Live Blogging Country Radio, Part X
Posted by C.M. Wilcox (email) on 2/01/10 • Categorized as Live Blogging
- 10:47 AM: With country’s strong showing at the Grammys last night, it’s conceivable that some will be tuning into a country station for the first time today. In my area, here’s what they’ll hear.
- 10:47 AM: We begin in the thick of Gretchen Wilson’s “Here for the Party.”
- 10:48 AM: It’ll be interesting to see what, if any, kind of a comeback she’ll be able to manage on her own Redneck Records.
- 10:49 AM: Weird thing about Gretchen Wilson songs: it creeps me out that, as she’s singing them, I can often imagine John Rich’s voice superimposed over hers, because of the style of the material.
- 10:49 AM: And that’s disturbing for someone who tries to think of John Rich as little as possible, for the sake of maintaining his own sanity. (That’s me, by the way.)
- 10:50 AM: The party ends abruptly, right into Rascal Flatts’ “Here Comes Goodbye.”
- 10:50 AM: In these wussified heartbreak songs, I can never help feeling that the melodramatic reading might have something to do with why the girl’s leaving.
- 10:51 AM: It’s more of what a woman would want to think a man was feeling, rather than a man’s perspective, you know. He’s probably just worried she’ll take his golf clubs.
- 10:52 AM: Ah, gender stereotypes. Gotta love ‘em.
- 10:54 AM: DJ comes on after song: “That was ‘Here Comes Goodbye,’ by Taylor… no, not Taylor. Rascal Flatts.” See, even he can’t tell the difference. Swift on the brain.
- 10:54 AM: We’re on commercials now.
- 10:55 AM: For approximately 7 minutes.
- 10:55 AM: George Jones is coming to this area!
- 10:55 AM: February 12. Who wants to buy me tickets?
- 10:56 AM: I should see him before he loses even more of his voice. That “Why Baby Why” clip on the Opry Youtube made me a little sad.
- 10:57 AM: Commercial for one-day bathroom remodels. Hmm. If we’re gonna do a remodel, I think I might feel better about one that took more than a day to complete, actually.
- 10:58 AM: Although if they’re coming anyway, might as well have them stay over and do the entire rest of the house on Day 2. Preferably at an impossibly low price.
- 10:58 AM: Commercial for buying cars with bad credit, which you might have to do after your entire house collapses around you.
- 11:00 AM: Unrelated thought: I wonder who Bucky Covington’s mustache idol is. Who set him down that path, you know? There must have been someone. Maybe a cool mustachioed uncle or something.
- 11:00 AM: We might be back to music now.
- 11:01 AM: Yes… and it’s Collin Raye with “Little Red Rodeo.”
- 11:01 AM: It’s weird how they play the same few older songs so often (the subject of an old editorial).
- 11:02 AM: I mean, this didn’t even top the charts. (research) It was #3 thirteen years ago.
- 11:03 AM: Yet there are probably #1s from five years ago you never hear anymore. Probably.
- 11:04 AM: Can’t help but feel it has something to do with Raye and/or Vassar being in league with the devil. Uh, but you didn’t hear that from me, naturally.
- 11:04 AM: Now it’s Alan Jackson with “It’s Just That Way.”
- 11:05 AM: I haven’t seen anyone else mention it, but this reminds me a whole lot of a Don Williams song.
- 11:05 AM: Not a particular one, but just the gentle baritone-y style of a lot of them.
- 11:06 AM: Also, the fact that it’s a little boring. (Apologies to the Don Williams faithful.)
- 11:07 AM: I hope we’re not heading for a time when it’s either this or the goofy ones like “Good Time” from Alan. He’s best in the middle.
- 11:07 AM: Now it’s “Southern Voice” by Will Faulkner… sorry, I mean Tim McGraw.
- 11:08 AM: Can we just not talk about it?
- 11:09 AM: Broken record: They need to release “You Had to Be There” off of his current album.
- 11:11 AM: Ah! “Time Marches On,” a big hit (no pun intended) for Tracy Lawrence.
- 11:12 AM: I wouldn’t mind our imaginary country-unfamiliar Grammy viewer tuning in right about now.
- 11:13 AM: Isn’t this a Bobby Braddock song? I think I remember that.
- 11:13 AM: Ahh. That was much too short.
- 11:14 AM: Probably time for one more song.
- 11:14 AM: Keith Urban and “Til Summer Comes Around”
- 11:15 AM: I haven’t listened to the words of this one very closely yet, so I’ll do that now. Shh.
- 11:16 AM: Urban is a great balladeer, but…
- 11:16 AM: I think “Anything but Mine” is the better summer romance song.
- 11:17 AM: Yeah, that’s right. I just endorsed Chesney.
- 11:17 AM: Time’s up!
- 11:18 AM: All things considered, that wasn’t too terrible. See ya next time.
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I actually heard “‘Til Summer Comes Around” on the radio today and thought it was one of the bright spots on today’s playlist. I agree that “You Had to Be There” would be a great next single; it’s the only track that I latched onto on Tim’s album.
I’m with you on the Alan Jackson song. I don’t hate it, but it’s boring. As for Don Williams, he can be boring too, though there are four or five songs that I really love by him. I do think Jackson improved upon “It Must Be Love” though. Not big on the Urban song either, though it’s the production that I specifically don’t like.
I like Don Williams… just usually a few songs at a time. “Good Ole Boys Like Me” is one of my favorite songs by anyone.
That’s a fantastic song, I agree. “Lord I Hope this Day is good” too.
“Good Ole Boys Like Me” is probably my favorite too, but I can’t help but smile when I hear “If Hollywood Don’t Need You,” if only for the Burt Reynolds mentions.
I don’t know how radio stations actually pick which songs they play and when, but on the non-current songs maybe the DJ’s have control and play their personal favorites. This could explain why the same few older songs get played repeatedly, at least by the same DJ anyway.
“Time Marches On” is spot on for kids who grew up in the 50′s through the 70′s. Sentimental in the right ways without being maudlin like so many country songs. Good stuff.
“Time Marches On” is one of those quirky minor classics.
I really want to like Keith Urban again. Is it new album time yet?
Me too, Dan. He used to be among my favorite contemporary country artists.
He needs to get himself with a new producer. Huff has slowly stripped all the personality out of his recordings over the course of the last two albums. Maybe one of the Franks – Lidell or Rogers?
‘You Had to Be There’ is an incredible McGraw song – and he hasn’t had an incredible song since ‘Live Like … ‘ in ’04.
I would amend that even further and say he hasn’t had a truly incredible single since ‘Angry All The Time’. You could make a case for several of Tim’s singles from that 1998 to 2002 period as being incredible, but he’ been seriously hit and miss for me since then. I think it started with that Dancehall Doctors CD though.
Loved the live blogging as always.