1985 in country music
 | This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. (May 2015) |
This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 1985.
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Events
[edit]- January — In radio, the United Stations Programming Network’s "Solid Gold Country," a country music spinoff of the oldies-focused "Solid Gold Scrapbook," switches from a three-hour-a-week show to a five-day-a-week program (with the option to air all five hours in as a weekly program). Under the new format, each hourly program covered a different topic, such as a profile on a singer, songwriter or producer; a look back at the popular songs from the current week in a past year, gold records from the current month and other topics under virtually every conceivable topic. The new program will run 8-1/2 years.
- May 8 - 20th Academy of Country Music Awards: Alabama, George Strait, and Reba McEntire win
- A story published in The New York Times declares that country music is "dead." However, a number of new acts – Randy Travis and Dwight Yoakam among them – are working behind the scenes to change the trend.
- The Country Music Association Awards introduced a new award, Music Video of the Year. The first recipient was Hank Williams Jr.'s video for "All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight."
Top hits of the year
[edit]Singles released by American artists
[edit]Singles released by Canadian artists
[edit]| US | CAN | Single | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|
| — | 12 | Blue Moon Cafe | Albert Hall |
| — | 13 | Counting the I Love Yous | Terry Carisse |
| 73 | 10 | Heaven Knows | Audie Henry |
| — | 12 | Hold On to What You Got | Gilles Godard |
| 7 | 4 | I Don't Think I'm Ready for You | Anne Murray |
| — | 18 | I Just Didn't Love You Very Well | John Winters |
| — | 9 | I'll Take Her Love Anytime | George Carone |
| — | 10 | I'm Glad We're Bad at Something | Ronnie Prophet & Glory-Anne Carriere |
| — | 9 | If You Can't Stand the Heat | Carroll Baker |
| 95 | 5 | It Always Hurts the First Time | Carroll Baker |
| — | 19 | The Loneliest Star in Texas | Terry Sumsion |
| — | 7 | Love Is the Reason | Mercey Brothers |
| — | 9 | Magic in the Music | C-Weed Band |
| — | 11 | She Saves Her Love for Me | Stoker Bros |
| — | 18 | She's No Lady | Paul Weber |
| — | 17 | Sonny's Dream | Valdy |
| — | 10 | Sweet Blue | Terry Carisse |
| 71 | 10 | Sweet Salvation | Audie Henry |
| — | 10 | Take Me Home Mississippi | Jamie Warren |
| — | 15 | That's When You Know It's Over | Terry Sumsion |
| 2 | 1 | Time Don't Run Out on Me | Anne Murray |
| — | 17 | Two Broken Hearts | Terry Carisse |
| — | 12 | We Can Only Pretend | George Carone |
| — | 7 | We Won't Ever Say Goodbye | Gilles Godard |
| — | 10 | You Lifted Me High Enough | Mercey Brothers |
Top new album releases
[edit]Other top albums
[edit]| US | Album | Artist | Record Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 27 | 12 Greatest Hits | Patsy Cline | MCA |
| 50 | 19 Hot Country Requests | Various Artists | Epic |
| 59 | 19 Hot Country Requests–Vol. 2 | Various Artists | Epic |
| 33 | Atlanta | Atlanta | MCA |
| 61 | The Bama Band | The Bama Band | Compleat |
| 29 | The Best of Reba McEntire | Reba McEntire | Mercury/PolyGram |
| 39 | Big River–The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn |
Various Artists | MCA |
| 39 | Biggest Hits | Charly McClain | Epic |
| 33 | Can't Run Away from Your Heart | Lacy J. Dalton | Columbia |
| 29 | Chasin' Rainbows | Conway Twitty | Warner Bros. |
| 42 | Christmas Present | The Statler Brothers | Mercury/PolyGram |
| 29 | Christmas to Christmas | Lee Greenwood | MCA |
| 38 | Cut from a Different Stone | Razzy Bailey | MCA |
| 40 | Dallas–The Music Story | Various Artists | Warner Bros. |
| 28 | Don't Make Me Wait on the Moon | Shelly West | Viva |
| 64 | Dreamland Express | John Denver | RCA |
| 34 | Eddie Rabbitt #1's | Eddie Rabbitt | Warner Bros. |
| 42 | From My Heart | Kathy Mattea | Mercury/PolyGram |
| 27 | Greatest Hits | Barbara Mandrell | MCA |
| 33 | Greatest Hits Vol. 2 | John Conlee | MCA |
| 60 | Greatest Hits, Volume 2 | Charley Pride | RCA |
| 60 | Greatest Hits Vol. IV | Don Williams | MCA |
| 27 | Have I Got a Deal for You | Reba McEntire | MCA |
| 38 | His Best | Merle Haggard | MCA |
| 40 | I Feel Good (About Lovin' You) | Mickey Gilley | Epic |
| 32 | It's Just a Matter of Time | Glen Campbell | Atlantic America |
| 49 | John McEuen | John McEuen | Warner Bros. |
| 63 | Just a Woman | Loretta Lynn | MCA |
| 36 | Keep Me Hangin' On | Johnny Lee | Warner Bros. |
| 45 | Keith Stegall | Keith Stegall | Epic |
| 55 | Lane Brody | Lane Brody | Capitol |
| 53 | Live! At Gilley's | Mickey Gilley | Epic |
| 26 | Livin' on the Edge | T. G. Sheppard | Columbia |
| 62 | Lone Justice | Lone Justice | Geffen |
| 64 | Love and Other Hard Times | Eddy Raven | RCA |
| 60 | Maybe My Baby | Louise Mandrell | RCA |
| 27 | Me and the Boys | The Charlie Daniels Band | Epic |
| 35 | Memories to Burn | Gene Watson | Epic |
| 55 | Music from Rustler's Rhapsody and Other Songs |
Various Artists | Warner Bros. |
| 58 | Old Friends | Terri Gibbs | Warner Bros. |
| 40 | Past the Point of No Return | Jim Glaser | MCA/Noble Vision |
| 48 | ...Say When | Nicolette Larson | MCA |
| 35 | Smile | Larry Gatlin and the Gatlin Brothers | Columbia |
| 32 | Sometimes When We Touch | Tammy Wynette | Epic |
| 63 | Song in a Seashell | Tom T. Hall | Mercury/PolyGram |
| 27 | Songs You Know by Heart | Jimmy Buffett | MCA |
| 42 | The Spirit of Christmas | Ray Charles | Columbia |
| 54 | T. G. Sheppard | T. G. Sheppard | Warner Bros. |
| 54 | Tender Loving Care | Tom Jones | Mercury/PolyGram |
| 45 | Tennessee Christmas | Various Artists | MCA |
| 63 | The Things That Matter | Vince Gill | RCA |
| 48 | Till I Made It with You | Mac Davis | MCA |
| 31 | Time Stood Still | Vern Gosdin | Compleat |
| 27 | Two Heart Harmony | The Kendalls | Mercury/PolyGram |
| 49 | Unchained | David Allan Coe | Columbia |
| 33 | The Very Best of Janie | Janie Fricke | Columbia |
| 64 | Wall of Tears | Gus Hardin | RCA |
| 52 | Where's the Fire | Leon Everette | Mercury/PolyGram |
| 42 | Whole New World | The Whites | MCA |
On television
[edit]Regular series
[edit]- Hee Haw (1969–1993, syndicated)
- That Nashville Music (1970–1985, syndicated)
Specials
[edit]Births
[edit]- January 20 – Brantley Gilbert, singer of the 2010s best known for "Country Must Be Country Wide" and "You Don't Know Her Like I Do"
- May 14 – Dustin Lynch, country singer-songwriter of the 2010s and 2020s
- May 20 – Jon Pardi, country singer of the 2010s
- June 12 – Chris Young, winner on the fourth season of Nashville Star
- August 26 – Brian Kelley, member of Florida Georgia Line, a duo of the 2010s.
- September 1 — Charlie Worsham, singer/multi-instrumentalist honored by the Mississippi state senate[1]
- September 19 — Chase Rice, country singer of the 2010s
Deaths
[edit]- July 17 – Wynn Stewart, 51, key progenitor of the Bakersfield sound, known for hits such as "It's Such a Pretty World Today" (heart attack)
- August 8 – Benny Barnes, 51, former rhythm guitarist for George Jones, best known for his 1956 hit "Poor Man's Riches"[2]
- October 11 -- Tex Williams, 68, Western swing and talking blues performer best known for "Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)" (pancreatic cancer)
Hall of Fame inductees
[edit]Country Music Hall of Fame inductees
[edit]- Flatt and Scruggs (Lester Flatt 1914–1979 and Earl Scruggs 1924–2012)
Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame inductees
[edit]Major awards
[edit]Grammy Awards
[edit]- Best Female Country Vocal Performance — "I Don't Know Why You Don't Want Me", Rosanne Cash
- Best Male Country Vocal Performance — "Lost in the Fifties Tonight", Ronnie Milsap
- Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal — "Why Not Me" The Judds
- Best Country Instrumental Performance — "Cosmic Square Dance", Chet Atkins and Mark Knopfler
- Best Country Song — "Highwayman," Jimmy Webb (Performer: The Highwaymen)
Juno Awards
[edit]- Country Male Vocalist of the Year — Murray McLauchlan
- Country Female Vocalist of the Year — Anne Murray
- Country Group or Duo of the Year — Family Brown
Academy of Country Music
[edit]- Entertainer of the Year — Alabama
- Song of the Year — "Lost in the Fifties Tonight", Fred Parris, Mike Reid and Troy Seals (Performer: Ronnie Milsap)
- Single of the Year — "Highwayman", The Highwaymen
- Album of the Year — Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind, George Strait
- Top Male Vocalist — George Strait
- Top Female Vocalist — Reba McEntire
- Top Vocal Duo — The Judds
- Top Vocal Group — Alabama
- Top New Male Vocalist — Randy Travis
- Top New Female Vocalist — Judy Rodman
- Video of the Year — "Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes?", George Jones (Directors: Marc Ball)
Canadian Country Music Association
[edit]- Entertainer of the Year — Dick Damron
- Male Artist of the Year — Terry Carisse
- Female Artist of the Year — Carroll Baker
- Group of the Year — The Mercey Brothers
- SOCAN Song of the Year — "Counting the I Love You's", Terry Carisse, Bruce Rawlins (Performer: Terry Carisse)
- Single of the Year — "Riding on the Wind", Gary Fjellgaard
- Album of the Year — Closest Thing to You, Terry Carisse
- Top Selling Album — Once Upon a Christmas, Dolly Parton & Kenny Rogers
- Vista Rising Star Award — Ginny Mitchell
- Duo of the Year — Anita Perras and Tim Taylor
Country Music Association
[edit]- Entertainer of the Year — Ricky Skaggs
- Song of the Year — "God Bless the USA", Lee Greenwood (Performer: Lee Greenwood)
- Single of the Year — "Why Not Me", The Judds
- Album of the Year — Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind, George Strait
- Male Vocalist of the Year — George Strait
- Female Vocalist of the Year — Reba McEntire
- Vocal Duo of the Year — Dave Loggins and Anne Murray
- Vocal Group of the Year — The Judds
- Horizon Award — Sawyer Brown
- Music Video of the Year — "All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight", Hank Williams Jr. (Director: John Goodhue)
- Instrumentalist of the Year — Chet Atkins
- Instrumental Group of the Year — Ricky Skaggs Band
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 44" (PDF). Billstatus.ls.state.ms.us. Retrieved 2015-05-01.
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. p. 44. ISBN 0-89820-177-2.
Further reading
[edit]- Kingsbury, Paul, The Grand Ole Opry: History of Country Music. 70 Years of the Songs, the Stars and the Stories, Villard Books, Random House; Opryland USA, 1995 (ISBN 978-0679435563)
- Kingsbury, Paul, Vinyl Hayride: Country Music Album Covers 1947–1989, Country Music Foundation, 2003 (ISBN 0-8118-3572-3)
- Millard, Bob, Country Music: 70 Years of America's Favorite Music, HarperCollins, New York, 1993 (ISBN 0-06-273244-7)
- Whitburn, Joel, Top Country Songs 1944–2005 – 6th Edition. 2005 (ISBN 978-0898201659)