100 songs 31-40

31. Holding Her and Loving You -- Earl Thomas Conley
Earl Thomas Conley, not to confused with John Conlee or Con Hunley. Bunches of hits out of Conley. This slow sad one was recently redone by Clay Walker.

32. Memphis in the Meantime -- John Hiatt
Getting out on the fringes of country. Hiatt has recently had some success with movie and TV soundtracks using his stuff. Hiatt has had several good country and country pop songs out there, without a lot of chart success. He has written a bunch of hit songs though. I really like this one about putting the country aside for a while and listening to some blues for a while. Honorable mention to Tennessee Plates.

33. Wicked Game -- Chris Isaak
Isaak is pretty pop, but he's still had some pretty country material. This song had a standard black and white band standing and sing the song video. Then they reshot it with Isaak frolicking in the sand with a model, and it started to gain ground. Add David Lynch using it in Wild at Heart and it was a smash hit. Issak also had a TV show (aptly named The Chris Isaak Show) and several other good songs, though not so many hits. This one has a great guitar part and it accentuates Isaak's Orbison-esque voice.

34. Velvet Chains -- Gary Morris
Did I mention that John Hiatt wrote a bunch of hit songs? Here's one of them. Gary Morris was pretty successful back in the mid-80's country pop days. The music a lot of people point out as bad country pop, I suppose, but it's actually some of my favorite stuff. Morris, an avid hunter and fisherman, also enjoyed success on Broadway on productions of La Boheme and Les Miserables. The song is about staying with a woman you like, plus it has a little double entendre thing happening.

35 Reggae Cowboy –- Bellamy Brothers
More mid eighties country pop stuff. Lots and lots of good stuff from David and Howard. Probably most famous for their late 70's crossover hit Let Your Love Flow, or Old Hippie. Really good duo. I like this one because it has some island stuff mixed in with country.

36. 1982 -- Randy Travis
Travis was hot stuff back when this song was a hit. He was first of the a more traditional movement, counteracting the 80's pop stuff I talked about above. This song was about a lost love.

37. That’s What You Do When You’re in Love –- Forrester Sisters
More of the mid 80's pop stuff. I was fond the Forrester Sisters, and I really like this song of forgiveness.

38. You’re Gonna Ruin My Bad Reputation –- Ronny McDowell
Still with this country pop stuff. McDowell was the voice of Elvis in the 1979 Elvis TV movie starring Kurt Russell, the 1990's Elvis TV series, and several other Elvis projects. He had several country hits, this one about settling down being my favorite.

39. It’s a Cheatin’ Situation –- Moe Bandy
Bandy had several hits, his first being Hank Williams, You Wrote My Life. This one about the IRS... ok, that's just little joke, it's a regular county cheating song. Honorable mention to I Cheated Me Right Out of You.

40. Roll On, Big Mama -- Joe Stampley
One of my other favorite sub-genres, the trucking song. This is one of my favorites. Honorable mention to his version of Double Shot of My Baby's Love.

Also, I have to mention Moe Bandy and Joe Stampley had several hits as a duet, which is why they were right together on the countdown. These include the song Where's The Dress, which got them sued by Boy George, You Always Leave Me Holding the Bag and Good Ol' Boys.