Good morning and welcome to the 98.1 Country Classic Show on the last weekend in February.  Join me from 9 am to 1 pm for the very best in country classic music at 98.1 FM Minnesota’s New Country, online and on your mobile device.

Today we’re featuring George Jones, Mel Tillis, Johnny Lee, Alan Jackson and Tanya Tucker.

 


 

George Jones – “The Right Left Hand” -- 1987

 

 

Written by Dennis Knutson and A.L. Owens, the song was a top ten hit that peaked at number eight on the Billboard Hot Country Singles Chart.

In the news in 1987:

  • Black Monday when the stock market drops 22% on October 19th
  • Jessica Hahn is implicated in the Jim Bakker scandal

 

I’ve cried a million tears down through the years, searching for that special one.

 


 

Mel Tillis – “Coca-Cola Cowboy” -- 1979

 

 

One of my favorite Mel Tillis recordings, written by Steve Dorff, Sandy Pinkard, Sam Atchley and Bud Dain.  This song was featured in the film “Every Which Way, But Loose” starring Clint Eastwood, Tillis also appeared in the movie.  A number one country hit for Tillis, it was his fifth.

 

In the news in 1979:

  • The USSR invades Afghanistan
  • The Three Mile Island nuclear power plant partially melts down after a fire at the reactor in Pennsylvania

 

I called collect on the phone, you say you’re tired and alone, but sounds like someone else is lying there.

 


 

Johnny Lee – “Lookin for Love” -- 1980

 

 

Released in June of 1980 as part of the soundtrack to the film “Urban Cowboy,” this song rose to number one on the country chart.  It was written by Wanda Mallette, Bob Morrison and Patti Ryan.

In the news in 1980:

  • Zimbabwe, formerly Rhodesia, gains independence
  • Iran and Iraq begin a war that lasts eight years

 

I spent a lifetime lookin’ for you, single bars and good time lovers were never true.

 


 

Alan Jackson – “Chattahoochee” -- 1993

 

 

This song was co-written by Alan Jackson and Jim McBride and Jackson took the song to a number one position on the country chart.

In the news in 1993:

  • Ruth Bader Ginsburg appointed to the Supreme Court on June 14th
  • River Phoenix dies of a drug overdose on Halloween -- he was only 23

 

Way down yonder on the Chattahoochee, it gets hotter than a coochie we laid rubber on the Georgia asphalt.

 


 

Tanya Tucker – Strong Enough to Bend” -- 1988

 

 

A number one country hit from the album of the same name.  Written by Beth Nielsen Chapman and Don Schlitz.

 

In the news in 1988:

  • 98% of US households have at least one television set
  • Ted Turner starts Turner Network Television (TNT) and buys MGM’s Film Library
  • Roy Orbison dies

 

There’s a tree out in the back yard that never has been broken by the wind and the reason it’s still standin’, it was strong enough to bend.

 


 

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