80's Ladies
80's Ladies is the debut studio album by American country music artist K. T. Oslin, released on June 30, 1987, by RCA Records Nashville. The album, her first, propelled her to success in mainstream country, after an earlier first failed attempt with Elektra Records consisting of two singles released in 1982. At 43 years old, she secured a record deal in 1986 after meeting with Alabama producer Harold Shedd and RCA Nashville executive Joe Galante. The album prompted her to quickly become one of the hottest new commercial breakthrough in a unconventional sound featuring country pop, southern blues, and rock music.
Commercially, 80's Ladies became Oslin's first and only album to top the Billboard Top Country Albums chart in the United States, following peaking at number 68 on the Billboard 200 albums chart and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America in the United States and gold by Music Canada. This was Oslin's highest debut to break the record in the country chart as a female country artist. It has sold more than one million copies worldwide.
Following its release, the album built a lifelong string of success among three of its commercial singles—"80's Ladies", "Do Ya", and "I'll Always Come Back"—peaked within the top ten of the US Billboard Hot Country Singles chart, while two of the singles had topped on that chart. While her self-titled track, "80's Ladies" reached the top ten, it received a significant praise by fans and critics, eventually winning Best Female Country Vocal Performance at the 1987 Grammy Awards. Oslin became the first woman to win "Song of the Year" at the Country Music Association Awards. The song also earned Oslin the top female vocalist award at the Academy of Country Music Awards and won the ACM award for music video of the year. Its accompanying singles received several accolades throughout 1988, and fairly favorable reviews from music critics. Following the album's release, Oslin embarked on tours with Alabama and George Strait.
Background
Between the late 1970s and the early 1980s, K. T. Oslin wrote songs that brought her to the attention of a performance rights group, SESAC. At the same time, she also sang on Guy Clark's eponymous album. Diana Petty, a Nashville executive for SESAC, advised Oslin to sign a major label contract. By 1979, Oslin was signed with Elektra via a "singles-only" contract, with Petty's support. Only two singles were issued on the label, which were both commercial failures. The song "Clean Your Own Tables" was on the charts for "about a minute and a half... died a fiery death", Oslin recalled. She was dropped by the label in 1982 and returned to New York, which she found her work unsatisfying. She continued to write songs, and was named "Most Promising Country Music Writer" by SESAC that same year. She made an appearance on a live radio broadcast in 1984 to try to connect with more musicians. Oslin fell into a depressive state due to her lack of commercial success and later said that she had suffered "several '4 a.m. anxiety attacks. Petty continued to encourage her, and she did work with Judy Rodman, Dottie West, Gail Davies, and The Judds.Eventually, Oslin made another effort to regain a recording contract. By the beginning of 1986, she had borrowed $7,000 from her aunt, lost 40 pounds, and temporarily acquired a Nashville nightclub, inviting music executives to a one-time live showcase, expecting phone calls from them afterwards. She recalled that "the next morning, I sat waiting for the phone to ring", but did not succeed in landing a contract.
Chuck Neese, who attended the showcase, wanted to sign Oslin to a record label on the spot. He told Oslin that her age could serve as an advantage in music, citing that her "timing was right". Nashville producer Harold Shedd, who had recently been successful working with Alabama, also attended at the suggestion of Petty. Shedd convinced Oslin to record three of her tunes, which was then cut to demos that was sent directly to RCA Records. Through Shedd's connections with the label, Oslin met RCA Nashville executive Joe Galante, who believed that Oslin had potential due to her outstanding songwriting and voice. Galante later shared that he had feelings for her in a 2020 interview saying, "I remember thinking when I saw K.T., "Holy shit. This is not an ingenue, this is a woman." Within the first couple of minutes, it was just love. I really did fall in love. That personality was so disarming, probably because of all the time she'd spent on touring companies and Broadway. She'd worked her ass off to get that meeting. This was her last chance and it was fortunate for both of us." At age 43, Oslin was offered a contract and signed to RCA at that year.
Production and composition
After signing with the label, Oslin immediately commenced songwriting, creating five new tracks. Recording sessions for 80's Ladies took place at The Music Mill from early to late 1986 in Nashville, Tennessee, where the rhythm tracks and vocal overdubs were done. Harold Shedd served as the album's sole producer. The recording was done digitally using a 32-track X850 Mitsubishi PCM tape recorder. Oslin provided lead vocals and played keyboards on the album. Additional keyboards were contributed by David Briggs, known for his extensive work with Nashville musicians, and Gary Prim. Guitar parts were recorded by Bruce Dees, Steve Gibson, and Brent Rowan, with Rowan also playing acoustic guitar. The track "Dr., Dr." notably features guitar overdubs. Drummers Eddie Bayers, Larrie Londin, and James Stroud contributed to the rhythm section, alongside bass parts recorded by Mike Brignardello and Larry Paxton. Sam Levine played saxophone on the album, with his contributions being particularly notable on the track "I'll Always Come Back". Terry McMillan, who was also a solo artist, provided the harmonica tracks. Backing vocals were added by Joe Scaife, while Costo Davis played synthesizers. The album was engineered by Jim Cotton and Joe Scaife, with assistance from George W. Clinton and Paul Goldberg. The album was mixed and edited by Milan Bogdan, and mastering was done by Hank Williams.Music and lyrics
80's Ladies sound has been described as a "blend of pop and southern-blues-and-rock". AllMusic journalist Rodney Batdorf describes it as "a new voice in country music", crediting Oslin's voice as a narrator for "a whole generation of women about the social changes". Lyrically, the album's material appears to be largely autobiographical, about Oslin's career in music, but Oslin denied that it was only about her: "It's indeed not my life story – it's everybody's life story". Oslin said that the songs were about experiences of people that she knew: "I do write from a personal point of view. I see what my friends are going through... how they react to relationships."Oslin's title track starts as a piano riff that is comparable to those of Jackson Browne. According to Oslin, it took her approximately a year to write the lyrical arrangements, starting it off as a "little piece"; she did not initially envision it as a single, let alone a hit song. In promotional copy for Oslin's 2002 RCA Country Legends compilation, Rich Kienzle wrote that the song "captured the feelings of middle-aged women everywhere". Oslin herself stated that the lyrics were inspired by her best friend's photo showing her ten-year-old daughter looking identical to the friend at the same age. The song describes the long friendship of two people who have known each other since childhood.
The song "Wall of Tears", which was written by Richard Leigh and Peter McCann, was produced as a cover song. Oslin wrote "I'll Always Come Back" as a quiet love song inspired by Little Bo-Peep and a boomerang. The song "Do Ya" is a eulogy for the relationship of a couple who have been married for five years, although Oslin suggested that the relationship on which the song was based actually spanned about thirteen years.
"Younger Men", "Dr., Dr." and "Lonely But Only for You" were written earlier, between 1982 through 1985, before Oslin revived her solo career. "Younger Men" was written by Oslin and was described as "a woman of forty checking out younger guys". Jerry Sharpe from The Pittsburgh Press said that the song "reverses the role about middle-aged men trying to regain youth through a fling with young women". The song dates back to 1982, a follow-up to her first single, "Clean Your Own Tables", which failed commercially. It was re-recorded for 80's Ladies. "Lonely But Only for You", written by Oslin in collaboration with Rory Bourke and Charlie Black, was originally composed for actress Sissy Spacek and featured on her 1983 album Hangin' Up My Heart. Spacek's version peaked at number 15 on Billboard's Hot Country songs and number 10 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart. "Dr., Dr.", described as "bluesy, brazzy and jazzy" by the Indianapolis Star, describes a songwriter going to see a doctor about a broken heart. The song previously appeared as the B-side of the 1982 version of "Younger Men", initially titled "How Many Loves Have I Got Left".
"Two Hearts", written by Oslin and Bourke, has a "self-assertive theme" about a "lonely K. T." offering comfort to a lonely stranger in a bar. A re-recorded version of the song was later featured on Oslin's 1990 album Love in a Small Town. It was released as a single prior to the album's release, reaching number 73 on the U.S. Country chart. "Old Pictures" was written by Oslin and Jerry Gillespie. They were convinced at first that it was "a Kodak jingle" tune. They worked on the lyrics for a couple of years. "Old Pictures" deals with a woman reminiscing over her photographs of her close relatives and her loved ones. The Judds later recorded the song for their Heartland album, not long before Oslin released the song.