Bobby Bones Commands Love & Theft’s “Whiskey On My Breath” to the Top of the Charts
What’s the old saying? Even a blind squirrel finds a nut every once in a while? Well pop country über DJ Bobby Bones went foraging through the vast wasteland of mainstream country and apparently happened upon the morsel that is Love and Theft‘s song “Whiskey On My Breath.” Now the song has become the latest beneficiary of the “Bobby Bones push”—where the syndicated iHeartMedia morning show host tasks his slavish listeners to purchase the song on iTunes until it reaches #1, resulting are a newfound country music star; or in the case of Love & Theft, a rejuvenated career.
Love and Theft already had a #1 song called “Angel Eyes” in 2011 when the duo was still signed to RCA Nashville, and before they became one of the most high profile victims of the Bro-Country epidemic and the axe of former Sony Nashville CEO Gary Overton—a.k.a. the “If you’re not on radio, you don’t exist” guy. After being dropped, Overton told the duo point blank it was because they weren’t Bro-Country enough. So then they were out on the streets and decided to record a stripped down record. “Whiskey On My Breath” became the first single.
The song was first released way back on November 23rd of 2014, though it really wasn’t until early January of 2015 that it began to be recognized by country music media, and it wasn’t until late May when the official video for the song was rolled out. At some point Thirty Tigers took the song under its wing, but it still floundered on radio, and never made it past #50 on the Country Airplay charts despite lots of critical reception, including from Saving Country Music and other outlets.
Now Bobby Bones, over a year after its initial release, has gone crazy over “Whiskey On My Breath,” and spent Tuesday (1-26) chronicling its rise to #2 on the iTunes charts as he commanded his many listeners to purchase it. Remember, it was a similar effort that propelled Chris Janson’s song “Buy Me a Boat” to the top of the iTunes charts, and eventually landed him a major label deal with Warner Bros. Nashville. “Buy Me a Boat” was ultimately released as a proper radio single, and has since been certified platinum. Is Love and Theft now headed for a similar fate? We will have to see, and it couldn’t happen to a more worthy song.
But it all still feels smarmy that we’re putting so much power to choose who makes it, and who doesn’t into one person’s hands. The beauty of country radio when it was made up of powerful local and regional voices was the pulse of the country music fan could be read by many different fingers, while there were more sets of ears out there looking for the next great song or artist. The result was the best music rose to the top. Radio consolidation has all but done away with that system and put syndicated super-jockeys and mid-level corporate bureaucrats in charge of who audiences numbering in the millions get to hear. And in the case of Bobby Bones, he’s not even native to the genre in which he’s making such monumental decrees.
READ: Review Love and Theft’s “Whiskey On My Breath”
“Whiskey On My Breath” should have been a hit a year ago, but country radio failed it. Luckily for Love and Theft and with the help of Bobby Bones, the happy ending may still be written. But it’s the same system that kept “Whiskey On My Breath” down initially that’s now responsible for it’s big rise. In the meantime, dozens of other worthy songs are left unheard, while a broken system controlled by too few pushes terrible selections to the top of the charts.
January 26, 2016 @ 8:07 pm
Why did this take so long?
January 26, 2016 @ 8:10 pm
Because the most powerful DJ in country music probably didn’t even hear a song released in November of 2014 until recently. That’s how broken mainstream country radio is.
January 26, 2016 @ 8:12 pm
I’m glad that Bones used his “evil” for good this time. I’ve always liked Love and Theft, and they really got screwed with their last album essentially being held hostage after they were let go.
January 26, 2016 @ 9:21 pm
Hey, all acrimony aside, he picked a really good song to champion. He was a bit slow on the uptake, but good on him for finding a song worthy of pushing to the rafters.
January 26, 2016 @ 10:13 pm
That’s how it is for everyone who gets dropped. Except for people on thirty tigers, and the few smart enough to own their music like Garth (another story in itself). Toby Keith bought his former recordings back. The label forked over the money for them, unless the duo was to buy them back its how it is. Do I agree with it? Absolutely not.
January 26, 2016 @ 8:45 pm
I wish Bobby Bones would help Josh Turner out, but I guess Josh Turner is too moralistic for Bones.
January 27, 2016 @ 2:43 am
Josh Thompson is the one who needs a serious boost right now, or even Jon Pardi, not Josh Turner. Turner is currently being F’d over by MCA, lets face it he will never be what he once was, music has changed so much in the last few years especially country music. Josh Thompson left Show Dog and was signed to Ole Digital, an independent label just as shitty as (if not more shitty) as Show Dog. Hes a very talented guy that needs some serious attention. I figure Bobby Bones is way too big of an assclown to even know who Thompson is, let alone promote him. Josh Thompson’s days are probably already over, I mean who goes from a major label, to a crappy label, to an independent label that doesn’t even release singles to radio?
January 27, 2016 @ 1:40 pm
I really hope Josh Thompson can make a comeback. I love his music, plus he’s a Wisconsin boy!! I’ve been pulling for Thompson since I first heard his music. I’ve seen him live and he puts on a good show too. I’m glad they still play his music up here in Wisconsin.
January 26, 2016 @ 9:09 pm
Bones can be a tool, and perhaps he is too often, but he can also expand the reach of a great artist with one simple mention.
Oh, and he can keep a shitty cover of “Them Boys” from gaining any traction. Thank god for that.
January 26, 2016 @ 9:16 pm
Hey, you always capitalize God’s Name and every pronoun associated with Him cuz He’s important.
January 26, 2016 @ 9:30 pm
Lol. Nicely done, sir!
January 27, 2016 @ 1:55 pm
Or because it is polite and respectful of people’s faith.
January 27, 2016 @ 11:32 pm
In that case, I certainly hope you’ve never included the “o” of G-d’s name in writing!
Taking the Lord’s name in vain in such a manner is obviously highly impolite to Him, and disrespectful of the Jewish faith.
January 29, 2016 @ 1:29 pm
Fuck off, dude.
January 26, 2016 @ 9:54 pm
Great song and good for L&T, but I will say it borrows a bit too much from the tune of Go Rest High On That Mountain for me to consider it elite.
The biggest irony with L&T around here is one of the stations still plays Angel Eyes very regularly. Why that song compared to the hundreds that have gone on and off the charts in the past decade I don’t know, but it must not be because they like L&T since I’ve never heard this song play.
January 26, 2016 @ 11:10 pm
I wouldn’t consider “Whiskey On My Breath” as “elite,” but I would consider it very very good. I didn’t nominate it for Song of the Year last year, but I did give it honorable mention, if that gives you any idea of how I feel about it. There are a few songs that are like it, but the performance is really what makes it special.
January 27, 2016 @ 6:44 am
May I ask what Itunes chart are you referring to in this article? The only chart I know of is this one: http://kworb.net/itunes/extended.html This chart is ranking 5000 artist.And the website uses some kind of algorithm to combine the result from charts in different countries to calculate this ranking.
And I use the search feature of my browser to find the artist I’m interested in.
For example: Chris Stapleton is ranked #278 (World wide) at the moment when I’m writing this. And if I click on his name I’ll see how well he is doing in the charts of those countries where he’s on a top list.
These charts shows the rankings of both individual songs and albums.
But I can’t find Bobby’s name at all in this chart. So it cant be the same chart.
January 27, 2016 @ 11:18 am
Media base/country aircheck and billboard are the two main charts here for American radio. Those are done by reporting stations and each has around 150 that report to them give or take. Some stations report simultaneously to both charts. FYI there’s 2,000 country stations total here in America in some form. Majority do not report to these charts.
Bobby bones is a radio DJ why you will not find his name on your Spotify chart that’s listed. Only way you would find him is through his band the raging idiots who are signed to black river entertainment (Kelsea ballerini, formerly chris Janson).
January 27, 2016 @ 12:04 pm
Ok. Thanks. So whats the reason I can’t find Jason or Sturgill on these charts either.
January 27, 2016 @ 2:05 pm
Perhaps you would be looking at the wrong list is why. Jason and sturgill would be classified as Americana which is a seperate sub genre. It depends how it’s filed. It’s still country but there may be a whole bunch of different sub genres it could be classified as traditional/ red dirt (or Texas country), Americana, bluegrass, or even possibly outlaw. Just a guess.
January 27, 2016 @ 7:35 pm
Go to the iTunes music store and click the Country genre and scroll down – on the right you will see the current song rankings. Love and Theft is at #2 on the top songs chart.
January 28, 2016 @ 6:58 am
Thank you very much I found it. (I think these charts are a bit of a jungle…)
January 26, 2016 @ 10:17 pm
I personally have listened to it twice early part of last year. I really enjoyed it but I completely forgot about it. A station an hour away wbee 92.5 plays a wider variety than our top 30 station. I’m rarely able to listen to it since I’m never in that area much. Anyways a month ago I heard it and knew with almost certainty it was love and theft. Sure enough and I remembered why I loved it. Good for them at least a good song is a benefit of his power.
January 27, 2016 @ 5:22 am
There should never be a Blabby Bores article that doesn’t include this picture . . .
https://savingcountrymusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/bobby-bones-001.jpg
January 27, 2016 @ 2:30 pm
Yeah, he looks like a major dork!
January 27, 2016 @ 8:12 am
First, where did you get the “they got dropped because they were told they weren’t bro country enough” credit? Why not link to a story or tweets with THAT info. Otherwise, you’re no better than gossip sites. You’re better than that, aren’t you? As far as I know, they’ve never said such things on the record or publicly.
Second, Chris Janson wasn’t signed by Columbia. He signed to Warner Bros. Nashville.
Other than those things, kudos to helping get the song out there…
January 27, 2016 @ 9:09 am
Thanks for the passive aggressive comment Matt. B., Chris was signed to Columbia Nashville and released an EP “Take It To The Bank” in February of 2014. Probably could have worded that better, so I just did. Infinite apologies.
Here’s the source for the info on how they weren’t Bro-Country enough:
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/love-and-theft-drop-whiskey-come-clean-about-getting-dropped-by-rca-20150210
That link was active yesterday. At the moment I’m seeing “Sorry for the inconvenience,
this page could not be loaded.” Take it up with Rolling Stone. Their publicist might be trying to suppress that info. That was a pretty public story at the time, interwoven with all of the Gary Overton news. Didn’t even think it was worth linking to because it wasn’t a direct quote. It was just a baseline to their back story.
January 27, 2016 @ 9:31 am
The link is working now. Here’s the relevant portion:
For Love and Theft, the news that their label home was showing them the door came in an e-mail from their current manager, Ken Levitan, who informed them that Gary Overton, Chairman and CEO of Sony Music Nashville, was ending the relationship.
“Ken sent us an e-mail in big capital letters ”” GARY IS DROPPING YOU ”” and that was it,” says Gunderson, candidly offering a glimpse at the machinations behind the major-label curtain. “We weren’t surprised, because we had always had a very strange relationship with Gary anyway. He was always really hard on us, and maybe he had a different idea of what we should have been and what we were. I’m not really sure what it was. But for some reason, we never connected with him.”
Still, throughout Love and Theft’s tenure at the label, they say Overton always gave it to them straight.
Liles recalls an exchange with their former boss, who reached out after the band heard the bad news. “He sent me a text, it was nice. He said, ‘The airwaves are oversaturated with bro country right now. We did our best, but we had a hard time,'” says Liles, emphasizing that Love and Theft’s music was never of the bro variety. “Pretty much, it was like, ‘If you were bro country, you probably would have gotten played.’ He was just being honest.”
January 27, 2016 @ 9:28 am
Read the Rolling Stone article Matt B. States this Bro-Country fact pretty clearly.
January 27, 2016 @ 9:32 am
Not trying to undercut anybody, but is Itunes becoming more influential than say Billboard or Mediabase? I tend to think it’s a mixed bag because I prefer not to use it.
January 27, 2016 @ 11:23 am
It depends your weight on such things. The voice weighed it heavily in their artist votes. It can just be another indicator and it’s for a moment in time like anything else. If it keeps switching and the artist is only there for a few hours, isn’t a huge difference. It doesn’t mean it will be played on radio either have to be added to the playlist via the radio programmer then to the rotation. Would be indicated by radio adds for the week on a set number of stations.
January 27, 2016 @ 9:35 am
I guess it is a good song.. No comment on Bones from me, I have such mix feelings on him. LOL
They are playing live on his show tomorrow..
He also said today that he was the first to champion Maren Morris. He had her live in the studio last year sing My Church acoustic.
January 27, 2016 @ 9:56 am
I can’t stand Blabby boy, but this is a beautiful song. It does sound a lot like Go Rest…
Oh, well. If Vince doesn’t mind, then why should we?
January 27, 2016 @ 12:05 pm
Ok, this is nothing new to me at all. Why you say? Because I spent 20 years in country radio and I know how it works. But back then in the old days I was allowed to program my own show. Therefore I was playing the music nobody else would touch. Like Billy Joe Shaver,Coe,Townes VanZant,Guy Clark, the New Riders of the Purple Sage,Steve Earle,Kris Kristopherson,and so on. It was my platform to educate the listener to what else was out there besides the crap Nashville was pushing. Bluegrass was also a favorite of mine. Yes it is a powerfull thing to have your finger and voice on the trigger of a song,group,or artist. But when used wisely it is a very potent remedy for the pablum that is fed to the pukers out of Nashville. And the people respond in kind because your letting them know they are smart enough to hear the music and not just listen. Now I am retired but I can’t even remember the last time I listened to the radio. But then I have an extremely extensive library of music right here at home. I do miss the freebies though,(Lol) Listen to the Trigger man and take what he says as just and honest. He reminds me of me and well, to me that’s not so bad at all.
January 27, 2016 @ 2:17 pm
Love & Theft started as a trio and their debut cd was on Lyric Street which had a top 10 hit with “Runaway” and top 25 with Dancing in circles then they left Lyric Street which they were shut down. They were down to a duo for RCA records with #1 hit with “Angel Eyes” and they released 3 top 40 singles then they were dropped from Sony Music. Now they are on Thirty Tigers.
January 27, 2016 @ 2:39 pm
I absolutely love this song and remember when you first turned me onto them. I’d never bothered listening to L&T before. So kudos to Bones for the resurrection.
That said, I’ll tell you one person that has NOT heard the song: Vince Gill’s attorney………..
January 27, 2016 @ 3:37 pm
Most country artists don’t get their panties in a twist over someone copying their melodies, as long as they don’t copy the entire song, lyrics and all, and say it’s theirs. I’ve heard many a song sound exactly like ten others, and yet, nobody has sued anyone.
January 27, 2016 @ 5:48 pm
This was originally a bro-country song called “Whiskey On My Breathless Truck” but they fixed it.
January 28, 2016 @ 9:12 am
Makes you think about just how many ” Whiskey On My Breath-s ” fall through the cracks every day . A lot. It should be no surprise that one person ( or one label ) can determine the fate of a song/artist ( Payola ) especially in these times when the powers that be don’t even seem to know which way is up . How does a Cam get airplay next to the Kruze Kids ? How does an Aldean get ANY airplay with such inferior material while Isbell can’t get the time of day ? Money and power in most cases, of course . Listeners are easily indoctrinated by ‘ networks’ to believing they are listening to the best , hippest , hottest , most talented artists around . When radio was more regionally programmed that indoctrination wasn’t so easy or obvious .
January 28, 2016 @ 7:55 pm
I think there was a very good article on this website a few months ago that chronicled Bobby Bones and the power he has. Quite frankly this shows the power of country radio. I bet Love & Theft are thankful. Just may have saved their careers. This song is a very good song. It deserves to be heard. If Bones decided to push the genre this direction I wouldn’t mind that. I just really hate his damn humble bragging. Drives me insane.