CAR-TUNES SATURDAY

CD SHOWCASE MEMORIES

2 songs from the 2nd hour (double plays, 8p-9p) of my 10/14/1995 college radio show: “1959” & “Seminole Wind”, both by John Anderson. Also featured: a look at the cover of a “WLS Family Album” I found in my grandmother’s (Mom’s Mom) clippings; the booklet celebrates a 100th anniversary for the Chicago AM radio station, started by a department store nicknamed the “World’s Largest Store”….

Even though John Anderson released songs continuously late 1977 to the early 2000s, many consider him to have an original career & a comeback career. This Orlando FL-native singer-songwriter-guitarist enjoyed his 1st success on the charts from early 1980 to late 1986, returning to the top of the charts from late 1991 to early 1995. While I chose to play “1959” & “Seminole Wind” during this radio show, other familiar favorites include: 1981’s “I’m Just An Old Chunk Of Coal” (#4), 1983’s “Swingin’” (#1; CMA’s Single Of The Year), 1983’s “Black Sheep” (#1), 1984-5’s “Eye Of A Hurricane” (#20), 1985-6’s “Down In Tennessee” (#12) {previously featured HERE}, 1991-2’s “Straight Tequila Night” (#1), 1992’s “When It Comes To You” (#3), 1994’s “I Wish I Could Have Been There” (#4) & 1994-5’s “Bend It Until It Breaks” (#3, 3 weeks).

#1 “1959”
After none of his 1st 8 releases entered the Top 12, this song became his 1st Top 10; it debuted 11/22/1980, spent 17 weeks on the country charts & peaked at #7. This single sparked his career’s original success, with 9 of his next 10 releases peaking in the Top 10, including 3 chart toppers, 2 mentioned above plus 1 which spent 2 weeks atop the charts, 1982’s “Wild & Blue”. He hit a bit of a lull in 1985 with a stretch of 5 songs that failed to crack the Top 10, but then notched a #10 tune in 1986’s “Honky Tonk Crowd”. He basically fell out of the Top 20 section of the charts from late 1986 to mid-late 1991….

#2 “Seminole Wind”
When “Straight Tequila Night” hit the airwaves 12/21/1991, he hadn’t had a Top 10 or even a Top 20 tune since 1986. The closest he came to the Top 20 between late 1986 & late 1991 was 1987-8’s “Somewhere Between Ragged & Right”, a duet with Waylon Jennings that peaked at #23. Then, “STN” claimed #1, sparking what most consider to be a renaissance or comeback career for him, with 5 straight Top 10s, culminating with 1993’s “Money In The Bank” (#1). This song, “Seminole Wind”, was the middle song of that stretch of 5, debuting 08/15/1992 & spending 20 weeks on the charts, 2 of those at its peak of #2. Of 7 additional releases between mid 1993 & mid 1995, 3 entered the Top 5 & 2 reached the Top 15. He released 9 more songs after that stretch, but none reached the Top 20.