Unusual name inspired ‘Just in Case’
This week in 1985: Afghan troops encircled The U.S. Embassy in Kabul in a dispute over a Soviet soldier seeking asylum; a New Jersey federal judge overturned triple murder convictions of Hurricane Carter and John Artis; A Virginia federal court sentenced Arthur Walker to life in prison for spying; and four sisters from Lookout Mountain, Ga., had their third hit record.
An idea for a song can come from just about anywhere, and according to Sonny Lemaire, the idea for The Forester Sisters’ 1986 No. 1, “Just in Case,” came from a guy’s name.
Lemaire, who co-wrote the song with J.P. Pennington, said “our tour manager at the time was a guy named Justin Case and it dawned on me that the name would be a neat thing to write about. So that’s where that song came from.”
“Just in Case” was first recorded by Exile in their “Kentucky Hearts” album. According to The Forester Sisters, they didn’t hear the Exile recording until after they had recorded the tune.
Their Warner Bros recording of “Just in Case” entered the country music charts Nov. 2, 1985 and was in the No. 1 slot the week of Feb. 1, 1986.
It was their third charted song and their second No. 1. The song was on the charts for 20 weeks.
The Forester Sisters were actually Kathy, June, Kim and Christy Forester. They were named the ACM Vocal Group Of The Year in 1986.
They placed 20 songs on the country music charts between 1985 and 1992, including five No. 1s.