Neal McCoy

One Liner: A killer classic of 90's country cheese, and then some other detritus

Wikipedia Genre: Country
Home: Nashville (via Jacksonville, Texas)

Sunday

Thoughts:   I literally just said, out loud, "oh hell yeah, this one rules!"  This is one of those cheesy ass 90's hits that I somehow know the lyrics to, without having any clue who sings it.  This is that guy.  And after that massive hit, I've got nothing, although some of those other songs are fine.  The mega-hit is "Wink" from his 1994 album No Doubt About It.  35.8 million streams.  Join me in the pleasures of this moment.

C'mon.  Just look at his ass on the cover of that album.  And then the fact that his lady gives him that wink and, slam bam, he's feelin' alright.  Gimme that feeling every day.  The title song to that album was his other major hit.

My man's real name is Hubert Neal McGaughey, Jr., so he made a really good choice in switching that name up.  He is from Jacksonville, Texas, born to a Filipino-American and Irish-American, and sang in his church choir before forming an R&B band.  He went to junior college near home and was working selling shoes at the local mall while performing at bars and clubs.  His big break came in 1981, when he won a talent contest and scored an opening spot for Charlie Pride ("Kiss An Angel Good Mornin'," etc.).   

He released a few albums prior to that 1994 breakout, but none of those did much.  But both "Wink" and "No Doubt About It" hit number 1 on the country charts and even charted on the Billboard Hot 100.  Album went platinum as well.  After that, he really never caught that same magic, even though a few of the next albums had some charting songs.  I'm going to give you two more songs to enjoy though.  His second most-popular track on Spotify right now, "The Shake," is also familiar to me and came from his 1996 greatest hits album, the only new song on that disc.  19.1 million streams.

That video is awful and amazing both.  And the fact that he went from the Wink to the Shake.  I wish he would have spent his entire career singing about one word actions that make him turned on.  The Kiss.  The Smile.  The Toot.  The Cough.  The Snore.  The Tinkle.  But after this one, he kind of got forgotten until a recent hit that is both dumb and clever.  2005's That's Life has his second-biggest streamer with "Billy's Got His Beer Goggles On" at 31.6 million streams.

Cheesy but still kinda funny.  And he even got Rob Schneider as his guest star!  Big time!  Just so bad.  But also, a catchy tune that I can definitely see people wanting to yell along to at the concert.  "LIFE LOOKS GOOD GOOD GOOD!" is just right.

I kept going through his catalog for a few days, and there is an AWFUL cover/homage to "Wink" that is called "That Drink, by something called George Birge and his drum machine that makes me sad.  "Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye" is lovely.  And a lot of these songs are pleasant enough - he has a great voice and a goofy enough sense of humor to pull off both the Nashville cheese and some nice tunes.  I can't recall which one by now, but there was a cover in here that struck me as especially good.  This likely wouldn't be my first pick over many of the artists on this poster, but I enjoyed it.