Countdown Part XIV: Songs # 341-350

It's a rainy day here in Ohio, and boy do the crops need it! Today is also Sunday, which means ints time for another entry in our 90's country music countdown! I know that last week I said that we would be likely moving to our new DOT COM site before this week's blog came to be, however, we have recently been in contact with a professional web designer who is going to help make our website far better than I could do myself. We will be meeting in mid-June, so hopefully our official home will follow shortly after!

BORN Country's 505 Favorite Country Singles of the 90's!

350. Lee Roy Parnell - Tender Moment
Album: Love Without Mercy
Year: 1993

Country/blues guitar master, Lee Roy Parnell, released 4 singles to country radio without touching down in the Top 40 chart. Parnell's album "Love Without Mercy" brought much more luck to the table. Three of the 4 singles, including "Tender Moment," reached the Top 10 on the Hot Country Songs chart.



349. Diamond Rio - Night Is Fallin' On My Heart
Album: Love A Little Stronger
Year: 1994

Diamond Rio's "Love A Little Stronger" is another album I remember buying through the BMG music service in the mid-ninties. "Night" is hands down one of the easiest Diamond Rio songs to sing-a-long to. The group recently released a live CD/DVD set, but haven't put out new material since 2009. Let's keep our fingers crossed that there is a new project in the works!



348. Garth Brooks - Longneck Bottle
Album: Sevens
Year: 1997

The first radio single from Garth's 1997 album, "Sevens", was written by long time friend of Brooks, Steve Wariner, who has also been featured in our countdown.



347. BlackHawk - Like There Ain't No Yesterday
Album: Strong Enough
Year: 1995

I've always considered BlackHawk to have one of the most distinguishable sounds in country music. Back in high school, there is no doubt that BlackHawk's "Greatest Hits" CD was one of the most played discs in my ol' 1992 Ford Explorer. I am absolutely thrilled that I will be seeing these guys perform for the second time, this summer. They sound exactly the same live, as they do on disc!



346. Lee Ann Womack - I'll Think Of A Reason Later
Album: Some Things I Know
Year: 1998

Making her debut on our 90's countdown, Lee Ann Womack! I'll say it right now, the fact that Womack has not blown up again on country music after the release of her latest album, "The Way I'm Livin'", is an absolute CRIME. If you haven't heard it, BUY it now. Womack is probably best known for her 2000 hit "I Hope You Dance", but she has so much more to offer, and her strongest material came AFTER her "Greatest Hits" album!



345. Dwight Yoakam - I Ain't That Lonely Yet
Album: This Time
Year: 1993

That thing I said about BlackHawk having an easily distinguishable sound? Enter Dwight Yoakam. No one in the past 25 years, sounded like Dwight in the mainstream.  "Lonely" is about that place in which one has to convince themselves that while heartbroken, going BACK to the one who caused the pain in the first case, won't solve your problem. Dwight reached #2 on the Hot Country Songs chart, in 1993.



344. Rhett Akins - That Ain't My Truck
Album: A Thousand Memories
Year: 1995

What a solid country song. Despite only hitting the Top 10 twice, throughout the 90's, Thomas Rhett's  daddy charted eleven singles on the Hot Country Songs chart. I think it pretty wild, the difference between Akins Sr.'s country music and his son's. I've been a fan of the majority of Jr.'s work so far (with the exception of his current single, "Crash And Burn"), but its almost like two different worlds!



343. Vince Gill - What The Cowgirls Do
Album: When Love Finds You
Year: 1994

We haven't heard from Vince Gill for awhile on our list! While mostly known for slower songs of heartbreak, the occasional Vince Gill, honky tonk rock song would sneak through the cracks on country radio. This song, along with the video, is just plain fun. Gill too "Cowgirls" to #2 on the Hot Country Songs chart.



342. Dolly Parton - Romeo (Feat. Billy Ray Cyrus, Tanya Tucker, Pam Tillis, Kathy Mattea & Mary Chapin Carpenter 
Album: Slow Dancing With The Moon
Year: 1993

This may be the best worst song on our countdown, so prepare yourself. Throughout 1992, Billy Ray and Achy Breaky Heart were the hottest things going in country music. While Dolly is one of country music's all-time greats, "Romeo" makes our list almost purely due to it's ability to crack me up every time I hear Cyrus join in with "Wontcha beeeee my Juliet?!" Tears, I tell ya.



341. Neal McCoy - For A Change
Album: You Gotta Love That
Year: 1994

Man, Neal McCoy is hands down one of my all-time favorite artists. Every single radio hit was fantastic, his live show is full of energy and he was a blast to meet in person. "Change" is from the album that I had him sign for me back in February. He was surprised to see someone carrying around a CD from 1995, and referred to it as "Old shit". Ha! If you get a chance, do yourself a favor and see Neal in concert. You will not be let down! "For A Change" hit #3 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart.




We are getting closer and closer to our midway point on the countdown! Have there been any artists that you expected to see, but haven't been represented yet? There are still so many more songs to come! Share with us your thoughts, memories or anything else that 90's country music brings to mind! We love feedback!

Don't forget to visit us on Facebook! Make sure you "Like" and share our page with friends!

Thanks for reading!
-Arthur

Facebook: BORN Country Blog
Twitter: @BORNCountryBlog
E-Mail: BORNCoutryBlog@gmail.com

Countdown Part X: Songs #386-395

Welcome to the 10th edition of our countdown blog! This week's entry includes a few fresh faces to the list, along with some tried and true. I can't believe we are already so far into the list! The last few weeks have been flying by! Don't worry, though, we still have a LOT of 90's country favorites to cover in the months to come!

A few notes before we get into the countdown:

- Last week, I mentioned that I am working on a blog cover stats over the first 100 songs on the list. It's still coming, but proving to be a little more challenging than I expected! Hopefully within this week it will be posted!

- New Music Tuesday: Jason Micahel Carroll, Shelby Lynne, and Chris Stapleton all have new music coming out this Tuesday. I have had the Stapleton vinyl preordered for weeks, and hope to get ahold of Shelby and Jason's music throughout the week. What are you planning on picking up?

- The BORN Country Facebook page is still booming! We are closing in on 800 "likes" and will hopefully hit that goal this weekend. As always, we appreciate your sharing of our page with your family, friends and anyone else that would love the music we are showcasing here in the blog! When we reach the 900 "like" level on Facebook, I will post another extended countdown blog with more music! Thanks again!

BORN Country's 505 Favorite Country Singles Of The 90's!!!

395. Steve Wariner - Burnin' The Roadhouse Down
Album: Burnin' The Roadhouse Down
Year: 1998

Despite being in the country music industry since the 70's "Roadhouse" is the first song that I REALLY remember hearing by Steve Wariner. In doing research for this week's blog, I couldn't believe to find that he had released 46 singles PRIOR to this one! Holy cow! While I like to believe my country music knowledge runs pretty deep (At least from the 90's and on) I definitely have some more digging to do on Steve Wariner! Heck, he even recorded the theme song for "Who's The Boss?" for seasons running between 1986 and 1990! Who knew?! ...Oh yeah, Garth Brooks is on the track too.



394. Faith Hill - Piece Of My Heart
Album: Take Me As I Am
Year: 1994

Fitting that this song lands on this week's portion of our countdown, as just this past Thursday, Faith shared on Facebook, that it had been 21 years since this song hit #1 on the Hot Country Chart. Some of you will of course also recognize this song as recorded by Big Brother & The Holding Company back in the late 60's.



393. Clint Black - Wherever You Go
Album: One Emotion
Year: 1995

Clint Black continued his rise to the top of the country music world with this 1995 hit. "Wherever You Go" reached #3 on the Hot Country chart. Black had 3 more singles to come from his album "One Emotion" which would be followed up by his first greatest hits compilation.



392. Brad Paisley - Who Needs Pictures
Album: Who Needs Pictures
Year: 1999

This is where it all started! Brad Paisley released his debut single in February of 1999. While "Pictures" would peak at #12, the follow-up single, "He Didn't Have To Be" would be Brad's first of many #1 singles to come!



391. Travis Tritt - Anymore
Album: It's All About To Change
Year: 1991

The video for this Travis Tritt single was the first in the "Mac Singleton" trilogy. "Tell Me I Was Dreaming" which was featured earlier in the list was part 2, followed by "If I Lost You" in 1998. CMT ranked this video #64 in their list of 100 Greatest Videos of All-Time in 2004.



390. Brooks & Dunn - That Ain't No Way To Go
Album: Hard Workin' Man
Year: 1994

I absolutely love the first 3 B&D albums. I recall ordering all three of them through the BMG music club. "That Ain't No Way To Go" was the final of five singles from the 2nd album. This song marked Brooks & Dunn's sixth #1 hit.



389. Michael Peterson - By The Book
Album: Michael Peterson
Year: 1998

Michael Peterson released 5 Country Top 40 singles from his debut album. With the amount of new artists coming into the exploding country genre in the late 90's, I'd say that's pretty impressive! While "By The Book" only peaked at #19 on the Hot Country chart, it feels to me like it was played quite a bit during it's radio run. Peterson's radio play tenure was unfortunately quite short, however, he found success in writing for other artists and still performs military benefits today.



388. Daryle Sinlgetary - I Let Her Lie
Album: Daryle Singletary
Year: 1995

Here's another fresh face to our countdown! Daryle Singletary has one of the strongest voices in country music. His first album hit the shelves in 1995 and produced 4 singles, including his highest charting song, "I Let Her Lie" at #2. Singletary was able to climb the charts with a single from his second album, but afterwards found little mainstream success. Daryle continues to produce some fantastic country music, including a duet with a personal favorite of mine, Ashton Shepherd (Buy her music, now!) In fact, Singletary has an album releasing this June, titled "There's Still A Little Country Left." Perhaps a little knock on today's mainstream country? Can't wait to hear it!



387. Diamond Rio - It's All In Your Head
Album: IV
Year: 1996

I had no idea what was going on in this song when I was little. In fact, I suppose it's still up in the air! However, I also remember thinking that the chorus was a blast to sing-a-long to! "We never walked on the moon, and Elvis ain't dead. You ain't going' crazy, it's all in your head." Fantastic! Not only does the music video feature Martin Sheen as the shouting priest, but also a young Melissa McBride, who most of you will know as "Carol" from AMC's "The Walking Dead".



386. Joe Diffie - Bigger Than The Beatles
Album: Life's So Funny
Year: 1995

Easily one of the goofiest singles in Joe Diffie's career, "Beatles" was his final #1 single on the Hot Country chart. I thought for sure that Diffie would get another single charting after Jason Aldean's "1994" hit radio a few years back. I've seen Joe perform acoustic shows twice in the last few years and he still sounds great live. I have plans to finally see hi perform with a full band backing him late this summer. Fingers crossed!




We are 120 songs into the countdown now! Like I stated above, I can't believe how fast this seems to be moving along! Thanks again for reading, and keep an eye out for the special blog I am working on focusing on the stats of the first 100 songs from our list. I think it'll be a pretty fun read!

As always, we appreciate your reading, and hope you will continue to join us on this musical journey down memory lane! Follow along, comment and share with friends!

-Arthur Born
Facebook: BORN Country
Twitter: @BORNCountryBlog
E-Mail: BORNCountryBlog@gmail.com

Countdown Part VIII: Songs #416-435 - HUGE 20 Song Edition!

What a week!!! Since the publishing of last week's countdown blog, the BORN Country Facebook page has grown from 215 "likes" to 400+!!! Thanks to everyone who has shared the page and please do not be afraid to continue to do so!

- This weekend, (4/18/15 to be exact) was Record Store Day. Did anyone go out to support their local record shops? What did you find? I had a pretty successful hunt, myself! I will post pictures of my "treasures" on the Facebook page soon!

- This past Tuesday night, there was a a pretty good lineup on the Grand Ole Opry broadcast. If you haven't downloaded the Opry or WSM650 apps, you absolutely must. Listening to the Opry on Tuesday/Thursday/Friday nights is always a blast. You never know who will show up! This evening, I heard Ray Stevens perform live for the first time ever! His Greatest Hits CD was the first of 2 I owned (along with Garth Brooks - The Hits) when I received my first Stereo/CD player for Christmas 20 years ago!

- Also, this past Tuesday night, 90's country rock mega band, Little Texas streamed a live performance in which they previewed songs from their latest album and also included a few past hits. I would love to see this becoming a trend! The live video feed included a chat window allowing fans to converse during the show. Very cool!

- Sunday night is the live broadcast of the 50th annual ACM Award ceremony. I will be posting a smaller blog with my ACM winner predictions prior to the show. We will also be hosting a live "chat/commentary" on the BORN Country Facebook page throughout the entire show, so please join us! Tell your friends! The show starts at 8PM EST. Hope to see you there!

Now, as promised, since all of you helped the BORN Country page blow far beyond the 300 "Like" goal that I set last week, this week's countdown will include 20 huge country hits from the 90's! I had planned on setting the next goal at 500 "Likes" but we are already on the way! Heck, why not? If we reach 500 by next Sunday, I will do ANOTHER 20 song edition of the countdown!

BORN Country's 505 Favorite Country Singles Of The 90's!!!

435. Alan Jackson - Pop A Top
Album: Under The Influence
Year: 1999

A lot of songs make their way through country music history with a handful of different artists recording them. Alan Jackson may be the king of taking a classic country song, re-recording it, and turning into a smash hit radio single decades after it's original release. Country legend Jim Ed Brown released "Pop A Top" back in 1967, in which it became a #3 hit single on the Billboard country chart. Jackson's cover peaked at #6.



434. Doug Stone - Why Didn't I Think Of That
Album: From The Heart
Year: 1993

Though Stone would continue to reach the Top 10 afterwards, "Why" was his 3rd and final #1 single of the 90's. Doug's last album was released in 2008. He has not charted since the late 90's, but continues to release solid country music.



433. Little Texas - What Might Have Been
Album: Big Time
Year: 1993

One of the most successful songs released by Little Texas, "What Might Have Been" charted at #2 on the Billboard Hot Country Chart. The band recently re-recorded this, along with "God Bless Texas" for the release of their newest studio album, "Young For A Long Time".



432. Martina McBride - Life #9
Album: The Way That I Am
Year: 1994

Last week we saw McBride's first song on our countdown and here comes #2! According to the Wikipedia page, Martina is quoted in saying that she didn't feel like this was her kind of song, in reference to the attitude and and melody. #9 was her fifth overall single released to radio and it peaked at #6 in 1994. Not bad!



431. Vince Gill - Don't Let Our Love Start Slippin' Away
Album: I Still Believe In You
Year: 1992

The video for Gill's 2nd #1 single of the 90's features a handful of country (and otherwise) music icons. Reba, "Little" Jimmy Dickens, Patty Loveless, Lee Roy Parnell, Carl Perkins, Pam Tillis, Leon Russell and more make appearances throughout!



430. Mindy McCready - A Girl's Gotta Do (What A Girl's Gotta Do)
Album: Ten Thousand Angels
Year: 1997

Mindy McCready had a strong entrance into the country music scene. Her first 4 singles performed strongly on the charts, including this single which peaked at #4. Mindy dealt with many personal demons following her country music success, including substance abuse, reality TV, a personal sex tape being released by Vivid Entertainment and more. Sadly, McCready took her own like at the age of 37 in 2013 .



429. Clint Black - The Shoes You're Wearin'
Album: Nothin' But The Taillights
Year: 1998

"Shoes" was the fourth and final single from Clint's "Nothin' But The Taillights" album in 1998. This song which followed the #1 charting title track, also went to the top of the charts. While very possibly Black's strongest album of the 90's, Clint was not done taking singles to the top of the country mountain for the decade just yet...



428. Tracy Byrd - Walkin' To Jerusalem
Album: Love Lessons
Year: 1995

In the mid-late 90's, I was constantly mixing up Tracy Byrd, Tracy Lawrence and Trace Adkins. All 3 were consistently cranking out huge hits. Today, they all sound so differently from each other, so I imagine it was just the names that had me all mixed up! This Tracy BYRD hit charted at #15.



427. John Michael Montgomery - If You've Got Love
Album: Kickin' It Up
Year: 1994

This isn't directly a memory I have of this particular song, but here's a little story. When "I Swear" by Montgomery was climbing the charts, it was huge among my 5th grade classmates. Well... the All-4-One version was huge anyways. I knew the JMM version, haha. Anyhow, I thought that I had brilliant plan in which I could obtain the entire "Kickin' It Up" album by requesting songs at radio and recording them to tape. However, I didn't understand the "radio single: concept, nor did I actually know any other song titles, so I called and asked WOBL 1320AM to play "Kickin' It Up" by JMM. To my surprise, they had never heard of it, because it wasn't sent to them for radio play. Spoiled my plans!



426. George Strait - I Just Want To Dance With You
Album: One Night At A Time
Year: 1998

Like Alan Jackson above, George Strait recorded this song, which was previously written and recorded by John Prine, and took it to #1. Prine released "Dance" on his 1986 album, "German Afternoons".



425. Garth Brooks - Somewhere Other Than The Night
Album: The Chase
Year: 1992

Well isn't this just a star studded list this week?! While "Somewhere" tends to be a lesser celebrated single from early in Garth's career, after 20 weeks on the charts, it became his 10th #1 single on the Billboard Hot Country chart in 1992.

*Unfortunately, as Garth does not allow his music videos to be uploaded on YouTune or likewise, I was unable to find a proper link for this song. My apologies!!!

424. Trisha Yearwood (Featuring Don Henley) - Walkaway Joe
Album: Hearts In Armor
Year: 1992

You know you've had a strong start in your country music career when Don Henley of The Eagles, Emmylou Harris and Raul Malo of the Mavericks want to help you out on your 2nd album! The video for Yearwood's #2 charting song stars a young Matthew McConaughey.



423. Clay Walker - Then What?
Album: Rumor Has It
Year: 1998

Well before Kenny Chesney when "Island Country", there was Clay Walker's "Then What?" This song is an absolute blast to sing along to. I remember receiving the "Rumor Has It" CD from BMG back in the late 90s and just constantly listening to this song. 7th grade me would be so confused by this song not being in the top 10 of this list, ha!



422. Alan Jackson - Gone Crazy
Album: High Mileage
Year: 1999

Well, this is a first so far on our countdown list! Two songs by the same artist on one list! Of course, it's only fitting that this goes to the always incredible, Alan Jackson. Near the time of this album and song release, Jackson had been split from his wife and then reconnected with her after a period of time. It's only fitting that he would write an incredible song about losing love as it was happening to him in real life. "Gone Crazy" peaked at #4 on the Hot Country chart.



421. Shania Twain (Featuring Bryan White) - From This Moment On
Album: Come On Over
Year: 1998

"From This Moment" was a high school dance staple during the early 2000's. I don't imagine that it still is, but I could be very wrong. Originally recorded by a solo Shania, it was decided that this would be best as a duet. Twain's first choice was Sir Elton John, but after being unable to obtain his services, 90's country star, Bryan White stepped up to the plate an nailed it! White is easily another artist that should be getting far more credit than he has, but we'll get to him later...

*The only official video for this song is for the Shania solo recording. Being that the duet is the version I chose for this list, I had to find a fan made video. This is the best I could do!



420. Toby Keith - Getcha Some
Album: Greatest Hits: Volume One
Year: 1998

Not one of Toby's most successfully charting songs, (well, in comparison to most Toby songs at least.) "Getcha Some" peaked at #18 as the lead single from his first Greatest Hits compilation.



419. Sammy Kershaw - Love Of My Life
Album: Labor Of Love
Year: 1997

The video for Sammy's country music hit picks off right where the video for his #5 charting single, "Meant To Be" left us off in 1996. "Love Of My Life" peaked two spots higher at #3 on the Hot Country chart.



418. Tracy Lawrence - Lessons Learned
Album: Lessons Learned
Year: 1999

"Lessons" was the final single released to country radio by Tracy Lawrence in the 90's. Ending the decade on a strong note, Lawrence took the song to #3 on the Hot Country chart. I've got high hopes to finally see Tracy Lawrence perform live this year! I'm looking at you, county fairs!



417. Bryan White - Look At Me Now
Album: Bryan White
Year: 1994

Not necessarily related to this song, but I have a very clear memory of one of my childhood neighbors being so excited that she was going to see Bryan White live! I had no clue who he was at the time, but she had a huge crush on him. I recall her being so thrilled afterwards, because she caught his towel that he threw out into the crowd when the show ended. I remember thinking it was weird that she wanted his sweat, ha! If she reads this, she'll know who she is!



416. Diamond Rio - Bubba Hyde
Album: Love A Little Stronger
Year: 1995

Being in 5th or 6th grade at the time of this Diamond Rio hit's release, I strangely made my the decision that "Bubba Hyde" and the upcoming Eddie Murphy remake of "The Nutty Professor" were somehow related. When the song was NOT included in the movie, I was absolutely dumbfounded by the obvious missed opportunity. What an imagination I had, ha!




Phew! And here we are after a huge 20 song update! We only have 10 songs left to go in the first 100 on the list! We are just flying right through, aren't we? Don't worry, there is so much great country music from the 90's to come! Hopefully, these songs have brought back a few memories, helped you rediscover an artist, or heck, brought something to your attention that is completely new to you!

Once again, don't forget to join us TONIGHT on our Facebook page for a live chat/comment session during the entire run of the ACM Award ceremony. We will be looking forward to everyone's input!

Thanks for reading!
-Arthur


Facebook: BORNCountryBlog
Twitter: @BORNCountryBlog
E-Mail: borncountryblog@gmail.com

Countdown Part VII: Songs #436-445

Welcome!!! I know some of you readers out there have been waiting all day for this post, so I apologize if its a bit later than usual! After celebrating Amy's birthday and our first year together, I seem to be coming down with a bit of a head cold. The Coricidin is kicking in strong, so I'm gonna jump right into the countdown!

Don't forget to visit our Facebook page, follow us on Twitter and share with your friends! Next weekend, we will be hosting a live chat on our FB page during the ACM Awards show, Sunday night!!! Don't miss out!

BORN Country's 505 Favorite Country Singles of the 90's!!!

445. Martina McBride - Independence Day
Album: The Way That I Am
Year: 1994

I may catch a little flack for this song being so low on the list. I've always considered McBride to be one of the biggest names in 90's country music, but despite being one of her most successful songs, "Independence Day" never really grabbed me like it did so many others. Don't get me wrong, as I do think it is one of her best, and I do believe it belongs on this list, just not as high as some of her other songs will be.



444. Ricochet - What Do I Know
Album: Ricochet
Year: 1995

I don't have any trivia to share with this song, so I will try to make another point here. What happened to "bands" in country music? Throughout the 90's we had Ricochet, Little Texas, Diamond Rio, Sawyer Brown, Alabama, Shenandoah, etc. These were acts where the entire band was the main focus. Today, we have mostly solo artists getting credit with a band behind them who most go uncredited. Sure, there are the Love & Thefts, Band Perrys and Thompson Squares, but only the lead 2 or 3 members get the credit. Just a little something that I think about.



443. Joe Diffie - A Night To Remember
Album: A Night To Remember
Year: 1999

"Night" was not only the lead single from his finally album of the 90's, but marked his first and only appearance on Billboard's overall Top 40 chart, peaking at #38. "A Night To Remember" was ranked at #18 for the most played country song of 1999.



442. Diamond Rio - Walkin' Away
Album: IV
Year: 1995

Speaking of great country bands throughout the 90's, Diamond Rio are hands down one of the best! "Walking' Away" was the lead single from the group's 4th studio album. The track reached #2 on the Hot Country Charts.



441. Hal Ketchum - Sure Love
Album: Sure Love
Year: 1992

Hal nearly hit the top the Hot Country Charts a handful of times throughout the 90's In 1998, Ketchum lost function of the left side of his body due to a neurological disorder. After re-teacing himself to walk and play guitar, Ketchum continues his music career, with his most current album having been released in 2008.



440. Andy Griggs - I'll Go Crazy
Album: You Won't Ever Be Lonely
Year: 1999

Griggs took "Crazy" to #10 on the charts in 1999. He would continue to chart 4 more top 10s in the early 2000's. This would be the 2nd and final single released by Griggs in the 90's.



439. Marty Stuart - Burn Me Down
Album: Tempted
Year: 1992

This Stuart hit has always made a link between his own and the music of Elvis Presley in my opinion. Marty has that rockabilly edge that early Elvis showed, and I've always envisioned "The King" performing this track if the writers were around in the beginnings of rock n' roll.



438. John Berry - Standing On The Edge of Goodbye
Album: Standing On The Edge
Year: 1995

"Goodbye" was Berry's 2nd highest ranking songs of not only the 90's, but his career so far. While Berry hasn't charted any singles after 1999, hopefully the nearing (fingers crossed!) revival of more tradition in country music will help him to head towards the top again.



437. Reba McEntire - Till You Love Me
Album: Read My Mind
Year: 1994

If anyone were asked if George Strait had a female equal in country music throughout the 90's, Reba is without a doubt the "Queen" to his "King". Both artists started in the 70's, broke through in the 80's and absolutely exploded through the 90's. Like George, Reba has easily continued with hits into the 2000's and today. Reba is another artist who I didn't ever find a real connection with while growing up on country music, but today, can absolutely respect everything she has done. Heck, even her sitcom "Reba" gets a chuckle out of me here and there when I'm skimming the channels! Ha!



436. Toby Keith - Big Ol' Truck
Album: Boomtown
Year: 1995

Ok, this entry in our countdown has been pretty heavy on the slow stuff, so let's crank it up a bit, shall we? Country music, especially in its modern form is LOADED with songs about trucks and how much guys love them. What we rarely see, are songs about women loving and driving their own "Big Ol' Trucks".  Toby delivers a fun song with an entertaining video for the final single on his album, "Boomtown".  "Truck" would peak at #15. Far from typical Toby success, but a good single, regardless.




Another 10 songs in the can! Again, my apologies for the late post as I deal with this head cold. I haven't decided yet, but next weeks blog MAY be posted on Saturday, due to the ACM Awards show taking place Sunday night. Perhaps you guys can crank up the Facebook page sharing and get us up to 300 by the end of the week! If so, my offer of posting a huge 20 song update is still on the table!

Don't forget to join us, this Sunday, April the 19th on our Facebook page for a live chat/commentary during the ACM Awards! The more the merrier! Invite friends, share and enjoy! Thanks for reading, as always!

-Arthur Born
Facebook.com/BORNCountryBlog
Twitter: @BORNCountryBlog
E-Mail: borncountryblog@gmail.com
Spotify: BORN Country To Go!

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