Huey Lewis & The News "But It's Alright"

Just a year after charting "It's Alright", Huey Lewis & The News followed that up with "But It's Alright". Both songs came from their Four Chords and Several Years Ago album loaded with '50s and '60s R&B covers.

Bonnie Raitt "You"

Fun Fact: 

Bonnie Raitt only cracked the Top 40 in the UK once and she did it with her longing tune, "You", in 1994. Barely a blip on the radar in the United States, "You" peaked at #15 on the Adult Contemporary Chart.

Michael English "Your Love Amazes Me"

You really can't be a successful Christian music artist when you're cheating on your wife and impregnate your mistress. Singer Michael English learned that unfortunate lesson in 1994. English just finished his tour with the Christian rock group Last Call when news broke that he got the lead singer (who was also married) pregnant. Even after English publicly apologized, his record company dumped him and Christian radio stations dropped his music. He even returned the Dove Awards he won (which can be likened to the Grammy Awards for Christian music). Two years after hitting rock bottom, English remade the country ballad "Your Love Amazes Me" from John Berry and turned it into a Top 10 Adult Contemporary hit. Coincidentally, the song was a hit at the same time English's personal and professional life fell off the tracks. Two years later, the Christian music community welcomed English back.

Karla Bonoff "Standing Right Next to Me"

The generation that grew up during the 1990s lost one of their former teenage heartthrobs last month: Luke Perry. While he's best known as Dylan McKay in Beverly Hills, 90210, Perry exited the teenage soap after five seasons to take on more grown-up roles in films (Perry returned to 90210 for the show's final two seasons). The year before leaving 90210, Perry starred as rodeo legend Lane Frost in the film 8 Seconds. While not a hit at the box office, the film's soundtrack gave us the Adult Contemporary hit "Standing Right Next to Me" from singer/songwriter Karla Bonoff.

Gin Blossums "Allison Road"

It was the closest thing to an arranged marriage. My friend Matt's family was very close with another family who had a daughter named Allison. The two families joked (but were also quite serious) that it would be great if Matt and Allison married. For a while, the pair appeared headed that way. Despite living in different towns and attending different schools, Matt and Allison dated one another for quite some time in high school. All the while, I never met her. I heard about her, but never actually saw her. Oh, I should also share that Allison's last name is also the name of a fruit -- so, let's call her Allison Strawberry (yes, it's that ridiculous.) Because she had a made-up sounding name coupled with never meeting her, I believed she was Matt's female version of Joe Glass (a la The Brady Bunch). Finally, during our sophomore year of high school, Matt attended homecoming with Allison Strawberry, and I finally met her. She was a short brunette who was sweet as can be...so much so that I felt guilty for thinking she didn't exist.

Matt constantly invited me to see a band whose members were friends of Allison. The band struggled to find a name that fit and then one night the guys backed their car out of the driveway at Allison's parent's house. Unfortunately for the Strawberry family, the guys knocked over Allison's mailbox. On the positive side, the guys found a name for their band "Allison's Mailbox". Much like the mailbox, Matt and Allison's relationship crashed and burned in the weeks leading up to high school graduation. Thinking it was for the best, Matt broke things off with Allison in the basement of a church. When Matt shared the story, Allison's sadness was overshadowed by one key detail. During his "I think we should break up now and enjoy our last summer before college" speech, Matt struggled to hold in a fart. When he couldn't take the pain (of the fart) any longer, he pushed in a metal chair hoping the noise would overpower the sound of his flatulence. Spoiler alert: it didn't. With tears running down Allison's face, she looked back at Matt, shook her head, and walked away. Also, Allison's Mailbox did not change their name to Allison's Tears or Matt's Gas...

Steve Perry "Missing You"

The end of the year signifies a look back -- typically of those we lost during the year. That aside, let's recognize who we gained in 2018. In this case, we re-gained Steve Perry. Following a decade-plus as a successful solo artist, Perry re-joined Journey in the mid-1990s. Just as Journey was ready to set sail and tour again, Perry withdrew from the band for health reasons. After putting their comeback tour on hold for nearly two years, the band replaced him. It wasn't until 2014 when he took the stage with the Eels for his first time performing since 1995. He sat out performing during Journey's 2017 Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame induction out of respect to the band's new singer. In October 2018, Perry released Traces -- a solo album that Adult Contemporary radio stations embraced. For that, we welcome back Steve Perry.

Kenny G "Winter Wonderland"

Advertisers usually just add the sound of jingling bells to their commercials during the holiday season to give it that Christmas-y feel. In the case of the home improvement store Menards, they swap out their "Save big money at Menards" jingle with a holiday-themed "Warm seasons greetings to you all from Menards". The commercial always puts a smile on my face...unless you hear it in July. This happened once when I produced a morning show. For whatever reason, an old holiday-themed Menards commercial accidentally was scheduled and aired during a particularly warm summer day causing the morning show to go on the air and laugh about it. Our sales and commercial department, however, did not find the humor. Meetings were held. Policies were implemented. More meetings were held to make sure this never happened again. As far as I'm concerned, it was probably the best free press Menards could've ever wanted.

Anita Baker "Body & Soul"

When you use your voice for a living, you naturally become a germaphobe. Think about it: a bunch of people touch and use the same equipment every day. Now, add someone who's suffering from the plague. Before long, it's like a third grade classroom where little Ricky passed his nasty cold to the entire staff and now everyone's voice sounds like hell. To combat this, most radio station on-air studios are home to copious amounts of Clorox Wipes and disinfectant spray. I've worked with a couple folks who even took it a step further: whenever one of the other DJs was sick, they'd wear rubber gloves during their shifts.

The Eagles "Get Over It"

Taking personal responsibility is not something most folks do. This theme resonated with Don Henley who (along with Glenn Frey) turned their rage into "Get Over It" -- a song that became The Eagles' first hit in nearly 15 years. "Get Over It" put the rock band back on the radio (and well as the road) again in support of their Hell Freezes Over tour.

Gin Blossums "Found Out About You"

I first remember hearing the Gin Blossums during Spring Break 1994. Their song, "Found Out About You", was all over the radio that week I spent in Florida. Never mind that the song was originally recorded five years prior for the group's debut album Dusted, the Gin Blossums also included it on their second album, New Miserable Experience. The song was the album's fifth single and went on to be a Top 10 hit on the Alternative, Mainstream Hot 100 and Rock Charts.

Counting Crows "Mr. Jones"

So many albums from my formidable high school years turn 25 this year. One such is August & Everything After from Counting Crows. The album introduced the world to "Mr. Jones" late in 1993. The angst-filled alternative song is all about the internal struggles of band's lead singer, Adam Duritz, who just wanted to believe that if he was a big star...girls would like him. Despite being the band's biggest hit and signature song, nowadays Duritz rarely performs the song at his concerts.

Tom Petty "You Don't Know How It Feels"

During a rainy summer night last year my phone buzzed with a text from my friend Allison. She asked what I was doing. "Nothing," I responded. "Great, then get your ass to Wrigley Field. We're going to the Tom Petty show," she quickly shot back. Allison didn't have tickets to the concert, but instead planned to hear the show from our friend's Wrigleyville rooftop. "You're going," she quickly responded before I could drop my excuse for not wanting to go.

As I boarded the CTA train 45 minutes later, the rain fell heavier and faster. This didn't help my cause as I already didn't want to go, but there was no turning back That stormy evening, Petty sounded sharp as I stood under an umbrella on a rooftop deck less than a block from where Petty performed on Wrigley's soggy outfield grass. A couple months after Petty's Wrigley show, he was dead. The former gravedigger turned rock legend died from cardiac arrest, and all I could think about was how glad I was for Allison's text urging me out of my comfort zone.

Sheryl Crow - "All I Wanna Do"

Before striking gold with "All I Wanna Do", Sheryl Crow appeared on the final episode of the failed musical police-drama television show Cop Rock. 

Buckshot LeFonque "Some Cow Fonque"

Morning radio shows all use music beds to brand themselves. A music bed ultimately is vocal-less background music to talk over. I would bet that most mid-1990s morning producers spun the song "Some Cow Fonque" while the wacky morning host riffed on the day's topics. The funky hip-hop jazz tune comes from Buckshot LeFonque (pronounced "luh funk") which is the brainchild of Branson Marsalis. His 1994 song made it on the R&B charts and also became commonplace as a music bed on morning radio shows.

Ace of Base "Living in Danger"

My phone rings late one Friday night.

"Hello?"

"Hey, buddy, I'm in a pinch here and need to get out of town. Can you cover my on-air shift?"

"Jack, it's 10:30pm and you want me to cover your 5:00am shift?!?"

"I wouldn't ask if it wasn't an emergency."

"Why do you have to leave town?

"(silence) Hey, pal, I wouldn't ask if it wasn't an emergency."

"Alright. I'll cover it."

Months later, Jack disappeared for another weekend "getaway", but this time he never returned...

Melissa Etheridge "Come to My Window"

The success of "Come to My Window" surprised even Melissa Etheridge. She originally did not want to include the song that went on to become her signature tune on her Yes I Am album. Much like the album's title, the song alluded to Etheridge's sexuality.

Luther Vandross & Mariah Carey "Endless Love"

Thirteen years after Lionel Richie and Diana Ross teamed up for the wildly popular ballad "Endless Love", Luther Vandross and Mariah Carey did the same. The love song came from Vandross' Songs album which contained covers of vintage R&B tunes.

Bon Jovi "Always"

While most high school students spent their free time breaking into their parent's liquor cabinet my friend John and I hopped trains. Yep. We would climb aboard boxcars of the local freight train on the rickety old tracks near our houses and ride it nearly three-miles to the next town. The train didn't move fast (10 MPH at most) and didn't do much other than drop off a string of cars at a Ford plant and then return with the previous day's cars that were now empty. The short line railroad proved to be a big part of my youth as I spent many nights on those tracks during some trying times.

One particular winter night in 1994, John and I climbed aboard the train and traveled the three-mile stretch before jumping off the train just before it entered the Ford warehouse. The warehouse sat among a busy street, but with little else except industrial buildings nearby. The list of places for John and I to go while waiting for the train to make its return trip was short. This night, we decided to walk to the nearby gas station and came across a girl standing in the phone booth talking to her friend (remember, it was 1994). She seemed nervous as we approached, opened the door and asked if we needed to use the phone. John and I politely declined. Then the girl struck up a conversation. Somehow we got on the topic that we were train hopping and killing time until the train headed back to our town. Then she immediately passed the phone over to us. Her friend on the phone begged us not to train hop, but we assured her that we were pros at this and there was nothing to worry about. "Fine," she said, "But promise me that you'll call me when you guys get home." John and I looked at each other, agreed to check-in and got her phone number. About an hour later, we placed the phone call and relayed that we safely made it home. From there, the three of us formed a friendship via the telephone and spent many nights on three-way phone calls with them.

Neither John nor I ever knew what she looked like and the same held true for her -- we only knew each other from our voices. She was a couple years younger and went to a different school. Despite this, we used to talk late into the night to her on the phone--sometimes her friend whose nickname was "Birdy" also joined the conversation. I don't know what ever happened to her or Birdy as John and I eventually moved out of our parent's respective houses and went to college. Despite both John and I having a steel trap for a memory, we both can't remember her name. However, I do recall that she was a big fan of the song "Always" from Bon Jovi. Everything else is a blur.

Celine Dion "Think Twice"

If you need further proof of the varying tastes between US and UK audiences: aside from Celine Dion's signature ballad "My Heart Will Go On", Celine's biggest hit in the UK is the 1994 song "Think Twice". Barely a blip on the radar in the United States, the song peaked on the Hot 100 at a lackluster #95 and only managed to hit #21 on the Adult Contemporary Chart. By comparison, it went to be one of the UK's biggest selling records and topped the charts in the UK for seven weeks and even longer (9 weeks) in Ireland .

Enigma "Return to Innocence"

While most teenagers spent their high school Spring break getting drunk on the beaches of south Florida, I spent my high school Spring breaks staying with my grandparents in Bradenton, Florida. Bradenton is about an hour south of Tampa and neighbors the city of Sarasota.  Since my parents didn't have cable at home during my high school years, I got my fill of music videos from MTV and VH-1 during Spring break in between countless trips to the pool and The Outback Steakhouse. One of my many memories from Spring Break 1994 featured "Return to Innocence" from the New Age band Enigma on heavy rotation at VH-1. The relaxing tune seemed destined to be the soundtrack at massage parlors, but instead managed to receive heavy radio airplay across multiple formats. The ear worm turned into a hit song in over a dozen countries.