Chart flameouts

[Ten Pound Hammer]

It's rare, but it happens. Songs that get an early start on the charts, but just never take off. Or they take off for a while, and then reverse course.

The big one for me is "All Jacked Up" by Gretchen Wilson. Debuted at #21, hit Top 10 in only three weeks, but almost instantly reversed course. What went wrong? Were people already getting sick of the MuzikMafia? Was the song too over the top? I'm just stunned at how quickly her career derailed after that song.

Also, "Feel Like a Rock Star" by Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw. Two superstars on one song, and it debuts at #13, but it just doesn't move AT ALL and dies after only six weeks. Was the song really THAT bad? I don't think it's any worse than some of the forgettable fluff those two have gotten to higher positions ("Reality", anyone?)

I'm also wondering whether "The Fever" by Garth was officially a single. After "She's Every Woman" hit #1, this song debuted at #27 and peaked at #23 only two weeks later. Was it just a stopgap before "The Beaches of Cheyenne" was ready? An album cut that a lot of stations picked up? (A lot of cuts from the album charted around the same time.)

[onebuffalo]

Mar 14, 2018 11:09:05 GMT -5 Ten Pound Hammer said:

It's rare, but it happens. Songs that get an early start on the charts, but just never take off. Or they take off for a while, and then reverse course.

The big one for me is "All Jacked Up" by Gretchen Wilson. Debuted at #21, hit Top 10 in only three weeks, but almost instantly reversed course. What went wrong? Were people already getting sick of the MuzikMafia? Was the song too over the top? I'm just stunned at how quickly her career derailed after that song.

Also, "Feel Like a Rock Star" by Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw. Two superstars on one song, and it debuts at #13, but it just doesn't move AT ALL and dies after only six weeks. Was the song really THAT bad? I don't think it's any worse than some of the forgettable fluff those two have gotten to higher positions ("Reality", anyone?)

I'm also wondering whether "The Fever" by Garth was officially a single. After "She's Every Woman" hit #1, this song debuted at #27 and peaked at #23 only two weeks later. Was it just a stopgap before "The Beaches of Cheyenne" was ready? An album cut that a lot of stations picked up? (A lot of cuts from the album charted around the same time.)

Looking at that Billboard chart from November 1995, The Fever is listed as a single and not an album cut. The lead Fresh Horses single, She's Every Woman was at #30 that week.

[castleoblivion26]

I feel like in the case of both "All Jacked Up" and "Feel Like A Rock Star" radio played them non-stop immediately which resulted in the high debuts but then fan backlash against the songs due to the quality of them caused radio to pull support immediately. Not sure if they were planned to play out the way they did but that is what it seemed to be to me.

[onebuffalo]

Feel Like A Rock Star broke a streak of 30 consecutive top ten hits for Kenny Chesney. It was during this time Tim McGraw ended his association with Curb Records and signed to Big Machine.

[.indulgecountry]

Terri Clark's "She Didn't Have Time" had the best start of any single at country radio in her career by debuting at #44, but it flamed out early and only reached the mid 20s... which is a travesty because it's a gorgeous song and should've been another #1 hit for her, or at least a Top 10.

[onebuffalo]

Mar 14, 2018 19:30:30 GMT -5 .indulgecountry said:

Terri Clark's "She Didn't Have Time" had the best start of any single at country radio in her career by debuting at #44, but it flamed out early and only reached the mid 20s... which is a travesty because it's a gorgeous song and should've been another #1 hit for her, or at least a Top 10.

She Didn't Have Time was Terri Clark's final top 40 hit at Mercury. That's probably why it peaked at #25 in January, 2006. I haven't heard the song in awhile. Here is a video. Enjoy!:

[.indulgecountry]

Mar 15, 2018 16:23:53 GMT -5 onebuffalo said:

Mar 14, 2018 19:30:30 GMT -5 .indulgecountry said:

Terri Clark's "She Didn't Have Time" had the best start of any single at country radio in her career by debuting at #44, but it flamed out early and only reached the mid 20s... which is a travesty because it's a gorgeous song and should've been another #1 hit for her, or at least a Top 10.

She Didn't Have Time was Terri Clark's final top 40 hit at Mercury. That's probably why it peaked at #25 in January, 2006. I haven't heard the song in awhile. Here is a video. Enjoy!:

The first part of that statement makes no sense. Also, there was a perfectly good music video you could've linked to instead, if you just had to post a link.

[onebuffalo]

In other words, since Terri Clark was at the end of her Mercury contract, they had no real reason to keep promoting the single. I see her next two singles did not chart.

[.indulgecountry]

Mar 15, 2018 16:32:00 GMT -5 onebuffalo said:

In other words, since Terri Clark was at the end of her Mercury contract, they had no real reason to keep promoting the single. I see her next two singles did not chart.

"Damn Right" charted on R&R or MB or whatever it was called at the time in the 50s, but it missed the BB chart. I highly doubt that the label would've bothered releasing two more singles from the album if they didn't want them to do well.

[d3vin44]

Mar 14, 2018 11:09:05 GMT -5 Ten Pound Hammer said:

It's rare, but it happens. Songs that get an early start on the charts, but just never take off. Or they take off for a while, and then reverse course.

The big one for me is "All Jacked Up" by Gretchen Wilson. Debuted at #21, hit Top 10 in only three weeks, but almost instantly reversed course. What went wrong? Were people already getting sick of the MuzikMafia? Was the song too over the top? I'm just stunned at how quickly her career derailed after that song.

I loved "All Jacked Up" and still do! Not exactly sure why this one hit a brick wall so quick. Her career really amazes me, not in a good way. I had a love/hate relationship with her. At the time I was OBSESSED with Sara Evans and it was finally her time to take  home all the awards and accolades. Here comes Gretchen out of NOWHERE to block that from happening. So even though I secretly enjoyed Gretchen's music, including this song, I feel guilty like I wished her career derailment upon her. LOL 

[onebuffalo]

Mar 15, 2018 17:35:09 GMT -5 d3vin44 said:

Mar 14, 2018 11:09:05 GMT -5 Ten Pound Hammer said:

It's rare, but it happens. Songs that get an early start on the charts, but just never take off. Or they take off for a while, and then reverse course.

The big one for me is "All Jacked Up" by Gretchen Wilson. Debuted at #21, hit Top 10 in only three weeks, but almost instantly reversed course. What went wrong? Were people already getting sick of the MuzikMafia? Was the song too over the top? I'm just stunned at how quickly her career derailed after that song.

I loved "All Jacked Up" and still do! Not exactly sure why this one hit a brick wall so quick. Her career really amazes me, not in a good way. I had a love/hate relationship with her. At the time I was OBSESSED with Sara Evans and it was finally her time to take  home all the awards and accolades. Here comes Gretchen out of NOWHERE to block that from happening. So even though I secretly enjoyed Gretchen's music, including this song, I feel guilty like I wished her career derailment upon her. LOL 

I agree. Sara Evans was hot with her Restless and Real Fine Place albums. Her best shot to win Female Vocalist was in 2004 and 2005. However, the awards went to Martina McBride and Gretchen Wilson, respectively.

[sabre14]

"Rainbow" Man" by Jeff Bates reached #40 on R&R in 2003 but lost its bullet and flamed out in just 3 weeks inside the top 50 and 6 weeks after being released. Funny, considering his next two singles off his debut album spent an average of 30 weeks charting.

"Hey Mr. President" by The Warren Brothers also flamed out after just 6 weeks of reaching the top 30 at R&R in 2003.

"(You Want To) Make A Memory" by Bon Jovi flamed out after just 7 weeks of a bullet on Mediabase and peaked at #37. Many people forget they had a second top 40 Country radio single.

[someguy]

"The Fever" was definitely a full single for Garth. Country radio just didn't want to play it, despite how big of a star Garth was at the time.

"Today Is Your Day" by Shania Twain comes to mind for this (not so much "Life's About To Get Good", since its airplay was all pre-arranged).

"Come On Over" by Jessica Simpson got off to a fast start, but peaked at #18.

Miranda Lambert's "Me & Charlie Talking" also had a high debut (#42), but stalled at #27.

[Todd]

"It's Your Song," by Garth Brooks debuted at #33 and moved up to #10 in it's second week. It ended up peaking the following week at #9 and spent a total of 3 weeks in the top 10 and 10 weeks in the top 40.  This was in late '98, early '99.

[Ten Pound Hammer]

I seem to remember "It Ain't No Crime" by Joe Nichols having an oddly truncated run.

"Holy Water" and "Big Time" also had very quick flameouts. I remember both songs reversing course way before their 20 weeks were up. I'm guessing radio was already getting sick of MuzikMafia overexposure, which was probably also why "All Jacked Up" bombed so badly.

But why did "Feel Like a Rock Star" fizzle out so quickly? That's still a huge head-scratcher.

[.indulgecountry]

Mar 20, 2018 17:34:49 GMT -5 Ten Pound Hammer said:

But why did "Feel Like a Rock Star" fizzle out so quickly? That's still a huge head-scratcher.

For the same reason songs like "Truck Yeah" and "Lookin' for That Girl" did; it was hot garbage.

[sabre14]

Mar 20, 2018 17:34:49 GMT -5 Ten Pound Hammer said:

"Holy Water" and "Big Time" also had very quick flameouts. I remember both songs reversing course way before their 20 weeks were up. I'm guessing radio was already getting sick of MuzikMafia overexposure

Warner didn't really give those songs a push once they reached their natural peak in the top 15-20.

[Ten Pound Hammer]

Another one I remember is "I Don't Love You Like That" by Jypsi. It got a fairly strong start, hitting Top 40 in only its third week, but it kept getting kicked out of the Top 40 and never gained any steam. I think it fell below #40 three or four times before they finally gave up.

[sabre14]

[zaclord 🌈]

Mar 26, 2018 19:32:01 GMT -5 sabre14 said:

I thank Jesus for that one every single day.

[BlueShades874]

The Lucky One by Faith Hill...if I recall correctly, after Mississippi Girl flew to #1, Like We Never Loved at All had a relatively slow climb and slowed down around the top ten before finally reaching #5, then The Lucky One was released. It was flying up the chart and seemed like a sure #1, then when it hit #5 it just hit a brick wall and never recovered and didn't get any higher.

[BlueShades874]

Mar 15, 2018 17:35:09 GMT -5 d3vin44 said:

Mar 14, 2018 11:09:05 GMT -5 Ten Pound Hammer said:

It's rare, but it happens. Songs that get an early start on the charts, but just never take off. Or they take off for a while, and then reverse course.

The big one for me is "All Jacked Up" by Gretchen Wilson. Debuted at #21, hit Top 10 in only three weeks, but almost instantly reversed course. What went wrong? Were people already getting sick of the MuzikMafia? Was the song too over the top? I'm just stunned at how quickly her career derailed after that song.

I loved "All Jacked Up" and still do! Not exactly sure why this one hit a brick wall so quick. Her career really amazes me, not in a good way. I had a love/hate relationship with her. At the time I was OBSESSED with Sara Evans and it was finally her time to take  home all the awards and accolades. Here comes Gretchen out of NOWHERE to block that from happening. So even though I secretly enjoyed Gretchen's music, including this song, I feel guilty like I wished her career derailment upon her. LOL 

I became obsessed with Sara Evans during the Restless era. By the time Real Fine Place came along, I was so sure she was going to start winning more awards and was sure she was finally going to win Female Vocalist...then Gretchen Wilson came in and won when just a year before no one even knew who she was. I was so mad! It seems so silly looking back, but I was also hoping that her career would go downhill, I just never thought it would have happened so suddenly like it did. At least Sara did go on to win one Female Vocalist award at the ACMs.