Not many country stars are piano players, but there are some.  I wrote this a while ago, thought it might be fun to look back at some of the greats!   There are others of course, but we only go back so far.

Thanks for reading and listening everyday!

The Keyboardists

Mark Wills  - Back At One  - 2000 - (Album - Permanently)

This was a pretty darn good remake of a hit song.  Haven't heard this one is a while, Mark Wills version of the Brian McKnight classic.  Enjoy!

Last Weeks Selection

FGL had a great run for a number of years with a huge following.  But truth be told, they were also very polarizing for many fans. They had many detractors that didn't feel they were country.  But I think we have to think back and remember how we felt about this song by itself.   What this song unofficially did was start the Bro-Country Movement.  And no matter how you feel about that, you have to give it that credit, it was a big deal.  That's what makes this song so important.  Bro-Country swept the charts for the next few of years with many other artists jumping on, giving us a popularity that was new, young and refreshing for many.  This debut single was gigantic from that first album that was recorded and performed with an uncanny confidence generally not seen in a new act. (And it sold zillions) .  It was an international hit all across the world, and was remixed and remastered in various forms.  In short, hit songs are not generally this huge.  Bro-Country was a very fun and appropriately short phase for us.  It was universally loved by men and women, and took country in a far more "party' or "fun" mode.  I think we miss that sometimes as we can take ourselves way too serious.  This smash of a song was fun, easy to remember, and was one of the most influential songs of the last 30 years.  This sold an unheard of millions, and has the lucky distinction of being a generational song, bringing us millions of new fans, and reminding long time fans just how fun we can be.

Last Week #14

Now that football season is here, so is eating season, let's get down to some real good chicken wing making.  This recipe and method is almost guaranteed to make incredible wings!

Supposedly, The Best Wings EVER!

Hard to imagine in week two the Browns already had a tough week.  And now the questioners have plenty of questions, yet again.  Is today a "must win?"  Well, no.  No game in the NFL is literally a must win in week two.  But things are a bit different here than many places.   We have problems that pretty much every other NFL team does not have. 

After last weeks complete spanking from Dallas, it was clear the entire Browns team was ill-prepared to play.  The QB was so bad, it was borderline embarrassing to watch.  But so was the offensive line, special teams, and the defense was charged with winning that game was flat too.  But those are football issues.  Fans here are going to be very hard on QB1.  They don't like the trade, his contract, his social media, his availability, his seemingly countless and unending serious off the field issues, and his lousy play.  They also hate the Texans have Phoenixed from the ashes in record time because of them jettisoning Watson to us.  Overall, many fans just don't like him for a dozen reasons football and otherwise.

Many cities don't care for their QB, that's nothing new.  But here it's beyond football, and that is unusual.  The money is a big deal, as many in our area are just getting by working their tails off, and they don't care for his arrangement one bit.  As of this writing, this is among the worst decisions any professional franchise has ever made in attempting to improve their team.  But in fairness, in a football sense, there still is time as there is this season and the next two.  For many even that's a hard pill to swallow as they would love him to just leave town - today.

And it is discouraging seeing the Texas roll to the top as fast as they have.  Our draft picks to them have fueled their rocket to a division title, and a massive playoff win against us.  3-13 has turned into all this in an instant.  And the beginning of their renaissance was dumping a player that seemingly quit on them, with significant and highly troubling problems off the field.  They found the Browns an eager trading partner that was willing to give up a kings ransom for something they no longer wanted for countless reasons.  

So what now?  It's another week and we travel to Jacksonville to take on the Jags in thier 100 degree home opener. This is a game the Browns really need to win somehow, some way.  I don't care if it's 5-3, because a loss means 0-2.

A literal must win?  No.  But they really need to win this game.

GO BROWNS!

Grab a coffee and check out all my articles this week from WQMX.com - Thanks for listening and reading everyday.  I appreciate YOU!

BROWNS - A Two Game Season

Eat Of The Week

50 Most Important Country Songs 1980-Today #14

Forgotten Jukebox AB-89

Country Music Memory Lane - One And Done

Wynn At The Movies And More

Box Office Results -

#1 – Beetlejuice   -  110 Million

#2 - Deadpool and Wolverine  -   7 Million

#3 - Reagan  -   6 Million

New This Week - Transformers One / Speak No Evil / The Killers Game  (Inappropriate Trailer)

It Ends With Us - Is the highest grossing movie of it's kind since A Star Is Born - 309 Million

2017 - At the 74th Venice Film Festival The Shape of Water won the Golden Lion

A Goonies Sequel - Is happening 40 years later with many of the original stars.

The Trailer For Venom -  The Last Dance starring Tom Hardy is online e- Hits theatres October 25th

Inside Out 2 - Will be streaming on Disney+ on September 25th

Taylor And Travis - Lifetime's new Christmas in the Spotlight  focuses on “a popular musician and celebrity, who despite always singing about love and relationships, hasn’t found Mr. Right yet.

My - Country Music Memory Lane (link)

Also - 50 Most Important Country Songs 1980 – Today #14 (Link)

A while ago I wrote a piece about some artists that had one big hit and that was it.  Its fairly unusual, but it does happen in country.  So I thought we would revisit it, and hear some of these really great songs.

Thanks for reading and listening everyday~!

One And Done

I hope you have a GREAT Labor Day Celebration today!  Maybe today you can try something a little different on the grill.  Windy and I have used this incredible website for a lot of dishes.  Susie Bulloch who invented and runs this site is really fun, and man does she know the grill.  (Try the mac and cheese on the grill)  But everything is amazing.

Thanks for listening and reading everyday!

"Hey, Grill Hey"

You may not know Mega Star Eddie Rabbitt, or you may be very lucky to know a lot about him.  Briefly, he was a MAJOR star during the Urban Cowboy craze.  He was a magnificent singer and exceptionally gifted song writer.  He had 20 #1 songs (that he mostly wrote) and sold millions of albums to country fans and pop fans too.  The reason this song is so important is whether you know him or not, you know this song.  This was a gigantic hit, #1 Country and Pop. It sold millions, and this simple song brought people into country music by the truckload.  It was everywhere, and played on about every radio station there was, as this is the one he became synonymous with.   This also has an interesting story, as it was sort of written and recorded by Rabbitt in 1968, as he sung it into a portable tape recorder.  He found the recording many years later, and thought it could work if re-worked.  This, in the sum of all that it was and is, is one of the most recognizable country songs of all time.  You may have known this song your entire life and not know who it was or where it came from. Rabbitt was a beneficiary of the Urban Cowboy craze, but had many great songs before it, and continued on for many years after it making big hit songs.  But this - This is in another league.  With his different kind of approach, his sound, and image it's clear now that Eddie Rabbitt was years ahead of his time.

Eddie Rabbitt passed away in 1998, he was 56.

Last Week #15

My Full Profile On Eddie Rabbitt