3 Country Albums From 1980 That Influenced an Entire Decade

The 1980s saw a lot of changes in country music. New sounds were emerging, along with new styles of music, as the genre expanded and grew.

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These three country albums all came out in 1980, and influenced an entire decade of country music

‘9 To 5 And Odd Jobs’ by Dolly Parton

9 To 5 And Odd Jobs is Dolly Parton’s second album out in 1980. The record follows her Dolly, Dolly, Dolly album, which includes the No. 1 single, “Old Flames Can’t Hold a Candle to You”. But it’s 9 To 5 And Odd Jobs that remains one of Parton’s most revered records, and with good reason.

9 To 5 And Odd Jobs includes two No. 1 songs. Both the working women’s anthem. “9 To 5”, and “But You Know I Love You”, appear on 9 To 5 And Odd Jobs. “9 To 5” also appears on the soundtrack for the film of the same name, starring Parton, Lily Tomlin, and Jane Fonda.

‘Music Man’ by Waylon Jennings

Waylon Jennings’ Music Man came when Jennings was in the middle of a big streak of hit singles. On his previous What Goes Around Comes Around, Jennings had No. 1 hits with both “Come With Me” and “I Ain’t Living Long Like This”. He likely couldn’t have predicted that Music Man would contain one of his biggest hits, but that’s exactly what happened.

Written by Jennings, “Theme from The Dukes of Hazzard (Good Ol’ Boys)” is on Music Man. Part of one of the most popular TV shows at the time, the song also continued Jennings’ streak of chart-topping singles.

Music Man also includes “Clyde” and “Storms Never Last”, the latter a duet with his wife, Jessi Colter.

‘Feel The Fire’ by Reba McEntire

Feel The Fire is, without question, an important album, not just for country music, but for Reba McEntire as well. Her third studio album, it didn’t produce any No 1 singles for McEntire. But it did give her her first Top 10, with “(You Lift Me) Up To Heaven”. The other two singles, “I Can See Forever In Your Eyes” and “I Don’t Think Love Ought To Be That Way” also became Top 20 singles for McEntire.

It wasn’t until McEntire’s fifth album, Unlimited, when she had her first No. 1 single, with “I Can’t Even Get The Blues”. Interestingly, although not a single, one of McEntire’s favorite songs she ever recorded comes from Feel The Fire.

“I think I would like to re-record ‘Suddenly There’s A Valley. … It’s a beautiful song,’” McEntire says (via Classic Country Music).

“Suddenly There’s A Valley” is the final song on Feel The Fire. It is written by Biff Jones and Chuck Meyer.

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