4 Well-Worn Country Hits That Every 80s Kid Still Knows by Heart

What a great era in country music it was in the 80s. In fact, the decade produced some of country music’s biggest hits, ever, with plenty of the songs still sung today. We picked four of our favorite well-worn country hits that every 80s kid still knows by heart.

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“Islands In The Stream” by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton

Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton released plenty of duets together, but none as popular as “Islands In The Stream“. Released in 1983, and written by the three Bee Gees members, Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb, the song is from Rogers’ Eyes That See in the Dark album, becoming a No. 1 hit not only in country music, but also on the Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts as well.

Rogers originally planned on releasing the song by himself. But after living with it for a few days, he wasn’t sure if he even still liked it, which is when he suggested adding Parton.

“I finally said, ‘Barry, I don’t even like this song anymore,’ and he said, ‘You know what we need? We need Dolly Parton,’” Rogers recalls to People. “I had a recording studio at the time, and she was downstairs, and my manager, Ken Kragen, said, ‘I just saw her!’ I said, ‘Well, go get her!’ He went downstairs, and she came marching into the room. And once she came in and started singing, the song was never the same. It took on a personality of its own.”

“Dixieland Delight” by Alabama

Also out in 1983 is Alabama’s “Dixieland Delight”. For a group that ruled the charts in the 80s, it’s hard to pick just one Alabama song. Still, it’s “Dixieland Delight” that remains one of their biggest hits, not to mention a fan favorite, more than 40 years after it was first released.

Ronnie Rogers penned “Dixieland Delight”, which is on Alabama’s seventh studio album, The Closer You Get…. He started the song while driving, later finishing it with Alabama in mind.

“I went home and a guy came to my house asking what songs I’ve written in a week,” Rogers recalls to AL.com. “I played him the half of the song and he said, ‘Man, you have to finish that. There’s a group called Alabama cutting next week, and I think they might like this song.’”

“On The Road Again” by Willie Nelson

Willie Nelson wrote and recorded “On The Road Again“, releasing it in 1980 on the soundtrack to Honeysuckle Rose, a Western movie that also featured Nelson as the lead actor.

“They were looking for songs for the movie, and they asked me if I had any idea”, Nelson remembers (via Far Out). “I said, ‘What do you want the song to say?’ And Sydney said, ‘Can it be something about being on the road?’

“It just started to click,” he continues. “I said, ‘You mean like, ‘On the road again, I can’t wait to get on the road again?’ They said, ‘That’s great. What’s the melody?’ I said, ‘I don’t know yet.’”

“Grandpa (Tell Me ‘Bout The Good Old Days)” by The Judds

Part of the reason why every 80s kid can still sing The Judds’ “Grandpa (Tell Me ‘Bout The Good Old Days)” by heart is that the song is still so relevant today. Written by Jamie O’Hara and released in 1986 on The Judds’ Rockin’ with the Rhythm record, the message of the song, about nostalgia for earlier, simpler times, rings more true today than ever before.

Two years before releasing “Grandpa, Tell Me ‘Bout The Good Old Days”, Naomi Judd had just lost her father, making the song especially relatable for her.

“The minute I heard it, I thought, this song just gets me,” Judd recalls (via Songfacts). “Gets me in the heart, gets me in the gut. Gets me in the head. I thought it was so much my song because it says, ‘Did families really bow their heads to pray / Did daddies really never go away.’ And I’m standing there singing the song with Wynonna, and she never knew her dad. And my daddy was gone before we [sang] this song, so the audience didn’t know that there’s this ghost, this third person standing there with us when we’re talking about our grandpas and all that.”

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