When Kenny Rogers entered the nation charts on September 15, 1979 with the ballad “You Decorated My Life,” he was in a run of type that produced a formidable array of No.1s. The music not solely added to that sequence, however led to awards glory for each the crossover nation star and the co-writers.
Mixing nation and pop
By now, Rogers was firmly established as one of many largest stars in nation music, with a significant pop viewers as well. 1977’s “Lucille” was, in fact, the game-changer, offering the Houston-born entertainer together with his first nation No.1 and reaching No.5 on the Billboard Sizzling 100. It was his largest document since “Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love To Town” had launched Rogers and the First Version to the larger public manner again in 1969.
The follow-up “Daytime Friends” might solely have made the pop High 30, nevertheless it was one other nation No.1. So was his subsequent duet with prolific, longtime nation hitmaker Dottie West, “Every Time Two Fools Collide.” Additional successes with West included one other nation bestseller in a remake of Sonny & Cher’s “All I Ever Need Is You”; the solo singles “Love Or Something Like It,” “The Gambler,” and “She Believes In Me” all, unfailingly, topped the nation listings.
When a love music by writers Debbie Hupp and Bob Morrison got here alongside, Kenny and producer Larry Butler heard its potential – however Kenny felt at first that it was just a bit too saccharine for his style. As remembered in The Billboard Guide Of No.1 Nation Hits, Hupp’s earlier try and make a profession in songwriting had ended along with her going again to Kentucky and dealing in retailer safety. When she tried once more with Biloxi, MS native Morrison, who was rising as a author in Nashville circles, “You Decorated My Life” was an early outcome.
‘‘Decorated’? Come on, man’
“That was one of those songs that I never even expected to get recorded,” Bob Morrison stated within the ebook. “When Debbie and I finished it, a lot of people said ‘‘Decorated’? Come on, man.’ It is unusual with respect to that word.” Morrison, certainly, recorded the primary model of the music himself, for Monument, with no success. The pair pitched it to West, who declined it, and when it landed on Rogers’ desk, he too was uncertain. Ultimately, after a yr, he caved in, with spectacular outcomes.
“You Decorated My Life” entered the nation chart at No.48, per week after its pop debut at No.70. By the primary week in November, it grew to become one more nation chart-topper for Rogers, peaking at No.7 pop. It went on to win a Grammy for Nation Tune of the Yr, and helped Morrison to be named Songwriter of the Yr in 1980 by the Nashville Songwriters Affiliation Worldwide. The music helped the mother or father album Kenny spend 24 weeks atop the nation chart. How fortunate it was that Rogers relented and recorded it.
Store for Kenny Rogers’s music on vinyl or CD now.
