I couldn't find a thread on 80's country music, so I thought I'd make one :)

I wasn't (and still am not) much of a fan of country music, but in the 80's, there were a few popular ones that I really liked:

I Love A Rainy Night - Eddie Rabbitt
Drivin' My Life Away - Eddie Rabbitt
You and I - Eddie Rabbitt wth Crystal Gayle
Baby I Lied - Deborah Allen
Bop - Dan Seals
Blessed Are the Believers - Anne Murray
Nobody - Sylvia

I'm in the same boat as you - "traditional" (pickup truck-ish) country music drives me bonkers, but some of the more pop oriented songs are cool.

Interestingly enough, I think the early 80's almost rivalled the (roughly) 1997-2001 era of Faith Hill/Shania Twain/Leann Rimes-esque pop/country crossover.

Many of the songs you mentioned bring that to mind. Many pop songs had a slight influnce of it too, such as "65 Love Affair" from Paul Davis, latter day Doobie Brothers, etc.

I also like Juiuce Newton's few hits from then.

My favorite 80's band of the genre is probably Restless Heart - another crossover. Ballads like "I'll Still be Loving You" to midtempo rock songs like "Wrong or Right" and "That Rock Won't Roll" mixed with more typical country fare, like "Wheels" made for a great sound.

In the 90's they got a new lead singer and had their true crossover success with the two semi ballads "Tell Me What You Dream" and "When She Cries".

Did you know that Lionel Richie had a hit single in 1984, Stuck on You, that hit No 1 on the Pop, R&B, and Country Charts?  He also wrote Lady, a big hit for Kenny Rogers, and did a duet with Alabama called Deep River Woman. 

I like listening to country music sometimes.  The Urban Cowboy soundtrack has some great songs on it.

I think country music was awesome in the late 80's through mid-90's. It gets worse every year, since the late 90's.

I liked "Don't Fall In Love With A Dreamer", "Islands In The Stream", "Elvira", "I Wouldn't Have Missed It For The World", "On The Road Again" and "Two Story House".

I gots three I can recall and don't mind hearing, and all three are from '80 and '81

Good Ole Boys Like Me -- Don Williams
Somebody's Knockin' -- Terri Gibbs 
Seven Year Ache -- Rosanne Cash

The Gambler - Kenny Rogers
9 to 5 - Dolly Parton
Still The One - Orleans
Elvira - Oak Ridge Boys

Don't listen to country music, but do these count? These are the songs that I like, that sounds country.

Songs from Cinderella-Heartbreak station sounds like country.

The Gambler - Kenny Rogers
9 to 5 - Dolly Parton
Still The One - Orleans
Elvira - Oak Ridge Boys

Don't listen to country music, but do these count? These are the songs that I like, that sounds country.


With the exception of Still the One (Which is a 70's song), all of those surely do count as 80's Country hits :)

I too am not a great fan of country music, but some 80s songs that I like:
Perhaps Love -John Denver, I have a very special sentimental attatchment to that particular one :)
The Gambler, Goodbye Marie -Kenny Rogers
Islands In The Stream, Real Love -Kenny & Dolly