You note “I’d argue the 1970s had the most country songs to top the Hot 100 of any decade.”Well, it depends how you look at it: If we look simply at country number one singles that also topped the Hot 100, the current decade has already surpassed the 70s, and we’re only 60% into the decade. (There were only 9 of those in the entire 70s). Of course, you might want to also count songs that hit number one on the Hot 100 that didn’t hit number 1 on country, but that sound kind of country, like Annie’s Song, Let Your Love Flow, or You Needed Me. But probably there aren’t more than a half dozen or so of those. And, in this decade, I can’t think of any Country songs that hit number one the Hot 100 that didn’t also hit number one on the country chart. But we still have a ways to go before this decade ends, and I’m sure there will be more country songs topping the Hot 100 in the next 4 years.
I'm glad you included Elvis in the discussion of the countrypolitan sound. For me, he was the artist who made the best records with that sound. Polished yet gritty (there was a lot of force in some of them) and endlessly listenable.
This should have been titled the gentrification and colonization of Country music, but then again You never can tellllll LOL
You note “I’d argue the 1970s had the most country songs to top the Hot 100 of any decade.”Well, it depends how you look at it: If we look simply at country number one singles that also topped the Hot 100, the current decade has already surpassed the 70s, and we’re only 60% into the decade. (There were only 9 of those in the entire 70s). Of course, you might want to also count songs that hit number one on the Hot 100 that didn’t hit number 1 on country, but that sound kind of country, like Annie’s Song, Let Your Love Flow, or You Needed Me. But probably there aren’t more than a half dozen or so of those. And, in this decade, I can’t think of any Country songs that hit number one the Hot 100 that didn’t also hit number one on the country chart. But we still have a ways to go before this decade ends, and I’m sure there will be more country songs topping the Hot 100 in the next 4 years.
I'm glad you included Elvis in the discussion of the countrypolitan sound. For me, he was the artist who made the best records with that sound. Polished yet gritty (there was a lot of force in some of them) and endlessly listenable.