Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, July 21, 1995                   TAG: 9507210003
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By JIM PATTERSON ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

WHEN BEING AN UNKNOWN IS A LUCKY BREAK

In May, the 33-year-old singer topped the charts with ``What Mattered Most.'' A month later, he was arrested for indecent exposure and drug possession.

The exposure charge was dropped this week after Herndon pleaded guilty to felony drug possession. He was put on probation for five years, fined $1,000 and ordered to perform 200 hours of community service.

The impact of the case on his career is hard to measure. His latest single, ``I Want My Goodbye Back,'' is climbing the charts, albeit slowly.

``The general public doesn't really know who this guy is,'' said Johnny Gray, program director at WKHX-WYAY in Atlanta.

``If it had been Garth Brooks, it would have been over for him because he's much more well-known. One of the reasons the format is doing so well these days is that it's music driven. There's more interest in songs than artists.''

Ten years ago Herndon's career would almost certainly have ended when word got out that a male undercover police officer alleged the singer sat on a log and performed a lewd act in front of him. The singer had amphetamines in his billfold, the officer said.

The indecent exposure charge was a misdemeanor. The drug possession charge carried a maximum sentence of two to 10 years and a fine of up to $10,000.

Herndon checked into a drug clinic, and has commented only in messages on his phone answering machine and a video.

In the video, Herndon claimed that ``things get blown out of proportion sometimes.''

It may not matter, said Charlie Cook of McVay Media in Hollywood, Calif. Cook consults with about 23 country music stations on their playlists.

``I think the story's over, as far as country music listeners are concerned,'' Cook said. ``Hugh Grant gets the front page of the living section; Ty Herndon gets the inside page in USA Today.''

Record company promoters have played up Herndon's good looks in marketing him as a romantic figure to women, who buy the majority of country music CDs.

Gray and Paul Johnson, program director at WSOC in Charlotte, N.C., both said they were playing Herndon's single, ``I Want My Goodbye Back.''

Music City News, a country music fan magazine, was preparing its first major article on Herndon when he was arrested. That's been shelved.

``The one thing that has stood out to me is I really haven't had much mail about this pro or con,'' said Lydia Dixon Hardin, MCN managing editor. ``We've had, I think, one letter of support.''

The situation at the 300 line dancing clubs across the country is similar, said Danny Murphy of Country Club Enterprizes, which promotes country records to clubs.

``In clubs, a lot of people like a song, or don't, and really don't know who the artist is,'' Murphy said.

Herndon has been working since he was a teen-ager to be a country star. He was an early member of Diamond Rio, and won the top prize for male vocalist on ``Star Search'' in 1983.

By 1989, he still didn't have a record deal and moved back to Texas. There, he matured as a performer in the Dallas club scene and was named Texas Entertainer of the year in 1993.

Epic Records took notice, signed him up and put out the album ``What Mattered Most'' earlier this year. The single went No. 1, and Herndon was positioned last month as a mature, seasoned entertainer fully ready to capitalize on the hit.

Interviewed before his arrest, the week that ``What Mattered Most'' went No. 1, Herndon was tired but ebullient at how his career was taking off.

``I'll do everything I can while this is going on 'cause there's a certain amount of respect that it deserves when it gets to this level,'' he said.

He spoke of the bad times when he left Nashville, and why he kept going.

``It never stopped me from believing in the music and wanting to do it and the driving force in me, that burning thing right in your gut.

``You could have just been run over by a truck, that says you're never gonna do this. That would make you get up and then make a phone call, no matter how small the opportunity...It's almost like an addiction, really.''