Sad Day In Country Music History

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a1aara
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Sad Day In Country Music History

Post by a1aara »

Florida Georgia Line's 'Cruise' Sets Record For Longest No. 1 Run On Hot Country Songs

By Wade Jessen, Nashville | August 01, 2013 12:42 PM EDT


Florida Georgia Line sets the all-time record for the most weeks at No. 1 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart, as the duo's "Cruise" notches a 22nd cumulative week at the summit. With its latest week on top, the song passes three other titles that each led for 21 weeks over the chart's 69-year history.

The immense No. 1 run for "Cruise" stems, in part, from the Hot Country Songs chart's change in methodology last fall. It switched from ranking Nielsen BDS-based audience airplay impressions from a core set of terrestrial country radio stations to a hybrid survey. The chart now encompasses paid digital downloads, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and streaming data and an expanded radio panel, according to BDS.

The chart's tabulation methods -- along with, of course, the radically different song styles -- over the eras in which "Cruise" and the three 21-week leaders have dominated is remarkable. Ranked solely by jukebox play at the time, the chart's first 21-week No. 1 belonged to Eddy Arnold, whose "I'll Hold You in My Heart (Till I Can Hold You in My Arms)" hugged the chart's summit for 21 weeks in 1947-48.

Arnold's feat was matched by 21-week command that began in the summer of 1950 by Hank Snow, whose "I'm Moving On" dominated the country Best Sellers chart. (By then, Billboard's country chart methodology incorporated a triad of tallies: Juke Box, Best Sellers, and the radio-based Jockeys chart.) Arnold and Snow were still major forces on those three charts when Webb Pierce's "In the Jailhouse Now" locked up the top spot on Juke Box for 21 weeks beginning in February 1955.

Having spent three weeks at No. 1 last December on the BDS-driven Country Airplay chart, "Cruise" was remixed featuring Nelly, renewing its sales and leading to pop and adult crossover airplay, which has fostered the song's record Hot Country Songs reign. "Cruise" reached No. 7 on Pop Songs; bullets at No. 8 on Adult Pop Songs; and navigates 18-17 on Adult Contemporary.

"Cruise" has sold 5.4 million downloads to date, becoming the third-best-selling country digital track ever, according to SoundScan. Lady Antebellum leads with "Need You Now" (6.2 million), followed by Taylor Swift's "Love Story" (5.6 million). (Due, in part, to its availability before the addition of Nelly, the original version of "Cruise" accounts for 59% of the song's total sales.)

"Cruise" spent five nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 on Hot Country Songs in December/January before dropping to as low as No. 13 in March. Following the release of the Nelly edit and its push to pop and adult radio formats, it's ranked at No. 1 for the last 17 weeks dating to April 20.

Upon the record-breaking achievement of "Cruise" this week, here is an updated look at the titles to spend the most weeks atop Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart, dating to its Jan. 8, 1944, launch:

22 weeks
"Cruise," Florida Georgia Line (2012-13)

21 weeks
"In the Jailhouse Now," Webb Pierce (1955)
"I'm Moving On," Hank Snow (1950-51)
"I'll Hold You in My Heart (Till I Can Hold You in My Arms)," Eddy Arnold (1947-48)

20 weeks
"Crazy Arms," Ray Price (1956)
"I Don't Hurt Anymore," Hank Snow (1954-55)

19 weeks
"Walk On By," Leroy Van Dyke (1961-62)
"Bouquet of Roses," Eddy Arnold (1948-49)

17 weeks
"Heartbreak Hotel," Elvis Presley (1956)
"Slowly," Webb Pierce (1954)
"Slipping Around," Jimmy Wakely & Margaret Whiting (1949-50)
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Re: Sad Day In Country Music History

Post by pupnpony »

that's kind of like saying GreatGrandpa's Model T went so many miles per hour vs a NASCAR racer today.... plus radio people will "adjust" the ratings in a book to whatever they want to sell their clients. Country radio (used to be) the hardest to sell.
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Re: Sad Day In Country Music History

Post by smiller »

It's a good song. I can see why it's been at number one for so long.
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Re: Sad Day In Country Music History

Post by Tiki Torches »

smiller wrote:It's a good song. I can see why it's been at number one for so long.
I don't hear anything even remotely "country" about that song. And no, mentioning Marshall Tucker doesn't count. I'll stick to the new Guy Clark, thank you very much.
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Re: Sad Day In Country Music History

Post by a1aara »

Sad thing is that this will probably get Florida Georgia line in the Country Music Hall of Fame.
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Re: Sad Day In Country Music History

Post by a1aara »

Sad thing is that this will probably get Florida Georgia line in the Country Music Hall of Fame.
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Re: Sad Day In Country Music History

Post by conched »

22 weeks! No 1 last December.

Don't recall ever hearing 'Cruise'.

So much music; so little time.
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Re: Sad Day In Country Music History

Post by Tiki Torches »

conched wrote:22 weeks! No 1 last December.

Don't recall ever hearing 'Cruise'.

So much music; so little time.
The video is below. In all honesty you're not missing anything.

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Re: Sad Day In Country Music History

Post by sonofabeach »

I like the original version of the song. The remix with Nelly, not so much.
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Re: Sad Day In Country Music History

Post by SMLCHNG »

sonofabeach wrote:I like the original version of the song. The remix with Nelly, not so much.
Same here.
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Re: Sad Day In Country Music History

Post by Tiki Torches »

The original version. Again, I'll be sticking to the new Guy Clark.

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Re: Sad Day In Country Music History

Post by SMLCHNG »

Tiki Torches wrote:The original version. Again, I'll be sticking to the new Guy Clark.
And that's ok. :) We all have different musical tastes. :)
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Re: Sad Day In Country Music History

Post by Tiki Torches »

SMLCHNG wrote:
Tiki Torches wrote:The original version. Again, I'll be sticking to the new Guy Clark.
And that's ok. :) We all have different musical tastes. :)
Yes, we do. I just think it's very sad when stuff like this is considered "Country" music. On that topic I just finished watching a very telling interview with Waylon Jennings that was conducted by Bobby Bare on TNN back in the 80's. This was during a time when MTV was still new (a topic that Waylon discusses in the interview) and music itself was in a state of flux due to changes in the industry like MTV. This quote comes from Bobby Bare, "There's no way that it can backwards, you know. We can't go back to good ol' Country music. We can't go back. It has to go forward. So, maybe somebody'll break loose and give it new energy." To that end, in 2013 you have the type of Country music that tops the charts like Florida Georgia Line which is a homogenized, autotuned, sweetened for the masses type of Country and at the other end of the spectrum you have the more genuine type of Country music that is being made by Guy, Steve Earle, Chris Knight, Hayes Carll, Ray Wylie Hubbard, John Prine, etc. Then, like now, that is where my tastes are. It's just very unfortunate that there's evidently no place on commercial Country radio for these type of artists.

This is only a portion of the Waylon interview I mentioned as it's been posted in several parts but it's very well worth watching.

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Re: Sad Day In Country Music History

Post by smiller »

Tiki Torches wrote:
smiller wrote:It's a good song. I can see why it's been at number one for so long.
I don't hear anything even remotely "country" about that song.
Maybe that's why I like it.
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Re: Sad Day In Country Music History

Post by Tiki Torches »

smiller wrote:
Tiki Torches wrote:
smiller wrote:It's a good song. I can see why it's been at number one for so long.
I don't hear anything even remotely "country" about that song.
Maybe that's why I like it.
To my ears, it's songs like "Cruise" that are indicative of just how crappy mainstream country music is these days and which prompts folks like Tom Petty to refer to it as "bad rock with fiddle". Though, in this case that's probably paying that song a compliment.

That said, one of the first country music albums I ever heard that I fell immediately in love with was Honky Tonk Heroes by Waylon Jennings, a record that was considered out of step with country music during that era (early 70's) and in retrospect, was considered light years ahead of it's time for how effectively it merged rock n' roll with country (which most likely had everything to do with Waylon's background as one of Buddy Holly's Crickets). Still, it's closer to country music than "Cruise" is. That song has more in common with pop music than country.
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Re: Sad Day In Country Music History

Post by Rabbitz »

Here in Oz, we have a term for this kind of music:

Hat Music.

It's when performers put a hat on in the video to show they are "country" and to try and break into that market.

A bit like most Nashville acts thanking God - you have to do that regardless of your beliefs to get a go...
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Re: Sad Day In Country Music History

Post by Tiki Torches »

I'm not sure if the saying is still in vogue but there are plenty of so-called "country" artists that get played on mainstream country radio in the U.S. that get referred to as "hat" acts that fit the same description you're referring to.
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Re: Sad Day In Country Music History

Post by LIPH »

Nice article in NY Magazine, of all places, about "the rise of bro-country."
http://www.vulture.com/2013/08/rise-of- ... -line.html
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Re: Sad Day In Country Music History

Post by Tiki Torches »

LIPH wrote:Nice article in NY Magazine, of all places, about "the rise of bro-country."
http://www.vulture.com/2013/08/rise-of- ... -line.html
Funny you should mention that as I recently saw bands like Mumford and Sons, the Avett Brothers and the Lumineers referred to as "bro-grass".
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Re: Sad Day In Country Music History

Post by Tiki Torches »

A Breakdown of the Lyrical Content of Billboard's Top 20 Country Songs
BY CASEY BLACK

Image

Many people in the music business, including myself, take extreme pleasure in complaining about "the state of country music." The usual gripe is that all the songs on the radio sound the same, or that they're all about the same thing. In order to test the latter claim, I looked at the lyrics of the Top 20 Hot Country Songs (according to Billboard on Sept 10, 2013), and I examined the extent to which they are "the same." The results are after the jump. You can judge for yourself.
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