For the first time since the 1960's thread, we spotlight an entire decade instead of half of one, as was the case in the 1980's where, it seemed, every week there was a different #1 on the charts. But effective with the Jan. 20, 1990 issue of Billboard, the methodology in compiling the C&W charts was changed so that it reflected airplay only, from lists compiled by Nielsen. This ensured that, for the first time since the 1970's, country songs had longer durations at the top than had been the case over the last decade. It would come to be reflected in the title of this chart, which after the Feb. 17 issue became Hot Country Singles And Tracks. Now for the music scene. The switchover from the old perennials, some dating back to the 1950's, to the "new guard" that began assembling over the prior decade, was virtually complete by this point. In 1990 alone, we saw first #1's from the likes of Lorrie Morgan and Travis Tritt. Those like George Strait who had #1's in the past, now had individual numbers that had much longer stays, the equivalent of a run at the top switching from passing-by truck stops to full-fledged hotel suites. (Meanwhile, acts like George Jones who were once mainstays of the top - or at least the Top 10 - could no longer even get arrested on the chart.) After a breather, we come forth with the first "new" #1 of the new year and new decade.
Okay, now we begin with the first topper of a new decade . . . "It Ain't Nothin' " by Keith Whitley (#1 for 1 week - January 13, 1990) Wikipedia entry - his fifth and final #1, and second posthumous topper. Also, the last week the country chart was compiled under the old system which led to the chart being a revolving door of #1's practically each week for the last few years. After the next topper, with few exceptions, they won't be coming as fast and furious as they had been.
Thanks for showing the 45 labels. On the pop side, 45s were becoming harder to find as we began the '90s, but on the country side just about every major hit was still released on 7-inch - and would be for quite a while yet.
Around this time I was working in a small record shop that catered to jukebox owners. We were importing quite a bit from Canada on several oldies and got jukebox and promo copies for recent country(which was the majority of our customers). Capitol/Liberty let it all hang out with white labels that stated For Jukeboxes Only. We sold a lot of those. My favorite was G Brooks live versions of The Thunder Rolls(With the last verse) backed with Friend In Low Places both from the live This Is Garth Brooks TV special. Always wish the whole show had been issued, but these two were special and this was the only way to get them. We sold a lot of them and I still have mine.
I'm going to appreciate this thread. I started to get into country mid nineties. I'm pretty sure this will help me to find new gems. Thanks.
Now the new era dawns in chart compilation, with this being the first . . . "Nobody's Home" by Clint Black (#1 for 3 weeks - January 20-February 3, 1990) Wikipedia entry
Though this one stayed at the top only a week, it would be a trifle from this point on compared with the wild and crazy turnovers of the prior decade . . . "Southern Star" by Alabama (#1 for 1 week - February 24, 1990) Wikipedia entry
I've noticed that many Alabama albums on Spotify have replaced the Confederate flag with the Alabama state flag.
I ended up with a couple of sizable boxes of various 45s a couple years ago, and there were A LOT of those white label Capitol ones in there. Never seen or heard of that Garth one though!
A footnote: Billboard did some test charts using the new system before publishing its first Broadcast Data Systems chart. When it printed a BDS-based chart for the first time, it included in the "last week" column the positions not of the prior published chart, but of the prior week's test chart. The song that was #1 the week before the new charts became official was a song that never officially hit #1 -- "My Arms Stay Open All Night" by Tanya Tucker: It peaked at #2 on the published charts.
As I'd said . . . that final #1 of Ronnie Milsap's from 1989 had a five weeks' duration on the test chart, and only one on the published chart. It was similar to when, on 11 June 1988, Melody Maker in the UK began publishing the MRIB "Network Top 50" chart - they carried the prior week's MRIB #1 rather than Melody Maker's own from its last independently-compiled chart published on the 4th. I presume, starting the next week (18 June), NME did the same, bypassing their own 11 June chart for the "Last Week" column. I think that Garth number is a future topper here though. 'Tis why I never say anything about that far ahead.
I think everyone knows that one is coming. But not this particular single. AFAIK it did not chart. We haven't quite got to the label change for Capitol and elimination of LPs and singles. That's coming soon.
I started listening to country music in a big way in 1992. My gateway drug was a song that will be coming up soon, as it hit #1 in 1990; I saw the video on CMT when that channel was basically MTV Country, and I was both moved and impressed. Most of the songs that hit the top before 1992 were still in recurrent rotation, so I still recall hearing them on the radio. I also started listening to country as a way to keep collecting 45s. It wasn't until later in the 1990s that a few more #1 hits than usual weren't issued as 45s, though I think we'll find one as soon as 1990 that is promo-only and one in 1992 that doesn't exist. I'll try to take part here more often than in other country #1 threads.
Exactly what I was talking about. Country was one of the last putting out 45s. Like I said we imported a lot of Canadian 45s for our customers.
This is the golden era for country hits for me…I go back to the 1990-1995 era of country more so than almost any genre. Keep ‘em coming!
Now for the next one up . . . "On Second Thought" by Eddie Rabbitt (#1 for 2 weeks - February 17-24, 1990) Wikipedia entry - the last time he'll ever make the top o' the charts. - CORRECTION: The prior #1 by Alabama, its run at the top was for Feb. 10.
I am surprised by how many singles were actually released on Jimmy Bowen's Universal label. How long did it actually operate before Bowen took the job at Capitol Nashville and dissolved the label? I know he took several acts with him to Capitol, including Glen Campbell and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Did Rabbit go too? The Dirt Band's Circle Be Unbroken III was released on Universal(I have the rare LP box), and Campbell's Gone Gone Gone was released on Universal while it's album Walking In The Sun came out on Liberty. Edit: I just checked and yes the Rabbit album came out on Liberty
According to the listings at 45cat, Jimmy Bowen's Universal label had three singles as part of MCA's regular numbering system before it was assigned a new series starting with UVL-66000. The last number appears to be UVL-66033, so it made it through 37 singles in all. Every Universal artist was reassigned to Capitol Nashville, with the possible exception of Carl Perkins (yes, that Carl Perkins) and a couple guest artists who appeared on the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's Will the Circle Be Unbroken Volume Two album. Most of them were not on the new label very long. When Universal's artist roster was switched to Capitol, a couple of its current singles were re-assigned to Capitol with new catalog numbers. According to the February 24, 1990 Billboard country chart, one of the weeks when "On Second Thought" was #1, it had a catalog number of Capitol B-44527. I can find no evidence that this reissue exists. It was on my want list for several years until I found old store stock of Universal UVL-66025 (the original). Meanwhile, Eddy Raven's then-current single, "Sooner or Later" (Universal UVL-66029), was reassigned to Capitol B-44528, and that one does exist. Also reassigned to Capitol was "Go Down Swingin'" by Wild Rose (Universal UVL-66033, the last numbered 45 on the label), which came out on Capitol B-44529.
And as we go on . . . "No Matter How High" by the Oak Ridge Boys (#1 for 1 week - March 3, 1990) Wikipedia entry - yet another once-hot country act says goodbye to the top o' the charts, this being their 17th time at the summit.
Every five #1s or so, I'm going to say a bit about each, based on memories and what else I find interesting. "It Ain't Nothin'" is one I don't recall hearing on the radio in 1992 and immediately thereafter. Several of Keith Whitley's earlier chart-toppers were still in recurrent rotation, most notably "I'm No Stranger to the Rain" and "When You Say Nothing at All." Nice song, though. Had he lived, I think he would have continued to be huge for a few more years, like Randy Travis and George Strait. "Nobody's Home" was a song I heard often in '92 and beyond, along with Clint Black's earlier "A Better Man." Of course, he continued to have hits throughout the 1990s, some of which hit #1. Some of you may know that, since 2002, I have been making a series of mix CDs that I call A Few of My Favorite Things. They contain from 20 to 24 songs each, always last at least 79 minutes, and never contain the same artist twice on the same disc. As of today, I am up to 77 volumes, and I'm not done yet. (I've also done 22 volumes of Christmas music in a separate series.) Country music of all eras is represented, mixed in with pop, rock, R&B/soul, and even a little jazz. I mention this because I've used a few #1 country hits of the 1990s, and I plan to identify them as I go along. "Nobody's Home" is one of them. It's on A Few of My Favorite Things, Volume 16, track 19. Plenty of Alabama's 1980s hits were regularly played when I first got into country music, but "Southern Star" already had passed into obscurity. It's decent enough, but not distinctive. As mentioned, "On Second Thought" was Eddie Rabbitt's final #1 hit. I probably hadn't heard this in 25 years or more until I played it recently. It is jarring to hear Rabbitt with a New Traditionalist backing track, considering that in the late 1970s and early 1980s, he was one of the foremost singers of pop-country. I can't decide if it works or not. "No Matter How High" was still getting radio play in 1992. I remember that the 45 was somewhat tough to find because a lot of jukeboxes and mobile DJs still used it. I also find it interesting that one of the song's co-writers is Joey Scarbury of "The Theme from 'The Greatest American Hero' (Believe It or Not)" fame. This is another decent song. This turned out to be from the Oak Ridge Boys' final album for MCA, which they had been with since 1979, when ABC Records, their prior secular label, was folded into MCA. They moved on to RCA, for which they would have only one more Top 10 hit, "Lucky Moon" (#6 in 1991).
The next one up . . . "Chains" by Patty Loveless (#1 for 1 week - March 10, 1990) Wikipedia entry - as you can see, not a cover of The Cookies' hit from 1962 that The Beatles covered early on in their career.
Now for a breakthrough . . . "Hard Rock Bottom Of Your Heart" by Randy Travis (#1 for 4 weeks - March 17-April 7, 1990) Wikipedia entry - the first time a song sat atop the country chart for that length of time since Waylon & Willie's "Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys" way back in 1978.
I honestly don't know the answer to this question, as most of my country collection consists of 45s: Do the various "greatest hits" collections of these artists -- I'll use Randy Travis as an example, because we're here -- actually contain the single versions of the hits, rather than the album versions? Note that the label of "Hard Rock Bottom of Your Heart" states "(Remix)" under the time. The promo 7" and promo CD single also have this remix on it. In looking at YouTube, some of the posted versions are longer than others, which, at least in the case of this song, makes me think that at least some of Travis' hits collections have the remix, albeit faded later than the actual 45 (the "Ooh" vocals at the end are already gone by the second time they are sung on the single, whereas the posted "single remix" CD versions fade out after the fourth time). As one who doesn't know the song inside and out, it's hard for me to tell the difference other than that early fade. My best guess is that certain instruments are mixed lower on the radio version and others are mixed higher. Any input?
