Tuesday, 3/19

Who knew Anne Murray had it in her?

Over the past couple of months on “Upper Michigan's Favorite Friday” we've been doing this little competition to find out Upper Michigan's favorite “forgotten” singer of the past 40 years. By “forgotten” we mean people who had huge hits through certain decades and then kind of faded from the spotlight. Some of the winners for particular decades included acts like Gerry Rafferty and Sade. We then pitted them against each other last Friday, and the ultimate winner was...

Anne Murray?

I kid you not. We had six people in the finals; winners of the favorite “forgotten” singer for the 70s, 80s, and 90s, both male and female. When we started we had this list of favorites which we posted for people to peruse before voting. Anne Murray was so far off of our radar that we didn't even include her when putting together the list for “forgotten” female of the 70s, yet she won that competition hands down. And then when we had the finals last weekend it wasn't even close.

Anne Murray once again won hands down.

There are two things to consider about this, the first being that Anne Murray was so far off of my radar when putting this together that something may be wrong. In one of my many radio jobs I'm supposed to have my finger on the pulse of Upper Michigan's musical tastes. Obviously, I blew this one big time, in that I didn't even consider that Anne Murray would rank anywhere near the top. That one's totally one me.

Hopefully, it's not a mistake I make again.

The other thing to consider is WHY Anne Murray seems so popular. When asking some of the people who voted why they cast their ballot for Ms. Murray something interesting popped up. A lot of people voted for her because their parents or grandparents used to listen to her music, and they have great memories of listening along. That I can understand. Nostalgia can be a powerful thing, especially when it comes to activities shared with people who may no longer be with us. I guess I just didn't realize that Anne Murray was part of that nostalgia.

My bad.

So the title is now hers. It probably won't be enough to make her come out of retirement, but if Anne Murray ever decides to mount a comeback tour, I have a pretty good idea of one place where she might sell out a show or two.

At least based on last Friday's vote.

(jim@wmqt.com)