This three-disc
Women of Country collection contains hits, and a few near misses, by the women of ‘80s country -- and no, there isn’t anything wrong with that. The period represented here is from the dawn of the urban cowboy years up to the New Traditionalist period. Some of these women had been riding the charts since the '70s such as
Tanya Tucker and
Lynn Anderson, but many more were then-newcomers who had been slugging it out in the songwriters workshops and bars of Nash Vegas for years. Nonetheless, all scored big during the period and those hits are here.
Juice Newton's reading of
Hank DeVito's “Queen of Hearts” is included, as is
Janie Fricke's “Tell Me aLie,” and
Anderson’s “You’re My Man." In addition,
Pam Tillis' “When You Walk in the Room,”
Holly Dunn's “Love Someone Like Me,” and
Tucker’s “If Your Heart Ain’t Busy Tonight” are all here as well. There are 30 cuts total by a handful of artists who reigned supreme at the time (and many would argue, made far better music than what Nashville is offering in the 21st century). The price for this set is exactly right: cheap! For anyone looking to revisit this music, or for those wondering what the hoopla was about during the urban cowboy era, this is a collection worth checking out.