ARTIST SPOTLIGHT = Conway Twitty (9 songs)

This Friars Point MS-native singer-songwriter-guitarist was born Harold Lloyd Jenkins & also acted in the movies ’Sexpot Goes To College’ & ‘College Confidential’. He started his career as a rock & roll singer, changing his name in 1957 (from Conway AR & Twitty TX). He owned the Twitty City tourist complex in Hendersonville TN. He died 06/05/1993 from an abdominal aneurysm.

#1
This song debuted 04/25/1970 & spent 20 weeks on the charts, 4 of those at #1. It was his 4th chart topper (behind 1968’s “Next In Line”, 1969’s “I Love You More Today” & 1969’s “To See My Angel Cry”) & his 7th straight Top 10, a string sparked by 1968’s “The Image Of Me” (#5). That Top 10 string stretched to 9, ending with 1971’s “After The Fire Is Gone” (#1, 2 weeks; duet with Loretta Lynn). 1971’s “Lead Me On” (#1; duet with Loretta Lynn) sparked a new string of Top 5s … 25 straight.

#2
1972 & 1973 saw Top 5 tunes like “On Our Last Date” (#1), “I Can’t Stop Loving You” (#1), “Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man” (#1; duet with Loretta Lynn) & “You’ve Never Been This Far Before” (#1, 3 weeks). This song debuted 05/11/1974 & spent 15 weeks on the charts, 2 of those at its peak of #3. It was between a pair of streaks, preceded by 3 straight chart toppers & followed by 5 straight chart toppers, including 1974’s “I See The Want To In Your Eyes” (2 weeks) & 1975’s “Linda On My Mind”.

#3
The mid-late 1970s continued his success with tunes like 1976’s “After All The Good Is Gone” (#1), 1976’s “The Games That Daddies Play” (#1), 1977’s “I’ve Already Loved You In My Mind” (#1) & “Georgia Keeps Pulling On My Ring” (#3, 3 weeks; last of 25 straight Top 5 hits). This song debuted 10/27/1979 & spent 14 weeks on the charts, 3 of those at #1. It was the last of 3 straight chart toppers, all in 1979, including “Don’t Take It Away” & “I May Never Get To Heaven”. It was also the 6th in a string of an eventual 18 straight Top 10s.

#4
He kicked off 1980 by topping the country charts with “I’d Just Love To Lay You Down”, the 8th of an eventual 18 straight top 10 tunes. This song became the 15th of those; it debuted 07/11/1981, spent 16 weeks on the charts & claimed #1. It was followed by 1981-2’s “Red Neckin’ Love Makin’ Night” (#1).

#5
His 1st 1982 release, this song hit the airwaves 01/30/1982, spent 17 weeks on the charts & claimed #1, his 3rd straight chart topper & 17th straight Top 10. The 18th (& final) song in that stretch of Top 10s was the follow-up, 1982’s “Slow Hand”, which became his 4th straight chart topper when it claimed #1 for 2 weeks. After 1982-3’s “The Rose” claimed #1, Top 10 1983 releases include “Lost In The Feeling” (#2, 2 weeks; with Ricky Skaggs), “Heartache Tonight” (#6) & “3 Times A Lady” (#7, peaked in 1984).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7K62ICKUNg

#6
Debuting 04/14/1984, this song spent 19 weeks on the charts & claimed #1. It was the 1st of 4 straight chart toppers, followed by 1984’s “I Don’t Know A Thing About Love” (with Joni Lee), 1984-5’s “Aint’ She Somethin’ Else” & 1985’s “Don’t Call Him A Cowboy”. The 8th & final song in that string of Top 10s was 1985’s “Between Blue Eyes & Jeans” (#3).

#7
After 1986’s “Desperado Love” topped the charts, this song debuted 10/18/1986, spent 25 weeks on the charts & peaked at #2. It was the 2nd of an eventual 9 straight Top 10s, followed immediately by 1987’s “Julia” (#2, 2 weeks). The 4th song in the stretch was 1987’s “I Want To Know You Before We Make Love” (#2), which was in turn followed by 1987-8’s “That’s My Job” (#6).

#8
This song, his 1st 1988 release, hit the airwaves 04/09/1988, spent 19 weeks on the charts & peaked at #7, his 6th straight Top 10. That string of Top 10s stretched to 9 with 1988’s “Saturday Night Special” (#9), 1988-9’s “I Wish I Was Still In Your Dreams” (#4) & 1989’s “She’s Got A Single Thing In Mind” (#2). This is 1 of those songs that resonates, even if you don’t identify with the lyrics-plot 100%….

#9
As much as I remember hearing this song on the radio, it is surprising it didn’t fair better on the charts. The single debuted 08/26/1989, spent 15 weeks on the charts & peaked at #19. Several lines in the song resonate with me, including “just like my old heart they need repair” & “maybe I should sell it”…. His last 2 Top 10s were 1990’s “Crazy In Love” (#2, 2 weeks) & 1991’s “I Couldn’t See You Leavin’” (#3, 2 weeks).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZNUXnv2nek