolutely loved this one and Craig's)
Craig Morgan - "Look At Us"
Blake Shelton - "Heavy Liftin'" (which is ironic since if you blinked you missed it)

[Deleted]

Here are some this year.

Railers Kinda Dig The Feeling
Swon Brothers Pray For You
Will Hoge Middle Of America
Old Dominion Shut Me Up
Katie Armiger One Night Between Friends
Lucy Hale Lie A Little Better
Lidnsay Ell Shut Me Up
Chris Lane Broken Windshield View
Sara Evans Put My Heart Down

[dm2081]

Sept 4, 2015 19:49:19 GMT -5 sabre14 said:

Jeff Bates - "Good People" (WYRK absolutely loved this one and Craig's)
Craig Morgan - "Look At Us"
Blake Shelton - "Heavy Liftin'" (which is ironic since if you blinked you missed it)

You already mentioned that one up thread! lol

[sabre14]

Sept 4, 2015 20:16:33 GMT -5 dm2081 said:

Sept 4, 2015 19:49:19 GMT -5 sabre14 said:

Jeff Bates - "Good People" (WYRK absolutely loved this one and Craig's)
Craig Morgan - "Look At Us"
Blake Shelton - "Heavy Liftin'" (which is ironic since if you blinked you missed it)

You already mentioned that one up thread! lol

It came up on my spotify, so I had the itch to list it...apparently for a second time, lol. :)

[dm2081]

Sept 4, 2015 20:21:49 GMT -5 sabre14 said:

Sept 4, 2015 20:16:33 GMT -5 dm2081 said:

You already mentioned that one up thread! lol

It came up on my spotify, so I had the itch to list it...apparently for a second time, lol. :)

I'm just messing with ya lol even the best make mistakes some times

[sabre14]

Sept 4, 2015 20:22:47 GMT -5 dm2081 said:

Sept 4, 2015 20:21:49 GMT -5 sabre14 said:

It came up on my spotify, so I had the itch to list it...apparently for a second time, lol. :)

I'm just messing with ya lol even the best make mistakes some times

Haha, I know. It's not as if I listed an ungodly amount like Ten Pound Hammer did, so there's no excuse.

I edited the original post that had "Heavy Liftin'". :) I don't even particularly care for the song, it just brings back 2003 nostalgia I guess.

[Ten Pound Hammer]

I remember my sister saying she saw the video for Heavy Liftin' on CMT once, and me telling her she was full of crap since it wasn't a single and they don't make videos for songs that don't make singles. Oops.

[drummerman2009]

I remember these songs that charted low and singles that didn't chart.

John Anderson - "Taking The Country Back" (1997) and "Small Town" (1998). Both songs didn't make Top 40 but heard them a lot on the San Antonio stations.
Dolly Parton - "We Had It All" (#31 in 1986). Sad that this wasn't a huge hit for the 3 times it charted, Dolly's version, Waylon Jennings' version who recorded it first (#28 in 1973) or Conway Twitty's version (#44 in 1982)
Kathy Mattea - "I'm On Your Side" (1997). Did not chart but had a very funny video.

[onebuffalo]

Sept 5, 2015 10:36:32 GMT -5 drummerman2009 said:

I remember these songs that charted low and singles that didn't chart.

John Anderson - "Taking The Country Back" (1997) and "Small Town" (1998). Both songs didn't make Top 40 but heard them a lot on the San Antonio stations.
Dolly Parton - "We Had It All" (#31 in 1986). Sad that this wasn't a huge hit for the 3 times it charted, Dolly's version, Waylon Jennings' version who recorded it first (#28 in 1973) or Conway Twitty's version (#44 in 1982)
Kathy Mattea - "I'm On Your Side" (1997). Did not chart but had a very funny video.

We Had It All was Dolly Parton's final RCA single in 1986. According to the Conway Twitty box set that was released in 1994, he received a standing ovation in the studio after recording his version.

[Ten Pound Hammer]

Yet another: "Cherokee Boogie" by BR549 (#44, 1996). My mom remembers this one pretty well too. I remember hearing it at a roadside park on US-23 somewhere between Alpena and Mackinaw City.

[gardyfan]

Leah Turner - "Take The Keys"

[sabre14]

It wasn't too long ago (7-8 years, lol) but WYRK were big supporters of Sarah Johns' singles. I heard a lot of "The One In The Middle" and "He Hates Me."

[Todd]

I still remember an obscure song from about 20 years, "Pack Your Lies and Go," by Celinda Pink. My local station spun it a few times.