EVERY Billboard #1 country hit discussion thread 1985-1989

I had an upstairs neighbor who was into country music, and even with that I'm not that familiar with most of those that came and went at #1.

 

Coming up afterwards . . .
"Modern Day Romance" by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
(#1 for 1 week - September 14, 1985)


Wikipedia entry

 

And now for . . .
"I Fell In Love Again Last Night" by The Forester Sisters
(#1 for 1 week - September 21, 1985)


Wikipedia entry - the first of five Number Ones for these gals.

 

Now for one of a very few country songs in this period that lasted at Number One past one week -
"Lost In The Fifties Tonight (In The Still Of The Night)" by Ronnie Milsap
(#1 for 2 weeks - September 28-October 5, 1985)


Wikipedia entry - another in this year will be coming later on. This one also made #8 on the Adult Contemporary chart, the last time Mr. Milsap would visit the Top 10 there (this didn't even make the Hot 100, folks).

 

Now that there's more sync on the pop and R&B #1's threads, I can get back to the sequence of events on this side . . .
"Meet Me In Montana" by Marie Osmond (Duet With Dan Seals)
(#1 for 1 week - October 12, 1985)


Wikipedia entry

 

Now for a pretty convoluted title that, naturally, fits in this genre . . .
"You Make Me Want To Make You Mine" by Juice Newton
(#1 for 1 week - October 19, 1985)


Wikipedia entry

 

The next one up . . .
"Touch A Hand, Make A Friend" by The Oak Ridge Boys
(#1 for 1 week - October 26, 1985)


Wikipedia entry

 

And then, afterwards . . .
"Some Fools Never Learn" by Steve Wariner
(#1 for 1 week - November 2, 1985)


Wikipedia entry

 

Now for this one . . .
"Can't Keep A Good Man Down" by Alabama
(#1 for 1 week - November 16, 1985)


Wikipedia entry

 

Frankly, I didn't even hear any country from 1983-1991, so anything I hear now is brand new to me. I did recently hear some early 90s stuff and it wasn't too bad. It seems there was a renaissance going on in the country music world with the likes of Alan Jackson and George Strait, and those who pushed forward with more progressive sounds. If I remember correctly, this is the era in which a battle between the traditional and progressive country artists ensued.

 

More great stuff being posted here.

 

And among those in the thick of it was producer and country A&R executive Jimmy Bowen. He pushed not only to modernize Nashville's studios (he said in his book Rough Mix about RCA Studio B: " . . . now a museum. It was then."), but also encouraged artists to have more of a say in what they recorded, as opposed to being robots handed lyric sheets on the day of recording sessions by song pluggers (and producers who had financial interests in the publishers and studios) which was the norm up to then.

Here, you'll be seeing as we go along what you've been missing in that time period. Although the pop #1's thread has been slowing down, I've been adjusting what I put on based on the timeline of "the other side." And it's timed so that the last 1985 pop #1 and the last country #1 are presented within the same time.

 

Since I get so few replies on the R&B thread, i'm just going to stop trying to sync it with the other thread.

I'm hoping that, as time moves along, some of the younger cats will rejoin the thread.

 

Getting back to the timeline . . .
"Hang On To Your Heart" by Exile
(#1 for 1 week - November 16, 1985)


Wikipedia entry

 

Coming up next . . .
"I'll Never Stop Loving You" by Gary Morris
(#1 for 1 week - November 23, 1985)


Wikipedia entry

 

Then on to the end of another era . . .
"Too Much On My Heart" by The Statler Brothers
(#1 for 1 week - November 30, 1985)


Wikipedia entry - their fourth and final Number One.

 

And for another of those titles that could only be possible in a country song . . .
"I Don't Mind The Thorns (If You're The Rose)" by Lee Greenwood
(#1 for 1 week - December 7, 1985)


Wikipedia entry

 

Coming right up . . .
"Nobody Falls Like A Fool" by Earl Thomas Conley
(#1 for 1 week - December 14, 1985)


Wikipedia entry

 

Counting down the weeks of the year with . . .
"The Chair" by George Strait
(#1 for 1 week - December 21, 1985)


Wikipedia entry

 

Strait really starts hitting his stride. And yes the production has made it audibly tasty. Even his album tracks were becoming classic.

 

For me, this is Reba McEntire's best 45 ever. Perfect for her voice, tasteful arrangement and Harlan Howard wrote this just for her.

 

A superb 45, The Forester Sisters are for me local music. As they hail from Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee in Southeast Tennessee.

 

Another favorite of mine, these two voices sound great together. And this 45 has aged well, sounds as fine as ever.

 

Now for the last single of 1985, one that: a) spent more than one week on the chart (and as such was company with Ronnie Milsap's "Lost In The Fifties" from earlier in the year), and b) spilled over to the next year . . .
"Have Mercy" by The Judds (Wynonna And Naomi)
(#1 for 2 weeks - December 28, 1985-January 4, 1986)


Wikipedia entry

 

So good......