This week in 1977: The U.S. State Department asked The White House to admit 15,000 Indochinese refugees; a pump station on the Alaskan oil pipeline was hit by a bomb blast, killing one and injuring six; U.S. State Department issued a report stating that early retirement was now a growing trend in this country; and ABC Records released John Conlee's "Backside Of Thirty" for the first time.
A few hit songs have been released a second time before becoming a hit and according to Conlee, his 1979 hit "Backside Of Thirty" was one of those tunes.
He wrote the song some three years before it ever saw the charts. It's the story of a guy who's been through a divorce and is now working to get his life back on the right track. John was still unmarried when he wrote the song so he didn't have the personal experience with divorce, but used the experience of a couple of broken relationships instead.
His original recording of "Backside Of Thirty" was one of three singles released by ABC Records of which none made the charts. Then in May of 1978, his 4th release "Rose Colored Glasses" did make the charts and peaked at No. 5.
Then came "Lady Lay Down" and John Conlee's first No. 1 one single. Then to everyone's surprise, the label re-released "Backside Of Thirty," which became his second No. 1 on May 5th, 1979.
MCA Records absorbed ABC Records that same week and at the same time he was named "Best New Male Artist" by The Academy Of Country Music.
Conlee placed 32 songs on the country music charts between 1978 and 1990, including seven No. 1s.
Conlee joined The Grand Ole Opry in 1981.
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