Songs that didn't feel like big hits to you

[Ten Pound Hammer]

I was looking back at charts from 2005 and I'm still surprised that "Better Life" by Keith Urban was a six-week #1. The song never felt that big to me when it was climbing as I never heard it all that much. And it seemed to completely disappear after it fell; I can't say I've heard it more than 5 times since. It overall feels like a very underwhelming song that just never left much of an impact despite hitting #1 for six weeks.


A few more that never felt "big" to me:

* "What She's Doing Now" by Garth Brooks - 4 weeks at #1 in 1992, yet it never seemed as popular as most of his other hits

* "It Matters to Me" by Faith Hill - 3 weeks, but seems to be ignored like most of 1996

* "One Night at a Time" and "Carrying Your Love with Me" by George Strait - 5 and 4 weeks? Really? Not that they're bad songs, but I just didn't think they were that big

* "That's the Way" by Jo Dee Messina - this one seemed to disappear much faster than "Bye, Bye"/"I'm Alright" despite spending longer at #1

* "Summertime" by Kenny Chesney - maybe it was his God-awful singing on this, but this one never seemed like a "hit" to me despite 5 weeks on top

* "Never Wanted Nothing More" by Kenny Chesney - this one COMPLETELY fell off the radar after 5 weeks at #1, probably because "Don't Blink" so quickly overshadowed it

* "Why Don't We Just Dance" by Josh Turner - also seemed like a minor hit at most when climbing and completely disappeared afterward despite 4 weeks on top!

[sabre14]

Jul 8, 2016 14:12:27 GMT -5 Ten Pound Hammer said:

* "Never Wanted Nothing More" by Kenny Chesney - this one COMPLETELY fell off the radar after 5 weeks at #1, probably because "Don't Blink" so quickly overshadowed i

I still hear "Beer In Mexico" more than "Never Wanted Nothing More." "Don't Blink" definitely overshadowed it.

Kenny spent 14 weeks at #1 on Mediabase in 2007, 13 weeks on Billboard.

* "Why Don't We Just Dance" by Josh Turner - also seemed like a minor hit at most when climbing and completely disappeared afterward despite 4 weeks on top!

I still hear it often...although "Would You Go With Me" I hear even more so.

[dm2081]

"Say You Do" by Dierks Bentley.
-Love this song, but it has to be one of the quietest 2 week #1 hits I can remember. Don't think I've heard it since it peaked.

[Deleted]

Jul 8, 2016 14:12:27 GMT -5 Ten Pound Hammer said:

I was looking back at charts from 2005 and I'm still surprised that "Better Life" by Keith Urban was a six-week #1. The song never felt that big to me when it was climbing as I never heard it all that much. And it seemed to completely disappear after it fell; I can't say I've heard it more than 5 times since. It overall feels like a very underwhelming song that just never left much of an impact despite hitting #1 for six weeks.

You've mentioned this before, and I think it's really strange. I hear "Better Life" a lot, and it genuinely feels like a mega hit to me. I probably hear it a few times a month, at least.

I also hear Josh Turner's "Why Don't We Just Dance" quite a bit as well.

It seems to me that your local stations have really weird tendencies, especially since you often mention that they often play songs that never chart or peak very high.

[Deleted]

Luke Bryan "I See You" 2 weeks at the top. I never hear this song anymore, which is shocking cause my station plays the crap out of Luke Bryan.

[.indulgecountry]

Jul 8, 2016 16:30:08 GMT -5 jhomes87 said:

Jul 8, 2016 14:12:27 GMT -5 Ten Pound Hammer said:

I was looking back at charts from 2005 and I'm still surprised that "Better Life" by Keith Urban was a six-week #1. The song never felt that big to me when it was climbing as I never heard it all that much. And it seemed to completely disappear after it fell; I can't say I've heard it more than 5 times since. It overall feels like a very underwhelming song that just never left much of an impact despite hitting #1 for six weeks.

You've mentioned this before, and I think it's really strange. I hear "Better Life" a lot, and it genuinely feels like a mega hit to me. I probably hear it a few times a month, at least.

I also hear Josh Turner's "Why Don't We Just Dance" quite a bit as well.

It seems to me that your local stations have really weird tendencies, especially since you often mention that they often play songs that never chart or peak very high.

This. "Why Don't We Just Dance" was literally huge and is his biggest hit commercially, lol. I definitely hear several of his other songs on the radio plenty as well (Your Man, Long Black Train, Time Is Love), but WDWJD was massive. I hear it plenty... enough to where it kinda teeters on the edge of me being burnt out on it now despite him being my favorite male artist.


I also still hear "Carrying Your Love with Me" plenty. It's up there among songs like "Check Yes or No," "Write This Down," and "I Just Want to Dance with You" as the George Strait classics I hear the most still.

[dm2081]

Jul 8, 2016 16:40:00 GMT -5 raylatch98 said:

Luke Bryan "I See You" 2 weeks at the top. I never hear this song anymore, which is shocking cause my station plays the crap out of Luke Bryan.

I actually felt like that was a big hit, especially considering it was the 6th single.  Honestly, every song from that album seemed like a gigantic hit looking back at things.

[Deleted]

Jul 8, 2016 21:43:05 GMT -5 dm2081 said:

Jul 8, 2016 16:40:00 GMT -5 raylatch98 said:

Luke Bryan "I See You" 2 weeks at the top. I never hear this song anymore, which is shocking cause my station plays the crap out of Luke Bryan.

I actually felt like that was a big hit, especially considering it was the 6th single.  Honestly, every song from that album seemed like a gigantic hit looking back at things.

I just have never heard it on the radio since like May 2015? It seemed to go as quickly as it came.

[Ten Pound Hammer]

Jul 8, 2016 16:30:08 GMT -5 jhomes87 said:

Jul 8, 2016 14:12:27 GMT -5 Ten Pound Hammer said:

I was looking back at charts from 2005 and I'm still surprised that "Better Life" by Keith Urban was a six-week #1. The song never felt that big to me when it was climbing as I never heard it all that much. And it seemed to completely disappear after it fell; I can't say I've heard it more than 5 times since. It overall feels like a very underwhelming song that just never left much of an impact despite hitting #1 for six weeks.

You've mentioned this before, and I think it's really strange. I hear "Better Life" a lot, and it genuinely feels like a mega hit to me. I probably hear it a few times a month, at least.

It just never seemed to get much buzz at the time. Nothing in Country Weekly (no review, story-behind-the-song, etc.), nothing on the old ACC boards (which went down in late 2005 IIRC; I think Zazie and I are the only two people who managed to find their way from there to here), no award nominations, nothing. It just felt like it nonchalantly snuck up the charts, spent six weeks at the top simply because no one else wanted that position (I remember that Redneck Yacht Club had abnormally low airplay the week it was at #2, so maybe BL made the most of a "soft" chart?), and fell off the face of the earth afterward.

By comparison, "As Good as I Once Was" seemed to generate a LOT more buzz and stick around a lot longer after the fact. I still hear it now and then. And this is taking into consideration WATZ's weird relation with Toby Keith: whenever he has a new single, they spin the crap out of it, then drop it the second it falls from the charts. They were REALLY into "35 MPH Town", even. The only exception seems to be "Stays in Mexico", which I still hear them play all the time.

Jul 8, 2016 16:30:08 GMT -5 jhomes87 said:

It seems to me that your local stations have really weird tendencies, especially since you often mention that they often play songs that never chart or peak very high.

That's mostly WATZ. They usually tend to fixate like crazy on some random song in the 15-25 range (right now it's "Night's on Fire") and play the bajeesus out of it. WKJC is a mixed bag, but their problem is that their DJs are so gabby, and their ad breaks so ridiculously long, that they can never seem to get more than five or six songs per hour. WCEN and WKCQ are the most "normal" in that they usually only play Top 5 hits from the past 5 years, although I sometimes hear them sprinkle in something a little unexpected, especially on weekends. Those two stations also happen to be on the Mediabase panel.

[sabre14]

"Better Life" was a huge hit (I still hear it all the time) but Ten Pound Hammer is right, it did benefit from a week chart in late October to mid November of 2005. "Redneck Yacht Club" snuck in barely on R&R the week "Better Life" started its run on Billboard and the songs stuck at #2 during its run were "Skin (Sarabeth)" and "Who You'd Be Today", neither of which came close to achieving #1 airplay.

If it had been released that spring and ran into peaking when "As Good As I Once Was" or "Fast Cars And Freedom" did, it would have been in a much bigger fight for #1.

[Deleted]

Jul 9, 2016 3:00:42 GMT -5 Ten Pound Hammer said:

Jul 8, 2016 16:30:08 GMT -5 jhomes87 said:

You've mentioned this before, and I think it's really strange. I hear "Better Life" a lot, and it genuinely feels like a mega hit to me. I probably hear it a few times a month, at least.

It just never seemed to get much buzz at the time. Nothing in Country Weekly (no review, story-behind-the-song, etc.), nothing on the old ACC boards (which went down in late 2005 IIRC; I think Zazie and I are the only two people who managed to find their way from there to here), no award nominations, nothing. It just felt like it nonchalantly snuck up the charts, spent six weeks at the top simply because no one else wanted that position (I remember that Redneck Yacht Club had abnormally low airplay the week it was at #2, so maybe BL made the most of a "soft" chart?), and fell off the face of the earth afterward.

All I know is that wherever I've lived over the last 5-6 years, the stations there always seem to have "Better Life" as one of Keith's top recurrents. When I lived near Des Moines, the stations there played it quite a bit. Here in my hometown (NW Iowa) and near Sioux Falls, the stations play it quite a bit. And in my 3+ years in Phoenix, the stations there played it quite a bit.

I'm not disagreeing that it probably took advantage of a soft chart, but I still think it was a very popular hit at the time that it peaked, and it seems to be one of radio's "go-to" songs whenever they want to play an older Keith Urban song. It definitely doesn't feel like it fell off the face of the earth. I remember the video being on CMT all the time, too.

Was "Better Life" as big as "As Good As I Once Was"? No. But it definitely was and feels like one of Keith's bigger hits.

[Ten Pound Hammer]

Maybe it was just me then. I didn't hear it a whole lot on WATZ or WKJC back in the day, and the local stations here never seemed to dig it out as a recurrent. If I hear any KU songs from his earlier years at all, it's usually "Somebody Like You", "You'll think of Me", "Days Go By", or "Making Memories of Us". I don't even feel like it's a great song either; it just always feels like it's just "there" on the rare occasion that I do hear it.

[Deleted]

Jul 9, 2016 16:36:53 GMT -5 Ten Pound Hammer said:

Maybe it was just me then. I didn't hear it a whole lot on WATZ or WKJC back in the day, and the local stations here never seemed to dig it out as a recurrent. If I hear any KU songs from his earlier years at all, it's usually "Somebody Like You", "You'll think of Me", "Days Go By", or "Making Memories of Us". I don't even feel like it's a great song either; it just always feels like it's just "there" on the rare occasion that I do hear it.

I absolutely love "Better Life". The banjo, the arrangement, the lyrics...I jam out to it all the time still.

Out of the other 4 you listed, I never hear "Making Memories Of Us", but I hear the other 3 fairly often. There's a 2nd version of "Somebody Like You" with a really weird electric guitar part/riff after the lines "even if I wanted to". I'm not a fan of this version at all. It's different from the normal version that I always used to hear.

In addition to "Somebody Like You", "You'll Think Of Me", and "Days Go By", the other Keith songs that I still hear quite often (not counting the releases from the Fuse era onward) are "You Look Good In My Shirt", "Better Life" (duh), "Long Hot Summer", and especially "Who Wouldn't Wanna Be Me". I'll also occasionally hear "Where The Blacktop Ends", "Sweet Thing", and "You Gonna Fly".

Anyway, to get somewhat back on topic, there are a few big Luke Bryan hits that I never seem to hear anymore, notably "Drink A Beer" and "Drunk On You", which sucks because "Drunk On You" is one of the few (read: VERY few) Luke Bryan singles that I enjoy. It's a guilty pleasure, that's for sure. The Luke songs that I hear most are "Someone Else Calling You Baby", "I Don't Want This Night To End", and "Play It Again".

I hear a LOT of Jason Aldean's big hits, but there are a few odd exceptions. "Don't You Wanna Stay", in particular...this one felt like a big hit when it was charting/peaking, but now I never hear it. Same goes for "Take A Little Ride". "The Only Way I Know", on the other hand, didn't feel like a big hit and it really wasn't. It made it to #1 but it was such a non-event, and I don't think I've heard it on the radio even once since it went recurrent. The Aldean songs that I hear the most are "She's Country", "Big Green Tractor", "Dirt Road Anthem", "Tattoos On This Town", "Fly Over States", and "Night Train", and I'll occasionally hear "Hicktown", "Amarillo Sky", "Johnny Cash", and "When She Says Baby". When I lived near Des Moines I used to hear "Laughed Until We Cried" a lot, but I don't hear it around here.

[rsmatto]

Jul 9, 2016 19:36:33 GMT -5 jhomes87 said:

Jul 9, 2016 16:36:53 GMT -5 Ten Pound Hammer said:

Maybe it was just me then. I didn't hear it a whole lot on WATZ or WKJC back in the day, and the local stations here never seemed to dig it out as a recurrent. If I hear any KU songs from his earlier years at all, it's usually "Somebody Like You", "You'll think of Me", "Days Go By", or "Making Memories of Us". I don't even feel like it's a great song either; it just always feels like it's just "there" on the rare occasion that I do hear it.

I absolutely love "Better Life". The banjo, the arrangement, the lyrics...I jam out to it all the time still.

Out of the other 4 you listed, I never hear "Making Memories Of Us", but I hear the other 3 fairly often. There's a 2nd version of "Somebody Like You" with a really weird electric guitar part/riff after the lines "even if I wanted to". I'm not a fan of this version at all. It's different from the normal version that I always used to hear.

In addition to "Somebody Like You", "You'll Think Of Me", and "Days Go By", the other Keith songs that I still hear quite often (not counting the releases from the Fuse era onward) are "You Look Good In My Shirt", "Better Life" (duh), "Long Hot Summer", and especially "Who Wouldn't Wanna Be Me". I'll also occasionally hear "Where The Blacktop Ends", "Sweet Thing", and "You Gonna Fly".

Anyway, to get somewhat back on topic, there are a few big Luke Bryan hits that I never seem to hear anymore, notably "Drink A Beer" and "Drunk On You", which sucks because "Drunk On You" is one of the few (read: VERY few) Luke Bryan singles that I enjoy. It's a guilty pleasure, that's for sure. The Luke songs that I hear most are "Someone Else Calling You Baby", "I Don't Want This Night To End", and "Play It Again".

I hear a LOT of Jason Aldean's big hits, but there are a few odd exceptions. "Don't You Wanna Stay", in particular...this one felt like a big hit when it was charting/peaking, but now I never hear it. Same goes for "Take A Little Ride". "The Only Way I Know", on the other hand, didn't feel like a big hit and it really wasn't. It made it to #1 but it was such a non-event, and I don't think I've heard it on the radio even once since it went recurrent. The Aldean songs that I hear the most are "She's Country", "Big Green Tractor", "Dirt Road Anthem", "Tattoos On This Town", "Fly Over States", and "Night Train", and I'll occasionally hear "Hicktown", "Amarillo Sky", "Johnny Cash", and "When She Says Baby". When I lived near Des Moines I used to hear "Laughed Until We Cried" a lot, but I don't hear it around here.

That remix you hear is likely a song not rack remix. I think I have it on my iTunes.

[.indulgecountry]

At least one of the stations here still enjoys playing Keith Urban's "But for the Grace of God" and I'm very happy about that. <3 Aside from that, pretty much ditto to the ones jhomes87 listed. I actually heard "Making Memories of Us" on the radio the other day and didn't know what it was until I heard the hook because that's how unfamiliar it was from me never hearing it on the radio, lol.

[Ten Pound Hammer]

I've heard a slight remix of MMoU. Where he sings "I'm gonna make you a promise", he instead sings "I'm gonna make you THIS promise", with more emphasis on the word "this".

[Deleted]

I always felt like "Cowboy Cassanova" by Carrie Underwood was a big hit. But ever since 2012 I haven't heard it since. The same thing goes for songs like "Consider Me Gone" and "Water". I also suprisingly never hear "Over You" by Miranda Lambert.

If there is one act that my stations love to play the living crap out of (not complaining here) is Lady Antebellum. Their only hit I don't hear is "Dancing Away With My Heart" Ten Pound Hammer can atest to this when I say stations like WKCQ love Lady Antebellum. Seriously I can make a list of most other artists of at least one song that was a Top 3 I don't hear anymore (LBT "Day Drinking", Parmalee "Carolina", Kenny Chesney "Better As A Memory", The Band Perry "All Your Life" Florida Georgia Line "Sipping On Fire" are just a few more examples) but I have heard nearly every Lady A song within the last few months even "Wanted You More".

Also .indulgecountry I am jealous you have a station play "But For The Grace of God" as that is one of my favorite Keith Urban songs, such a strong melody and great performance.

[sabre14]

Jul 9, 2016 19:49:38 GMT -5 Ten Pound Hammer said:

I've heard a slight remix of MMoU. Where he sings "I'm gonna make you a promise", he instead sings "I'm gonna make you THIS promise", with more emphasis on the word "this".

I've heard that version too, on Siriis/XM.

Didn't help. I still find it boring.

[Ten Pound Hammer]

The "I'm gonna make you THIS promise" version I believe is the radio edit. I seem to remember Bob Kingsley alternating between the two.

Perhaps the most pointless radio edit since Pat Green's "Wave on Wave", which cut the backing vocals on "the angels cried" but left everything else as-is.

[sabre14]

Tommy Shane Steiner - "What If She's An Angel" (peaked at #2)

Barely heard it when it was a single and it received little recurrent play.

[Deleted]

Jul 8, 2016 14:12:27 GMT -5 Ten Pound Hammer said:

* "Summertime" by Kenny Chesney - maybe it was his God-awful singing on this, but this one never seemed like a "hit" to me despite 5 weeks on top.

I hear "Summertime" constantly on the radio. All seasons all the time. Huge hit for sure here in Pittsburgh.

[Ten Pound Hammer]

Just listened to "Man to Man". Love the song, but it never felt that big to me. I never heard it after it fell off the charts, so I was surprised to find that it's his biggest Hot 100 entry and one of his bigger #1's overall. It seems like most Gary Allan recurrent airplay is "Watching Airplanes", "Every Storm (Runs Out of Rain)", or sometimes "Smoke Rings in the Dark". Heck, I've probably heard "Pieces" more.

On the other hand, "Tough Little Boys" can stay hidden...

[Ten Pound Hammer]

I heard "Til It's Gone" at a grocery store today and I didn't recognize it because it feels like it didn't get played at all when it was climbing, and I haven't heard it anywhere else since.

Also, it felt like "River of Love" was an extremely low impact #1. I was surprised that it blocked "Don't Think I Can't Love You", which seems like a far more enduring song overall. It felt like "River" got almost no airplay when it was climbing. What a weaksauce song to be his last Billboard #1, too...