Back To Work ~ 1979 ~ And Music

When my youngest son was 6 months old, I knew the jig was up, and that I would have to go back to work.

It had been a nice sabbatical, if you call toddler/infant duty a sabbatical, but I enjoyed it.  I would have been happy to stay home awhile longer.  Alas, the checkbook spoke to me and told me otherwise, so off to find a job I scurried.

There was one of those signs along the street in front of our complex, advertising, "Future Site of LaBelle's".  And as we drove past it, I announced, "That's where I'm going to work.".  The pluses were that it was approximately 3 blocks from my home, and well, that's about it.  But I decided that I was going to get a job there.

Did you ever apply for a job for which you had no qualifications whatsoever, but you took what little experience you did have and twisted it into something that looked faintly like what the job required?  Well, who hasn't?  I had run a cash register at my mom and dad's business, so there you go.  Cash register experience.  Voila.

I don't know if anybody even remembers LaBelle's Catalog Showroom.  It apparently became defunct sometime in the mid-1980's.  But for awhile there, it was the thing.  It was a forerunner, I guess, of those warehouse stores, but on a much more pitiful scale.

There would be one of each object displayed on the shelves, and people would take one of those little stubby pencils and an order form and write down the item number, hand it to somebody, and the warehouse guys (who were just standing around with nothing much to do) would get right on it.

I worked in the "Will Call" department, which apparently meant that I would "call" people when their order came meandering up on the conveyer belt.  Another qualification I had for the job, now that I think about it, was a good speaking voice.  Because once the item finally trudged through those leather hanging strips, out to the front of the store, I would grab the little microphone off its wall mounting and announce, "Gary Pompandreaus, your order is ready at register three.  Gary Pompandreaus, register three please."

(Now that I think about it, I'm not so sure that everybody loved having everybody else in the store know that they were there, so that they'd all come running up to the cash register, clamoring, "What'd you get?", but that's how LaBelle's rolled.)

And the whole "register three" bit was sort of unnecessary.  There were generally two of us working the registers, and therefore, it didn't exactly matter which register somebody strolled up to.  We'd ring 'em up, regardless.  I wasn't going to be an ass and say to them, "No, I said register three!", and make them move one slot over.  Although, in hindsight, it would have been fun to grab that mic again and scold people publicly for their malfeasance.

I liked the job.  Sure, it got crazy at Christmas time, but that actually was much more interesting than standing around on a Wednesday night, ringing up a purchase every 20 minutes or so.  That could get boring and uncomfortable, seeing as how we had to wear high heels.  So more customers meant less time thinking about how much our feet hurt.

I even liked working the "returns" register.  Of course, times were different then.  Everybody (mostly) was polite, and we had a generous return policy.  It made me feel good to make customers happy, by just handing them their money back.  It's not like that now, is it?  They want you to bring three forms of ID, the original receipt, and heaven forbid if you've (gasp!) opened the package!  And then they begrudgingly hand you a slip of paper as "store credit".  But customer service is not exactly geared toward the "customer" anymore, is it?  They shouldn't even label the counter "Customer Service".  They should call it the, "What the hell do you want?  You're bothering me!" counter.

At the time I worked at LaBelle's, the cabbage patch doll craze was in full swing.  People were nuts about those dolls.  I sort of felt out of the loop, being a mother of boys.  And sadly, had I wanted one of those grotesque, large-headed babies, I could have had my pick.  I could have perused the shelves, picked out whichever cabbage baby was the least ugly, and had it set aside for me.  Too bad I wasn't working at LaBelle's when Transformers were popular.  I would have saved TONS of money.

Sadly, for me, retail didn't pay worth crap.  So, I didn't stay at LaBelle's long.  And apparently, LaBelle's didn't stay at LaBelle's long, either.  They folded up just a few years after I had moved on.  Their marketing concept was quaint, but they couldn't compete with the WalMarts, et al.  And really, when you think about it, would you like to stand around waiting for your item to come trudging up a conveyer belt, when you could much more quickly grab your crock pot from a WalMart shelf, and stand in line for 20 minutes, waiting to pay for it?

I don't even know if LaBelle's was a national chain.  I'm thinking it probably wasn't.  But for those of you who remember the store, here is one of their Christmas commercials (and really, cameras were dang expensive then!  I had me one of those SLR's, albeit a Minolta; not a Canon ~ purchased at LaBelle's with my employee discount ~ and I have lost all memory of the usurious amount I paid for that thing!  Now, we have digital crappy cameras, that you have to hold two feet from your face in order to focus on whatever object you're trying to snap, and you have little control, and generally, one lens, and you have to pull out your "memory card" and take it to a store and pick out your pics and have them print out, and most of them are throwaways, but dang!  Aren't those cameras cheap now!)

But 1979 wasn't just about getting back out into the working world.  There was also (country) music.

I have mostly foggy memories of many times of my life, but the music brings it all back.  That's what I love about music.

I will say, though, that nobody thought that 1979 country music was worth preserving on video, apparently, because most of it is just not there to share.  Maybe 1979 was a throwaway year?   I didn't think so.

But here is some of what I could find:

Don Williams ~ Tulsa Time



A haggard-looking Waylon Jennings ~ Amanda




Mel Tillis ~ Coca-Cola Cowboy




Charlie Daniels Band ~ The Devil Went Down To Georgia



T.G. Sheppard ~ Last Cheater's Waltz (sorry for the bad video quality)




Marty Robbins ~ All-Around Cowboy



Emmylou Harris ~ Blue Kentucky Girl (shhh, yes, you and I know that this was a Loretta Lynn song)



Oak Ridge Boys ~ Come On In



Hank Williams, Jr. ~ Family Tradition

(Hank, Jr. was always great at referring to himself in the third person ~ "Ol' Hank".  He couldn't quite pull it off like Jerry Lee did, though.  I once got up and walked out of a Hank Williams, Jr. concert.  Seriously, the only time I ever walked out of a concert.  In hindsight, if I had it to do over again, I wouldn't have walked out, but I would have stayed and been really bored.)




The Statler Brothers ~ How To Be a Country Star



Just give me some Jerry Lee Lewis any day (and he can call himself "Ol' Jerry Lee" as much as he wants, Hank.) ~ Rockin' My Life Away



Texas (When I Die) ~ Tanya Tucker



These videos, such as they are, remind me of how seminal 1979 really was in country music.  And those are just the videos I could find.  I couldn't find Eddie Rabbitt, nor Kenny Rogers, nor Anne Murray, among others.

I never before really put two and two together ~ my re-entry into the working life and my immersion in country radio.  But, you know, I had more important things on my mind then.

Two boys,

And not buying cabbage patch dolls.

The CMA Awards - 1981

Ahhh, the eighties are a'rollin' now! We got past that first hurdle - 1980 - so now it's onwards and upwards!

Think back to 1981, if you can. I couldn't. So I looked it up. There were, of course, some major events that year (as in every year - duh). And most of those events seemed to revolve around President Ronald Reagan. "Well", he started out his year just dandy.....by being shot. Not a good way to start your year. Later, he fired the striking air traffic controllers, and he named the first woman to the Supreme Court (which, in hindsight, wasn't a real great choice).

Not to be outdone, Pope John Paul II was also shot.......twice.

Prince Charles married Lady Diana Spencer. (He later asked, "Couldn't I have just been shot?")

In pop culture, Blondie and Hall & Oates and Dolly Parton, along with Sheena Easton, all had big hit records.

Clint Eastwood was starring with a chimp in the sequel, "Any Which Way You Can". And Burt Reynolds was camping it up in "Cannonball Run".

CBS was leading the TV hit parade, with shows such as "M*A*S*H", "Dallas", "The Jeffersons", and, of course:



And, you know, they kep' a'showin' his hands, but not his face on TV (3rd reference! - I'm a'goin' for a record!)

Which leads us into the 1981 CMA's.........

Strangely, the CMA voters liked the 1980 SONG OF THE YEAR so much, they decided to award it twice!

Yes, that's right. "He Stopped Loving Her Today" was again named song of the year. Writers Bobby Braddock and Curly Putman couldn't have been more pleased. Not to mention the repeat MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR winner, George Jones.

And here's the man himself, performing on, surprise! The 1981 CMA Awards telecast. (He knew the song pretty well by now.)



Our FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR was, well waddaya know - Barbara Mandrell! Sort of a letdown after the previous year's entertainer win, but still! And she won the award by recording crappy songs such as:



Almost as bad as "Sleepin' Single In A Double Bed", but not quite.

The HORIZON AWARD winner in 1981 was Terri Gibbs. Yes, she only had one hit song, but these horizon awards are tricky to predict. Who knew? Wonder whatever happened to Terri. Well, wonder no more. Here's Terri's official website: Terri Gibbs

I always kinda liked Terri. She seemed quite geniune. Here's the only performance I could find on YouTube of Terri doing her big hit number, "Somebody's Knockin'":



Chet Atkins again won INSTRUMENTALIST OF THE YEAR. No offense to Chet, but, you know, there were other musicians in Nashville around this time.

The ALBUM OF THE YEAR couldn't have gone to a nicer or more deserving fellow. This album went platinum, and rightly so. "I Believe In You" by Don Williams.



The VOCAL DUO OF THE YEAR had one of my favorite country songs. Strangely, there are no videos to be found of the two performing this song. Probably some legal mumbo jumbo or something.

But I did find some embeddable audio of DAVID FRIZZELL and SHELLY WEST performing, "You're The Reason God Made Oklahoma":



Both of these artists have a pedigree, per se. David is the brother of legend Lefty Frizzell, and Shelly is Dottie West's daughter.

Interestingly, this song was featured in a 1981 movie, which I just happened to reference at the beginning of this post; Clint Eastwood's "Any Which Way You Can". That might have helped them win the award; I don't know. But I still really like this song.

Since I can't find any videos of the two performing together (I'm thinking there might be bad blood between them; what do you think?), here's a link to a CD of duets and solo tracks by David and Shelly (Hey! David and Shelly! That's like my husband and me! Hopefully there's not any bad blood between us.)


The SINGLE OF THE YEAR was kind of a "fun" song, starring the Oak Ridge Boys. Well, technically starring Joe Bonsall, Richard Sterban, and William Lee Golden's boots. Here's another performance from the 1981 CMA Awards telecast (which is always nice, since I'm talking about 1981) of "Elvira".



This is but a simple song, that continues to rise to a higher key as it goes along. Which makes it much easier for R. Sterban to hit those "low" notes. And is it just me, or is Richard kind of drunk with power on this number? Every time he does his "oom papa oom papa mou mou", the audience squeals. Heady stuff, no doubt. You gotta feel kinda bad for Duane Allen, though. He doesn't have any room to shine on this number. Even William Lee's boots get more attention than poor Duane.

Say what you will about the Oak Ridge Boys. They were superstars way back when, and I certainly enjoyed seeing them in concert. And, if you want to catch up with the "boys", just click here

In keeping with the "four man" theme, we now come to both the INSTRUMENTAL GROUP OF THE YEAR and the VOCAL GROUP OF THE YEAR.

I don't exactly know how they won the instrumental group award, unless it was for Jeff Cook's mean fiddle, but nevertheless, they won. And mark my words, they would continue to win awards for years to come.

Who am I talking about? Why, Alabama, of course.



Just a bit of background that matters to no one but me......In my small town, way back when, the concerts were few and far between. So, one went to basically any concert that was available. And Alabama was certainly a touring band! I saw them many, many........many times. Sometimes I couldn't really "see" them, because I was sitting high up in the nosebleed section. But I could still spot Randy's beard a mile away! I sort of became jaded. "Oh, here we go; Alabama........again." But that's kind of cruel and undeserved. If it hadn't been for Alabama, I'd have been sitting home on a Friday night, watching Johnny Carson doing his Floyd R. Turbow skit for the thousandth time. Not that I don't love Johnny, but one really needed to get out of the house once in awhile.

So, here we are, at the end of the awards ceremony......except for, hello! ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR.

No doubt, it was time to head into the kitchen to serve myself up some crackers and cheese, because he we go! Another LONG acceptance speech.

While Barbara was thrilled, thrilled to pieces, to win the entertainer of the year award in 1980, she was shocked - SHOCKED, mind you, to win it again in 1981! And there were SO many people to thank. Especially the little people. No, not the little people from the Wizard of Oz. Silly. The little people like YOU. The FANS. Without whom none of this would have been possible. And GOD. So, in essence, the little people and God.

I know that I come off as not liking Barbara Mandrell, but that's not true. What I didn't like were her insincere acceptance speeches. If she'd just performed, and NOT TALKED, I would have been happy as a clam!

Here's a performance of Barbara's from around that time.

And before we take a gander at it, let me just say that, no, she wasn't country when country wasn't cool. Barbara, in fact, can shoulder a lot of the blame for steering country in the direction that it's gone.

Barbara, with the scores of costume changes. Barbara, with the background dancing troop. Yes, Barbara wanted to expand her horizons, and there's nothing wrong with that. But at what cost?

She was the "pre-Reba". Both of them started out as "country" singers. Then their ambition led them to places where no self-respecting country fan wanted them to go.

And now we've got this mess to clean up.

And, ironically, Barbara now sounds "country", compared to the ones who've followed in her footsteps. See, give 'em an inch........

Here's what country used to sound like, way back when:



COUNTRY MUSIC HALL OF FAME Vernon Dalhart

Vernon Dalhart was an early pioneer of country music. With songs such as, "The Prisoner's Song" and "Wreck of the Old '97", he scored some of country music's first million-selling records.

It's important that we not forget from whence we came. Yea, he was country when country wasn't cool.

Here are the Statler Brothers, performing "Wreck of the Old '97":



Grant Turner

Grant Turner was the voice of the Grand Ol' Opry for 47 years. 47 years! Yowza! He was the only disc jockey to be inducted into the hall of fame until the year 2007, when my friend and yours, Ralph Emery, got his just due. Not too shabby, Grant Turner!

So, the nice thing about the year 1981 was that we saw some new faces emerge. No doubt, as the eighties wind around, we'll see many of these same folks again. But it's always nice to recognize some new talent.

Not a changing of the guard, per se, but a new day dawning on the landscape that is the CMA awards.

CMA Awards - 1978

The CMA Awards website is sort of falling down on the job in 1978. Either that, or no one was named INSTRUMENTAL GROUP OF THE YEAR. The nominees were Asleep At The Wheel, Chet Atkins (for group?), the Charlie Daniels Band, Danny Davis & the Nashville Brass, and Les Paul (again, not a group). But alas, there is no actual winner listed. Was this category accidentally left off the ballot? Was it a five-way tie? The possibilities are many. But I guess we'll never know, will we? Not that this is the biggest award of the night, but it probably was important to those nominated, I'd think.

So, in the interest of inclusiveness, I'll just pick a winner. Well, Les Paul is a legend, and deserves a category all his own, and Chet Atkins is also a legend and has already won countless times, and Danny Davis and his Brass don't have any room left on their mantles. That leaves Asleep At The Wheel and the Charlie Daniels Band.

Here's a representation of each:





Well, I just can't pick. Neither of these performances are technically "instrumentals", but they feature instruments! I love both these bands, so I'm just gonna call it a tie and move on. Weigh in with your choice, if you are so inclined.

The INSTRUMENTALIST OF THE YEAR was again Roy Clark. No videos; sorry. Nothing personal. It's just that there aren't too many videos of Roy available, and I've posted just about everything I could find. But good going, Roy! Apparently you learned how to make friends and influence people in Nashville!

Surprisingly, the FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR award again went to Crystal Gayle. I don't get it. I don't have any animosity towards Crystal; it's just that she was kind of a "blip" on the country music scene. She had one big (okay, huge) hit, and some other minor hits, but she's basically known for one song. One song does not a career make.

And try finding a video on YouTube that isn't "Brown Eyes". It's not easy! But here's one, and I don't have any recall of this song, but it seems nice:



Again, surprisingly, the SONG OF THE YEAR award went to Richard Leigh for a song that garnered Crystal the female vocalist award in 1977. That, of course, being, "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue". I don't know about you, and I don't know anything about Richard Leigh, so no offense, Richard, but I don't think I even want to hear that song ever again. But if you have a hankering to hear it, check my post for 1977. It would be rather redundant to post it again.

Luckily for me, the CMA handed out the MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR award to someone different this time around! Change is nice. This song technically didn't earn Don Williams the award, since it was released later, but since he probably never won anything again, I thought I would post it, seeing as how it's probably my one and only opportunity:



The VOCAL DUO OF THE YEAR award went to someone new in 1977 as well: Kenny Rogers and Dottie West.

Again, this was a short-lived pairing. Kenny went on to record duets with others, including Dolly Parton and Kim Carnes. And this was Dottie's sort of "pop" phase. It was a snapshot in time. Nothing that anyone's going to remember in the larger scheme of things, but this made it big in 1977:



As a breath of fresh air, the Statlers didn't win the VOCAL GROUP OF THE YEAR award. Nothin' against the Statlers - I like 'em! But it was just time for a change. These four guys gave the Statlers a run for their money, and they were huge in the late seventies. I saw them in concert at the North Dakota State Fair, and I was pretty excited about the whole thing, I must say.

Here's a song from around that time, that surely gave them the nod for vocal group of the year:

THE OAK RIDGE BOYS



The SINGLE OF THE YEAR happens to be one of my personal favorites. Father-daughter team Jeannie and Royce Kendall - THE KENDALLS - had a very big hit with this song, and to me, it still holds up.

And I'll never forget my two-year-old singing along to "Heaven's Just A Sin Away":



ALBUM OF THE YEAR - Ronnie Milsap - It Was Almost Like A Song

I've been posting a lost of Ronnie Milsap videos lately, and I have sort of run out. I didn't realize that Ronnie had dominated the CMA awards for so many years, but kudos to him! I'm a big Ronnie Milsap fan. It's nice to be reminded that talent was, at one time, recognized.

Here's a Ronnie video, and if I posted it before, sorry. Again, there's not a lot of choices out there on YouTube.



ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR Dolly Parton

I suppose some people view Dolly as one of those institutions that's always been there, sort of like George Washington. I, however, remember Dolly when she was simply the duet partner of Porter Wagoner. When she had her first singles, like "Somethin' Fishy"and "Dumb Blonde" on Monument Records. I guess I watched her career unfold. She, no doubt, helped Porter become relevant. Most of the duets they recorded were songs written by Dolly. Why has she endured, lo these forty-odd years later? I think because she's a great songwriter. And, to some, a great entertainer.

I never really liked Dolly "in person". Because she couldn't just sing the song, without offering some sort of commentary and endless giggling (while singing). Dolly does well singing harmony with others, such as Brad Paisley. Even Kenny Rogers. Just not in person. And Dolly has found a way to stay relevant through the years. In the early eighties, she reinvented herself as an actress. Who doesn't remember this:



I guess the reason that Dolly broke that glass ceiling (later to be broken by a few, but not by many) and be named Entertainer of the Year was probably due to this song, which is pop, and not country, but, hey, that's what they were looking for in 1978:



COUNTRY MUSIC HALL OF FAME Grandpa Jones

Louis Marshall "Grandpa" Jones did, I guess, "old time" music. Not really bluegrass, per se. Not really country. He actually could be a serious musician, but his stage persona overshadowed any seriousness that he might have had in him. I kid Grandpa Jones, but he seemed like a decent fellow, and he was entertaining. Of course, we all know him from Hee Haw, and here's a number featuring Stringbean, Roy Clark, and a bunch of others:



So, there you go, 1978. Things were starting to get back to "country" in some respects, but the Country Music Association was still stubbornly clinging to that pop stuff. Weird that the two could co-exist so seamlessly. And people accepted it. A crossroads, maybe. 1979 will tell the tale.

Blast From The Past - Top Country Hits of 1978 - 30 Years Ago!

I had some good luck with the top hits from 50 years ago, so let's see if my luck continues.

I am not a huge fan of the seventies, music-wise, or I guess, culture-wise in general. But I'm hoping that the music will not disappoint.

So, let's take a look at some of the top hits from 1978.

As always, we like to start things off on a high note, so here is:

DON WILLIAMS - TULSA TIME


Don Williams may be the "Perry Como" of country music. You know, that old SCTV skit, with Perry Como so laid back that he's lying on the stage singing into his microphone.

But talent is as talent does, or some other mangled cliche. If you're as good a singer as Don Williams, I guess you don't need to jump around the stage. You just have to sing.

And now for something completely different:

JOHNNY PAYCHECK - TAKE THIS JOB AND SHOVE IT


Here's Johnny, in all his orange sartorial splendor, singing the timeless song that has inspired millions of people to repeat the song title on a daily basis.

To me, the title is actually better than the song itself. I'm not knocking Johnny Paycheck, because I am a fan. It's just that Johnny had better songs than this one.

And you'd think he could have afforded to replace that missing tooth. But maybe not.

WAYLON JENNINGS (MINUS WILLIE) - MAMAS, DON'T LET YOUR BABIES GROW UP TO BE COWBOYS


What a treat it is to see Waylon again.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find a video of Waylon and Willie together doing this number, but this video is quite good! The sound quality is excellent.

I'm currently reading the biography of Willie, and I highly recommend it. I'm only about halfway through right now, and I'll be slapping up a review of it, once I'm finished, but, of course, Waylon is featured prominently in the book.

But to be honest, if we're talking "outlaws", Johnny Paycheck's got them all beat to hell. Just search the net for his prison record. I'm just sayin'.

Speaking of Willie, here is:

WILLIE NELSON - BLUE SKIES


I'm an admirer of Willie's singing style, but I'll admit, it had to grow on me. I used to HATE his voice. It's not a "country" voice. Let's just call it "country jazz". How's that?

And this is not a quibble at all, but have you noticed that the songs that were hits for Willie were almost exclusively remakes of old songs? I mean, you know, Willie actually wrote some pretty decent songs all on his own.

Not to leave out the women, here's:

BARBARA MANDRELL - SLEEPIN' SINGLE IN A DOUBLE BED


I can't tell you how much I HATE this song. This song represents everything that was wrong with 1970's country music.

Don't get me wrong. I actually LIKE Barbara. But not THIS song. Good lord, no.

I'm sorry it cuts off before it's done. Or AM I??

Now back to real country music. This isn't my favorite song by this duo, but it's still far superior to SSIADB (the Mandrell song).

THE KENDALLS - SWEET DESIRE


As much as I like Jeannie Kendall, I still can't quite reconcile her unusual wardrobe choices. She dresses worse than Johnny Paycheck!

But I like this song, and it, in some ways, captures that bluegrass sound that Jeannie does so well.

I like this next song. It's infinitely better than SSIADB. I'm just surprised it hit it big on the country charts. I mean, in 1978. Of course, it would (might?) hit it big on the country charts now. I wonder, though. Maybe it's too good.

BONNIE TYLER - IT'S A HEARTACHE


And I always wondered what Bonnie looked like! Maybe I knew at one time, but I forgot.

Bonnie must be the only example of a singer who had vocal problems that actually helped her career.

Here's one of my favorites. Because he has style. And attitude.

JERRY LEE LEWIS - MIDDLE AGED CRAZY


Oh, one of the greats of country music is coming up next. I've said it before, but it bears repeating. As far as entertainers are concerned, he's pretty tough to beat:

MARTY ROBBINS - RETURN TO ME


Here we get an added bonus, "Beyond The Reef".

I could watch Marty all day. Notice how he has the crowd in the palm of his hand.

Someday, I'm going to just post a bunch of Marty videos, and sit back and enjoy.

Well, dang. The only decent video I could find of this song is not embeddable. So, here's a link. This is (easily) one of the best songs from 1978, so I just couldn't leave it out.

JOHN CONLEE - ROSE-COLORED GLASSES
Rose-Colored Glasses

Here's a singer who's cool in any decade. This song has a special meaning to me, because I have a recording of my best friend, Alice, singing this song. Alice is singing with the house band in heaven now.

EMMYLOU HARRIS - TO DADDY


Again, we have Willie. Craggy Willie. Doing a song written by Johnny Bush. No offense, Willie. I really do usually prefer your versions of songs, but I like Johnny Bush's version better. And Johnny wrote it. You kind of absconded with it, and now people think you wrote it.

It's a matter of taste, really. But to be perfectly honest, if I hadn't heard Johnny's version of the song, I'd kind of think the song sucked. No offense.

WILLIE NELSON - WHISKEY RIVER



I'll just end this reminiscince of 1978 with one of the hottest acts of that year:

THE OAK RIDGE BOYS - YOU'RE THE ONE


You might not recognize William Lee Golden without his long, flowing beard, but that's really him!

Duane Allen, of course, looks like your everyday boy next door, while Richard Sterban is trying to come across as a sex symbol (no offense, Richard, but it just looks really cheesy, especially with that slapping tambourine). Not to neglect Joe Bonsall and his afro.

So, there you have it. 1978. Not all bad; some good; some really good.

1978 wasn't the best year ever for country music. There were a lot of forgettable songs.

1978, for me personally, was a stellar year. Matt was born in December of 1978. So, who am I to quibble about that year?

What do I remember about the year, music-wise? I remember Emmylou, and I remember the Oak Ridge Boys. I remember that there were some really bad singles released in 1978, among them, songs by Crystal Gayle (who, let's face it, was really reaching by that time) and by Charley Pride (whose days on the charts were numbered).

I remember that Waylon had become an "outlaw".

The rest is really a blur.

Wikipedia lists a lot of songs that were hits. A lot of them, frankly, I couldn't identify if a gun was held to my head. And I was listening to country radio then.

Just goes to show you that songs are like quicksilver. Catch 'em while you can.