Forty years ago today, on Dec. 19, 1980, Dolly Parton made her big-screen debut, appearing in the movie
9 to 5. A comedy based on three working women, the film also starred Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Dabney Coleman.
9 to 5 was a major box office hit. Parton played one of the leading characters, Doralee Rhodes, a secretary falsely rumored to be sleeping with her boss, Franklin Hart (played by Coleman). The country star also wrote the movie s title track, which became one of the biggest hits of her career.
The song 9 to 5 landed at the top of the
Billboard Hot 100 and
Billboard Adult Contemporary charts, in addition to the country charts. The tune also won numerous awards, including two Grammys, for Best Country Song and Best Country Vocal Performance, Female; additionally, Parton picked up two Golden Globe nominations, for Best Actress Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and New Star of the Year Actress, for her role in
Dec 14, 2020 - 4:41 pm
Charley Pride was on the on-ramp to Nashville fame then his audience discovered how he looked. In 1967, after two non-charting singles, his third, Just Between You And Me, had pierced the Top 10 on the Hot Country Songs chart. Pride had guitar pioneer Chet Atkins, producer “Cowboy Jack Clement and manager-agent Jack Johnson in his corner. In short, he was
moving. But when Pride strolled into the spotlight at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit, clamorous applause curdled into an awkward silence.
Undoubtedly aware of the audience s reaction, Pride hesitated before laying into his first song. Instead, he leaned his arms on his acoustic guitar, as if to drag over a chair and say, Let s rap for a moment.