Gary Allan
Written by Odie Blackmon, Byron Hill, and Brice Long
Radio & Records
#1 (1 week)
December 3, 2004
Billboard
#1 (2 weeks)
December 4 – December 11, 2004
Gary Allan had a way of cutting through the treacle, delivering sentiments without sentimentality on his ballads and subtle wit on his uptempo hits.
This is one of his better uptempo hits, constructed around some clever wordplay that adults understand without having to explain it to the kids when it comes on the radio. Artists ranging from Pantera to Roxette put out songs with the same concept, but none of them pulled off that delicate balance the way Allan did.
Given the way that overgrown manchildren were in ascendance at country radio, Allan sounded refreshingly adult in contrast, making him the perfect singer for this memorable hit. It’s not quite S-tier among his distinguished singles career, but it’s still better than what many of this era’s up and comers would ever do, including some superstars who will drag down this feature over the next twenty plus years.
“Nothing On But the Radio” gets a B+.
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