Big Ol Game Day!!!!

Well Coal Country, I gotta tell ya...I can't believe it's time for the Super Bowl! I clearly remember watching the first week of NFL action while on vacation in the Orient. It is hard to believe that it is all over this Sunday, so anyways for the record, I'm going with the Steelers by 8 points (don't call Vegas or anything). Don't forget the Big Ol Game Day Countdown Show only on WXCC 96.5 this Sunday from 4pm - 6pm! Now on to the good stuff...Mark it up as 10 straight weeks at No. 1 on Billboard's county albums chart for Taylor Swift's Fearless. It's also the current bestseller on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart, holding Beyonce's I Am ... Sasha Fierce firmly at No. 2.While Swift all but installs seat belts to keep her grip on the throne, another breather of rarefied air, Alan Jackson, ambles to No. 1 on the songs chart with his self-penned "Country Boy" The one new album this week is Undone: A Musicfest Tribute to Robert Earl Keen, a multi-artist collection that comes aboard at No. 66.Returning albums are George Strait's 22 More Hits (No. 58), Patty Loveless' Sleepless Nights (No. 62), Sara Evans' Greatest Hits (No. 68), the eponymous Randy Rogers Band (No. 71) and Keith Anderson's C'Mon! (No. 74).The highest charting new song is Carrie Underwood's cover of Randy Travis' "I Told You So." It enters at No. 37. Travis' original recording of the song (a composition he also wrote) reached No. 1 on June 11, 1988, after an 18-week sojourn up the chart.Here's a tad more history: Songs in the second through fifth position that long-ago week were the Desert Rose Band's "He's Back and I'm Blue," Tanya Tucker's "If It Don't Come Easy," the Gatlin Brothers' "Love of a Lifetime" and Don Williams' "Another Place, Another Time." How many of these can you hum? Only two artists on the chart that week are also on this week, almost 21 years later: George Strait and Reba McEntire. No surprise there.One more archival bit: The song that achieved the highest entry point that week of June 11, 1988, was The Judds' "Give a Little Love."OK, back to now. This week's other newly arriving songs are Lady Antebellum's "I Run to You" (No. 50), Carrie Underwood's "The More Boys I Meet" (No. 52), Chuck Wicks's "Man of the House" (No. 59) and Keith Anderson's "She Could've Been Mine" (No. 60).Bunching up behind Fearless in the Top 5 albums, in descending order, are Taylor Swift, Sugarland's Love on the Inside, the Zac Brown Band's The Foundation and Rascal Flatts' Greatest Hits, Vol. 1.In the Top 5 songs, Brad Paisley and Keith Urban's "Start a Band"" drops from the summit to No. 2. Blake Shelton's "She Wouldn't Be Gone" arches from No. 9 to No. 2. Billy Currington's "Don't" holds at No. 4 for the second week, and Dierks Bentley's "Feel That Fire" sprints from No. 8 to No. 5.Tim McGraw's "Nothin' to Die For" makes the week's greatest advance, vaulting from No. 31 to No. 24.

Will Taylor tumble or Alan anchor? Tune in next week. Until then,

Uncle Rock

--"if you wanna make it, you can't fake it...you gotta LIVE IT!!!"

IS IT REALLY 2009?????

Happy New Year Coal Country! Well I gotta tell you, 2009 started out REEEEEALLLY BAD for Ol Hop Along Rock....My Tennessee Titans were defeated by the refs 13-10 in the AFC Playoffs. Trust me gang, I was there and the officiating was HORRIBLE! But anyways, lets get to the good stuff, Country Music News. How about that? Christmas goes away and the charts light up. There are eight new songs on the Billboard chart this week and another eight re-entries. Album wise, Taylor Swift is still queen. Her new CD, Fearless, tops both the country and the all-formats list. Sugarland's "Already Gone" is now the nation's No. 1 country song. Trace Adkins' "Marry for Money" is the highest-debuting single, coming in at No. 49. The remaining first-timers are Trent Tomlinson's "That's How It Still Oughta Be" (No. 51), Richie McDonald's "How Do I Just Stop" (No. 53) and Craig Morgan's "God Must Really Love Me" (No. 54).Also Point of Grace's "I Wish" (No. 55), Steve Azar's "You're My Life" (No. 57), Crystal Shawanda's "My Roots Are Showing" (No. 58) and Rehab's "Bartender Song," featuring Hank Williams Jr (No. 60).The returnees are Josh Gracin's "Telluride" (No. 45), Little Big Town's "Good Lord Willing" (No. 46), Jessica Andrew's "Everything" (No. 47), Melissa Lawson's "What If It All Goes Right" (No. 48).And Jamie O'Neal's "Like a Woman" (No. 50), Matt Stillwell's "Shine" (No. 52), Steve Holy's "Might Have Been" (No. 56) and Tracy Lawrence's "You Can't Hide Redneck" (No. 59).There aren't any new albums this week, but NBC Sounds of the Season: The Julianne Hough Holiday Collection vaults from No. 16 to No. 2 in what must surely be its last surge of the season.In its seventh week out, Randy Houser's Anything Goes also takes a giant step, stretching from No. 56 to No. 38.Six albums stage comebacks: McDonald's I Turn to You (No. 66), Playlist: The Very Best of Johnny Cash (No. 68), Keith Anderson's C'mon (No. 69), Patty Loveless' Sleepless Nights (No. 70), Randy Owen's One on One (No.73) and Playlist: The Very Best of John Denver (No. 74).Rounding out the Top 5 albums are Taylor Swift, Sugarland's Love on the Inside and Rascal Flatts' Greatest Hits Volume 1, in that order.Songs No. 2 through No. 5 are Rascal Flatts' "Here," Brad Paisley and Keith Uran's "Start a Band," the Zac Brown Band's "Chicken Fried" and Montgomery Gentry's "Roll With Me." You look exhausted. Let's stop right here.

Until next time,

Uncle Rock

--"if you wanna make it, you can't fake it...you gotta LIVE IT!!!"