Cody's Country Group Mania! (COMPLETE!)

[Cody Wants Out...]

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you my very first personal rankdown...

Cody's Country Group MANIA

zaclord 🌈 bboat11 .indulgecountry countrymusicjunkie Kanenrá:ke sabre14 bigfan101 d3vin44 james rgreen0625 someguy Sambalada dm2081 Todd zjames CoJoFan LBTrocks Andy Kentucky25 rgreen0625 @jamesflame 🅳🅸🆂🅲🅾 @adam1995 fearlessarrow aerodynamite cerulean George Strait Junkie austin castleoblivion26 dub BackwoodsBarbie Troublemaker Juanca kansasmeetsmo jhomes87 Glove Slap myeverything phil1996 carriekins carriefan15 14887fan mamasaid @pjscott11

P.S. Everyone is welcome to participate whether you've been tagged or not!

SONGLIST:
Little Big Town - "That's Where I'll Be"
Highway 101 - "Who's Lonely Now"
Dan + Shay - "How Not To"
Boy Howdy - "They Don't Make 'Em Like That Anymore"
Maddie & Tae - "Downside of Growing Up"
Alabama - "Mountain Music"
Restless Heart - "THe Bluest Eyes in Texas"
Yankee Grey - "All Things Considered"
The Forester Sisters - "Just in Case"
Old Dominion - "Nowhere Fast"
The Wilkinsons - "26 Cents"
Little Texas - "Amy's Back in Austin"
Diamond Rio - "Walkin' Away"
Zac Brown Band - "Highway 20 Ride"
Gloriana - "Kissed You (Goodnight)"
Brooks & Dunn - "She's Not the Cheatin' Kind"
SHeDAISY - "Man Goin' Down"
Thompson Square - "Let's Fight"
Confederate Railroad - "Jesus and Mama"
Eli Young Band - "Skeletons"
The Wreckers - "Leave the Pieces"
Sawyer Brown - "The Walk"
Lady Antebellum - "Nothin' Like the First Time" (NOT available on Spotify)
Smithfield - "Hey Whiskey"
Trick Pony - "Pour Me"
The Oak Ridge Boys - "American Made"
Lonestar - "No News"
The Lost Trailers - "How 'Bout You Don't"
Shenandoah - "Two Dozen Roses"
Midland - "Drinkin' Problem"
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band - "I've Been Lookin'"
Montgomery Gentry - "If You Ever Stop Loving Me"
Dixie Chicks - "Once You've Loved Somebody"
Sugarland - "Want To"
Love and Theft - "World Wide Open"
BlackHawk - "I'm Not Strong Enough to Say No"
Rascal Flatts - "Holes"
Sweethearts of the Rodeo - "Since I Found You"
The Band Perry - "Postcard from Paris"
The Henningsens - "American Beautiful"
McBride and the Ride - "Just One Night"
The Kentucky Headhunters - "Dumas Walker"
The Judds - "Have Mercy"
Sons of the Desert - "Hand of Fate"
Emerson Drive - "I Should Be Sleeping"
Brothers Osborne - "It Ain't My Fault"

PLAYLISTS:





Use the first playlist for this rankdown; the second one is just for listening pleasures. :)

---

Participants/Followers:
me
tim
austin
Kanenrá:ke
castleoblivion26
someguy
bboat11
zaclord 🌈
George Strait Junkie
mamasaid
.indulgecountry
g8erboi
fearlessarrow
d3vin44
LBTrocks

Results:
TBA

[austin]

SHeDAISY better be in!

[Cody Wants Out...]

Hey! Let's start with someone who's very popular here!

Little Big Town



I discovered this group roughly eight years ago when The Reason Why was about to be released. I was already familiar with a few of their songs prior to that album, though. It took several months for me to really appreciate how deep their material can be, especially their mid to late 2000s output. As we have experienced over the last several years, "Pontoon" and the Tornado album helped these guys virtually become A-listers so that country radio would become more receptive to their material and, for the most part, they've become more well-known in the country music world and perhaps the music industry in general. They've still had a few hiccups as of late like The Breaker album despite them earning a career-making multi-week #1 hit with "Better Man" and some of the single performances from Tornado and Pain Killer, particularly "Your Side of the Bed".

Now that I've had enough time to get more well-acquainted with these guys, I've come to the conclusion that The Road to Here and A Place to Land are some of their most consistent works to date and saying that I would be in hog heaven if they were to replicate that kind of magic in the current world would be a massive understatement. Note that I haven't really listened to their debut album yet, but I think I'll be fairly impressed with it once I find the time to listen to it.

Most of us have griped about the decisions made in regards to their most recent album The Breaker. Although I agree whole-heartedly with y'all, I'd also like to add that A Place to Land could've made them nearly as big as the Rascal Flatts were in their heyday had better single choices been made. One of my absolute favorite songs on this album that I could listen to over and over again and never tire of it (which I could actually for well over half of that album) is the nearly five-minute long "That's Where I'll Be", which I've chosen for this rankdown. I also considered "Mean Streak" from The Road to Here, "Tumble and Fall" from Pain Killer, "Can't Go Back" from Torndao, and "Night On Our Side" from The Breaker.

[Cody Wants Out...]

And now, a blast from the past!

Highway 101



This was actually a more recent discovery for me, but so far, I've really been diggin' their sound. The lead singer from this group is also featured in tim 's 80s Ladies rankdown (which needs more lists btw!). I don't quite know as much about these guys as I do LBT (and a few others you'll see later), but I think they'll be in my music collection pretty soon.

The song featured in the 80s Ladies rankdown is their near chart-topper "Whiskey If You Were a Woman" from 1987. For this rankdown, three of their songs clicked with me the most: "Who's Lonely Now", "The Bed You Made For Me", and "Bing Bang Boom". The latter, which served as the title track and lead single from their fourth studio album, was the first song of theirs to not feature Paulette Carlson on lead vocals; instead, a young and chipper Nikki Nelson took over the reins on lead for Bing Bang Boom and The Frontier. Ultimately, I chose the cross-decade final #1 "Who's Lonely Now", which served as the last country #1 of the 80s and first #1 of the 90s. Who knows when that'll happen again?

[Cody Wants Out...]

The very first duo of this rankdown that is quickly becoming one of my favorites is...

Dan + Shay



Okay, so these guys have been around for a while. I will admit that I shrugged them off at first, but I will admit to liking their debut single "19 You + Me" quite a bit. Earlier this year, I found some time to listen to both of their albums and I was fairly impressed with them. They got bunches of potential to go pretty far imo. Although there were 'slim pickins' on my end (despite me finding "I Heard Goodbye" tear-jerking), I decided to go ahead and give 'em some love by reviving their most recent #1 hit from 2017 "How Not To" for a second rankdown:



P.S. Let me know if you'd like to be tagged for each reveal!

[castleoblivion26]

tag me for each reveal please! Love the choices so far

[Deleted]

This is a great idea. I'll consider doing it depending on what groups are in there. (LBT is already a good choice but I hope to see other groups like Lady Antebellum and Dixie Chicks in here, I know the country posters aren't fans of FGL lol)

[Cody Wants Out...]

Alright, so...

I've covered music from multiple decades, namely the 80s, 00s, and 10s; however, I've failed to name a group that was popular during the 90s. I'll fulfill this goal of mine in the next few minutes! Hang on to your hats/wigs/etc.!

[Cody Wants Out...]

Boy Howdy



Known by many of us as a songwriter for most of Rascal Flatts' biggest hits (namely "What Hurts the Most", "These Days" and "My Wish") plus Tim McGraw's "The Cowboy in Me", Keith Anderson's "Every Time I Hear Your Name", and the more recent collab between Keith Urban and Eric Church "Raise 'Em Up", Jeffrey Steele served as the lead singer for the short-lived group Boy Howdy. They were able to sustain very little success only sending two singles to the top 5 of the country charts in 1994 with "She'd Give Anything" and the almost chart-topper "They Don't Make 'Em Like That Anymore", along with the top 15 hit "A Cowboy's Born with a Broken Heart" from their debut album Welcome to Howdywood.

It took me quite a while to recognize who sang "She'd Give Anything" as I had the melody stuck in my head for years upon years upon years. As I started to compile my list for '94, I didn't take much meaning to the name Boy Howdy until I heard SGA and TDMELTA. At that moment, I internally shook my head at me shaking these guys off as those two songs were a big part of my childhood. In fact, I was finishing up Pre-Kindergarden when those songs were out!

I love both of their top 5 hits quite a lot, but I ultimately decided on "They Don't Make 'Em Like That Anymore" to be in this rankdown. Be on the lookout for it, plus "She'd Give Anything", in the '94 Country RD coming some time later this year!



castleoblivion26

[castleoblivion26]

I LOVE "She'd Give Anything" so excited to see them in this. Hopefully I like this one as much (there is a good chance I already know it without knowing it by name).

[Cody Wants Out...]

And now...another first!

The very first female country group of this rankdown will be revealed shortly!

[Cody Wants Out...]

Maddie & Tae



Lemme tell ya right now that These. Girls. Are. EVERYTHING!!!

They broke out not too long ago with their not-so-filtered opinion on the bro-country movement via "Girl in a Country Song", which was their first and only #1 to date. Fortunately, they were able to secure another top 10 hit with the follow-up "Fly". On the other hand, their other singles "Shut Up and Fish" and "Sierra" didn't do all that great on the charts, fizzling out before the top 20 for the former and barely making the charts for the latter. Although there may have been better and more single choices they could've went with, moving on to another album may be the best thing for these young women so they can start fresh with a new era which will hopefully be better-received.

Although we just did a rankdown on their debut album Start Here not too long ago, I figured that they deserved the spotlight again.

Choosing a song for them was pretty tough, but it all came down to the semi-controversial "Shut Up and Fish" (based on the YT music vid comments being disabled), and the album tracks "Waitin' on a Plane" (such a missed opportunity to be a single imo) and "Downside of Growing Up". For the sake of aiming to have a variety of sounds in this rankdown, I went with "Downside of Growing Up".



castleoblivion26

[tim]

Tag me for the reveals as well so I can follow along!

[bboat11]

Oh wow, I had never even heard of Boy Howdy, but listening to it now, this song is a JAM!


Cody Wants Out... out of curiosity, how long is this rankdown going to be?

[Cody Wants Out...]

Jun 8, 2018 1:06:16 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

Cody Wants Out... out of curiosity, how long is this rankdown going to be?

954215891234098 songs...

loljk...my final total is 45...and I even missed someone! Maybe I can make it 46?

[austin]

Looking up and see someone missing

[austin]

I am just kidding with you btw Cody Wants Out...

[Cody Wants Out...]

They're coming I promise austin! In fact, there's quite a few girl groups in here too! The one I forgot was a duo from this decade btw.

[castleoblivion26]

I love Maddie and Tae. Unfortunately the song you chose was one of my least favorites from the album if I'm remembering correctly. Maybe it'll grow on me more listening to it again.

Cannot wait to see what song from SHeDAISY you pick.

[Cody Wants Out...]

If memory serves me correctly, I believe I did a rankdown on these guys not too long ago?

Alabama



This was my mom's absolute favorite group when she was growing up and I ended up growing to love them a lot myself!

There had so many great songs for me to choose from, this was probably one of, if not the toughest to choose out of them all. "Take Me Down" was a newer discovery for me as I still hear it a bunch on Prime Country out of their crossover hits. "Forty Hour Week (For a Livin')" clicked with me pretty much instantly with the message and the creativity used in the music. "Give Me One More Shot" is still fantastic to this day imo; the '95 Country RD is gonna be a doozy once it comes around. I also adore the stripped-down environment and simplicity in the lyrics of "High Cotton". Last but not least, I ended up choosing "Mountain Music" for this rankdown because of that iconic intro makes me wanna bob that head all. day. long.



castleoblivion26 tim

[Cody Wants Out...]

Restless Heart



I see y'all hatin' on these guys out there

Maybe y'all will take more to their earlier stuff? I'd personally recommend "I'll Still Be Loving You" (their first crossover), "Fast Movin' Train", "When She Cries", and especially "The Bluest Eyes in Texas", which is what I chose for this rankdown. I mean, these guys are also the real deal imo.



castleoblivion26 tim

Let me know if you'd like to be tagged for each reveal!

[Cody Wants Out...]

Another very short-lived group...

Yankee Grey



Y'all may or may not know this, but what the heck happened to Tim Hunt and the rest of these guys? Read about Tim going through some vocal issues, but they faded away real fast after their first and only top 10 hit "All Things Considered", which is what I choose for this rankdown. Their follow-up top 15 "Another Nine Minutes" is also pretty cool imo.



castleoblivion26 tim

Let me know if you'd like to be tagged for each reveal!

[castleoblivion26]

Yankee Grey! I love "All Things Considered"!

[Cody Wants Out...]

Here's another blast from the past...plus me taking a page out of tim 's playbook from his 80s Ladies RD (have you submitted yet?)...

The Forester Sisters



My oh my, these ladies are divine! Harmonies as smooth as butter and I bet they're great people behind those pretty faces of theirs also. ;)

tim used their very first #1 single "I Fell in Love Again Last Night", which I like a good bit, but I found a couple other songs from the I like even better! Their follow-up "Just in Case", which also went to #1, and "Too Much is Not Enough", which was not only a big hit for them but also a big hit for The Bellamy Brothers as they joined forces to create this 80s jam! For the sake of this rankdown though, I chose "Just in Case". Enjoy!



castleoblivion26 tim

Let me know if you'd like to be tagged for each reveal!

[Cody Wants Out...]

*insertrecordscratchingsoundhere*

I think...I'm starting to develop a soft spot for these guys...

Old Dominion



Okay...so lemme explain.

I didn't think their breakthrough single "Break Up With Him" was that bad despite me reading plenty of posts in its respective single thread stating the contrary. No, it wasn't a masterpiece, but I think it was pretty enjoyable and I can kinda relate to it a bit.

I also really liked the vibe of their most recent hit "Written in the Sand" despite the background music being similar to Justin Bieber's "Love Yourself"; then again, quite a few country singles released around that time has that same kind of background music.

Another song that grabbed me after a few listens on The Highway was an album track from their debut album Meat and Candy called "Nowhere Fast". Definitely a missed opportunity imo and they may have seen some crossover success as well, but I guess they were ready to release new music at the time.

In the end, I had to include "Nowhere Fast" because I really liked the laid-back vibe and I think the lyrics are kinda sweet. I also wanted to include more modern-day country songs just to spice things up ya know.



castleoblivion26 tim

Let me know if you'd like to be tagged during each reveal!

[Cody Wants Out...]

Who's ready to see some more groups from the 90s?!?

[Cody Wants Out...]

A recent rediscovery from castleoblivion26's '98 Country RD led me to include...

The Wilkinsons



I'm also gonna include some groups that I see myself growing to love later on for this rankdown. "26 Cents" was a radio staple back in the latter half of 1998, becoming the first of a pair of #1s on the Canadian Country Charts while peaking at #3 here in the US. Their second chart-topper in Canada, "Fly (The Angel Song)", only peaked at #15 in the US about six months later. "26 Cents" will be the song used for this rankdown:



castleoblivion26 tim

Let me know if you'd like to be tagged for each reveal!

[Cody Wants Out...]

Little Texas



These guys have been a big part of my childhood and seeing them get tanked in the '92 country RD so hurt me really bad.

Their debut single "Some Guys Have All the Love" was fantastic, "What Might Have Been" is a great crossover staple to look back on imo, "God Blessed Texas" is also a popular radio staple that's still pretty relevant to this day, and "Amy's Back in Austin" is perfect. Very low burn rate imo, and one of my go-to examples for 90s country.

Y'all better treat 'em right this time...



castleoblivion26 tim

Let me know if you'd like to be tagged for each reveal!

[Cody Wants Out...]

Diamond Rio



These guys were pretty darn iconic during the 90s and some of the 2000s, but I believe that their 90s material is remembered the most, ranging from their fantastic debut single "Meet in the Middle" to one of their more under-stated gems like "You're Gone". They seemed a whole lot bigger than the number of #1 hits they got suggests imo. They've gotten five #1's, with most of them in the early 2000s, including one of my favorites "One More Day". For some odd reason, mose of their top fives hits felt a whole lot bigger, but that's probably because my radio stations played the heck out of those. If you told me that songs like "Love a Little Stronger", "Walkin' Away", and "Unbelieveable" missed the penthouse, I would think you were crazy!

I will admit that "Unbelieveable" does have some nonsensical words in there, but it's so much fun! Guilty pleasure or not, it's a jam! For this rankdown, I chose one of their bigger hits from the mid-90s called "Walkin' Away". Be on the lookout for it in tim's '96 Country RD plus "Love a Little Stronger" when the '94 Country RD comes around!



castleoblivion26 tim

Let me know if you'd like to be tagged for each reveal!

[castleoblivion26]

love the inclusion of The Wilkinsons. Was hoping you would include them but wasn't sure if they would make the cut. "26 Cents" is such an incredible song and they sing it really well. Hope it does well here.

Also love the choice for Diamond Rio. "Walkin' Away" has always been a favorite.