Filed under: Country Music, Flashback Series | Tags: 1998, Brooks & Dunn, Flashback Series, How Long Gone, If You See Her, Steven Goldmann
“How Long Gone” became Brooks & Dunn’s 13th number one US country hit on the Billboard Charts back in 1998. It was their second single off of their ‘98 If You See Heralbum. It followed their smash hit “If You See Him, If You See Her” which featured Reba. The music video was directed by Steven Goldmann. “How Long Gone” can be found on their second greatest hits album.
Filed under: Country Music, Flashback Series | Tags: 2006, A Little Too Late, Flashback Series, Toby Keith
While it may be winging it a little to call this a flashback, but it’s a little hard to believe that 2006 is slowly becoming more retro as we quickly head into the 2010’s.
Back in mid-2006 Toby had a hit with “A Little Too Late” off his White Trash with Money album. The song is about a man addressing his former girlfriend that the couple is through. While the plot has been donemany times before, Toby offers another good piece of music that reminisces on his great 90’s and early 2000’s work. It’s hard to think that he can have a great song like this and then go on to make something as outrageous as his recent single “American Ride”! But I guess you just have to take the good with the bad.
“A Little Too Late” went on to reach #2 in August 2006. The music video is also another treat, the plot is a little grim, that is until the ending offers a pretty good plot twist.
Filed under: Alternative Music, Flashback Series, Uncategorized | Tags: 1989, 1994, Billboard, Fade Into You, Flashback Series, Mazzy Star
Mazzy Star is an alternative pop/rock band that formed in 1989. They enjoyed some mainstream success in 1994 with their single “Fade Into You” which became their only song to top the Billboard Hot 100 chart, with it peaking at #44. Meanwhile it peaked at #3 on Billboard’s Modern Rock Chart.
Filed under: Country Music, Flashback Series | Tags: CMT, CMT Giants, Flashback Series, For My Broken Heart, If I Had Only Known, Reba McEntire, Trisha Yearwood
This was back in November 2006, when Reba was the first to be honored by CMT, on the special CMT Giants. Trisha did a great rendition of this song, off Reba’s 1991 album For My Broken Heart.
Filed under: Country Music, Flashback Series | Tags: 1987, 1991, Flashback Series, God Will, Here's A Quarter(Call Someone Who Cares), Lyle Lovett, Patty Loveless, Up Against My Heart
Lyle Lovett first had a Top 20 hit with this song in 1987. As you’ll see on the video, Patty’s cover of this song became popular when she sang it live before she broke through in the 90’s; And so she put it on her 1991 Up Against My Heart album. A smart choice, considering how well done her rendition of it is.
This makes Travis Tritt’s “Here’s A Quarter(Call Someone Who Cares)” look like nothing after hearing the lyrics in this country kiss-off. Props to Lyle and Patty! (I could’ve just made a really dumb joke about both of their last names and the song, but I figure I’ll spare you the pain.)
Filed under: Country/Pop, Flashback Series | Tags: 1995, 1997, 1999, 2000, A Place In The Sun, Aaron Neville, Billboard Hot 100, Flashback Series, Linda Ronstadt, Please Remember Me, Rodney Crowell, Tim McGraw, Will Jennings
“Please Remember Me” became Tim McGraw’s 9th non-consecutive number one hit and became his highest peaking solo hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1999; where it peaked at #10 on the chart. The song was co-written by Rodney Crowell and Will Jennings. The track was originally recorded by Crowell on his 1995 album Jewel Of The South. Crowell released the song as single in 1995 where it peaked at #69 on the Billboard country charts. Aaron Neville and Linda Ronstadt recorded this song as duet on Aaron’s 1997 album To Make Me Who I Am.
You can find Tim’s cover of “Please Remember Me” on his 1999 album A Place In the Sun and on his first Greatest Hits (my first album I got as a kid!),released in 2000. Although with all those greatest hits albums that have been released in the past year or two I’m sure you can find it on there as well. :D
Filed under: Country Music, Country/Pop, Flashback Series | Tags: 2000, Blue Clear Sky, Blue On Black, Dixie Chicks, Flashback Series, George Strait, I Hope You Dance, Kenny Wayne Shpepard, Lee Ann Womack, Lonestar, No News, There's Your Trouble
“I Hope You Dance” became a crossover hit back in 2000 when it went number one on both the country and adult contemporary charts. The songs success isn’t much of a shocker, given it’s message. This song has had multiple interpretations, whether it be about a mother advising her daughters not to make the same mistakes she did, and sit it out instead of dance or a lover hoping that her loved one will not became bitter after she is gone. Either way you interpret it, the song’s message can be heard loud and clear when she belts out “DANCE!”
Interesting Facts:
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In an interview with Songwriter Universe magazine, Sillers explained that she was going through a painful divorce when she wrote this song. Said Sillers: “For ‘I Hope You Dance,’ I had written the opening line, ‘I hope you never lose your sense of wonder. I had just broken up with someone, going through a brutal divorce. I needed to get away, so I went to a beach on the Florida Gulf Coast. Sitting on the beach and reflecting about the break-up, I felt so small and inconsequential. But out of this difficult time came the inspiration to write ‘I Hope You Dance.’ As I was leaving the beach, I remember thinking that things weren’t really so bad, that I would get through it. That’s when I came up with the line, ‘I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean.’”
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This was written by Tia Sillers and Mark Sanders. Sillers also wrote “There’s Your Trouble” for The Dixie Chicks and “Blue On Black” for Kenny Wayne Shepherd. Sanders has written several Country hits, including “Blue Clear Sky” for George Strait and “No News” for Lonestar.
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This won the Grammy Award for Best Country Song and also the Country Music Award for Song Of The Year.
Filed under: Alternative Music, Flashback Series, Uncategorized | Tags: 1997, 90's, A Few Small Repairs, Adult Contemporary, Billboard, Billboard Hot 100, Billboard Hot 100 Airplay, Flashback Series, Grammys, Grammys 1998, Lilith Fair Concert, Shawn Colvin, Sunny Came Home
Shawn Colvin became a alternative singer-songwriter inspiration with her single “Sunny Came Home”, off of her 1996 album A Few Small Repairs.
This is another one of those songs that takes on many different interpretations.
My interpretation of this, however, is that ‘Sunny’ is a woman who has been emotionally abused by someone, and either a)feels that she either has to kill herself or someone else by burning her or a house down or b) is burning a relationship with someone else, in a metaphor sense.
No matter the interpretation, there is no denying Colvin’s vocals are breathtakingly fresh and even with the dark lyrics, her comforting vocals draw you right back into the song.
Interesting Song Facts:
*It one Song of The Year, and Record Of The Year at the 1998 Grammys.
*The song reached number one on the Billboard Adult Contemporary Chart and Hot 100 Airplay, both for 4 consecutive weeks. It peaked at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 but wasn’t released commercially soon enough to get to #1.
Below is a video of Colvin performing the song live at the famous Lilith Fair concert in the late 90’s.
If you liked the live version check out the studio version by clicking here.
In the comment’s box, feel free to say what your take is on the song.
Filed under: Flashback Series, Pop/Rock Music | Tags: 1995, 1996, Alanis Morissette, Flashback Series, Hand In My Pocket, Ironic, Jagged Little Pill, Top 40 Mainstream Chart, You Oughta Know
Alanis Morissette became a pop/rock icon in 1995 with her album Jagged 
Little Pill, which became the best debut album by a female artist in the U.S. and the 14th best selling album ever.
“Ironic” was released as the 4th single off the album, following up the success of “You Oughta Know” and “Hand In My Pocket”. “Ironic” would go on to be Morissette’s biggest hit in the U.S., becoming her first number one hit on the Top 40 Mainstream Chart.
Interesting Facts:
In 1996, the video won MTV Video Music Awards for Best Female Video, Best Editing, and Best New Artist In A Video.
Alanis has taken many hits from music critics about her take on irony. Years later she wrote about what she thinks about it: “For me the great debate on whether what I was saying in ‘Ironic’ was ironic wasn’t a traumatic debate. I’d always embraced the fact that every once in a while I’d be the malapropism queen. And when Glen and I were writing it, we definitely were not doggedly making sure that everything was technically ironic. It’s a testament to the fact that we didn’t think it was going to be put under the microscope by 30 million people. For me the sweetest moment came in New York when a woman came up to me in a record store and said, ‘So all those things in the ‘Ironic’ aren’t ironic.’ And then she said, ‘And that’s the irony.” I said, ‘Yup.’ To me it’s a real snapshot of a nineteen-year-old’s definition and version of how life worked at the time. All that ‘Ironic’ touches on spawned all my future inquiries into and current understandings of the mysteries of life.”
Filed under: Flashback Series, Pop/Rock Music | Tags: 1996, 1997, Best Female Rock Vocal Performance, Flashback Series, Grammy Awards, Hot 100 Charts, If It Makes You Happy, Sheryl Crow
In 1996, Sheryl Crow released self-titled sophomore album and her first 
debut single was the song “If It Makes You Happy”. The single went on to be a Top 10 hit on the Hot 100 Charts, and as time has gone on become one of Crow’s signature songs. For me, the song is about how the person did something that they thought would always fulfill their happiness but in the end doesn’t. I would go into further depth but I’d like to know what how other viewers of the site interpret it.
Some Facts About The Song
* The track won Best Female Rock Vocal Performance at the 1997 Grammy Awards.
* According to Crow, the inspiration for the song was her feelings after the massive success of her first album, as her record label and and the media put pressure on her to follow it up.
Below is the link to the video:
