Released 46 Years Ago Today, the Iconic John Travolta Film That Revived Mainstream Country Music

John Travolta took viewers on a genre-hopping adventure in the late 1970s and early ’80s, starting with disco in Saturday Night Fever (1977) before heading to 1950s rock-and-roll/doo-wop in 1978’s Grease. Travolta carried the momentum from that blockbuster pairing into Urban Cowboy, released on this day (June 6) in 1980.

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The three-time Golden Globe Award winner took on the role of Buford “Bud” Davis, an oil refinery worker who finds both romance and drama on the Pasadena, Texas nightclub scene.

Directed by James Bridges, Urban Cowboy takes place in and around Gilley’s Club, a real-life honky-tonk co-owned by country singer Mickey Gilley. Debra Winger co-starred as Sissy, Bud’s love-hate interest.

‘Urban Cowboy’ Almost Sounded Quite Different

Urban Cowboy ignited a spark on the mainstream country scene, birthing the line-dancing phenomenon and giving a name to the softer early 1980s sounds of Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton, Johnny Lee, Janie Fricke, and Mickey Gilley.

Initially, producer Irving Azoff wanted the soundtrack to consist exclusively of Eagles songs. Having witnessed the widespread influence of the “California sound”—think the Eagles and Linda Ronstadt—on Nashville, Azoff saw untapped potential.

“Irving knew it was time for a crossover, and not just musically,” Becky Mancuso-Winding, the film’s music coordinator, told Texas Monthly in 2015.

“He’d looked at the disco movement and Saturday Night Fever. He knew Urban Cowboy could impact the way people dressed, ate, danced, listened.”

Ultimately, the film’s soundtrack did include the 1975 Eagles hit “Lyin’ Eyes”. However, it also featured songs from Bonnie Raitt, Anne Murray, Bob Seger, and the Charlie Daniels Band.

Suddenly, Cowboy Hats Were Everywhere

Additionally, the Urban Cowboy soundtrack yielded three number-one hits: Johnny Lee’s “Lookin’ For Love”, Mickey Gilley’s “Stand By Me”, and “Could I Have This Dance” by Anne Murray.

“Lookin’ for Love” also brought crossover success for Lee, catapulting him to Fame after a decade working alongside Gilley both at the club and on the road.

“When that movie was hot, I was s—-ing in high cotton… Man, I didn’t know whether to scratch my watch or wind my a–,” Lee told Texas Monthly.

[RELATED: ‘Urban Cowboy’ is 45: How One Movie Made America Fall in Love with Country Music and Cowboy Hats]

The film’s soundtrack topped the country albums chart and reached number three on the all-genre U.S. Billboard 200. In December 2018, it received triple platinum status from the RIAA after selling 3 million copies.

Featured image by Hulton Archive/Getty Images