Daily Dirt: Forty years later, ‘Always On My Mind’ is still … well, on my mind

Daily Dirt for Wednesday, July 6, 2022

I’m still trying to grasp the fact that 1982 was 40 years ago … Welcome to today’s three thoughts that make up Vol. 331 of The Daily Dirt.

1. Normally in this space we spend quite a bit of time looking back at the top songs from the epicenter of the baby boomer era (particularly the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s), but today we’re introducing a new element.

Country music took a much-needed turn for the better in the 1980s and 1990s (it has since lost its collective mind, but that’s another story for another day) when the familiar twang was replaced with drums and guitars. Instead of being smothered by Conway Twitty and old-school country, the likes of Alabama, Shania Twain, Kenny Rogers and Oak Ridge Boys took over the radio and the charts. Oh, there was still room for legends like Willie Wilson, Waylon Jennings and George Strait, but for the most part, your mom and dad’s country was dead and buried.

Today we look at the best “new country” songs of 1982 — which, unbelievably, was 40 years ago. See if any of these ring a bell.

• 1. “Always On my Mind,” by Willie Nelson: This classic would be right at home in any decade and just about any genre.
• 2. “Redneck Girl,” by the Bellamy Brothers: My favorite lyric: “Redneck girl got the name on the back o’ her belt …”
• 3. “Love In The First Degree,” by Alabama: More than any other group, Alabama changed the course of country music history.
• 4. “Some Memories Just Won’t Die,” by Marty Robbins: Still one of my favorite YouTube requests. 
• 5. “It Ain’t Easy Bein’ Easy,” by Janie Fricke: Only Shania Twain was higher on my personal preference list during country’s greatest period of music in the 1980s and 1990s. 
• 6. “Love Will Turn You Around,” by Kenny Rogers: Unless you lived at this time, it’s hard to put in words how popular Kenny Rogers was.
• 7. “I Will Always Love You,” by Dolly Parton: Dolly’s finest effort, and it’s a close second to the unforgettable Whitney Houston version.
• 8. “I Wouldn’t Have Missed It For the World,” by Ronnie Milsap: One of my concert-going regrets is never seeing this guy.
• 9. “Do Me With Love,” by Janie Fricke: Another concert regret is never having seen this star. 
• 10. “I Wish You Could Have Turned My Head (And Left My Heart Alone),” by the Oak Ridge Boys: The Mighty Oaks.

2. Here are this week’s medal winners when it comes to best current MLB names:

• Gold medal: Kutter Crawford, Boston Red Sox. What better moniker could a big-league pitcher have? Plus, alliteration is always a bonus.
• Silver medal: Mookie Betts. Admit it, his name is just fun to say and you can’t help but smile. For those wondering, Mookie’s given name is Markus.
• Bronze medal: Nicky Delmonico, Chicago White Sox. It just sounds like an infielder, which, of course, Delmonico is.

3. Here are three major voices I found quite interesting following the recent move to the Big Ten by USC and UCLA:

• The Los Angeles Times: “But, make no mistake, Notre Dame is the ultimate get and the Big Ten has more to offer the Irish than ever before — a chance to share a conference with historic rival USC along with other rivals Michigan, Purdue and Michigan State; a chance to shoot its take from media rights into a new stratosphere; and a chance to assure itself of a rightful place at the power brokers’ table going forward. Notre Dame has to be getting the itch. If it isn’t, its longtime TV partner NBC will have good reason to nudge it into considering the Big Ten’s offer. Reports are that NBC wants a Big Ten game as part of the conference’s new media rights package.”
• CBS Sports: “To entice Notre Dame to jump to the Big Ten, one source suggested Stanford could be invited as sort of a ‘rivalry’ partner. The two schools have met 24 times in the last 25 years with the series interrupted only by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. In that scenario, Notre Dame would have at least five traditional rivals (Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue, Stanford, USC) as Big Ten conference partners. With an attractive conference schedule plus three annual nonconference games, the Irish could easily continue their ‘Shamrock Series’ of one-off games around the country.”
• The Athletic: “The Big Ten has led the nation in men’s basketball attendance for 45 consecutive seasons (when removing the pandemic year). Both UCLA and USC have tremendous coaches in Mick Cronin and Andy Enfield, respectively. Their athletes will enjoy more consistent high-level environments and better television exposure than what they see in the Pac-12.”

Steve Thought O’ The Day
Back when he played junior high baseball, Steve was known as Mookie Eighinger.

Steve Eighinger writes daily for Muddy River News. After his junior high school baseball days, Steve reportedly played the accordion in a band for Kenny Rogers while wearing cowboy boots, a 10-gallon hat and a rhinestone spangled shirt.