Summer Song Summary

(Today's word will be in red and bold.)


In July I had two posts listing my top ten current songs I'd been hearing on the radio.  At the time I wrote about my hopes and predictions of how each song would fare against other tunes being played.

Now that summer's over, it's time to revisit the music and see how each artist did in the heat of the moment.  As with the other posts, I'll list each performer alphabetically.

For those wanting to hear these songs, here's the links to the two previous posts:

 http://kuplramblings.blogspot.com/2012/07/five-of-my-ten-favorite-current-country.html

http://kuplramblings.blogspot.com/2012/07/five-of-my-ten-favorite-current-country_05.htm

Aaron Lewis debuted "Endless Summer" just before the season got into full swing.  This is a great song, and I thought for sure it would be one of this year's summer anthems.  Unfortunately, Lewis never made it past the overnight rotation.

At the time I wrote the previous post I said that there was no doubt Carrie Underwood's "Blown Away" would be a hit; I was right.  What I wondered about more was whether or not this song would stay one of my favorites; or be played so much I'd be sick of it.

The song has been in heavy rotation all summer; I'm happy to say though, I've yet to tire of hearing it.

 Chris Young had been on a hot streak of  four #1 singles when "Neon" was released.  It's such a cool tune, I thought for sure Chris would be scoring his fifth #1.  Sadly, this song never made it very far out of the overnight rotation.  Once in a while it could be heard at other times of the day, but rarely.

Craig Morgan's "Corn Star" was probably the shortest lived single of the summer.  The song was a quirky, tongue in cheek tune filled with puns.  I liked the song, though I wondered if it would wear thin with time.  I never really got the chance to find out.  The song was rarely played; and almost as soon as it hit the airwaves, it was pulled, and Craig's current single "More Trucks Than Cars" was released to radio.

Of my top ten summer songs, David Nail's "The Sound of a Million Dreams" tied with another tune as my very favorite.

I'm not really a fan of David Nail, however this song had me from the first time I heard it.  I was just sure this would be his biggest hit yet; I was wrong.  Sadly, this tune was yet another that didn't make it too far from overnight plays.  Sometimes I wonder how such great music can fail so much at radio.

Due West had a couple of songs on the radio with their old record label.  Since then, the band has changed labels and released a new single to radio, "Things You Can't Do In A Car".

Though this song is still only being played during the wee hours of the morning, it's at least still getting airplay. I'm still holding hope it will catch on and be played more in the coming days and weeks.

The Eli Young Band had just come off their #1 single, "Crazy Girl" when their current single, "Even If It Breaks Your Heart" was released.  I predicted at the time that the band had another hit with this song; and I was actually right about this one.  "Even If It Breaks Your Heart" is the Eli Young Band's second consecutive #1 song on the Billboard Country charts.

George Strait is known inside and outside of country music as "King George". Over the span of his career, Strait has had fifty-nine #1 songs.  There's nothing he touches that doesn't turn to gold; except "Drinkin' Man".

This is one of my favorite George Strait songs of all time; yet somehow it never made if very far from overnight status.  I honestly can't remember the last time George Strait didn't have a hit, until now.  Another great song that never got the chance at seeing the light of day.

Gwen Sebastian is best known for her stint on "The Voice" as part of Team Blake.  Since that time, Gwen has been on tour, and has also done back up for Blake during his tour.

Gwen's first radio single is, "Met Him In A Motel Room".  The song is slightly complicated, and really needs to be listened to for the full impact.  So far this song hasn't made it past KUPL's overnights, though it is getting good rotation during that time.

The final song on my list is the one that's tied with David Nail's tune as one of my favorites; Phil Vassar's "Don't Miss Your Life".

I've always felt  Phil Vassar is one of the most underrated, singer/songwriters in the business; "Don't Miss Your Life", is more proof of that.  Arguably one of the best songs released to radio, Phil hasn't been getting the airplay he deserves; yet, the song hasn't faded away totally.  Just about the time I think it's going to silently fade away, I'll hear it again on the overnight show.  I'm still holding hope that if it hangs on a bit longer, it will catch on enough to make it into other radio time slots; it definitely deserves to be heard by more listeners.

And there you have it, a recap of what I've been hearing on the radio this past season.  Now that fall is here, I'm wondering what new tunes are on the horizon.  I guess time will tell.

Five of My Ten Favorite Current Country Songs

(Today's word will be in red and bold.)


I've come to the conclusion that I'm one of those music lovers who falls between the cracks.  I like listening to the radio, so I'm not unaware of what current songs are hits.  On the other hand, a lot of my favorite songs tend to be ones that haven't really made it on the charts yet, and sometimes never make it far.

When I really thought about it, my ten current favorite country songs fall into this same pattern.  It has me interested to see how they're going to play out over the next few weeks and months.  Rather than rank them from one to ten however, I've decided to list my current favorites in alphabetical order, starting with Aaron Lewis.

With his second single, "Endless Summer", Lewis seems to have this year's perfect summer anthem for listeners.  So far though, I've really only heard the song in the wee hours of the morning.  I'm hoping it takes off though, because it really is a cool song.

To be honest, I'm not always a fan of Carrie Underwood.  It's not that I don't like her songs; I just get tired of the repetition of them on the radio.  So far I've only heard Underwood's latest single, (the title track to her latest CD), "Blown Away", a couple times, again in the late night/early morning hours.  So far it's a favorite with me; only time will tell if I grow tired of it or not.

Chris Young's current single, "Neon", has been getting more airplay than the previous two listings; however, it still hasn't been played so much that I'm tired of it yet.  Not sure if Chris will score a #1 with the song though. Doesn't matter to me though, it's still one of my favorite new singles.

Continuing the list alphabetically, the next artist up is Craig Morgan.  Morgan's follow up to "This Ole Boy", is the quirky "Corn Star".  It's the type of song that catches one's attention, because of the tongue in cheek lyrics and play on words.  "Corn Star" is the type of song that makes me smile, because I love puns and the like.  However, as with Carrie Underwood's song, time will tell if I grow weary of this tune or not.

Rounding out the first five of my current favorite country songs is, "The Sound of a Million Dreams", by David Nail.

I'm not really a fan of Nail's; his songs are okay, I've just overheard them for the most part.  "The Sound of a Million Dreams", strikes a chord with me though.  As I wrote in an earlier post, though the song sounds nothing like Billy Joel's "Piano Man", that's the tune I think of when I hear this single.  It's one I really hope to hear more of on the radio.  It would be a shame for it to not be a hit, in my opinion.

I'll end this post for now, and write about my other five favorite songs in my post for Thursday.

David Nail--"The Sound of a Million Dreams"

(Today's word will be in red, and bold.)


Sometimes a song comes along, and for whatever reason, it just strikes a chord in a person.  That's what happened the first time I heard David Nail's "The Sound of a Million Dreams".

The first time I heard the song, it brought to mind Billy Joel's "Piano Man".  Though the subject of each is completely different, I think it was the piano playing that had me comparing Nail's song with Billy Joel's.

That comparison had me really listening to Nail's song, to see how much it was like the other tune.  The cool part is, as stated earlier, the songs aren't anything alike.  Joel's tune is about being a piano player in a bar, and observing the different patrons that come and go.

Nail's song seems a bit simpler, about love lost, and growing up; yet still manages to capture the listener with it's message.  Nail's delivery of this tune is intense, and the passion of the lyrics shine through.

If you haven't heard David Nail's new single yet, give it a listen and see what you think of his latest offering.