Thanks for joining us on the radio, on Alexa ("Alexa, play K103 on iHeart Radio") and on the free iHeart Radio app! Each morning at 7:10 we dig through the archives for a song you've heard and love but maybe don't know the backstory on. Sometimes Mike and I learn things we didn't know too. Like that today's pop song was a huge country song first.
This pop-leaning ballad was first a country hit for John Michael Montgomery in the summer of 1994 when it was recorded by today’s R&B group.
According to the writers of the song,”...Everybody in town passed on it. But it was more of a pop-sounding demo. Then I personally pitched it to John Michael Montgomery three times....But he changed his mind, and he did it. What happens next is nothing short of incredible. It won all of these awards, and then this never happens [a pop/r&b band]...who is on fire...cut it!”
In the US, this was one of the biggest hits of 1994, spending 11 weeks at #1 (only "I'll Make Love To You" by Boyz II Men held the top spot for longer that year: 14 weeks). This song also won a Grammy in 1995 for Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal.
Today’s song isn't the only #1 Country hit to reach the top of the Hot 100 in a version by a different artist: In 1992, "I Will Always Love You" pulled it off when Whitney Houston's rendition of Dolly Parton's song hit the top spot. Like today’s song, Houston's track was also produced by David Foster.
Success came so fast for this group that they hadn’t given up their day jobs when this song hit number one in 1994...we’ll tell you where they were working when they heard the news...straight ahead.
Today’s group was assembled in Antelope Valley, California and they first recorded the doo wop classic "So Much in Love," which rose to #5 in March 1994, earning the group an entire album.
Today’s song was a last-minute addition to the album, and one of TWO songs produced by David Foster. Released as their next single, this song went to #1 in America on May 21, 1994, but get this: the group was still working their day job playing gigs at Disneyland at the time!