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| From the broadcast
the weekend of July 17th & 18th, 2010: |
 This was a very special edition, the "Top
20 of the 1980s," on which we counted-down the 20 most popular Southern
Gospel songs from the entire decade of the 1980s. I don't know about you,
but, for me, putting this program together brought back some wonderful memories
of the early years of The Gospel Greats program. It also brought back
the voices of several artists who have since passed away — artists who
are fondly remembered, certainly by this fan.
This was an interesting snapshot of the artists who were so popular back
then and made such an impact on Southern Gospel music during the 1980s. This
was the era when such groups as Gold City, the Paynes, the
Hemphills and the Hinsons were at, or headed for, their peak.
The Cathedrals' status as the most prestigious Southern Gospel quartet
was growing stronger, climaxing later in the 1990s.
You might wonder about the inclusion of Dallas Holm's version of
"Rise Again" in the countdown, since he's not usually considered a
Southern Gospel artist. Back in the 1980s, especially in the early 1980s,
the Singing News charts were a bit different than they are today.
Early on, what they called their "big chart" (not the official name) included
music from various genres of Christian music, although it was predominently
Southern Gospel. Eventually, the Singing News split their charts into
several different charts, making their entirely-Southern Gospel chart their
"traditional" chart. After starting out in 1980 with the "big chart," The
Gospel Greats program switched to the "traditional" chart within a few
years, shortly before the Singing News itself did away with the
all-inclusive chart and went to a Southern Gospel-only chart, as it remains
today.
By the way, when we were researching the these Top 20 charts for the past
three decades, we based them on each month's top 20 of the charts as we actually
used them at the time (see above). This involved making 7,240 song
entries on computer and then tabulating the results — a massive undertaking.
(Thanks to our research assistant, Andrew Heil, for his tireless
efforts in this regard.)
The remaining "decade countdowns" will follow in August and September, with
the "Top 20 of the 1990s" airing in mid-August and the
"Top 20 of the 2000s" airing in mid-September. Stay tuned for
details.
(There was no Headline Update on this special edition.)
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