Atlantic 82559
Producer: Scott Hendricks
Track listing: Be My Baby Tonight / Full-Time Love / I Swear / She Don’t Need a Band to Dance / All in My Heart / Friday at Five / Rope the Moon / If You’ve Got Love / Oh How She Shines / Kick It Up
February 19, 1994
1 week
For the second time in as many weeks, there was a surprise at the top of The Billboard 200, as country newcomer John Michael Montgomery’s Kickin’ If Up knocked Alice in Chains’ Jar of Flies from the Number One position. Montgomery’s rise to the top showed the continuing strength of country music, as Montgomery joined Garth Brooks and Billy Ray Cyrus as members of the new breed of chart-topping country hit-makers.
Montgomery grew up with music in Lexington, Kentucky, performing with his family onstage. When his parents retired, the young Montgomery took center stage as a solo act and soon landed a contract with Atlantic Records.
Life’s a Dance, Montgomery’s January 1992 debut album, peaked at number 27 on The Billboard 200 and number six on the Top Country Albums chart, thanks to the title track and “I Love the Way You Love Me,” both of which were country radio hits.
On Life’s a Dance, Montgomery proved to be the master of the country power ballad. Kickin’ It Up, meanwhile, as its title suggests, showed off his rowdy side. While Kickin’ It Up does have its share of up-tempo songs, it was the ballad “I Swear” that set the album up for success. That track and “Kick It Up” were the first two songs Montgomery recorded for the album at Woodland Recording Studios in Nashville. “When we got through ‘I Swear’ and ‘Kick It Up,'” he recalls, “we had two songs that went from one extreme to the other. All we had to do was fill in the void and I felt I would have an album I would be very proud of.”
Atlantic serviced “I Swear” to radio on November 19, 1993, a full nine weeks in advance of the album’s release. Eight weeks later, “I Swear” topped the Hot Country Singles and Tracks chart, setting the stage for Kickin’ It Up. The album debuted at Number One on the Top Country Albums chart and number three on The Billboard 200. A week later, it rode high in the saddle atop both album charts, while “I Swear’ also held its Number One position.
“I think this is a sign to everyone country music is big because of the new influences,” says Montgomery. “This isn’t the ‘Urban Cowboy’ thing. This is something that is for real.”
Montgomery says those new influences are the artists he listened to as a teenager, including Bob Seger, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Eric Clapton, the Eagles, and Lionel Richie. He also points to his country influences at home. “I couldn’t help but be influenced by country,” he says. “My mom and dad were singing all the time. They both were weekend performers.”
Montgomery learned of Kickin’ It Up‘s ascent to Number One the night after he picked up an American Music Award for favorite new country artist. “I’m still trying to gather my thoughts he said at the time. It’s been one heck of a ride. It’s almost too much to handle.”
THE TOP FIVE
Week of February 19, 1994
1. Kickin’ It Up, John Michael Montgomery
2. Music Box, Mariah Carey
3. Doggy Style, Snoop Doggy Dogg
4. Jar of Flies, Alice in Chains
5. 12 Play, R. Kelly