Urban cowboy
Under Urban Cowboy is a fashion trend that is country music understood, saw the early 1980s for high sales.
The situation in the late 1970s
In the seventies, Nashville country music developed increasingly towards the mainstream. At the same time, urban influences intensified, and there was an approach to rock music.
The 1980 film Urban Cowboy picked up on all of these trends . Leading actor John Travolta played a young cowboy who ended up in Houston. He spends his evenings in a huge honky tonk bar, the main attraction of which is a mechanical bull. In addition to his partner Debra Winger, several country stars took part, including Bonnie Raitt , Mickey Gilley and the Charlie Daniels Band . The film was extremely successful, at least in the USA.
Country music soared 1980–1983
Urban Cowboy caused in the USA and - to a lesser extent worldwide - a strong increase in interest in country music. Numerous stars made the crossover into the pop market. Dolly Parton , Barbara Mandrell and Kenny Rogers conquered the top spots on the pop hit parades.
The trend lasted for a few years, then a new generation of artists such as Michael Jackson or Madonna entered the pop scene and sales figures fell, but remained at a higher level than before the urban cowboy wave. From the mid-1980s onwards, the new traditionalists ushered in another, much stronger and more sustained high-altitude flight in country music.
Stars of the urban cowboy period
- Dolly Parton
- Charlie Daniel's band
- Kenny Rogers
- Barbara Mandrell
- Mickey Gilley
- Johnny Lee
- Bonnie Raitt
Albums
- Urban Cowboy Soundtrack
- Urban Cowboy 2 soundtrack