The Cheap Seats (song)

"The Cheap Seats" is a song by American country music group Alabama, released on April 4, 1994, as the third and final single from their album Cheap Seats. "The Cheap Seats" was written by Marcus Hummon and Randy Sharp, and peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart in mid-1994.[1] It also peaked at number 6 on the Canadian RPM Country Tracks. The song was used as the theme song for Minor League Baseball games broadcast on ESPN in August and September 1994 during the 1994-95 MLB strike.

For the song by the Wonder Stuff, see Welcome to the Cheap Seats.

"The Cheap Seats"
Single by Alabama
from the album Cheap Seats
B-side"This Love's on Me"
ReleasedApril 11, 1994 (1994-04-11)
GenreCountry
Length3:54
LabelRCA Nashville
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Alabama singles chronology
"T.L.C. A.S.A.P."
(1993)		 "The Cheap Seats"
(1994)		 "We Can't Love Like This Anymore"
(1994)

Critical reception

Dan Cooper of Allmusic called the song "way cute" in his review of the album.[2] Tom Roland of New Country magazine praised the song for "avoiding the now-stale Dixie tributes" that were present in the band's other songs.[3]

Music video

The music video was directed by Deaton-Flanigen and features the band at a baseball game. It is strongly implied that Des Moines, Iowa is the "middle-sized town" in question, as it does indeed have a AAA minor league team (Iowa Cubs) and is in fact "in the middle of the Midwest". It was filmed at historic Engel Stadium in Chattanooga, Tennessee, a staged game between the Carolina Mudcats and Chattanooga Lookouts, members of the Double-A Southern League at the time. It was also filmed in the band's hometown of Fort Payne, Alabama.

Chart performance

"The Cheap Seats" debuted at number 65 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the week of April 16, 1994. It ended their streak of 41 straight Top 10 singles on the Hot Country Songs Chart.

Chart (1994) Peak
position
Canada Country Tracks (RPM)[4] 6
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[5] 13

Year-end charts
Chart (1994) Position
Canada Country Tracks (RPM)[6] 77

References
  1. Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 19.
  2. Cooper, Dan. "Cheap Seats review". Allmusic. Retrieved December 30, 2010.
  3. Roland, Tom (March 1994). "Album reviews: Cheap Seats". New Country. 1 (1): 48–49. ISSN 1074-536X.
  4. "Top RPM Country Tracks: Issue 2521." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. July 4, 1994. Retrieved August 4, 2013.
  5. "Alabama Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
  6. "RPM Top 100 Country Tracks of 1994". RPM. December 12, 1994. Retrieved August 4, 2013.

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