This week we look back on some of the great country women of the 1980's.  Yes, some of them went into the 1990's and that's fine, but the 1980's is when they made thier debut. Or in a case or two had the bulk of their success in that decade.   There are many others I know, but these are the women of this era I have featured here so far, and as time goes on I will do more.  I posted this just in case you missed some the first time around.  But as of now let's start off with the woman that gave us  - 80's Ladies - The Late KT Oslin.

KT Oslin

Janie Fricke

Barbara Mandrell

Juice Newton

Tanya Tucker

Kathy Mattea

Suzy Bogguss

The Judds

Holly Dunn

Sylvia

Patty Loveless

The Forester Sisters

Crystal Gayle

There are a ton of reasons to be excited about the upcoming Browns season. They have done a whole lot of things right recently.  Now, the winning can begin.

So, what does it take to win a title in today's NFL? The quick answers are - good health, luck, a break or two, playing smart, a favorable schedule, winning at home, a good QB, and play some defense.  All sounds pretty basic and I think we can all agree there.  But lots of teams will do those things, or some of them, but only 1 can win a championship. So what are the other things?  Well, it's very easy and there's just two.  And good news, as of this writing, the Browns have both of them.

The team that will win the title will do what all title winners do. 

-  They will protect their QB

-  And they will pressure the opposing QB

It's just that simple. If you do those things very well, you'll win games, you'll win playoff games, and championship games. Because doing these things at an elite level lets everyone and every position group breathe easier and play better under far less stress.  The Browns are finally built right. They have the LEAGUES BEST offensive line, and two of the games most feared, and best defensive linemen.

If the Browns protect Baker Mayfield and let him do his thing, they will be tough to beat. Plus, that line will let us run the ball well.  And if the Browns get after ANY opposing QB on the regular, they will be very tough to beat. Teams that do this contend, just ask the Bucs and the Chiefs.  In last years Superbowl, Superman Patrick Mahomes was running for his life all night, while Old Man Brady could have played without a helmet and in a tuxedo.

That is about as basic as it gets. And we have the players to do it.  Now, there's a big difference between this small breakdown here and actually doing it.  So now, it's just time to do it, if not now, when?  No more moral wins, no more excuses, and no more wait till next year.

Guess what?  It IS next year!

GO BROWNS!

You went to the store and you bought the perfect piece of meat to make for the weekend, or a special dinner. Now what?  I get it, it's not cheap and the pressure is on to get it right. 

Hey, some grilling aficionados roll around with extreme confidence and will get it right. But there are some that will stress and hope for the best.  Well, then take your time, take a breath and check this link out to give you a hand so you don't blow it!

Perfect Meat

Jake Owen has always been a favorite of mine for many reasons.  His big voice and really great song selection plus he puts on a real good show.  But he is a very interesting artist too. Yes, in my view he is a traditionalist by today's standards but doesn't really look the part with his relaxed image. But he IS country.   He has recorded some of my very favorite songs over the past number of years.

This is a real nice song that is extremely catchy and gets in your brain quickly as most hit songs do. It also sounds like a "Jake Owen" song, where at the same time does not sound like every other Jake Owen songs.  I love songs that are celebratory of the country lifestyle without being an actual "list" song, which are overdone.  This also has a comtempory flair to it, I realy like.

Jake is traditional with thump, a real beat. Well done!

Sit back, grab a coffee and catch this new Jake Owen song!

About Half – Of us feel good about returning to a movie theater (Cinamasafe)

Box Office Results - Free Guy   29 million   (Box Office)

New This Week - Reminiscence (Hugh Jackman)  Paw Patrol / The Protege / The Night House 

This Is Cool - They have developed a new Daytime Drive In Movie theater  (Story) 

WOW  - Escape From New York    -  Turn 40 this year!  (How trailers have changed!)

Ryan Reynolds - Says that Disney already wants a sequel to his hit this week, Free Guy brought in 29 million this weekend  (Story)

A Field of Dreams - TV Show is headed to Peacock   (Story)

Bill Engvall - Has announced his retirement. He will launch his farewell tour later this summer.  (Story) 

This Weekend – Check out my Country Music Memory Lane (link)

Check out my Song Of The Week -  (Link)

Ask anyone in my life and they will tell you I ask a lot of questions.  I do. I know that it can be a bit much after a while, but I am a very curious person.  Years ago I went to get some help for some problems I was dealing with (or actually not) and my counselor told me  "Scott, you are a very curious individual, you want to know things."  It was the first time anyone had ever said that to me. I mean how do you know?  You're just - YOU!

I do want to know things.  Asking people questions is about the nicest thing you can say to them.  You are actually saying, "What do you think or feel about........"  And it makes people feel important to be asked, about that there is no doubt.  By asking others questions you are showing interest in THEIR feelings and thoughts and taking the focus off of yourself. People like that.  I always think that is a good formula to building long lasting friendships.  I am VERY proud to say I have many GREAT friends that I see regularly and play golf with I have known all my life.

Here is a fun read too, about questions. What do you think about that??

Click To Read!

The 1990's were a great time for our format and mega star names like Shania, Garth, Alan, Clint, and Billy Ray were absolutely synonymous with it.  But so were names like, Chesnutt, Stone, Byrd, McGraw, Hill and John Michael Montgomery.  He was part of a class that came along a few years after the huge avalanche of 1989, and was a major factor and very popular.  His gift to us was that he was a big new star in an era where we needed one to keep the momentum going that had been building since 1986.  He was right on time.

His First Hit Song - Really Got Him Noticed!  Should Have Been #1 (#4)

In the 1990's we had all those major stars mentioned above, and there was others too like George Strait, Alabama, Randy Travis, Brooks And Dunn, and Reba.  Every era has its big, and mainline stars.  BUT, I have always maintained what made that era the very best ever, were the acts just outside of the mega stars.  In addition to the above mentioned JMM, Pam Tillis, Tracy Lawrence, Martina McBride, Joe Diffie, Patty Loveless, Terri Clark, JoDee Messina, Kathy Mattea and many others. We also had a young Kenny Chesney and Toby Keith, and new groups like Blackhawk, Lonestar, Diamond Rio, and Shenandoah.

His First #1 - A Staple At The Time!

We have never had such a robust and talented group of successful artists like this  -  in this regard. They were artists that had real popularity, sold a lot of albums, concert tickets, and had real appeal, that in any other era would have been the dominant stars. These are stars that gave us real depth and kept the radios on. These stars to me are the ones that really helped drive the format to incredible heights. We had GREAT songs on the radio all the time. Every era has it gigantic stars and you need them. But not many eras have this kind of talent.  It was a remarkable time. And John Michael Montgomery was the leader of this new class.

Another Number One!

He really hit in 1992 with Life's A Dance, and the success of that first album really set the stage for his march through the 1990's which was very strong.  During his run he released some 30 songs, and had 7 number ones.  It seemed like there were more because of his incredible popularity, but many of the songs stopped near the top of the charts.  In fact, between 1992 and 1999 only 4 of songs didn't make the top ten.  He was a big time hit maker and fans loved him.  The real key for him in my view was song selection.  He really picked songs that not only he would do well, but would find a niche within the format and cut through. Especially his ballads, many became staples in pop-culture and not just on the radio.

His Ballads Were Loved

In addition to charting well, he was selling well. His first album, Life's A Dance sold over 3 million.  His second, Kickin' It Up sold 4 million, and his third and his fourth sold 2 million each.  Funny thing is, that in an era of so many dominant stars, we almost are numb to how many great stars we had at that time, and the record sales were simply staggering. JMM had an amazing run and recorded hugely popular ballads like, I Can Love You Like That, I Love The Way You Love Me and I Swear, and many others that became love themes and wedding songs. 

Huge Song - Still Gets Requested

He also had some real fun songs, like Sold, Be My Baby Tonight and others that showed his amazing versatility.  He was about the most versatile we had then. He is from a musical family as you may know as his brother is Eddie Montgomery from Montgomery Gentry.  And his nephew is newcomer Dillon Carmichael who is on the charts now. 

What a run, what great music and what a star.  JMM still tours and plays  - and this week he will be in town at the Dusty. 

For the past few weeks, I wrote a 4 part series on Desert Island Country Albums, featuring an album from each decade from the 1980's to today. Plus 4 Wild Cards.  The best albums you would want with you marooned on a desert island!

Here are all four parts if you missed them  -  (Part 1)  (Part 2)  (Part 3)  (Part 4)

So, there were 20 total albums by various stars from different decades.  They all are  -  and were GREAT!  But many of you have asked, what is the BEST one? I didn't really think about which one is best, but you all got me thinking, and I guess there has to be a "best."  That's where we are in the world.  What album is the best in the past 40 years of my country radio career?

To be honest, it was tough.  I had to ignore personal feelings about the songs and the artists.  Forget sales or radio play or singles. They all had a bunch of all of them.  What album start to finish best captured that particular era and the minds and hearts of fans and listeners from this list of 20?  The winner is what I remember to be the best in every regard.  I looked at it as honestly as I could.

And the Winner IS -  

The 1990's  (1997)  Tim McGraw - Everywhere

This is just flat out great stuff.  This is one of the very best albums, of any format, anywhere over the past 30 years.  Everywhere is an upper deck grand slam home run from the first song to the last. It was, and is the crown jewel of his incredible career.  There were great albums from him before this, and of course great albums after, but this is beyond sensational.  Again, this ten song album threw out 6 hits, 4 of them #1's.  Two of the hits spending 6 weeks at number one. This is a once in a lifetime kind of deal where an album is so good, and universally loved by fans. What a gem for music in general. Any artist  - recording any kind of music would love to record an album this good, focused, and on point.  Everything just lined up perfectly for this to be the classic it is. Multi-platinum, terrific. This album took a star and made him a mega star.

Singles  - It's Your Love #1 (6weeks)  /  Everywhere #1  /  Just To See You Smile #1 (6weeks) /  One Of These Days #2 /   Where The Green Grass Grows #1  / For A Little While #2

It's Your Love   - 6 Weeks Number One....

Title Song - A Work Of Art

Tim McGraw is back with a new song, and it's one of the strangest titles you'll hear, 7,500 OBO.  McGraw is seeming to be making an effort recently to recapture some of the magic of the 1990's with the last few songs, and I'm OK with that.  I feel there will be an audience for 90's country for the foreseeable future and he was one of the driving forces in it.

I loved, I Called Mama, which to me was very 90's driven, and there is a lot to like here with this song.  It's a love and lose song, that will strike a chord with many.  It's a sort of story song, and it is certainly original.  I always think McGraw is great when the songs come directly from his heart.  That is what he does best.  This sounds like it could have been a song from 1996 for him. 

So sit back and grab a coffee and take in a new McGraw song!  (The Video features his daughter)

About Half – Of us feel good about returning to a movie theater (Cinamasafe)

Box Office Results - Suicide Squad tanks - about 25 million  (Story)

New This Week -  Free Guy  /  Don't Breathe  / Respect   

Tim and Faith - Will to star in a Yellowstone prequel called 1883 on Paramount+  (Story) 

Next Week  - Reminiscence with Hugh Jackman (Theaters and HBO Max)

Addams Family Netflix Show  -  Coming soon, and Catherine Zeta Jones will play Morticia (Story)

Christina Applegate  -  Has been diagnosed with MS -  (Story)

Quentin  Tarantino  - Says his mom used to belittle him and his Hollywood dreams, so he has "never given her a penny"  (Story)

This Weekend – Check out my Country Music Memory Lane (link)

Check out my Song Of The Week - (Link)