A Woman in Love (Ronnie Milsap song)

"A Woman in Love"
Cassette single cover art
Single by Ronnie Milsap
from the album Stranger Things Have Happened
B-side	"Starting Today"
Released	September 23, 1989
Genre	Country, pop
Length	3:16
Label	RCA
Songwriters	Doug Millett Curtis Wright
Producers	Tom Collins Ronnie Milsap Rob Galbraith
Ronnie Milsap singles chronology
"Houston Solution" (1989) "A Woman in Love" (1989) "Stranger Things Have Happened" (1990)

"A Woman in Love" is a song written by Curtis Wright and Doug Millett, and recorded by American country music singer Ronnie Milsap. It was released in September 1989 as the third single from the album Stranger Things Have Happened . It was his last song to reach number one on the U.S. country singles chart. ^[1]

Success and reception

"A Woman in Love" was Milsap's 53rd single to be released and the third track from the album Stranger Things Have Happened, the song became his last number-one single, which was accompanied by a music video for the song. ^[2]

Curtis Wright, who had just quit Vern Gosdin's road band, wrote the song in 1989. He said that when Doug Millett presented him with the idea, he was initially uninterested in writing the song, but "it kind of opened up like a book". Wright was still concerned that its hook was too similar to Earl Thomas Conley's 1988 single "What She Is (Is a Woman in Love)", and thought that the song was not suited for Milsap's style. ^[2]

"A Woman In Love" is often considered to be one of Milsap's biggest hit singles. One thing backing this claim was its status during Billboard magazine's experimental process of compiling unpublished prototype charts using the Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems, ^[3] , which would lead to an increase in the length of time songs spent in the top spot. ^[4] Billboard began this experimental process in November 1989, when "A Woman In Love" was at its popularity peak on the radio; during this time, instead of the single week which it achieved on the published listing, the unpublished charts showed "A Woman In love" spending five weeks atop the prototype charts. ^[5]

Chart positions

Chart (1989–1990)	Peak position
Canada Country Tracks ( RPM ) [6]	1
US Hot Country Songs ( Billboard ) [7]	1

Year-end charts

Chart (1990)	Position
Canada Country Tracks ( RPM ) [8]	89
US Country Songs ( Billboard ) [9]	38

References

1. Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 233.
2. Roland, Tom (1991). The Billboard Book of Number One Country Hits . Billboard Books. p.  572. ISBN   0-8230-7553-2.
3. Whitburn, Joel (2005). Joel Whitburn's Top Country Songs: 1944-2005. Record Research. p. ix. ISBN   978-0-89820-165-9.
4. "Hot Country Songs 70th Anniversary: Top 70 Country Songs 1989-2014". Billboard . January 13, 2014. Archived from the original on July 21, 2017. Retrieved February 2, 2018. Prior to the Hot Country Song's implementation in January 1990 of monitored radio airplay by Nielsen BDS, titles on those lists had shorter reigns at No. 1 and shorter chart lives.
5. "Examining The New Chart: Slower Records, Bigger Hits", Billboard , p. 56, January 20, 1990
6. "Top RPM Country Tracks: Issue 6631." RPM . Library and Archives Canada. January 13, 1990. Retrieved August 23, 2013.
7. "Ronnie Milsap Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
8. "RPM Top 100 Country Tracks of 1990". RPM . December 22, 1990. Retrieved August 23, 2013.
9. "Best of 1990: Country Songs". Billboard . Prometheus Global Media. 1990. Retrieved August 23, 2013.