‘Bluer Than Blue’ by Michael Johnson – Classic Hit or Miss

"Bluer Than Blue" is the title of a 1978 song recorded by Michael Johnson. The song was written by noted pop and country music songwriter Randy Goodrum. Goodrum says that the song came to him while driving down the road, so he pulled into a Wendy's, ordered a hamburger and wrote the verses down. However, he does point out that Wendy's should not get all of the credit because he wrote the chorus across the street in a K-mart parking lot. Originally recorded as a demo, it was taken as the first single from Johnson's subsequent LP, The Michael Johnson Album, "Bluer Than Blue" became the singer's first Top 40 hit, reaching #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart during the summer of 1978.

It proved even more popular with adult contemporary radio stations, spending three weeks at #1 on the Easy Listening chart that same year. To date, this is Johnson's highest-charting single on either the Pop or AC charts; however, he has scored a number of hits on the country chart in the time since releasing "Bluer Than Blue".

The single received generally favorable reviews at the time of its release. Cashbox Magazine described Johnson's work as "full of touching ballads with all the right production touches, subtle instrumentation and poignant vocals necessary to keep the tenderness from becoming insipid."

In 1978, Johnson was quoted as saying, “I knew it was potentially a successful song but I didn’t think it would go this far. It seemed, well, too mature. The experience of being married or living with someone is hard to indentify with for younger people.”

The song has become a well-known American 1970s soft rock single that continues to be played on radio stations to this day. The video for the song was played on MTV during the 2nd hour on August 1, 1981 which became the 18th video played.

#12 Back in 1978 - How about today?