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1977 Rock Classic, Originally Carried by Radio Stations, Outlasted No. 1 Hits

By Liz Lindain Parade - Entertainment Stories

Updated May 8, 2026 6:40 PM

Released in 1977, "I Go Crazy" by Paul Davis became an unlikely chart phenomenon.

While the soft rock ballad never actually reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, its staying power proved unmatched, lingering on the charts for nearly a year as radio stations across the country kept the emotional breakup anthem in heavy rotation.

The tune was written, composed and recorded by Davis as the lead single for his 1977 album, Singer of Songs: Teller of Tale. The song's lyrics describe the feelings of a man who unexpectedly runs into an ex-girlfriend. Though both have moved on from the relationship, this sudden meet-up rekindles the old affection he had for her, even though he thought she was out of his life forever. Once he realizes he might still have feelings for her, he doesn't act on them, but he concludes that he might not truly be over her.

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"I Go Crazy" first entered the Billboard Hot 100, the music industry's standard weekly chart in the United States that ranks the top-performing songs across all genres based on digital/physical sales, radio airplay and streaming, two months after its initial release in August 1977. It slowly kept climbing the charts until the spring of 1978, thanks to constant radio airplay, and peaked at No. 7. Despite it never hitting the top spot, "I Go Crazy" spent a total of 40 consecutive weeks on the chart. Most songs tend to only stay on the chart for one to four weeks.

This accomplishment gave Davis his first record in the Guinness Book of World Records for the most consecutive weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 for four years in the late 1970s. It was eventually taken over by Soft Cell for their song, "Tainted Love."

"I Go Crazy" was also covered by multiple artists, including Lee Greenwood, Will Downing, Steve Azar, Barry Manilow and the Belgian duo DHT.

Davis was actually planning to give "I Go Crazy" to Lou Rawls, who scored the No. 1 R&B single with "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine" in 1976, but after the head of his record label, Bang Records, heard a demo for the song, she convinced Davis to record it. The "Cool Night" singer ended up recording it in Atlanta with record engineer Ed Seay at Web IV Recording Studios.

Though they were both confident that the song could become a hit, they never thought it could end up in the Guinness Book of Records. "That was big at the time for an independent record company to have a fairly new artist to have something explode and hang on longer than any other record," Seay told Mix in October 2020.

After scoring a massive hit with "I Go Crazy" in 1977, Davis continued building a successful crossover career that blended the genres of pop, country and contemporary. He followed the song's success with hits including "Cool Night," "65 Love Affair" and the country-pop duet "You're Still New to Me" with Marie Osmond. Known for his laid-back Southern style, Davis became a consistent radio favorite throughout the early 1980s. Though he kept a relatively low public profile, his music remained popular on soft rock and adult contemporary stations for decades. Davis died in 2008 at age 60 following a heart attack.

Fans can listen to "I Go Crazy" and his whole discography on streaming platforms.

This story was originally published May 8, 2026 at 6:28 PM.