Urban Cowboy is a 1980 American romantic Western film directed by James Bridges. The plot concerns the love-hate relationship between Buford "Bud" Davis and Sissy. The film's success was credited for spurring a mainstream revival of country music. Much of the action revolves around activities at Gilley's Club, a football-field-sized honky tonk in Pasadena, Texas.
Mickey Leroy Gilley was an American country music singer and musician. Although he started out singing straight-up country and western material in the 1970s, he moved towards a more pop-friendly sound in the 1980s, bringing him further success on not just the country charts, but the pop charts as well.
Johnny Lee is an American country music singer. His 1980 single "Lookin' for Love" became a crossover hit, spending three weeks at number 1 on the Billboard country singles chart while also appearing in the top 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and top 10 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart. He racked up 17 top 40 country hits in the early and mid-1980s.
This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 1980.
Mickey Gilley was an American country music artist. His discography consists of 28 studio albums, 13 compilation albums, two live albums, 54 singles, and five music videos. 46 of his singles charted on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart between 1968 and 1989, including 17 number one hits.
"Johnny Angel" is a song written and composed by Lyn Duddy and Lee Pockriss. It was originally recorded by both Laurie Loman and Georgia Lee, but those two versions were not successful. It first became a popular hit single when it was recorded by Shelley Fabares in the fall of 1961; she took it to number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart when the song was released in 1962. In the same year, British singer Patti Lynn had a moderate hit on the UK Singles Chart with her cover of the song. The American pop music duo The Carpenters recorded "Johnny Angel" in 1973 as part of a medley of oldies on side two of their album Now & Then.
"Faded Love" is a Western swing song written by Bob Wills, his father John Wills, and his brother, Billy Jack Wills. The tune is considered to be an exemplar of the Western swing fiddle component of American fiddle.
"Look What You've Done to Me" is a song recorded by Boz Scaggs for the film Urban Cowboy. It was written by Scaggs and David Foster, and produced by Foster and Bill Schnee. The song reached No. 14 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in November 1980, No. 13 on the Cash Box Top 100, reached No. 30 in Canada and went to No. 3 on the US Adult Contemporary chart. The song reflects on a broken romance as depicted in the film.
"City Lights" is an American country music song written by Bill Anderson on August 27, 1957. He recorded it on a small Texas label called TNT Records in early 1958 to little acclaim. The song was first cut by Anderson in 1957 at the campus of the University of Georgia. In June 1958, Ray Price recorded it and his version hit number 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs singles chart in August 1958. Mickey Gilley's version also hit number 1 in June 1975.
"Bouquet of Roses" is a 1948 song written by Steve Nelson (music) and Bob Hilliard (lyrics). It was originally recorded by Eddy Arnold and his Tennessee Plow Boys and his Guitar in Chicago on May 18, 1947. It was released by RCA Victor as catalogue number 20-2806 and by EMI on the His Master's Voice label as catalogue numbers BD 1234 and IM 1399. "Bouquet of Roses" was Eddy Arnold's third number one in a row on the Juke Box Folk Record chart and spent 19 weeks on the Best Selling Folk Records chart. In 1949, when RCA Victor introduced its new 45 RPM single format this record was among seven initial releases and the first in the Country and Western category. Arnold would re-record "Bouquet of Roses" several times during his career.
"Daddy Sang Bass" is a song written by Carl Perkins, with lines from the chorus of "Will the Circle Be Unbroken?", and recorded by American country music singer Johnny Cash. It was released in November 1968 as the first single from the album The Holy Land. The song was Cash's sixty-first release on the country chart, going on to No. 1 on the Billboard country chart for 6 weeks and spending a total of 19 weeks there. The single reached No. 56 on the Cashbox pop singles chart in 1969. "Daddy Sang Bass" was also released on the Columbia Records Hall of Fame Series as a 45, #13-33153, b/w "Folsom Prison Blues". The record was nominated in the CMA awards category of Single of the Year by the Country Music Association (CMA) in 1969.
"I Overlooked an Orchid" is a country song that was a hit for Mickey Gilley in 1974. It was first recorded by Carl Smith in 1950, achieving only modest sales when it was released as a single through Columbia Records. Country act Johnnie & Jack recorded the song in 1962 as part of their album Smiles and Tears, then it was released as the B-side to their single "Bye Bye Love" in early 1963.
"One in a Million" is a song written by Chick Rains, and recorded by American country music artist Johnny Lee. It was released in October 1980 as the second single from the album Lookin' for Love. The song was Lee's second number one on the country chart. The single stayed at number one for two weeks, and also spent a total of thirteen weeks on the country chart.
"Could I Have This Dance" is a song recorded by the Canadian country music artist Anne Murray. It was used in the 1980 film Urban Cowboy and appeared on both the Urban Cowboy soundtrack album for that film, as well as on the Anne Murray's Greatest Hits compilation album, issued in late 1980. Later on, it also appeared on Murray's 2007 album Anne Murray Duets: Friends & Legends, performed as a duet with Amy Grant.
"Darlin'" is a song written in 1970 by English sax player Oscar Stewart Blandamer. It was first released under the title "Darling" by the British country band Poacher in 1978. It was later a chart hit for Frankie Miller and David Rogers. The track was subsequently recorded by numerous artists including Tom Jones, Barbara Mandrell, Smokie and Johnny Reid.
"Prisoner of Hope" is a song written by Sterling Whipple and Gerald Metcalf, and recorded by American country music artist Johnny Lee. It was released in May 1981 as the fourth single from the album Lookin for Love. The song reached number 3 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart.
"Cherokee Fiddle" is a song written by Michael Martin Murphey. Murphey's version of the song went to number 58 on the Hot Country Singles chart in 1977. The story is based on a fiddle player named "Scooter"; his real name was Dean Kirk. He was of Choctaw Indian and Irish descent. Having taken lessons as a child from Clayton McMichen, he played the fiddle his entire life. He once worked with the country music and movie star, Rex Allen. In his later years he played at the narrow gauge train station in Silverton, Colorado.
Robert Edwin Morrison is an American country songwriter based in Nashville. More than 350 of his songs have been recorded. His most successful compositions are the Grammy-winning Kenny Rogers song, "You Decorated My Life" and the Grammy-nominated "Lookin' for Love," the theme song for the 1980 John Travolta film, Urban Cowboy, recorded by Johnny Lee. Morrison was ASCAP's "Country Songwriter of the Year" in 1978, 1980, 1981 and 1982 and was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2016.
Urban Cowboy: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack to the 1980 film Urban Cowboy. It spawned numerous Top 10 Billboard Country Singles, such as #1 "Lookin' for Love" by Johnny Lee, #1 "Stand by Me" by Mickey Gilley, #3 "Look What You've Done to Me" by Boz Scaggs, #1 "Could I Have This Dance" by Anne Murray, and #4 "Love the World Away" by Kenny Rogers. It also included songs that were hits from earlier years such as #1 "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" by the Charlie Daniels Band and "Lyin' Eyes" by the Eagles. The film is said to have started the 1980s boom in pop-country music known as the "Urban Cowboy Movement" also known as Neo-Country or Hill Boogie. In December 2018 the soundtrack was certified triple platinum by the RIAA for sales of three million copies.
