This week in 1983: The U.S. sued General Motors for selling X cars despite knowledge of brake defects; Rita Lavelle was indicted in Washington for lying about actions with EPA; President Ronald Reagan approved of selling heavy water to Argentina for use in an atomic plant; and a singer from Fountain Head, Tennessee, had his 20th hit record and his second No. 1.
Very few songwriters find immediate success after deciding to get into the writing process and Jeff Crossan was a perfect example.
Jeff was already well known in music circles after writing for the "Star Tracks" syndicated radio show and had tried to break into the Nashville songwriting market, but had to work on it for several years before being able to do so.
Crossan reportedly always carried a notebook with him wherever he went and one day found a line in his book that he had written down and completely forgotten about "You're Gonna Ruin My Bad Reputation." So he began working on the song and when he finished, he had a demo recorded and played the demo for John Conlee's record producer, who thought the song was a hit - but that it was not a song for Conlee.
McDowell's Epic Records single "You're Gonna Ruin My Bad Reputation" came on the charts June 11, 1983, and was at the top of the charts on August 27th. The track was produced by Buddy Killen and was on the charts for 22 weeks.
McDowell placed 37 songs on the country charts between 1977 and 1990, including two No. 1's. His 37 charted songs included duets with Conway Twitty and Jerry Lee Lewis.
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