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Wednesday’s Forgotten 45: Michael Johnson

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Wednesday’s Forgotten 45: Michael Johnson


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Bluesky

For today’s Forgotten 45 at 3:45 we take a trip back to July 8th, 1978 for the first ever hit for Michael Johnson with “Bluer Than Blue”.

The singer-songwriter grew up in Denver, Colorado and after bouncing around the world honing his skills, he recorded a two song demo which included “Bluer Than Blue” and was signed to EMI Records. Michael said he knew the song would be successful, but he didn’t think it go as far as it did, reaching #12 on the charts.

In the 80’s he shifted his focus to Country music where he recorded 5 straight top 5 songs between 1986 and 1989 including the #1 hit “Give Me Wings”. Sadly he passed away 9 years ago at the age of 72 in Minneapolis.

It turns out that the video for “Bluer Than Blue” was in the group of the first videos aired on MTV in 1981. It’s Michael Johnson with a hit from July 8th, 1978, it’s our Forgotten 45.

Jeff Winfield
105.7 KOKZ afternoons: the Forgotten 45 at 3:45 and the 5 O'Clock Traffic Jams.
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