John Scott's Top 40 Songs from Jacksonville (Part I)

Jacksonville’s contributions to pop music are enormous and sadly, mostly overlooked. This list of Jacksonville’s Top 40 hopes to end the overlooking and start the appreciating.  Just to explain some guidelines in this list, the songs used in this list had to be released as singles and had to have charted on a Billboard US chart. What constitutes “from Jacksonville”? Those born here, those that lived here for at least a year or so, or bands that were formed here.

The rankings are subjective, I’ve tried to combine the longevity of living in this area with the enormity of the actual song (and actually, it’s just fun to put Limp Bizkit and Pat Boone adjacent to each other), so please don’t take the adjoining numbers too seriously, just enjoy the incredible variety of music that has come forth from the area.




40. “Here I Go Again” – Glenn Jones (1992) Jax native Glenn Jones was a mainstay on the R&B Top 40 charts from 1983 through 1994. “Here I Go Again” is his sole number one R&B hit, knocking Vanessa Williams’ “Saving the Best For Last” off of the top spot.

39. “It’s Almost Tomorrow” – The Dream Weavers (1955)   The Dream Weavers began as a duo in Miami, but hit their stride as a group while attending the University of Florida. Jackson grad Lee Turner was pianist for the group and another Jacksonville native Eddie Newsom played bass. The group recorded their lone top 10 hit in Jacksonville.

38. “Precious, Precious” -  Jackie Moore (1970) A true Jacksonville collaboration, written and produced by Jacksonville’s Dave Crawford, Moore  was one of the few southern-style soul hit makers on the R&B charts in the 70s. This, her only song to hit the pop charts, went top 30.

37. “Face Down” – Red Jumpsuit Apparatus (2006) Middleburg rock band debuted with their biggest hit, charting in the top 5 on the Alternative charts and top 25 pop hit helping their debut album go gold.



36. “Whatta Man” – Salt n Pepa with En Vogue (1993) The song was originally written by Jacksonville’s David Campbell, a minor R&B hit in 1968 for Linda Lyndell. With the powerhouse teaming of two of the sassiest trios in R&B/Hip Hop history, this song in its revamped form became a smash.

35. “So Into You” -- Atlanta Rhythm Section (1977) The ARS morphed out of the Classics IV, a Jacksonville band that we’ll see later in the countdown; a couple of the Jacksonville natives joined ARS. This slow-cooked brooding southern rock gem typifies the ARS, crack musicians who know how to hit the pocket. A top 5 pop hit.