Discover a World of Sounds

The idea of compiling Dolly Parton’s more pop-oriented material came in 1996 when my obsession with her music was in overdrive. Of course I love Dolly’s more country sounding records but there was something absurd about focusing attention on her musical output from the late 70’s. Before that time Dolly Parton’s music was, to some degree, polished and derivative of the countrypolitan Nashville sound but in 1977 she decided to set her sights on superstardom. Helmed by a gay manager named Sandy Gallin, Dolly was sold to the masses as sexy, vibrant, and larger than life.

My original cassette mix of this material was called Dolly Disco and featured vinyl tracks recorded in alphabetical order. After only a month’s time, I somehow lost the tape and decided to record a new one that expanded the number of tracks to include Dolly’s early 80’s material. I called the tape Dolly ‘Til Dawn in ode to a rave music compilation that had come out at the time. Other potential names for the mix included:

Smokey Mountain Throwdown
Party in Dolly’s Pants
Yeah, They’re Real
Disco Dolly Fever
Burlap, Satin, and Go-Go Boots
Hard Candies
Suck It Porter!

Crossover is a mixtape show that focuses on Dolly’s pop/country hybrids from the late 70’s. The songs probably don’t represent the best music of her career but they find her at the top of her game as a country music superstar. Sounds of Dolly Parton 1977-1980 was the first show I attempted putting together for ‘Discover a World of Sounds’. I had intended to pepper the show with clips of Dolly reading from her autobiography but I never did get my hands on a copy of the audiobook. It’s just the music and me.