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Song of the Day #6,648: ‘9 to 5’ – Dolly Parton

Dolly Parton kicked off the 80s with one of her worst-received albums. Titled Dolly Dolly Dolly, it was another slickly produced country pop album, and the first in her career to not include a single one of her own compositions.

The slump wouldn’t last long. Dolly Dolly Dolly came out in April of 1980, and in November of the same year she dropped one of her most successful releases yet. The awkwardly titled 9 to 5 and Odd Jobs was timed to capitalize on the December release of 9 to 5, a workplace comedy starring Parton, Jane Fonda, and Lily Tomlin.

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Song of the Day #6,647: ‘Star of the Show’ – Dolly Parton

Returning to my Shallow Dive of Dolly Parton’s career, I’ve arrived at her final album of the 70s, titled Great Balls of Fire.

It was a truly epic decade for Parton, who released 17 solo studio albums and nine more with Porter Wagoner. That’s an entire career for most musicians.

The 70s saw Dolly go from an understated singer of sweetly modest country songs to a massive star dabbling in pop and embracing the disco trend. I definitely prefer the former, but it’s fascinating to see how her career evolved.

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Song of the Day #6,646: ’96 Tears’ – ? and the Mysterians

Two repeats topped the Billboard Hot 100 the week of October 4, 1966: ‘Cherish‘ by The Association, and ‘Reach Out I’ll Be There‘ by The Four Tops.

In the third spot, on its way to a single week at #1 later in the month, was ’96 Tears’ by ? and the Mysterians (pronounced “Question Mark and the Mysterians,” with lead singer Rudy Martinez beating Prince by a few decades to the “my name is a symbol” thing).

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Song of the Day #6,645: ‘Honky Tonk (Parts 1 and 2)’ – Bill Doggett

Throwing back to the week of Oct. 3, 1956, Elvis Presley claimed #1 on the Billboard singles chart with ‘Don’t Be Cruel,’ the song’s fifth of seven straight weeks in the top spot.

Just behind it was the jazz instrumental ‘Honky Tonk’ by organist Bill Doggett. And if (like me) you think you don’t know it, press play below and you’ll realize you know it quite well. In addition to spending three weeks at #2 on the Top 100, ‘Honky Tonk’ topped the R&B chart for 13 weeks.

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Song of the Day #6,644: ‘Baby I’m Burnin” – Dolly Parton

Dolly Parton followed up her Platinum-selling Here You Come Again with 1978’s Heartbreaker, another album aimed at the pop market. This one was even more of a stretch, at times dabbling in the era’s disco sound.

Dolly wrote six of the album’s ten tracks, penning another double single that sent two songs up the charts: ‘Baby I’m Burnin” was a Top 40 crossover success while ‘I Really Got the Feeling’ topped the Country chart.

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