Sheryl Crow "A Change Would Do You Good"

That moment when your husband calls out from the other room, "Honey, your old boss is here with a mattress." Let's back up a bit to explain. Imagine talking your way into a radio job with someone who really didn't want to hire you. If anything, he hired you because you wore him down. The two of you work together for a year or two and eventually he gets fired. You then assume your bosses old job and life carries on for both of you. A little while later, a sales person gets you an endorsement deal with one of the local bedding stores. The deal is simple: you record a bunch of commercials endorsing the bed and they'll pay you by giving you the bed you're endorsing. The client even arranged for a sleep expert to stop by your house and make sure the bed is to your liking. Guess who that sleep expert is? That's right -- your old boss. He's now standing in your bedroom with your husband to make sure your new bed is to your liking. Awkward? Yep.

Bee Gees "Still Waters (Run Deep)"

The last time The Bee Gees turned up on the Hot 100 Chart happened in 1997. Their single "Still Waters (Run Deep)" peaked at #57 that fall. Take a listen. By today's standards, the song sounds pretty good!

Toni Braxton "I Don't Want To"

R. Kelly is responsible for everything in Toni Braxton's successful ballad "I Don't Want To". While Braxton handled lead vocals, R. Kelly handled background vocals, instruments and mixing.

The Verve "Bittersweet Symphony"

The year 1997 saw popular music from The Verve Pipe and The Verve. "Freshmen" was the alt-rock single from The Verve while "Bittersweet Symphony" charted from The Verve. "Freshmen" originally was recorded in 1992 but got a fresh coat of paint in 1997. Meanwhile The Verve had to pass all royalties from "Bittersweet Symphony" to The Rolling Stones' Mick Jagger and Keith Richards for sampling an orchestral version of their song "The Last Time". The Verve didn't ask permission and then had to pay after the fact by adding Jagger and Ashcroft as writers of the song. Nearly 22 years later, Mick and Keith stopped payment and Richard Ashcroft of The Verve is finally getting paid.

Toni Braxton "How Could An Angel Break My Heart?"

The dynamic duo of Kenny G and Babyface made appearances in two hit songs from 1997: Toni Braxton's somber "How Could An Angel Break My Heart?" featured Kenny's saxophone and Babyface's soothing voice while and Babyface's "Every Time I Close My Eyes" also included the saxy sounds of Kenny G (accompanied by Mariah Carey).

Peter Cetera "Baby, What A Big Surprise"

How much bad blood exists between Peter Cetera and his former Chicago band mates? Plenty. Cetera refused to take part in Chicago's Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in 2017. Rewind twenty years prior to that for more drama. When putting together an album of his greatest solo hits, You're the Inspiration: A Collection, Cetera had to remake a few of his Chicago tunes because his former colleagues wouldn't release the original master recordings to him. One such tune is "Baby, What A Big Surprise" which got a fresh coat of paint in 1997.

Kenny Loggins "I Am Not Hiding"

My nephew Carsen is four years old and begins each day by asking if he has to go to school. On days when he doesn't have school, he gets quite upset and demands that someone still take him. This eagerness ran counter to my early days of kindergarten. Back then, I attended afternoon kindergarten meaning that I had to find my own way to school, but rode the bus home. My mom carpooled with our neighbor, Kathy, whose daughter was also in my kindergarten class. At first, when it was Kathy's day to drive, I would tell my mom I was walking next door to Kathy's when in reality I headed to our backyard. Once there, I would hide under our deck. Why? Well simple, I didn't want to go to school. This led to many confrontations where my mom had to beg me to come out from under the deck. It was a scene that would play out years later when our cat Junior took refuge under the deck whenever he escaped the safety of our home. But, back to me. There was no simple reason I didn't want to go to school, I just preferred to stay home. Mom eventually coaxed me out from underneath the deck by saying the police threatened to throw her in jail if I didn't attend school. Her plan worked.

Styx "Paradise"

The rock group Styx do not enjoy performing "Mr. Roboto", thank you very much. In fact, guitarist James "JY" Young claims the song killed a lot of people's interest in the band when it came out in 1983. The song (and album Kilroy Was Here) led to conflict among band mates over the direction of Styx. After lead singer Dennis DeYoung left Styx in 1999, the remaining members retired the song. "Let Dennis have that," Young said as DeYoung was the writer and voice of the tune. 2018 marked the first time in years that Styx finally embraced the cult favorite song and performed it during their world tour.

George Michael "I Can't Make You Love Me"

While Bonnie Raitt make this somber ballad famous in 1991, many other artists quickly adopted the song and added it to their respective setlists. George Michael along with Bruce Hornsby, Boyz II Men and Adele are just some of the many artists who embraced the touching tune. Ironically, the song was written by two Nashville songwriters who envisioned Bette Midler, Linda Ronstadt or Bonnie Raitt performing it.

Green Day "Time of Your Life (Good Riddance)"

How many mornings start with: "Um, Todd, there's a girl here to see you with a pig." This actually happened one morning when the PR girl from a local television station showed up to the radio station with a real, living barnyard pig. PR people call this a "drop off" -- where they stop by local media stations to plug a charity event or a special deal at a local restaurant and bribe us with free food. It's an old trick that usually works.

In this case, the PR person wanted to interrupt our morning show to plug that they were now airing the show "Green Acres" on a local television show. The show, which ran from 1965-1971, somehow was a major event for this station. A couple days before showing up with a pig, I received an email asking if it was OK that the PR person stopped by to make waffles. I declined, but the first rule in PR is that "No" means "Absolutely you should show up with a pig and waffles!". So, of course she showed up. Being that I not only produced the morning show at the time but also ran the controls, I didn't have the time or ability to entertain the PR person. Thankfully, she got the hint that I had my arms full and left with the request that we plug "Green Acres".

Later that morning after the show, the Promotions Director saw me in the hallway and said she heard what happened with the pig and waffles. Expecting an apology or even some empathy, she immediately replied by saying, "I hope you were nice to them. That TV station spends a lot of money with us."

Counting Crows "A Long December"

When I think about months that drag on forever, December never comes to mind. Enter January who says "hold my beer"...

Bryan Adams "Back to You"

November 5th marks the shared birthday of Canadian rocker Bryan Adams and American singer-song writer Ryan Adams. For years, people confused the two. Then came the wiseguy concert-goers who liked to heckle Ryan to play "Summer of '69". It started in 2002 when a guy kept yelling for Ryan to play "Summer of '69" -- upset that security wasn't doing anything, Ryan wound up leaving the stage, found the man and confronted the drunken heckler. He gave him $40 to take a cab home and leave the show. At the time, he told Spin magazine the hecklers were "a bunch of cocks" and he sought therapy to get over the incident.  Ryan eventually warmed up to the incident and ultimately played the song at the same Nashville club where the incident first happened. Ryan said it helped him gain a whole new appreciation for Bryan as the song isn't easy to play. Ryan claims he emails Bryan every November 5th to wish him a happy birthday.

Celine Dion "My Heart Will Go On"

What do you remember about the Titanic? If your answer isn't: "It sunk!", then boy do I have a vacation idea for you! Clear your calendar because there's a new cruise boat called The Titanic II that promises to retrace the original 1912 route of the "boat that couldn't sink". This half-a-billion dollar vessel will set sail in 2022 from Dubai. You can be one of the 2,400 passengers (along with 900 crew members) on board when it definitely won't sink this time. 

Peach Union "On My Own"

The one-hit-wonder called "On My Own" came courtesy of the Brit-Pop band Peach -- or, as they were known in the United States, Peach Union. "On My Own" found its way onto US radio stations in late-1997. 

Sister Hazel "All for You"

Fans of the band Sister Hazel lovingly refer to themselves as "Hazel Nuts". In the case of my friend Becky, she still treks out to see the band who many refer to as a One-Hit-Wonder. Since bursting onto the scene in 1997 with "All for You", they've only scored one other minor hit: "Change Your Mind" in 2000. That aside, the group continues to put out new music and tour. For Becky, she channeled her inner-Hazel Nut and recently named her baby girl "Hazel". True story.

Michael Bolton "Go the Distance"

What do Michael Bolton and Ricky Martin have in common? Well, aside from being loved by ladies of the '90s, the two shared the ballad "Go the Distance" for the Disney-animated movie Hercules. Bolton performed the English version of the song that played over the movie's final credits while Martin performed a Spanish version of "Go the Distance". The song marks the last time Bolton turned up on the Top 40 Chart.

White Town "Your Woman"

"Todd, you have to hear this song. It sounds like someone used your old shitty Casio keyboard to make a song." 
     -My friend Pat's review of "Your Woman" from White Town (circa 1997)

Savage Garden "Truly Madly Deeply"

How do you become the #1 Billboard Adult Contemporary Song of all-time? Just ask Savage Garden as the Australian group released "Truly Madly Deeply" in 1997 yet the infectious ballad never fell off the Hot Adult Contemporary Recurrents Chart until June of 2006.

Elton John "Candle in the Wind 1997"

1 

The number of times Elton John performed "Candle in the Wind 1997" in public

Sarah McLachlan "Building A Mystery"

"ATTENTION: Please wear your Sunday best and keep your work areas clean. Visitors from corporate will be in the offices the rest of the week."

Although our radio station had a rather strict dress code (something unheard of in radio), a memo to run an iron over our khaki pants was commonplace when I first started in radio thanks to our very conservative corporate owners. Whenever they paid a visit to our radio stations, a note circulated. Although I didn't mind the dress code, many of my old-school radio colleagues rolled their eyes at it. Aside from wearing business casual clothes, I never understood the need for a reminder to keep our desks and work space clean...until someone clued me into the mystery pooper.

According to sources, someone at the office was going #2 on top of the toilet seat in the women's bathroom. Our bathrooms were locked, so you needed a key for access...meaning it had to be a current employee. It didn't happen every day or weekly, but it always seemed to happen whenever folks started to believe the poop storm had passed. The legend of who was responsible for this remained alive for a good handful of years when I worked there. Those same sources usually listed one or two suspects, yet no one knew for sure. What this says about an employee who goes to this length to express themselves was quite telling (and frightening). To this date, no one has ever correctly identified or admitted to being the mystery pooper. If it's anything like the story from New Jersey, it might have been someone from management.