Robbed Hit of the Week 12/24/12 - John Anderson's "Swingin'"...

John Anderson - "Swingin'"
from the album Wild & Blue (1982)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #43

This week's "robbed hit" is by Florida-born country singer John Anderson, who had his first minor country chart hit in 1977 with "I've Got A Feelin' (Somebody's Been Stealin')". He released his self-titled first album three years later, and finally made the country top-40 with "The Girl At The End Of The Bar". That album ended up sending half of its twelve tracks on the country chart, with "1959" making the top-10 in 1980.

In 1982 Anderson put out his fourth studio album, Wild & Blue, and the title track, the first single, went to be his first #1 country hit. For the followup, he released a rollicking line-dance staple, "Swingin'". The song, written by John with Lionel Delmore, became his biggest hit to date..

"Swingin'" was a huge success, hitting #1 on the country chart, selling over a million copies in the US, and winning the CMA award for the Single of the Year. However, as pop radio was eschewing country music, especially as boisterous as this, the lack of pop airplay caused the song to stall just under the top-40. It would be John's solitary song to make the Hot 100 chart in Billboard, but he would go on to top the country chart three more times, most recently in 1993 with "Money In The Bank". And although his chart success recently has slowed, he still reserves a place in my heart for having such a distinctive voice in such a cookie-cutter genre.

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In 2010 LeAnn Rimes released a cover of "Swingin'" that was a minor country hit, peaking at #57, and ended up being nominated for a Grammy..

That same year, Nashville Star winner Chris Young recorded an acoustic version of the song...

That's it for tonight...I hope everyone has a great Christmas...tomorrow I'll bring you the Christmas baby candletime, and this week's French and German music recaps...good night!