This Week's Forgotten Gem of the '80s - Alabama's "Love in the First Degree"
Wednesday July 1, 2009
Nashville's country songwriters certainly seemed to know what they were doing when they crafted some of the most memorable country-pop crossover tunes of the early '80s, of which this is inarguably one. Built on crisp, tremendously catchy melodies, songs like the No. 15 1981 pop hit "Love in the First Degree" effectively split the difference between modern country ballads, rock guitars and ultimate pop accessibility. In fact, I found myself listening to this track a few years ago with particular glee as I marvelled at the simple but rather ingenious chord progression. Beyond that, the broad use of metaphor so central to the song's lyrical content fit perfectly with its populist appeal and today still makes it far more than just another top country hit of what many would call a traditionally bereft era for the genre. "Baby, you left me defenseless, I've only got one plea:" Produce a few more songs like this and I might actually listen occasionally to commercial country. Well, that's a serious maybe.
Album Cover Image Courtesy of RCA
Comments
Amen! I actually like country music, from the early 80’s up to current, and Alabama’s the best country group ever, and “Love in the First Degree” has always been my favorite by them….”Mountain Music” is another great early 80’s gem from them. I was surprised to hear it played on a rock station that plays 80’s a few years ago, before I even knew it was by Alabama, but I loved finding out about a lot of those country-pop crossovers. Alabama, Ronnie Milsap, and Eddie Rabbitt seemed to have the most crossovers of the country artists. You don’t see near as many crossovers that break the Top 40 these days.
What a great album. I can’t say I’m as big a fan of today’s country as the older stuff so when I think of country music, it’s the groups like Alabama that come to mind. I think they changed country music forever by paving the way for other crossover artists.