You're the Reason God Made Oklahoma

Take off your hats, ladies and gentlemen. We are in the confessional booth and in this quiet sacred space I will layout my sinful, corny tasty in kitschy 80's country music. I don't think I was born that way but my mother had a dreadful fixation on Anne Murray which created this abnormal fondness for some of that music (not Anne Murray...that WILL NEVER happen). Country was off its gourd back then smokin' crack in the corn cob pipe. Dolly Parton's hair had its own moon and every young hat act wore a Nudie suit. A few of my favorites from that time were Juice Newton "Angel of the Morning" "Queen of Hearts" and "The Sweetest Thing."  I loved Dan Seals "Everything that Glitters"; Charlie McClain, Eddie Rabbit. Sylvia had a great hit with "Nobody" too. I love the opening theme song for The Dukes of Hazard. Country is so slick and marketed today. No one gave a damn about videos or CMT. Country singers were freaks and I kind of liked them that way. Don Schlitz is a songwriting genius--he wrote The Gambler and half a dozen other standards. Some of those songs you could pluck right out of country and drop it into a funky pop group. Did anyone hear the Killers cover of "Ruby Don't Take Your Love to Town." Why hasn't anyone done a cover of Shelly West's "Jose Cuervo" or "You're the Reason God Made Oklahoma" or "Islands in the Stream?" Islands was written by Barry Gibb so it already has disco royalty behind it. Pop has lost some of its spunk, maybe it's time it took a stroll out to the sticks.  Well not a punchy little rant but it's all I have to offer tonight, my lovelies.