From her early days on the Porter Wagoner Show to her modern-day, multi-hyphenate public persona, it’s virtually impossible to imagine a musical world without Dolly Parton. Her rhinestone-clad sparkle is everywhere, and that certainly includes her collection of 20+ hits that topped the Billboard Country Music charts from 1959 to today.
Videos by American Songwriter
Some No. 1 hits are more obvious than others. Songs like “Jolene”, “I Will Always Love You”, and “Love is Like a Butterfly” seem like easy shoo-ins. Still, after exploring her catalogue of chart-topping hits, I managed to find three tracks that were more surprising than the rest.
“Starting Over Again”
Dolly Parton’s performance on Donna Summer and Bruce Sudano’s song “Starting Over Again” is beautifully tender and heartfelt. In that regard, the fact that this song was so successful isn’t that surprising. What did surprise me, however, was that a song this depressing could make it to the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. The song is sending out sucker punches to the gut from the very first line.
“Mama moved out, daddy sold the house, they split up the money and went on their way / And all the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put mommy and daddy back together again. Was everyone okay in 1980? Because it feels like everyone wasn’t okay in 1980.
“The Bargain Store”
The controversy surrounding “The Bargain Store” is the main reason why the title track to Dolly Parton’s 1975 album made this list of eyebrow-raising No. 1 hits. It’s not the scandal itself that got me—a soft, soft implication of prostitution isn’t quite enough to make me clutch my pearls. Still, that wasn’t the case for the general public in the mid-1970s.
The fact that “The Bargain Store” could rise above all of the conservative shock and horror in 1975 is pretty impressive. The track put Parton among the ranks of other outspoken women who made country music that would shock your great-grandpa, á la Loretta Lynn’s “The Pill” or Kitty Wells’ “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels”.
“9 to 5”
Of all the songs in Dolly Parton’s extensive catalogue, “9 to 5” is arguably the most understandable hit. The title track from the 1980 comedy film starring Parton, Jane Fonda, and Lily Tomlin was enough of a genre crossover that country and pop fans could find something to hold on to. Moreover, who couldn’t relate to being “just a step on the bossman’s ladder?”
What is surprising, though, is the fact that “9 to 5” is the only Dolly Parton song that topped the Billboard Hot 100. Considering her massive cultural influence, one would think she would have had more Top 10 hits on mainstream radio. Nevertheless, a win’s a win, and even if this aspect of “9 to 5” makes it a surprising No. 1 single, it’s certainly a worthy one.
Photo by NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images
Leave a Reply
Only members can comment. Become a member. Already a member? Log in.