“Yes!”
Chad Brock
Written by Chad Brock, Jim Collins, and Stephony Smith
Radio & Records
#1 (3 weeks)
June 9 – June 23, 2000
Billboard
#1 (3 weeks)
June 17 – July 1, 2000
Yes! I’m aware that I once said this was the worst single of the 2000s.
Yes! That feels unfair in retrospect.
Chad Brock emerged in the late nineties, but his label used the mid nineties playbook for male country artists to break him.
Something that was striking as the nineties feature went on was how we went from artists being launched with career records early in the decade to having their radio breakthroughs with very safe, cookie cutter material. So many artists got the big radio hit, but then disappeared because while their song was inoffensive enough to keep folks from changing the station, the records were too boring to inspire consumers to purchase the albums that they came from.
Chad Brock got hit hard by this. His debut album had done well enough, producing genuine hits with “Ordinary Life” and “Lightning Does the Work.” He seemed poised for a big commercial breakthrough, and the label had a potential career record in the wings with “The Visit,” a killer George Jones ballad that was never sent to radio. The playbook was clear: get Brock a big radio hit with a pleasant midtempo track, then sell a metric ton of records when the ballad is released next.
They got the radio hit. The meet cute of a couple brought together by unforwarded mail was just catchy enough to get heavy radio play, even though it already was something of an anachronism played next to the pop country of the day. It was likely a bigger hit than the label anticipated, giving Brock a multi-week No. 1 hit. Sure, it didn’t showcase what he could do vocally and the storyline was forgettable, but the next hit would fix things on both fronts and position Brock as a leading traditionalist voice in the new decade.
But that didn’t happen. “The Visit” peaked outside the top twenty and Brock never visited the top forty again. A third album was released and sank quietly, and Brock was dropped from Warner Bros. A few singles on Broken Bow went nowhere, and he made his last chart appearance with 2008’s “Put a Redneck in the White House.”
Was Brock the next Mark Chesnutt? Probably not. Did he deserve a better fate than, say, James Bonamy? Possibly. Music Row sanded down the edges of so many male artists during this era that it’s hard not to wonder if any of them would’ve been legends had they been able to fully express themselves on record.
“Yes!” gets a C.
Every No. 1 Single of the 2000s
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I don’t think you were wrong saying it’s one of the worst singles of the 2000’s. I won’t go crazy and say of all time but it’s up there. I hate this song and this would be my answer to what is a “Bland” song. I worked at cracker barrel for 12 years and this song played everyday. I can’t stand this song.
“The worst single of the 2000s.” Fascinating to unpack that kind of visceral passion for a song as innocuous as “Yes!” even if you’ve softened your edges toward it since. It’s a not-really-all-that-guilty guilty pleasure for me, even though I’d rank it fourth on my list of Chad Brock hit/semi-hit singles in terms of preference. My only bone to pick with the song is that it suffocated whatever legacy endured of similarly titled “She Said Yes” by Rhett Akins, which I always thought was an above-average entry from the sentimentalist factory.
For whatever “Yes!’s” shortcomings were, I submit the lyrics read like Socrates compared to its predecessor at the top of the charts and the driving arrangement, especially at the end, lends itself to a satisfying summertime listen. It was more surprising to me that it came with no momentum at all and couldn’t even carry the impressive follow-up single “The Visit” into the top-20. In fact, Chad Brock showed up to my county fair in 2001 and he didn’t even sing “The Visit” despite it being his most recent chart entry. Brock had spoken with adoration about that song in press interviews upon its release but the executive decision was clearly made for it to be disappeared as soon as its abbreviated chart run ended.
I never expected Chad Brock to have a 25-year career, but I’ve discovered I’m very bad at predicting those who are poised for Hall of Fame careers as I’d never have predicted it in the mid-90s for Tim McGraw or Kenny Chesney and certainly wouldn’t have predicted it for Jason Aldean or Luke Bryan in the mid-2000s. There’s just no formula for churning out hitmakers and the industry’s decision to drown Brock’s career in the bathtub in the immediate aftermath of his career hit seems just as arbitrary as if they’d groomed him for superstardom.
Grade: B
I too was genuinely surprised by Kenny Chesney’s, Luke Bryan’s and Jason Aldean’s huge success.
I didn’t hate this song, because I thought it was a fun sing along song, but it’s not one that I’ve sought out as a listener outside it’s radio play back when it was a hit.
Not a whole lot I can say that hasn’t already been said about this song.
But ”The Visit” was pretty killer indeed. I heard it and when it got to that twist at the end…well, to steal the line from Red Sovine, “a big lump came in my throat, and my eyes watered like I had a bad old cold.” Maybe it was trite, cliched, whatever, but all I can say is that I am incurably sentimental.
(There was a similar twist in the video of Sammy Kershaw’s ”Politics, Religion, And Her” that I still have difficulty with almost 30 years later.)
I am gonna have to go hunt down the George Jones version now.
I met Chad Brock on two occasions as he went on to be a disc jockey at Tampa station WQYK-FM. I did not think he was much of a singer – “Ordinary Life” was probably his best song (I would give that a B-), but “Yes!” was pretty ordinary and worth no more than a “C”
Similar to the Faith Hill song previously, this song with its sunny, breezy feel, catchy melody, and pop sensibilities seemed perfect for the time it came out in the Spring and Summer of 2000 when there still seemed to be a lot of excitement and optimism in the air after having entered the new millennium. It was EVERYWHERE during that time. I even heard it playing at Best Buy one time while looking in the country CD section during my earliest times of CD shopping (and of course seeing Chad’s Yes! album on the shelves). I also have fond memories of hearing it on various car rides with both my dad and step dad all throughout the year and both of us enjoying it for what it was. No, this was no lyrical masterpiece by any means or anything meant to make a statement or change the world, but it was a pretty catchy song that I liked that had a nice, feel good vibe perfect for the times we were in, and at that time, that was enough for me. Whenever I hear it now, it just reminds me of a happy time in my life and a time I miss, so personally I’m glad to see Kevin’s stance on it soften a bit. Also, for a song more on the pop side of the fence, this song always had some nice steel guitar featured throughout that I always liked, as well.
I always enjoyed seeing the video for “Yes!” on GAC, as well. I especially remember the two kids kicking stones into the water during the electric guitar solo and the old couple, plus the fact that they included his actual wife who inspired the song. I would always wonder how the heck Chad did that little jump kick move at the end, too, which was neat (I wasn’t athletic at all during that time, and I could NEVER do something like that, lol). Btw, I love how male cowboy hat wearing artists at that time were still sporting the classic all black look!
As others have already mentioned, it’s definitely a shame that “The Visit” didn’t perform as well as it should’ve. I remember enjoying that one too on the few times I did get to hear it on the radio, and it’s still one of my favorite songs of Chad’s. It was the follow up to the monster success of “Yes!”, and it was a perfect kind of song for the Fall and Winter, so who knows what went wrong? Judging from the pretty interesting comments and observations from MarkMinnesota above, it does seem like the label just for whatever reason had very little to no interest in promoting the single, unfortunately, which I don’t get. Other favorites of mine from the Yes! album are “Young Enough To Know It All” and “Hey Mister.”
One of my most favorite Chad Brock songs is still “Ordinary Life” which I really loved when it came out around late 1998/early 1999, and it always brings back great memories from seventh grade for me. I even still have it on a tape I recorded it on from the radio back then. During the first few times hearing it, I would always think the DJ was saying “Chad Rock” instead of “Brock”, lol. It was also pretty neat finding out that he used to be a wrestler, which looking back, was a neat coincidence considering it was also the time of the popular “attitude era” in wrestling. I do remember seeing the video for “Ordinary Life” the first time and thinking he looked nothing like what I had first pictured him as, judging by his smooth, not too twangy vocals. I also like “Lightning Does The Work” with it cool arrangement of pounding drums and flaming fiddle, plus that cool sound effect right after the song’s bridge. I quite enjoy his self-titled debut album, as well.
Oh, and I love that MarkMinnesota mentioned Rhett Akins’ “She Said Yes” which is one of my favorites of his. I still often see folks refer to Chad’s song as “She Said Yes” and then mind goes to Rhett’s song, lol.