This week in 1988, Ronnie Milsap had his 53rd charted song and his 34th No. 1, “Don’t You Ever Get Tired of Hurting Me,” and a young singer from Marshville, N.C., who changed his name from Traywick to Travis, was scoring his 5th No. 1.

According to a lot of songwriters, sometimes a song will wind up being recorded by a singer they’ve never heard and Randy Travis’ 1988 No. 1, “Too Gone Too Long” fit that mold!

According to Gene Pistilli, Randy Travis’s 1988 hit “Too Gone Too Long” was a combination of several things. Gene said he originally envisioned the song as a Eagl...

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