Zedd “The Middle” released

The Middle Zedd with Maren Morris & Grey

Writer(s): Jordan Johnson, Anton Zaslavski, Sarah Aarons, Kyle Trewartha, Stefan Johnson, Michael Trewartha, Marcus Lomax (see lyrics here) Released: January 23, 2018 First Charted: February 10, 2018 Peak: 5 BB, 19 BA, 16 RR, 17 AC, 17 A40, 7 UK, 6 CN, 7 AU, 14 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 6.0 US, 0.6 UK, 8.92 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 266.24 video, 1477.92 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Anton Zaslavski (stage name: Zedd) is Russian-born German (1989) DJ who found success in 2012 with the top-ten hit “Clarity.” He landed his second top-ten hit with “Stay” in 2017. “The Middle,” released in 2018, marked his third time in the top ten. The song also features the electronic music duo Grey (comprised of brothers Kyle and Michael Trewartha) and American country singer/songwriter Maren Morris. “Morris sings from the point of view of one-half of a couple in a quarrel. Exasperated by their fighting, she demands that her partner meets her ‘in the middle.’” SF More than a dozen singers SF – including Camila Cabello, Charli XCX, Carly Ray Jepsen, Tove Lo, Demi Lovato, and Bebe Rexha WK – recorded demos of the song before Zedd went with the version featuring Morris. Zedd explained that, “It’s a really wide range and you need a lot of energy and at the same time on the bridge you need to be really fragile and really believable.” SF Zedd said that working with Morris was “super fun because she is clearly an amazing singer and very talented musician.” WK She said, “The sound is reflective of my many influences as an artist – a little bit country, little pop, little R&B, relatable, emotional and catchy as hell.” WK Taste of Country’s Billy Dukes said the song is “an unlikely combination of EDM, ‘90s pop, and modern country music.” WK Rolling Stone’s Brittney McKenna called the song “an infectious earworm” in which Morris “strays from her country roots” and “deftly occupies the new, poppy space.” WK Fuse TV’s Hugh McIntyre praised her for “supplying vocals perfectly.” WK The song was debuted at the Grammy Awards on January 28, 2018. Zedd and Morris were both up for nominations that year. Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Zedd DMDB encyclopedia entry for Maren Morris DMDB encyclopedia entry for Grey SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia First posted 4/11/2024.

Sixpence None the Richer “Kiss Me” released

Kiss Me Sixpence None the Richer

Writer(s): Matt Slocum (see lyrics here) Released: July 14, 1998 First Charted: October 17, 1998 Peak: 2 BB, 12 GR, 12 RR, 2 AC, 2 A40, 17 AA, 4 UK, 13 CN, 13 AU, 10 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 3.0 US, 1.2 UK, 4.48 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 0.70 radio, 52.58 video, 995.17 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: The alternative-rock band Sixpence None the Richer formed in Texas in 1992. The band took its name from a phrase in a C.S. Lewis book. TB Singer Leigh Nash teamed up with guitarist/songwriter Matt Slocum and bassist T.J. Behling to record a demo and eventually the album The Fatherless and the Widow, released by R.E.X. Records in 1994. They released aother album, This Beautiful Mess, in 1995. By this time, they had expanded to a quintet. They gained a wider audience with 1997’s self-titled album released by Squint Entertainment when the single “Kiss Me” became a hit. The album had been out seven months when “Kiss Me” was finally released as a single. It didn’t hit the Billboard Hot 100 until November, peaking at #90 and falling out the next week. However, the song gained attention as the theme song of the teen romantic comedy She’s All That, released in January 1999, and again from an appearance on the April 1999 soundtrack for TV’s Dawson’s Creek. It eventually reached #2 in May 1999. The song has been compared to the Sundays, Cranberries, and 10,000 Maniacs. It was written by Slocum, the band’s chief songwriter, in a Dutch motel while the band was on tour. Nash said, “We performed it that night…It was an instant hit with fans, but it was still like a year and a half before we recorded it.” WK It had a “more lighthearted, poppier sound compared to the band’s prior work.” WK They were reluctant to include it on the album until persuaded otherwise by their producer. WK Music historian Steve Sullivan said, “This absolultely delightful midtempo pop ballad is a celebration of new love so giddy that it sweeps the listener up in its happiness, and possesses a timeless quality that’s rare in contemporary pop.” SS It is “proof that a winning melody will always come through.” TB “Kiss Me” was “a breath of fresh air in the nu-metal-plagued music scene of 1999.” TB Allmusic.com’s Rick Anderson called it “an utterly irresistible slice of swoony guitar pop…[that] could be this generation’s ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand.’” AM “Kiss Me” was nominated for a Grammy for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. Resources: AM AllMusic.com album review by Rick Anderson SS Steve Sullivan (2013). Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings (Volumes I & II). Scarecrow Press: Lanham, Maryland. Pages 648-9. TB Thunder Bay Press (2006). Singles: Six Decades of Hot Hits & Classic Cuts. Outline Press Ltd.: San Diego, CA. Page 288. WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 2/1/2025.

All-4-One “I Swear” hit #1

I Swear John Michael Montgomery

Writer(s): Gary Baker, Frank J. Meyers (see lyrics here) First Charted: December 18, 1993 Peak: 42 BB, 14 CW, 13 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 0.5 US Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 50.16 video, 58.34 streaming

I Swear All-4-One

Released: April 22, 1994 First Charted: April 15, 1994 Peak: 111 BB, 19 BA, 16 CB, 15 GR, 123 CN, 15 AU, 7 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.5 US, 0.6 UK, 2.88 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 19.30 video, 210.15 streaming

Awards (Montgomery): Click on award for more details.

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Awards (All-4-One): Click on award for more details.

About the Song: “I Swear” was the first collaboration between Gary Baker, who’d written hits for Alabama and others, and Frank J. Meyers, best known for “You and I” by Eddie Rabbitt and Crystal Gayle. They wrote the “ballad in which the narrator promises his significant other that he will always love her.” WK Baker called Meyers with the idea for the song title and Meyers came up with a chorus while making the three-hour drive to Baker’s house where they planned to work on the song. FB They wrote it in 1987 RC and shopped it for five years with no luck. They recorded a new demo in 1992 RC and John Michael Montgomery picked it up. The country artist, born in Kentucky in 1965, was coming off his 1992 debut album, Life’s a Dance, which went triple platinum and spawned the #1 country hit “I Love the Way You Love Me.” “I Swear” was the first of three #1 country songs from Montgomery’s 1994 quadruple-platinum, sophomore album, Kickin’ It Up. Montgomery was signed to Atlantic and Doug Morris, the company’s head honcho, FB saw potential for a pop version of the song. He gave it to All-4-One, an interracial vocal group from California that “capitalized on the success of Boyz II Men by scoring big on the charts with melodic, doo-wop flavored romantic ballads that harkened back to a more innocent time.” SS They were coming off a top-5 cover of “So Much in Love,” a song which the American soul vocal group the Tymes took to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1963. They had gone back to the studio to record songs for an album, which was already complete, when Morris gave them “I Swear.” The legendary producer David Foster got the job done in two days. FB The group turned in “a classic harmony ballad performance conveying deep romantic devotion” SS that spent 11 weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for All-4-One DMDB encyclopedia entry for John Michael Montgomery FB Fred Bronson (2007). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits (4th edition). Billboard Books: New York, NY. Page 828. RC Rod Couch (2015). The Top 500 Songs of the Rock Era: 1955-2015. Pages 86-7. DJ David Jasen (2002). A Century of American Popular Music: 2000 Best-Loved and Remembered Songs (1899-1999). Routledge: Taylor & Francis, Inc. SS Steve Sullivan (2013). Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings (Volumes I & II). Scarecrow Press: Lanham, Maryland. Page 577. WK Wikipedia First posted 1/21/2024.