On this day (July 28) in 1984, Earl Thomas Conley scored his fourth consecutive No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart with “Angel in Disguise.” The song wasn’t just another chart-topping single for Conley. It also helped him set a new chart record. He was the first artist in country history to get four No. 1 singles from the same album.
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Conley released his debut single, “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down,” in 1971. The decade saw him release multiple singles that barely reached the country chart. As the 1970s drew to a close, he started to see more chart success, notching a pair of top 40 hits in 1979. Then, in 1980, he hit his stride with the album Fire & Smoke. The album’s title track gave him his first No. 1, and two of the album’s other three singles reached the top 10. His next album, Somewhere Between Right and Wrong, brought him a pair of top 10 hits and another No. 1. Singles from his 1983 album, Don’t Make It Easy for Me, started a string of chart-toppers.
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“Your Love’s on the Line” was the lead single from Don’t Make It Easy on Me and the first of four No. 1 songs from the album. “Holding Her and Loving You,” the title track, and “Angel in Disguise” all hit the top of the country chart. Conley set a new chart record with “Angel in Disguise.” However, that’s not where the streak ended.
Earl Thomas Conley Had a Long Streak of Hits
Earl Thomas Conley released 18 singles between the beginning of 1983 and the end of 1989. 16 of those released went to No. 1. The lead single and title track from Too Many Times, a duet with Anita Pointer, broke the streak in 1986 when it peaked at No. 2. Before then, he had sent nine consecutive songs to the top of the chart. Then, he had seven more No. 1 singles in a row before his hot streak ended in 1989 when “You Must Not Be Drinking Enough” peaked at No. 26.
Conley would have two more top 10 hits, but would never see the top of the country chart again. His final No. 1 was “Love Out Loud,” the fourth single from The Heart of It All. It topped the chart in early 1989.
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