'80s Country

Country may move with the times, but it doesn't follow trends, so when the rest of the music world was plugging in synthesizers and setting drum machines on stun, '80s country nodded to pop while staying true to its roots. Original outlaw Willie Nelson teamed up with Spanish crooner Julio Iglesias for a triple-play country/pop/Latin crossover smash, paying wistful tribute "To All the Girls I've Loved Before." Dolly Parton monopolized movie theaters and radio with the bouncy working gal's war cry "9 to 5," the theme from her hit movie. No matter how pop-friendly country got, though, Alabama proudly reminded folks about the down-home joys of "Mountain Music."

'80s artists honor the roots of their raisin' in Next Steps

While some '80s country artists courted pop-crossover success, the New Traditionalists paid homage to honky-tonk history. Randy Travis came on like a husky-toned George Jones while tackling the classic country cheatin' theme with "On the Other Hand." Sporting a smoldering stare and cocky swagger, Dwight Yoakam became a cowboy-hatted sex symbol while pumping out Buck Owens-influenced, Bakersfield-style romps like "Guitars, Cadillacs." Clint Black's rugged, movie-star mug made the ladies weak, too, but he got the guys on his side at the same time with hard-hitting, saloon-shuffling smashes like "Killin' Time."

The old-timers keep it real in Deep Cuts

Exciting, new country voices popped up like cornhusks on an Iowa plain throughout the '80s, but the vets held up their end with just as much style. Not one to be put out to pasture, George Jones delivered one of the most soul-searing performances of his long career on the heart-crushing ballad of hopeless devotion "He Stopped Loving Her Today." Bakersfield's barroom bard Merle Haggard made his alcoholic agenda well known with the juicy jukebox stomp "I Think I'll Just Stay Here and Drink." And if you want hear how the lineage of country royalty continued when Johnny Cash's little girl Rosanne grew into the family business, check out her classy, catchy country-pop confection "Seven Year Ache," in which steel guitars meet synths and everybody wins.

In the era leading up to country music's larger-than-life, rock-friendly "hat act" era, Nashville was home to an equal amount of rootsy roughnecks and pop-savvy crossover cowpokes. Even as the New Traditionalists pursued honky-tonk heaven (try George Strait's "All My Ex's Live in Texas" on for size), old-schoolers like Dolly Parton were expanding their horizons by reaching out to pop princes the Bee Gees for the boundary-breaking hit "Islands in the Stream." But whether you're an Eddie Rabbitt-lovin' urban cowboy looking for an uptown tinge to your twang, or an unreformed outlaw rustling up a ruckus with Hank Williams, Jr.'s "All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight," you'll find the finest in '80s country right here.