Highway 101

Highway 101 was an American country music band founded in 1986 by Paulette Carlson (lead vocals), Jack Daniels (guitar), Curtis Stone (bass guitar, mandolin), and Scott "Cactus" Moser (drums).[2] With Carlson as lead vocalist, the band recorded three albums for Warner Bros. Records Nashville and charted ten consecutive Top Ten hits on the Hot Country Songs chart, four of which went to Number One. After Carlson left in 1990 to pursue a solo career, the band recorded a fourth album for Warner with Nikki Nelson on lead vocals before exiting the label. One album each followed on Liberty, Intersound, and Free Falls Records under various lineups.

Highway 101
1980s promotional image depicting Highway 101's original lineup (L-R: Paulette Carlson, Cactus Moser, Curtis Stone, Jack Daniels)
Background information
Origin	Los Angeles, California, U.S.[1]
Genres	Country
Years active	1986–2010
Labels	Warner Bros. Liberty Intersound Freefalls Keytone
Past members	Paulette Carlson Jack Daniels Curtis Stone Scott "Cactus" Moser Nikki Nelson Chrislynn Lee Charlie White Justin Weaver Andy Gurley

History

Before the band's foundation, Carlson recorded on RCA Records as a solo singer. She made three appearances on the Hot Country Songs chart in that timespan: her singles "You Gotta Get to My Heart (Before You Lay a Hand on Me)", "I'd Say Yes", and "Can You Fool" respectively reached No. 65, No. 67 and No. 72.[3] Carlson founded Highway 101 in 1986 in Los Angeles, California, with guitarist Jack Daniels, bassist Curtis Stone (son of singer Cliffie Stone), and drummer Scott "Cactus" Moser, all three of whom were session musicians.[4] Stone and Moser (and Cliffie Stone) appeared in the 1986 film Back To School as members of a bar band.

1987–1990

In 1987, the band signed with Warner Bros. Records Nashville, debuting that January with the single "The Bed You Made for Me", which Carlson wrote.[5] The song spent twenty-four weeks on the Hot Country Songs chart, reaching a peak of No. 4.[1] Following it were "Whiskey, If You Were a Woman" at No. 2 and two consecutive Number Ones: "Somewhere Tonight" (written by Rodney Crowell and Harlan Howard) and "Cry, Cry, Cry". After the chart success, Highway 101 was nominated and won the award for Vocal Group of the Year at the 1988 ACM and CMA Awards.

101² followed in 1988. Its first single, "(Do You Love Me) Just Say Yes". became the band's third consecutive Number One single; following it were the Top Ten hits "All the Reasons Why", "Setting Me Up", and "Honky Tonk Heart", at No. 5, No. 7 and No. 6 respectively.[1] The next year's Paint the Town accounted for the band's final Number One, "Who's Lonely Now", followed by "Walkin', Talkin', Cryin', Barely Beatin' Broken Heart" (originally released by Johnnie Wright) and "This Side of Goodbye".[1] A Greatest Hits album in 1990 included the No. 14 single "Someone Else's Trouble Now".

1990–Present: Departure of Carlson

In late 1990, Carlson left the band for a solo career on Capitol Records. Her solo debut album, Love Goes On, produced only one top 40 hit in "I'll Start with You". Carlson's replacement on lead vocals was Nikki Nelson, who first appeared on 1991's Bing Bang Boom. Although this album's title track made the Top 20, the other singles from it were less successful: "The Blame" reached No. 31, "Baby, I'm Missing You" peaked at No. 22, and "Honky Tonk Baby" fell short of the Top 40.[1] Daniels left the band in 1992.[4] After this album, the band left Warner Bros. for Liberty Records. Their only release for this label, The New Frontier, included the band's final chart entry, "You Baby You", which peaked at No. 67.[1]

Carlson and Daniels returned in 1996 for the album Reunited, released via Intersound Records. "Where’d You Get Your Cheatin’ From" and "It Must Be Love" were released as singles. In 1998, Carlson and Daniels would both depart Highway 101 once again.

In 1999, Moser (who was absent from the Reunion album) returned and with Stone, reformed Highway 101 with Charlie White and new vocalist Chrislynn Lee. With FreeFalls, an independent record label, Highway 101 released their seventh studio album, Big Sky. The album also included "There Goes My Love", previously recorded with Carlson (1988) and "I Wonder Where the Love Goes", previously recorded with Nelson (1993).

White departed in 2002 and was replaced with Justin Weaver.[4] Lee soon departed as well, and Nelson returned in 2006. In 2007, Weaver departed and was replaced by Andy Gurley. In December 2010, Highway 101 appeared on the Grand Ole Opry and released a special Christmas DVD entitled "Christmas On Highway 101". The new DVD featured professionally filmed live performances and guest appearances by country music notables such as Wynonna Judd, to whom Moser is married.

In August 2012, Moser was involved in a motorcycle accident which resulted in the amputation of his left leg above the knee.[6]

Members

1986–1990 Paulette Carlson - lead vocals, acoustic guitar Jack Daniels - lead guitar, vocals Curtis Stone - bass guitar, vocals Cactus Moser - drums, vocals 1991–1992 Nikki Nelson - lead vocals, acoustic guitar Jack Daniels - lead guitar, vocals Curtis Stone - bass guitar, vocals Cactus Moser - drums, vocals 1993–1994 Nikki Nelson - lead vocals, acoustic guitar Curtis Stone - bass guitar, vocals Cactus Moser - drums, vocals 1996–1997 Paulette Carlson - lead vocals, acoustic guitar Jack Daniels - electric guitar, vocals Curtis Stone - bass guitar, vocals

1997–2002 Chrislynn Lee - lead vocals, acoustic guitar Charlie White - electric guitar, vocals Curtis Stone - bass guitar, vocals Cactus Moser - drums, vocals 2003–2005 Chrislynn Lee - lead vocals, acoustic guitar Justin Weaver - electric guitar, vocals Curtis Stone - bass guitar, vocals Cactus Moser - drums, vocals 2006–2007 Nikki Nelson - lead vocals, acoustic guitar Justin Weaver - electric guitar, vocals Curtis Stone - bass guitar, vocals Cactus Moser - drums, vocals 2007–2010 Nikki Nelson - lead vocals, acoustic guitar Andy Gurley - electric guitar, vocals Curtis Stone - bass guitar, vocals Cactus Moser - drums, vocals

Discography

Studio albums

Title	Album details	Peak positions[7]	Certifications[8]
		US Country
Highway 101	Release date: 1987 Label: Warner Bros. Records	7	US: Gold
101²	Release date: 1988 Label: Warner Bros. Records	8
Paint the Town	Release date: 1989 Label: Warner Bros. Records	22
Bing Bang Boom	Release date: 1991 Label: Warner Bros. Records	36
The New Frontier	Release date: October 19, 1993 Label: Liberty Records	—
Reunited	Release date: February 20, 1996 Label: Intersound Records	—
Big Sky	Release date: May 9, 2000 Label: FreeFalls Records	—
Christmas on Highway 101	Release date: November 22, 2010 Label: Keytone Records	—
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Compilation albums

Title	Album details	Peak positions[7]
		US Country
Greatest Hits	Release date: September 11, 1990 Label: Warner Bros. Records	27
Latest & Greatest	Release date: February 25, 1997 Label: Intersound	—
Country Classics	Release date: October 10, 2003 Label: Flashback/Rhino	—
10 All Time Greatest	Release date: October 19, 2004 Label: Intersound	—
Rhino HiFive: Highway 101	Release date: April 24, 2007 Label: Rhino	—
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Singles

Year	Single	Peak chart positions		Album
		US Country	CAN Country
1987	"The Bed You Made for Me"	4	8	Highway 101
	"Whiskey, If You Were a Woman"	2	1
	"Somewhere Tonight"	1	1
1988	"Cry, Cry, Cry"	1	1
	"(Do You Love Me) Just Say Yes"	1	1	101²
	"All the Reasons Why"	5	2
1989	"Setting Me Up"	7	4
	"Honky Tonk Heart"	6	5
	"Who's Lonely Now"	1	1	Paint the Town
1990	"Walkin', Talkin', Cryin', Barely Beatin' Broken Heart"	4	5
	"This Side of Goodbye"	11	9
	"Someone Else's Trouble Now"	14	11	Greatest Hits
1991	"Bing Bang Boom"	14	27	Bing Bang Boom
	"The Blame"	31	27
1992	"Baby, I'm Missing You"	22	18
	"Honky Tonk Baby"	54	26
1993	"You Baby You"	67	—	The New Frontier
1994	"Who's Gonna Love You"[9]	—	—
1996	"Where'd You Get Your Cheatin' From"[10]	—	—	Reunited
	"It Must Be Love"	—	—
1997	"I Just Don't Love the Man"	—	—	Latest and Greatest
2011	"Six Gold Coins"	—	—	Christmas on Highway 101
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Guest singles

Year	Single	Artist	Peak positions	Album
			US Country
1990	"Tomorrow's World"	Various artists	74	Single only

Music videos

Year	Video	Director
1988	"Cry, Cry, Cry"[11]	Claude Borenzwerg
1989	"Honky Tonk Heart"	Michael Merriman
	"Who's Lonely Now"[12]
1990	"Walkin', Talkin', Cryin', Barely Beatin' Broken Heart"
1991	"Bing Bang Boom"[13]	Gerry Wenner
	"The Blame"
	"Honky Tonk Baby"
1993	"You Baby You"[14]	Steven T. Miller/R. Brad Murano
1996	"Where'd You Get Your Cheatin' From?"
	"It Must Be Love"	Tom Bevins
2010	"Six Gold Coins"	Michael Davis

References

1. Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. p. 188. ISBN 978-0-89820-177-2.
2. Colin Larkin, ed. (1997). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music (Concise ed.). Virgin Books. p. 601. ISBN 1-85227-745-9.
3. Whitburn, p. 79
4. Huey, Steve. "Highway 101 biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 13 September 2010.
5. Carlin, Richard (2003). Country Music: A Biographical Dictionary. Taylor & Francis. pp. 182–183. ISBN 0-415-93802-3.
6. "Wynonna Judd's husband, Cactus Moser, loses leg in motorcycle wreck". Los Angeles Times. August 20, 2012.
7. "Highway 101 charted albums". AllMusic. Retrieved 16 September 2010.
8. "Search results for Highway 101". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 16 September 2010.
9. "Single Reviews" (PDF). Billboard. January 15, 1994.
10. "Single Reviews" (PDF). Billboard. February 10, 1996.
11. "CMT : Music Video : Cry, Cry, Cry : Highway 101". Country Music Television. Retrieved 2013-04-19.
12. "CMT : Music Video : Who's Lonely Now : Highway 101". Country Music Television. Retrieved 2013-04-19.
13. "CMT : Music Video : Bing Bang Boom : Highway 101". Country Music Television. Retrieved 2013-04-19.
14. "CMT : Music Video : You Baby You : Highway 101". Country Music Television. Retrieved 2011-11-18.