While Orianthi is currently in the spotlight, capitalizing on her role as lead guitarist for Michael Jackson’s ill-fated “This Is It” comeback tour (John Mayer is a fan), back in 1994 another of the King of Pop’s former band members, Sheryl Crow, broke through with her debut, Tuesday Night Music Club.

First single “Run Baby Run” went nowhere fast upon its release in 1993, while the follow-up, “Leaving Las Vegas,” reached #8 on the Billboard Modern Rock chart the following year but failed to crack the Top 40, stalling at #60 on the Hot 100. However, Tuesday Night‘s third at-bat, “All I Wanna Do,” began hitting radio at the tail end of July, and the song’s carefree theme proved a perfect match for summer and the hit Crow (and her label, A&M) were looking for.

Up until that point, I hadn’t cared much for Sheryl Crow (I could take or leave “Las Vegas”), but a road trip with my friend Jen that August along I-80 from Northwest Indiana to Sea World in Ohio changed my tune. Though my Sony Discman was connected to the cassette-deck adapter (remember those?) and we’d both brought CDs along for the drive, often we’d opt to listen to the radio instead. And there was no escaping “All I Wanna Do” as another white dash went past, nor did we want to. The song was summer’s perfect soundtrack partner:

Crow wasn’t the only one who wanted to have some fun. The popularity of “All I Wanna Do” drove it to #2 on October 8, 1994, remaining there for six weeks and ultimately selling over 500,000 copies. It also gave a major boost to Crow’s album, Tuesday Night Music Club, which reached #3 on the Billboard 200 albums chart.

But what I didn’t know about the singer-songwriter’s breakthrough hit until last night is that the lyrics are largely based on “Fun,” a poem by Wyn Cooper originally published in 1987 (follow that link to see just how closely the two match). Earning a songwriting credit for the lift, Cooper also earned some major bank with the song’s smash status, and was part of Crow’s crew on Grammy night in 1995 when “All I Wanna Do” won Record of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Crow also took home the award for Best New Artist.

Two weeks ago, a Deluxe Edition of Tuesday Night Music Club (now 16 years old, with sales of over 5 million) was released. In addition to the original 11-track album, a second disc features ten songs recorded around the same time. Several previously appeared as B-sides in the UK (including covers of Led Zeppelin’s “D’yer Mak’er” and Eric Carmen’s “All By Myself”), while four others were originally slated for inclusion on Crow’s follow-up.

One of those previously shelved songs, “Killer Life,” is currently getting some radio airplay. The expanded package also includes a bonus DVD featuring some behind-the-scenes footage and the videos to the album’s singles, capped by an alternate version of “All I Wanna Do” directed by Roman Coppola (total crapola, though somewhat ironically, the clip takes a cue from my theme-park road trip).

Purchase Sheryl Crow – Tuesday Night Music Club (Deluxe Edition) via iTunes, Amazon MP3.