Country Fantasy Top 10 Special

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THE TOP COUNTRY ARTISTS, 1997-2004

Survey period: January 4, 1997, thru December 25, 2004
Compiled using the scoring system devised by Dann Isbell and Bill Carroll for the Ranking series of books

Of all the music formats out there, country is the most artist-driven.  Fans are so much more loyal to their favorite acts.  So, just this once, I put together a top artists list.  Enjoy...

#	Artist	Score	Entries	Biggest hit
1	TIM McGRAW	83,611	23	"Live Like You Were Dying"
2	KENNY CHESNEY	80,456	12	"Don't Happen Twice"
3	GEORGE STRAIT	80,244	19	"I Hate Everything"
4	THE DIXIE CHICKS	74,937	16	"Travelin' Soldier"
5	ALAN JACKSON	73,334	19	"Where I Come From"
6	BRAD PAISLEY	68,432	12	"I'm Gonna Miss Her (The Fishin' Song)"
7	SARA EVANS	52,171	14	"Born to Fly"
8	RASCAL FLATTS	50,539	9	"Prayin' for Daylight"
9	KEITH URBAN	47,109	9	"It's a Love Thing"
10	CLAY WALKER	46,423	9	"Then What?"
11	TOBY KEITH	42,490	17	"I Wanna Talk About Me"
12	DIAMOND RIO	39,419	10	"Beautiful Mess"
13	BROOKS & DUNN	35,448	14	"You Can't Take the Honky Tonk out of the Girl"
14	TERRI CLARK	34,800	10	"I Wanna Do It All"
15	GARY ALLAN	34,712	9	"Right Where I Need to Be"
16	MONTGOMERY GENTRY	34,208	8	"If You Ever Stop Loving Me"
17	TRISHA YEARWOOD	33,472	10	"I Would've Loved You Anyway"
18	LEE ANN WOMACK	31,276	7	"I Hope You Dance"
19	LEANN RIMES	30,428	7	"How Do I Live"
20	VINCE GILL	28,554	9	"If You Ever Have Forever in Mind"
21	TRAVIS TRITT	28,243	7	"Best of Intentions"
22	GARTH BROOKS	28,063	10	"In Another's Eyes"
23	CHRIS CAGLE	27,624	5	"What a Beautiful Day"
24	MARTINA McBRIDE	26,417	15	"Where Would You Be"
25	JO DEE MESSINA	25,486	9	"Lesson in Leavin'"
26	JOE DIFFIE	24,143	6	"Texas Size Heartache"
27	FAITH HILL	23,369	10	"Let Me Let Go"
28	LONESTAR	23,296	10	"You Walked In"
29	TRACE ADKINS	22,604	10	"More"
30	SHANIA TWAIN	21,061	9	"That Don't Impress Me Much"

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THE TOP COUNTRY ONE-HIT WONDERS, 1997-2004

Country has its heritage artists, but yes, it also has its OHWs.  Each of these acts had exactly one CFT10 entry.  An asterisk indicates an act who had hits before the Fantasy chart period.

#	Artist and title	Score	Year
1	*BLACKHAWK..."There You Have It"	8563	1999
2	LOS LONELY BOYS..."Heaven"	7658	2004
3	ERIC HEATHERLY..."Flowers on the Wall"	7532	2000
4	MICHAEL PETERSON..."Drink, Swear, Steal & Lie"	7082	1997
5	AARON LINES..."You Can't Hide Beautiful"	6915	2003
6	*DAVID BALL..."Riding with Private Malone"	6899	2001
7	JILL KING..."98.6 Degrees and Fallin'"	6445	2004
8	*SAWYER BROWN..."This Night Won't Last Forever"	6133	1997
9	*KATHY MATTEA..."455 Rocket"	5911	1997
10	REBECCA LYNN HOWARD..."Forgive"	5846	2002

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THE COUNTRY FANTASY TOP 10 LEAFLET OF RECORDS

Artists with the most CFT10 hits:
Tim McGraw, 23
Alan Jackson, 19
George Strait, 19
Toby Keith, 17
The Dixie Chicks, 16
Martina McBride, 15
Brooks & Dunn, 14
Sara Evans, 14

Artist with the most hits without a #1:
Trace Adkins, 10

Artists with the most #1s:
Kenny Chesney, 8
George Strait, 8
The Dixie Chicks, 7
Alan Jackson, 7
Tim McGraw, 6
Rascal Flatts, 5
Keith Urban, 5

Songs with the longest runs in the top ten:
"Where I Come From," 21 weeks
"Buy Me a Rose," 19 weeks [see the 9/9/00 chart for my "oops"]
"Cowboy Take Me Away," 16 weeks
"It's a Great Day to Be Alive," 16 weeks
"Young," 16 weeks
"Travelin' Soldier," 16 weeks
"Right Where I Need to Be," 15 weeks
"Backseat of a Greyhound Bus," 15 weeks

Songs with the longest runs at #1:
"Born to Fly," 8 weeks
"Buy Me a Rose," 7 weeks
"Best of Intentions," 7 weeks
"Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)," 7 weeks
"Travelin' Soldier," 7 weeks
"How Do I Live," 6 weeks

Songs that made the longest climbs to #1:
"Two Teardrops," #1 in its 9th week on
"It's a Love Thing," 9th week
"Flowers on the Wall," 9th week
"I Will...But," 9th week
"Complicated," 9th week
"What Was I Thinkin'," 9th week
"Redneck Woman," 9th week

Weekly charts that had the most songs in common with the Billboard top 10 for the same week:
12/26/98, 9
1/9/99, 9
1/16/99, 9
1/23/99, 9
9/16/00, 9
6/2/01, 9