Making one of those connections between the two which make life so interesting, he thought that Wynonna sounded a bit like Sharona and the rest is history. He went home and wrote down the lyrics to the song "Buy Wynonna," which recently was the number one requested song on WBCS 96.9 in Boston. Writing songs is a hobby of his, he's been doing it for around five years now and he's concentrated on country music, which he's always liked, for the last two and a half years.
One of the first things which he had to do was get permission from The Knack to use their song in a parody. Weird Al used it in "My Bologna" a few years ago and they seemed to like "Buy Wynonna" just as much. The next step was to have the song produced "it doesn't sound like something which some guy put together in his basement" remarked Smith. Indeed, Lakeside Productions in Nashville did a good job with the recording, as they have with other songs which he has written.
The song is about a man who goes to the store to buy the new Wynonna Judd album and runs into trouble:
Scootin' to the record store, aisle four; feelin' pretty sure that I'll Buy Wynonna
Country Music's What I like, it gets me psyched; loved it since I was a tyke Buy Wynonna
Two-step down the aisle, to the shelf, under letter "j"; where'd they put the tape, usually, find it right away
B-B-B-Buy Wynonna
Better take a look and see, aisle three; salespeople helpin' me Buy Wynonna
Think I'm gonna have a fit, a little fit; they got Travis Tritt but it Ain't Wynonna
No one else on earth, tell me why, girls with guitars; I know all the songs, radio, plays 'em in our cars
B-B-B-Buy Wynonna
Clerk says I should check again, aisle ten; there's an order comin' in Buy Wynonna
Reba, Neal, Vince and Tim, Billy Ray; bought 'em all the other day Buy Wynonna
Had about enough, of this stuff, as I hit the street
I can hear the clerk, from the store, shouting after me. . .
"We found your cassette. . .it was under - "y". . .for "Y-Nonna!"
B-B-B-Buy Wynonna
B-B-B-Buy Wynonna
When his friends and family first heard the song, they really liked it, so when Wynonna released a new album, Smith sent his song to WBCS. The morning show guys, Adams and Doyle, liked the song and played it and when Smith got to work one morning, the staff at the Admissions Office, where he's worked for three years, told him they'd heard his song. This was on Martin Luther King Junior Day this year and all day long his friends called into the station, requesting the song. That day it was #8 on their top nine requested songs and it rose to #1 a few days after that.
Smith and his wife decided to send the song out to fifty more stations across the country and last Friday he was interviewed by a Hartford station on the air. WBCS is still playing the song and he's still waiting on some of the stations for a response.
"This is really exciting, but I'm not thinking of quitting my day job any time soon. I'm just glad that people like the song and its a big compliment to me. . .I'd like to see some of the other stations pick the song up, but if it dies here, I'll still be happy" remarked a happy Smith. He pointed out that he's not making any money off the song being played, but there is a chance that someone might become interested in some of his other songs.
He is also a co-advisor of Hillel here on campus and he has surprised a few students who have heard the song without realizing that their friend is its writer.
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