Post by erik on Feb 12, 2022 13:32:11 GMT -5
Early 1980's country/pop crossover star Juice Newton is in this week's Pop Music Hits Spotlight with one of her last such crossover hits before her hits were strictly limited to the country side of the ledger.
HEART OF THE NIGHT (Juice Newton; Capitol; 1982)—Born in New Jersey and raised in Virginia Beach, Virginia, Juice Newton was, for most of the first half of the 1980’s, one of the biggest female pop/country crossover stars to have come out of the country-rock boom instigated in the 1970’s by Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris, both of whom were prime influences on her style. While she had minor success in the late 1970’s with her version of “It’s A Heartache”, that song was a far larger hit for Bonnie Tyler; and hers and long-time partner Otha Young’s “Sweet Sweet Smile” was a pop/country crossover hit for the Carpenters. It was with her eponymous self-titled 1981 album Juice that brought her to pop and country audiences in a big way, with huge hits like “Angel Of The Morning” (a remake of the 1968 Merilee Rush hit); “Queen Of Hearts”; and “The Sweetest Thing I’ve Ever Known”. All three of those hits were sizeable crossover hits on both the Billboard Hot 100 and that same publication’s Country Singles chart. Her 1982 album Quiet Lies continued her penchant for her Ronstadt/Harris-influenced method of pop/country crossover, with three sizeable crossover hits. The first two were “Love’s Been A Little Bit Hard On Me” (#7 pop/#30 C&W); and her version of the 1962 Brenda Lee hit “Break It To Me Gently” (#11 pop/#2 C&W). The third hit from that album was “Heart Of The Night”, written by John Bettis (who had worked with the Carpenters) and Michael Clark, and very much influenced by Ronstadt’s 1970’s country-rock example (Andrew Gold, one of Linda’s long-time backing musicians, was featured on it). Released as a single in December 1982, the song managed to peak at #25 on the Hot 100, and #53 C&W, in mid-February 1983. Following her #27 charting “Tell Her No” (a remake of the Zombies’ 1965 pop classic), Juice’s success was strictly on the country charts; and by the turn of the millennium, she had largely retired from recording and performing.
HEART OF THE NIGHT (Juice Newton; Capitol; 1982)—Born in New Jersey and raised in Virginia Beach, Virginia, Juice Newton was, for most of the first half of the 1980’s, one of the biggest female pop/country crossover stars to have come out of the country-rock boom instigated in the 1970’s by Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris, both of whom were prime influences on her style. While she had minor success in the late 1970’s with her version of “It’s A Heartache”, that song was a far larger hit for Bonnie Tyler; and hers and long-time partner Otha Young’s “Sweet Sweet Smile” was a pop/country crossover hit for the Carpenters. It was with her eponymous self-titled 1981 album Juice that brought her to pop and country audiences in a big way, with huge hits like “Angel Of The Morning” (a remake of the 1968 Merilee Rush hit); “Queen Of Hearts”; and “The Sweetest Thing I’ve Ever Known”. All three of those hits were sizeable crossover hits on both the Billboard Hot 100 and that same publication’s Country Singles chart. Her 1982 album Quiet Lies continued her penchant for her Ronstadt/Harris-influenced method of pop/country crossover, with three sizeable crossover hits. The first two were “Love’s Been A Little Bit Hard On Me” (#7 pop/#30 C&W); and her version of the 1962 Brenda Lee hit “Break It To Me Gently” (#11 pop/#2 C&W). The third hit from that album was “Heart Of The Night”, written by John Bettis (who had worked with the Carpenters) and Michael Clark, and very much influenced by Ronstadt’s 1970’s country-rock example (Andrew Gold, one of Linda’s long-time backing musicians, was featured on it). Released as a single in December 1982, the song managed to peak at #25 on the Hot 100, and #53 C&W, in mid-February 1983. Following her #27 charting “Tell Her No” (a remake of the Zombies’ 1965 pop classic), Juice’s success was strictly on the country charts; and by the turn of the millennium, she had largely retired from recording and performing.