Green Day "Wake Me Up When September Ends"

Happy September Eve! Wake up and prepare yourself for all the Green Day memes to begin.

Carrie Underwood "Inside Your Heaven"

Fresh off her American Idol win, Carrie Underwood released "Inside Your Heaven" in June 2005. Not to be outdone, Idol's Season 4 runner-up, Bo Bice, also released the same song a week later. Much like her Idol dominance, Underwood's version went to #1 on the Hot 100 while Bice's version fittingly peaked at #2. 

Madonna "Hung Up"

Celebrities are people too! As a morning show producer, I arranged phone calls with celebrities. During one interview with Dan Akroyd, his young son picked up the phone during our interview and started dialing. "Hello? Dad's on the phone," Akroyd said to his son. His son later hung up the phone and Akroyd continued the interview without missing a beat.

Backstreet Boys "Incomplete"

The Backstreet Boys are the best-selling boy band in the world and the only boy band to top the US Charts three decades in a row. Their 2019 album DNA provided the band with another #1 album. Despite growing up as boys in the mid-'90s to family men in the 2000s, the Backstreet Boys refused to change the name of their band to simply "Backstreet".

KT Tunstall "Suddenly I See"

A few months ago, LinkedIn suggested "Courtney" was someone I might know. I stared at her profile photo wondering why she looked so familiar. Neither her name nor job title really rang a bell. We also had zero connections in common. Why does LinkedIn think I know this person, I wondered? That's when it happened. I remembered I dated her a couple times in 2005. Yes, Courtney (or "Courtney with a U" as I referred to her). Courtney and I immediately found the "friend zone" after our first date. On St. Patrick's Day 2007, she texted me again asking if I wanted to get together. We tried again. No sparks. What I do remember about Courtney: her MySpace profile featured the quote "Everything around her is a silver pool of light" which is from KT Tunstall's song "Suddenly I See". She also claimed to be addicted to Diet Coke, cried easily and was upset after sleeping with her neighbor and not hearing from him. 

The Fray "Over My Head (Cable Car)"

DID YOU KNOW?

• Isaac Slade (The Fray's piano player and lead singer) wrote the ballad about his strained relationship with his brother. The two have since patched things up.

• The Fray got writing credit for the song "Closer" from the Chainsmokers after hearing similarities between "Closer" and "Over My Head".

• The Fray recorded their song (and album) at Echo Park Studios in Bloomington, Indiana -- the same vintage recording studio where John Mellencamp produced numerous albums as well as where Howie Day recorded his debut 2004 album.

Bon Jovi "Who Says You Can't Go Home"

Bon Jovi made sure everyone heard his 2005 song "Who Says You Can't Go Home". His plan for worl dominance consisted of recording a rock and country version of his upbeat tune. Jon recruited Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland for her vocal services in the country version. The song(s) proved to be so popular both on the radio and off; Republicans even used it in 2008 at events to support Vice Presidential-nominee Sarah Palin. Since they used it without permission, Bon Jovi ordered them to stop and then went on to perform at rallies in support of presidential hopeful Barack Obama.

Rob Thomas "This Is How a Heart Breaks"

A quick glance at the 2006 Grammy nominations for Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance saw Bruce Springsteen, Robert Plant, Neil Young, and Eric Clapton all lose to Rob Thomas. Somehow the Matchbox 20 singer's solo effort "This Is How a Heart Breaks" beat out four Rock 'n Roll Hall of Famers.

DHT "Listen to Your Heart"

The Belgium group Dance House Trance (known as "DHT") turned Roxette's "Listen to Your Heart" into a dance remix in 2004. A year later, DHT slowed down the song and added vocals from Edmee Daenen and then we all could listen to the song on Adult Contemporary radio stations for years to come.

Train "Cab"

In the pre-Uber and Lyft days, you entrusted something called taxicabs to take you places. Taxis (or "cabs") are yellow-colored clunkers that usually smelled of Drakar Noir cologne thanks, in part, to the drivers (known as "cabbies"). On at least three occasions, I gleefully rode in a cab while the drivers started to fall asleep at the wheel. When I questioned the cabbies, they would usually laugh and say that they're fine and not falling asleep. This usually ended with the cabbie falling asleep yet again. The most recent occasion happened after a concert a few years ago. Fed up, I contacted the city of Chicago who sent me paperwork to detail my experience. I filled out every requested document and then received a letter from the city that said (and I'm paraphrasing): "Thank you for calling this to our attention. We will put this complaint in the driver's permanent record."

Michael Bublé "Home"

Thanks to his popular 2011 album Christmas, Michael Buble finds a home on the radio every November and December when his renditions of "Jingle Bells", "I'll Be Home for Christmas", and "Baby, It's Cold Outside" turn up on radio stations playing Christmas music. The crooner first scored a hit in 2005 when "Home" went to #1 on the Adult Contemporary Chart. Here's hoping you made it home safely and soundly this holiday. Merry Christmas!

Rob Thomas "Lonely No More"

The year 2005 introduced the world to Rob Thomas the solo artist.  The lead singer of Matchbox Twenty went solo and created a song that radio formats up and down the dial all embraced: "Lonely No More".  With a more pop sound (and some Latin influence), Thomas' "Lonely No More" became his newest signature song and hit #1 on multiple charts including Adult Contemporary, Adult Top 40, and Hot Dance Club Play.

Kenny G featuring Earth, Wind & Fire - "The Way You Move"

In the '80s, Kenny G's career was highlighted by smooth jazz instrumentals followed by soft rock ballads and Christmas music in the '90s.  By the 2000's, Kenny moved onto duets.  In 2004, he released At Last...The Duets Album.  Aside from some additional requisite Christmas tunes, the album produced a jazzy version of "The Way You Move" with Earth, Wind & Fire.  The year prior, the song was a hit for OutKast's Big Boi and Sleepy Brown.

Sheryl Crow - "Good Is Good"

Some fun facts about Sheryl Crow:

• She had a bit part as a singer in the much maligned 1990 TV show Cop Rock
• She was a backup singer to Prince's song "Baby Knows"
• She owns a farm in Nashville, TN
• She loves to wear jeans and even owns a brand of denim called Bootheal Trading Company (and named her adopted son "Levi")
• She was engaged to Lance Armstrong, but later broke off the engagement.  I wonder if Sheryl Crow knew Lance Armstrong was doping.  

John Mayer - "Daughters"

If you've ever dated anyone with "daddy issues", then you can relate to what John Mayer sings about in "Daughters".

Michael Bublé - "Home"

You likely associate Michael Bublé with his covers of Frank Sinatra, Lou Rawls, and other legendary crooners, but this Canadian is no one-trick pony.  Look no further than "Home", a song Bublé co-wrote.  The tune shot to #1 on the Adult Contemporary Chart back in 2005 and helped launch his international success.    

Santana & Michelle Branch - "I'm Feeling You"

After finding success with Rob Thomas in "Smooth", Santana resurrected the formula a couple years later with Michelle Branch for "The Game of Love".  Seeing a nice little pattern here, he gave Michelle a call in 2005 and the two cranked out "I'm Feeling You".  Though not as big of a hit as previous duets, the song did climb to #5 on the Adult Contemporary chart.

D.H.T. - "Listen to Your Heart"

Take "Listen to Your Heart, a hit song from Roxette, and slow it down to a near crawl, strip away all instruments minus the piano, and you have D.H.T.'s 2005 hit cover.  While the group also released a dance version of the song, the acoustic version found its way onto Adult Contemporary radio stations much to the pleasure of DJ's looking for a song long enough to go to the bathroom.

Norah Jones - "Come Away With Me"

A good friend of mine was getting married on a warm Saturday in October of 2005.  Since I was the best man and knew someone working on the air that morning in Chicago, I set up a special on-air "shout out" that morning.  I let my friend know that the shout-out was coming up in a matter of minutes, but he freaked out because he and his parents were dining at Sophia's Pancake House a few blocks from his parent's Indiana home.  He then jumped up from his seat at the restaurant and went to the manager who was working the cash register.  "Can you change the radio station?" he asked.  The look on the manager's face seemed to say "no" causing my friend to blurt out: "I'm getting married today and the DJ on 101.9 The Mix is about to play a song for us!".  The manager quickly changed the radio station and then asked all his pancake-loving patrons to be quiet.  Following Norah Jones' "Come Away With Me", my friend and all of Sophia's Pancake House in Highland, Indiana were treated to a little shout-out from my DJ friend Nikki.  I'm confident that could have been the best wedding gift that wasn't on their registry.    

Duran Duran - "What Happens Tomorrow"

Going to see an artist twenty-some years past their prime usually means that you'll hear the hits and then a couple songs from their new album.  That was likely the case with Duran Duran in 2005.  Sure they probably played "Rio" and "Hungry Like the Wolf", but they probably followed that up with "What Happens Tomorrow" from their 2004 album Astronaut.  Much to the delight of the crowd, I'm sure they followed up that song with "Wild Boys".