The Countdown Begins!

It's finally time! As promised, today's entry marks the beginning on my countdown of the 505 best country singles of the 90's! I decided to bump it up 5 extra songs just in the case that I missed something while making my list!

Originally, I intended for this list to be in order from my favorite to least favorite of the songs I chose.  However, after months of attempting to find an order than I felt content with, I decided that instead, I would choose 10 songs a week at random and post them. I think this will also allow me to bring everyone a more solid list each week, featuring a mix big hits and more obscure songs.

Before we start, here are the rules I gave myself when picking songs:

1.They must have been a single released to radio. If this rule wasn't set into place, the list would only have room for Garth, Alan Jackson, George Strait and Brooks & Dunn. As great as that would be, that's not the idea here!

2. All songs must have been released to radio between January of 1990 and December of 1999. Obviously. Some songs may have been released on earlier or later albums, but as long as they hit the airwaves between the dates, they are fair game.


So, we might as well dive right in and get this list going! Please comment below! Let me know what songs you remember, love or hate, never heard of, whatever it is! Don't forget to follow the blog and find me on Twitter!

BORN Country's Top 505 Country Singles Of the 1990's!!!

505. Diamond Rio - This Romeo Ain't Got Julie Yet
Album: Close To The Edge
Year: 1993

The video for this song by one of the 90's greatest country bands has got it all. Huge feathered hair, key-tars, sparkly clothing, etc. "Romeo" reached #13 on the Billboard Country Charts.



504. John Anderson - I Fell In The Water
Album: Solid Ground
Year: 1993

John Anderson, probably best known for his huge success with "Swingin'" in 1982, found a touch of radio success in the early 90's. While "Water" climbed up to #13 on the Billboard Country charts, Anderson was only able to pass that point again 2 more times in his long career.



503. Alan Jackson - There Goes
Album: Everything I Love
Year: 1997

I'll throw this out here: Alan Jackson is my all-time favorite artist of any genre. You will be seeing a lot of his songs on this list. "There Goes" THAT. 



502. David Kersh - If I Never Stop Loving You
Album: If I Never Stop Loving You
Year: 1997

This is a perfect example of "How did this guy not blow up?!" I think this is such a solid song and is s strong representation of what radio country should sound like. Unfortunately, after this single hit #3 on the Billboard Chart, Kersh never broke the Top 20 again despite being active in the industry until 2005.



501. Tim McGraw - Can't Be Really Gone
Album: All I Want
Year: 1995

Slowing it down a bit, we come up on one of the MEGA stars of country music. Although McGraw hasn't been doing much for me with his output over the last few years, his 2014 duet with wife Faith Hill, "Meanwhile Back At Mama's" was easily one of the best songs of the year. "Gone" peaked at #2 on the Billboard Charts.



500. Faith Hill - This Kiss
Album: Faith
Year: 1998

Speaking of Faith Hill, why not? The best memory that I have connected to this song, is when my dear friend Laurel sang it at the 8th grade talent show waaay back in 1998. While there was not instrumental version available and you could barely hear her singing along, it may be the only time I've ever experienced Laurel singing along to a country song, ha! "Kiss" reached #1 on the Country Charts and even hitting the Top 10 on the Hot 100 Chart, covering all genres. The video though... Real weird.



499. Mark Collie - Even The Man In The Moon Is Crying
Album: Mark Collie
Year: 1992

I'll admit, that I don't know much of Mark Collie's career, almost at all. Despite still being active in the country music industry, this was one of only two singles of his that hit the Top 10 on the Billboard Country Chart. I remember hearing this song on my AM/FM alarm clock at night, fairly often, but that is the extent of his career that I am familiar with.



498. Joe Diffie - Texas Sized Heartache
Album: Greatest Hits
Year: 1998

Man, what a talent. While Joe Diffie was huge in 90's, he should've been even bigger and still huge today. No, he's older and he doesn't LOOK like the guys who survived into present day country music like McGraw and Chesney, but he sure deserves more credit than mention in a Jason Aldean track. I thought for sure that Aldean's "1994" would blast Diffie back into the spotlight, as least for one single, but, nothin. Amy and I did get to see Diffie perform with Mark Chestnutt in late 2014, and he was awesome! Great to see these guys still chugging along despite getting no love from country radio.



497. Billy Ray Cyrus - Busy Man
Album: Shot Full Of Love
Year: 1998

Okay, I have a theory about Billy Ray's career, but I'm not going to talk about that quite yet. I believe the guy had some strong talent and got swallowed by his own success. We'll touch base on this later.



496. George Strait - If I Know Me
Album: Chill Of An Early Fall
Year: 1991

King George. While Alan Jackson is indeed my all-time favorite, George Strait has hands down shown the strongest longevity in country music possibly in the history of the genre. Strait has always been on the radio, and along with his newer recordings, he is one of the very, very few artists who still has his older catalogue titles getting airtime. Legendary.




Well, there we have it! 10 songs down and 495 left to go! The list will continue next Sunday. Please, please comment below, follow the Blog here on Blogger. Share iwasBORNcountry.blogspot.com on Twitter and Facebook! Let me know below what you like and dislike about the list!

I can't wait for feedback! Thanks for reading! Another general blog will be coming in a couple days! Thanks!

-Arthur Born
Twitter: @arthurborn
Instagram: @arthur214