“You’ve Got a Good Love Comin'”
Lee Greenwood
Written by Danny Morrison, Jeff Silbar, and Van Stephenson
Radio & Records
#1 (1 week)
March 1, 1985
Because this feature covers two different charts, there are a few entries every year that top only one of the listings. Usually this means that the single went top five on the other listing, but “You’ve Got a Good Love Comin'” only made it to No. 9 on the Billboard listing.
At this point of the decade, the Radio & Records chart was airplay only, while the Billboard listing incorporated sales. It’s possible that the massive success of “God Bless the U.S.A.,” which was the lead single from You’ve Got a Good Love Comin’, made a single purchase unnecessary for many consumers, since the album was already gold by the time that is third single was peaking at radio. The second single, “Fool’s Gold,” had gone top five on both listings.
Both of those singles were stronger than “You’ve Got a Good Love Comin’,” and I had to listen to it a few times to fully understand what makes it so discordant to my ears. Greenwood’s never been one of my favorite vocalists, and the reasons why are here in spades across this track. He oversings, sounding strained and slightly off key throughout the record.
But what choice does he have when he’s singing over a backing track that’s misaligned the lyric and that isn’t built around his vocal in the first place? The chorus exposes the weak production, where Greenwood has to rush through the words to keep up with the band. Like so many records of its day, “You’ve Got a Good Love Comin'” sounds horribly dated because the production standards simply weren’t on the same level as the superstar acts of the day, even those within the genre.
In many ways, that’s the untold story of why so many acts got wiped off of the radio by the end of the decade, Greenwood included.
“You’ve Got a Good Love Comin'” gets a C.
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I’m a regular reader of this feature and I really enjoy it. I agree that this is a mediocre song at best and that Greenwood’s vocals are grating. One qualm, you often include a criticism of singers being “off key” when you don’t like their vocals. My wife and I, both full time professional musicians, scrutinize records where you mention it and it is rarely the case. Grating, over-sung? Yes and yes. But most everything coming out of Nashville in the 80’s and 90’s was pitch perfect. It might be constructive to use this criticism more accurately. Other than that, we love your work!
Thank you for pointing that out. It’s a term that I use figuratively, but reading your comment, I understand why it should only be used literally! I’ll take that line out of the rotation.
Although this is not one of them, Greenwood has his moments with his singles.
My criticism of his music, however, is almost always related to his singing. His vibrato seems curiously contrived and he too often exudes an untrustworthy sleazy salesman energy with his insincere vocals.
Just his too-cool-by-half persona puts me off.
Lee Greenwood feels phony to me, a slick showman.
Greenwood never stirred any curiosity in me in the ’80s, and I am still completely uninterested in his music in retrospection.
The best thing I can say about Greenwood in 2023 is that I look forward to moving on from him and his music again.