Kenny Rogers - "Lady"

Did you know this about Kenny Rogers' hit song "Lady"?

• The tune was written by Lionel Ritchie
• While it was a country song, it sat atop the Adult Contemporary Chart for three weeks
• It somehow charted at #42 on the Top Black Singles Chart
• Yes, there was something known as the "Top Black Singles Chart" in 1980 (!)
• It was the last country song to top the Hot 100 Chart until Taylor Swift's "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" in 2012
• My brother performed this song at a karaoke bar in Epcot Center during a particular hot summer day in August 1990

Kool & The Gang - "Cherish"

Crickets chirping and birds singing are just a couple examples of nature turning up in songs that hit #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart, but let's not forget about a wave crashing ashore.  Thanks to the first three seconds of Kool & The Gang's "Cherish", that sound effect also found its way on the radio in 1985 and also found its way to #1.

Tiffany - "Could've Been"

The 1980s was the decade that gave the pop music world female artists with one name such as Madonna, Cher, and Tiffany.  Tiffany's debut album Tiffany gave us the #1 hits "I Think We're Alone Now" and "Could've Been".  At just 16 years old, Tiffany became the youngest artist to have back-to-back #1 songs.  What were you doing at age 16?

Chicago - "Here In My Heart"

Chicago's final hurrah on the Adult Contemporary charts happened in 1997 with "Here in My Heart", their last song to top the chart.  That same week, Peter Cetera's "Do You Love Me That Much" stalled at #10 on the AC Chart.  Rest assured, Cetera was pissed.

Madonna - "Live to Tell"

Q: What was Madonna's first #1 song on the Adult Contemporary chart?
A: "Live to Tell" (duh!)

Mariah Carey - "Can't Let Go"

Mariah Carey's first five singles went straight to the #1 spot.  That streak ended when Mariah's sixth single "Can't Let Go" went to #2 in 1992, but couldn't find the strength to knock Color Me Badd's "All 4 Love" out of the top spot.  I'll also remember working my first radio internship and the Programming Assistant (named Sabrina) running to the radio and cranking this song when it played.

Journey - "When You Love A Woman"

Can you name Journey's highest charting Adult Contemporary song?  "Open Arms"?  Nope.  "Fathfully"?  Try again.  "Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin'"?  (Insert buzzer sound effect here.)  The highest charting AC song for Journey was the 1996 ballad "When You Love A Woman".  It featured a return to vintage Journey form: plenty of percussion, guitar, and the unmistakable vocals of Steve Perry.

Savage Garden - "To The Moon and Back"

Sometimes a record label tries more than once to make a song a hit.  In the case of Savage Garden, the group had a hit with "I Want You" in 1996.  The follow-up single was "To The Moon and Back" which barely cracked the Pop Charts.  Then came the band's huge "Truly, Madly, Deeply" which at the time (1997) set the record for the longest-running #1 AC hit.  So, the record company re-released "To The Moon and Back" in 1998 and the song proved to be more successful than before.