“Watch Me”
Lorrie Morgan
Written by Gary Burr and Tom Shapiro
Radio & Records
#1 (1 week)
November 6, 1992
Lorrie Morgan returns to the top with a crisply delivered warning.
The Road to No. 1
After topping the charts with “Five Minutes,” Lorrie Morgan kept the hits coming. “He Talks to Me” went top five, closing out the Leave the Light On project.
Her next album, Something in Red, produced her signature song with the title track, powering her to platinum sales. The set also included the top ten hits “We Both Walk,” “A Picture of Me (Without You),” and “Except For Monday.”
Her third album, Watch Me, was led off by its title track, which became her second No. 1 hit.
The No. 1
Given that Lorrie Morgan was the nineties heir apparent to Tammy Wynette, it’s interesting that all four of her No. 1 hits are confident uptempo numbers, usually of the kiss-off variety.
“Watch Me” is powered by finger snaps and vocal sass, with Morgan warning that she’s on her way out the door, and this time, he’s not even getting five minutes to figure it out.
It’s not as compelling as her great ballads, like “I Guess You Had to Be There” and “Something in Red,” but it’s still a fun listen, all of these years later.
But really, check out those ballads. This is good, but those are great.
The Road From No. 1
She’ll be right back on top with her next single, which spent multiple weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard chart. We’ll get to it in early 1993.
“Watch Me” gets a B+.
Every No. 1 Single of the Nineties
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Was wondering when Lorrie would be making her next appearance here! As much as I love her ballads, I have always enjoyed her spunky upbeat numbers, as well, including this one. I personally like all the other singles from this album even more, but this is still a pretty fun listen in its own right. Always loved the cool opening with the snaps (back when snapping in country songs was actually tolerable and not cheesy and overdone like today). I even like that cool vocal effect they used near the end around the 2:37 mark.
This song made it on to an 80’s K-Mart brand tape that I recorded from the radio in late 1992/early 1993, and amazingly, it’s one that’s held up well and still plays great today. Also on that side of the tape is “I Tell It Like It Used To Be” by T. Graham Brown, “Ocean Front Property” by George Strait, “Poor Man’s Rose” by Stacy Dean Campbell, “One Of Those Things” by Pam Tillis, “Lost In The Fifties Tonight” by Ronnie Milsap, “Jukebox In My Mind” by Alabama, “Take It Back” by Reba, “Midnight In Montgomery” by Alan Jackson, “I Don’t Know Why You Don’t Want Me” by Rosanne Cash, and “Too Busy Being In Love” by Doug Stone.
This is also another song my dad always liked and it’s another video he remembered seeing often on CMT back then. Really love the signature short haircut she had around this time! I also remember still hearing it on the radio often as a recurrent during the late 90’s.
BTW, I’m in total agreement with you on “I Guess You Had To Be There,” especially! I absolutely love that song, and I wish that had been a much bigger hit for her instead of being criminally underrated. I’m also quite surprised that “Except For Monday,” while not a ballad, didn’t make it to number one either, since that always seemed to be one of her most popular recurrent hits.
The sass and confidence drip off of Morgan’s performance. The women from this era were decidedly mature, wise, and in control.
I will pile on to the claim that Morgan was at her vocal best on her ballads. The album that made me fully appreciate her strength as a singer was her 1993 Christmas album “Merry Christmas from London.” She stood side-by-side with Andy Williams, Johnny Mathis, and Tammy Wynette. No small vocal feat.
It was mentioned in an earlier Morgan post, “Good As I Was to You” is a shining highpoint every bit the equal of “I Guess You Had To Be There” and “Something in Red.”
Jamie, I thrilled at seeing you mention Stacy Dean Campbell’s “Poor Man’s Rose.” He is such a wonderfully talented songwriter and versatile vocalist. I love all three of his albums and always wonder if the momentum of the early nineties could have been better sustained if Nashville allowed their stars to record from the songbooks of that new emerging generation of young songwriters including artists like Mark Collie, Stacy Dean Campbell, and Dean Miller.
Also concur with the comments on Stacy Dean Campbell – he should have had a more substantial career at radio
As for “Watch Me”, this is a good, but not great song
I’m so glad there are others here who remember and are fans of Stacy Dean Campbell! I have his first two albums on Sony Nashville and really love them both, along with the 50’s/early 60’s throwback style he had. He really should have enjoyed bigger success on the radio. I’ve always loved “Poor Man’s Rose,” especially, and I’m so thankful I was able to get it on tape back then, since it sadly wasn’t that big of a hit. I also remember hearing “Rosalee” quite a bit around the Spring/Early Summer of 1992 when we were still staying in my dad’s house. :)