Songoftheday 8/16/22 -She got a postcard with no return address postmarked Tombstone, it said I don't know where I'm goin' next but when I do I'll let you know...
"There Is No Arizona" - Jamie O'Neal
from the album Shiver (2000)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #40 (three weeks)
Weeks in the Top-40: 3
Today's song comes from singer Jamie O'Neal, who was born in Sydney, Australia, and grew up singing in her family's music act. Launching her own music career as an adult, Jamie sang backup for Aussie pop princess Kylie Minogue in concert, before getting signed to Mercury Nashville as a solo country music singer at the turn of the millennium. O'Neal's debut album Shiver arrived in the autumn of 2000, preceded by the lead single "There Is No Arizona". Written by Jamie with Lisa Drew and Shaye Smith, the ballad has her sending a lover out west to set up shop in the hopes she will follow, only to be ghosted by him save for a postcard. It's quite a sad and very real story, and O'Neal sells it without sounding pitiful but just resigned. The production by Keith Stegall is spacious and full of interesting instrument riffs and chord changes to make this one of the standout country singles of the year...
"There Is No Arizona" became Jamie's first #1 hit on Billboard magazine's Country Singles chart, while reaching the Hot 100 crossover top-40 in February of 2001. Internationally the song made it to #52 on the Canadian Country Chart before RPM magazine closed its doors at the end of the previous year. The Shiver album, released in October of 2000, went to #124 on the Billboard 200 sales tally, and #14 on the Country Albums list, going on to sell over a half-million copies. At the Grammy Awards in 2001, "There Is No Arizona" was nominated for Best Female Country Vocal Performance, losing to Dolly Parton for her bluegrass remake of the rock song "Shine", as well and Best Country Song, which also went to a bluegrass record, Alison Krauss and Union Station's "The Lucky One". Jamie will be back to the series.
(10/10)
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and a recent TV appearance....
Lastly, O'Neal collaborated with American Idol finalist Lauren Alaina in 2020 for an update of the song...
Up tomorrow: Jersey-born R&B singer ponders possibilities.
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