Of all the country acts that crossed over to the pop chart in the early 1980s, there was probably none more unlikely than the Oak Ridge Boys. They released their first album in 1958 as the Oak Ridge Quartet, a Gospel quartet, and continued recording Gospel music for nearly two decades until they started recording more mainstream country music. They had their first country hit in 1977 and would go on to log 17 #1 hits on the Country Singles chart. The song that crossed them over to the pop chart was a surprise as well, a cover of a song that was a minor pop hit for Dallas Frazier in 1966 and had once been recorded by Kenny Rogers & The First Edition. That song was, of course, Elvira, and it was the first of 4 singles by the Boys that would cross over to Billboards Hot 100 between 1981 and 1983. The fourth and final crossover hit, American Made, topped the country chart and reached #72 on the pop chart. Since 1992, they have returned to their Gospel roots, only occasionally recording a secular album. They are still together and touring after 56 years. youtube/watch?v=Zxq8n9fcXqI
Posted on: Mon, 17 Nov 2014 00:09:41 +0000
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