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In the eighties, the Charlie Daniels Band might not have been the very first band that came to mind when you thought about country music, but it was definitely in the top ten. And when they DID come to mind, this is the song that you were probably thinking of. Until they started doing gospel music, it was arguably the best song they ever did… THE DEVIL WENT DOWN TO GEORGIA.

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Back in the eighties, you just didn’t think about country music without Alabama or the Oak Ridge Boys coming to mind. My daughter even worked at an Oak Ridge Boys concert back in 1986, which took place at Arkansas State University. (She was on the concert committee back then… the stories she could tell you!) I am on an Oak Ridge Boys kick today, so, here they are, singing one of their most memorable songs. My daughter assures me that they sang this one at that concert… ELVIRA.

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Especially since the sixties, when famous and semi-famous musicians seemed to start dying off in record numbers, the living stars have been finding out that a tribute to a dead popular singer almost always makes for a radio hit. I bet most people can STILL sing most of the words to “American Pie”, which was a tribute to Buddy Holly. One of the better examples of recent years is MIDNIGHT IN MONTGOMERY. Shown in the video clip below, this song is a tribute to Hank Williams, done by Alan Jackson. The black and white footage makes for excellent effect.

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Well, I was looking for a CW McCall song, but I couldn’t find it. I opted for the Steve Miller Band instead. This song, from the eighties, is one that I heard coming from my then-teenaged daughter’s room an awful lot. I figure, if she liked it that much, it will probably bring back memories for a lot of you as well. I hope you enjoy it!

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As a Mel Tillis fan, I must admit I was a bit skeptical a few years back when his daughter became a singer as well. I know, I know. There have been several cases where children of stars do just as well. But there are far more cases where they don’t, and so I tend to ignore them. But this song is just cute. It has a typical country beat, too much overlay on the music, but it’s cute.

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Back in the eighties, on of the pivotal soft rock groups to hit the mainstream was WHAM!. They had several really pretty songs, and were quite popular in the time before their breakup. Personally, I think they should have kept the duet together. I’ve heard some of what they did separately since then, and it doesn’t even hold a candle to their abilities as a duet. In any case, in the spirit of the season, here is WHAM! with “Last Christmas”.

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Dan Folgelberg, best known for his soft rock style and hits like “Leader of the Band”, has passed away following a battle with prostate cancer. He was fifty six years old.

His soft voice and tender style gave him a place in our memories that will live long after this day. Our thoughts will be with those close to him. He will be missed.

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If we are going to talk about all the music from all the decades, it would be remiss if we did not include examples of the heavy metal from the eighties. I never cared much for it, but my daughter went through a period of liking it. This was one of the songs that deafened us for a time during her teen years… Quiet Riot’s MAMA WEER ALL CRAZEE NOW. (And, as the Momma in my house, this song was enough to MAKE you crazy!)

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Elton John is a living legend. There are very few people who would disagree with that, though his, um, tendencies… tend to make you question his love songs. His beautiful voice overrides that for his fans. NIKITA, one of his most beautiful songs ever, came out in the mid eighties, when my daughter was still in high school. The song, about an American man in love with a woman from the USSR, hit the charts just about five years before the breakup of the Soviet Union. Presumably the mythical couple are now sunning themselves in LA. I hope you enjoy this song as much as she and I both do.

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Watching the Lawrence Welk show may seem dull to today’s generation, but there isn’t a member of this family from ANY generation that isn’t familiar with the closing credits theme from the show, which I have here today. We still watch the show every week when it airs on PBS. Hope this brings back fond memories for you as well!

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