Simply Red "Home"

"Home is a place where I yearn to be loved." 

Meat Loaf "Not A Dry Eye in the House"

My college girlfriend looked through my sock drawer one night and curiously asked why I had a handkerchief with the words "Not A Dry Eye in the House" printed on it.

The short answer: I got it from work.

The long answer: I had an internship where I assisted the radio station's midday DJ. This DJ, who became my mentor and helped me start in the business, doubled as the station's Music Director--meaning she was in charge of creating daily music logs, among other things. Record labels constantly contacted her in hopes of getting an "add". An "add" is when a radio station adds a new song to their playlist. Record companies would sometimes attempt to sweeten the pot by sending chotskies to get that elusive add. In the case of Meat Loaf's "Not A Dry Eye in the House", the record company created handkerchiefs with the song's title printed on them. The song never went on to be a US hit, but I held onto that handkerchief for years. I never used it, but was just excited to have something from my unpaid internship.

Jefferson Starship "Miracles"

If you want to get a song on the radio, record companies create a "radio edit" of the original song. In the case of "Miracles" from Jefferson Starship, the original version of the song clocked in at just under seven minutes and contained a verse about going down on a woman. After receiving a haircut, the radio edit of "Miracles" dropped the sexual lyric and the length of the song fell to 3:25.

Kenny G "Auld Lang Syne"

Just in time for the year 2000, Kenny G released Faith: A Holiday Album -- this was his second album comprised mainly of Christmas songs but also included "Auld Lang Syne". Being that it was the end of the 20th Century, his record company released a "Millennium Mix" of the instrumental that radio stations aired in heavy rotation. The song interspersed historical clips from the 20th Century while Kenny G wailed away on his saxophone. Happy New Year!

Paul Davis "'65 Love Affair"

Paul Davis originally wrote penned '65 Love Affair as '55 Love Affair, but his record company convinced him to change it. Why? Well, Paul would have only been seven years old in 1955 and perhaps too young for a love affair.

Mariah Carey "Love Takes Time"

"Love Takes Time" almost never happened. Mariah Carey's debut album was already complete when she recorded the song. Since her album was in the process of being pressed into CDs and (at that time) cassette tapes, no one at Columbia Records wanted to add it. So Mariah went straight to the top and played the ballad for a record executive who liked the song, but didn't want to stop production of the album just to include another ballad. Mariah protested and eventually got her way. "Love Takes Time" is the name of the song, but the song itself took next to no time. From start to finish, the song took three days to complete -- something virtually unheard of. "Love Takes Time" became the album's second single and proved Mariah to be correct -- the song hit #1 on the Hot 100, Adult Contemporary, and R&B Charts in 1990.

Backstreet Boys "Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)"

Some fun facts about the Backstreet Boys first big hit:

• The song went to #2 on the Hot 100 in 1997 (blocked by "Mo Money, Mo Problems" from The Notorious B.I.G. and later Mariah Carey's "Honey") 
• The song also went to #2 on the Adult Contemporary Chart
• BSB record company originally wanted to release "You Want it to Be Good Girl (Get Yourself A Bad Boy)" instead of "Quit Playing Games", but the boys argued against it saying that particular song was their worst
• The original version of the song was recorded in 1995 and only featured Brian Littrell singing both verses -- Nick Carter was later added
• An Italian version of the song was also recorded but only featured Kevin Richardson and Howie Dorough 

Chaka Khan & Rufus "Ain't Nobody"

The directive Rufus gave to Warner Brothers was simple: the funky pop-R&B song "Ain't Nobody" must be the lead single on Rufus and Chaka Khan's Stompin' at the Savoy album, or else they would give the song to Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones for inclusion on Michael's Thriller album. Warner Brothers originally balked but ultimately dropped their objections and the song went on to become the band's signature tune.

Five for Fighting "Easy Tonight"

For bands, sometimes it takes another song's success to help a previously released song find success. In the case of Five for Fighting, "Easy Tonight" didn't do much when released in 2000. A year later, the band's "Superman (It's Not Easy)" hit #2 on the Adult Contemporary Chart giving the band their first breakthrough hit. Their record company hoped to capitalize on that by re-releasing "Easy Tonight" in 2002.

LeAnn Rimes "Soon"

"I want to make abundantly clear to you that this album is not a reflection of myself as an artist but is solely the conception of Curb Records, and for that I am truly and deeply sorry."

-LeAnn Rimes

Not often does an artist release an album and immediately disown it, but that happened with LeAnn Rimes in 2001.  Her record company released "I Need You", a compilation album of various songs and B-sides, because Rimes was contractually obligated to release it.
(this is post #1100 on Growing Up Adult Contemporary)

Ricky Martin & Christina Aguilera "Nobody Wants to Be Lonely"

It was 2001 and the only way to get a copy of Ricky Martin and Christina Aguilera's monster duet "Nobody Wants to Be Lonely" was to buy the song's album or record it off the radio.  Why?  The song was never released as a CD single -- meaning you couldn't go out and buy the song (or in today's terms: you couldn't just download the single from iTunes).  The song wound up being one of the biggest songs of the year and a real head-scratcher as the record companies who would soon lose their grip on CD sales with the rise of Napster and illegal downloads.

Jimmy Harnen with Synch "Where Are You Now?"

Miley Cyrus, Justin Timberlake, and Christina Aguilera are all products of the Disney Channel's success.  The cable network also helped make Jimmy Harnen a star in 1989 when the Disney sitcom Liv and Maddie featured Jimmy Harnen's "Where Are You Now?".  Harnen originally recorded the song in 1986 when he was a member of the band Synch.  Where is Jimmy Harnen now?  He's the president of Republic Nashville -- a record company that boasts artists such as Florida Georgia Line.

Seal - "Love's Divine"

There was once a time when album titles mattered (although some would argue they still matter).  Classic album titles such as Rumours from Fleetwood Mac or Michael Jackson's Thriller immediately come to my mind as both albums sit on the list of top selling albums in history.  I'm sure these folks sat through extensive meetings with record company executives over what the title of the album should be.  I'd also guess these meetings weren't fun and sucked the fun out of the whole process.  In the case of Seal, he just said f*ck it and simply named the majority of his albums Seal.  "Love's Divine" came courtesy of Seal IV.

Sheriff - "When I'm With You"

The story of Sheriff is an odd and frustrating tale.  The Canadian rockers one hit single was the ballad "When I'm With You".  Originally released in 1983, the song was a mild hit in Canada (and even milder...lukewarm, really, in the States).  Frustrated over their lack of success, Sheriff broke up shortly afterward.  Then in 1988, a Minneapolis radio station started playing the song again causing other radio stations to follow suit.  A year later, Sheriff's record company re-released the song which caused the song to go to #1 in 1989...despite the band having broken up years prior.  The former Sheriff members had gone on to different projects, and refused to get the band back together.  A year later, two former Sheriff band mates found success with their new group Alias.  Their claim to fame is "More Than Words Can Say".

Firefall - "Strange Way"

Firefall began to unravel in 1979 when the group had to replace drummer Michael Clarke who often showed up in no condition to perform after excessive drinking (if he showed up at all).  Clarke was best known for his time with The Byrds during the 1960s.  To sub for Clarke, the band hired Dan Holsten (who looked very similar to Clarke).  By 1980, most of Firefall's original band members had departed, and a year later their record company dropped them.  

Shania Twain - "I'm Gonna Getcha Good!"

"Hello?"

"Is this Shania?"

"Yes?"

"Hi Shania, this is your record company.  Listen, we're gonna need you to come up with another pop-country song for your new album."

"But I already gave you a whole bunch of pop-country songs in my last album."

"Right right right, but let's crank out another, okey dokey?"

"Well, I suppose.""

We did a focus group and they really liked 'That Don't Impress Me Much', so we're thinking of doing a version 2.0 of that song."

"What does version 2.0 mean?"

"We really don't know, but please try to use the word 'getcha' in the title."

"I'll see what I can do."