UYI

I'm going to try to remember not to skip anymore parts of the list going forward! Here we go: #630: Doug Stone--“In a Different Light” #629: Rascal Flatts--“Fast Cars and Freedom” #628: Barbara Mandrell--“Sleeping Single in a Double Bed” #627: Johnny Paycheck--“Slide Off of Your Satin Sheets” #626: Brad Paisley--“Then” #625: Reba McEntire--“Is There Life Out There” #624: Lee Brice--“Hard to Love” #623: George Strait--“I Can Still Make Cheyenne” #622: Marty Robbins--“My Woman, My Woman, My Wife” #621: Steve Azar--“I Don’t Have to Be Me (‘Til Monday)” http://www.countryuniverse.net/2020/04/09/a-country-music-conversation-sirius-top-1000-country-songs-of-all-time-630-621/

The online Guiding Light reunion for those interested, if only to see Jerry (I'm assuming he's the only dual GL/OLTL alum y'all are really interested in seeing here!). For some reason, I couldn't embed it, but here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eOaKVO756c

John Prine's widow, Fiona, shared this on Facebook.

^^^^^^Holy crap, thank you, @Bastet! I didn't even notice the jump until you pointed it out. 🙂

So DJ, Mary, and Mark are back all of a sudden. Cool. I'm glad Mark got the money after all, but it was still shitty for Bev and Darlene to go back and forth the way they did about him or Harris getting it. And maybe Harris shouldn't necessarily get any money if Bev doesn't want to give any to her, but she continues her streak of me not wanting to beat the crap of her every time she's onscreen these days so obviously some improvements have been made (also: is her place of work a tattoo parlor only? I thought it had motorcycles too, at least at first). There hasn't been much bonding between Dan and Becky on losing their spouses recently, so that was certainly welcomed. Part of me still wishes we knew more about when and how Becky's Mark died, though. Lastly: Damn, Katey Sagal can SING!

This almost feels too ridiculous to even post tonight after all the losses country music has suffered these last few weeks (RIP Kenny Rogers, Jan Howard, Joe Diffie, and John Prine!), but here we go: the list goes on. #640: Chris Young-- “Who I am With You” #639: Garth Brooks--“Somewhere Other Than the Night” #638: Kid Rock--“All Summer Long” #637: Merle Haggard and the Strangers--“Branded Man” #636: Alan Jackson--“I Don’t Even Know Your Name” #635: Florida Georgia Line--“Get Your Shine On” #634: Brett Eldredge--“Beat of the Music” #633: Billy Dean--“We Just Disagree” #632: George Jones--“Still Doin’ Time” #631: Billy Currington--“That’s How Country Boys Roll” http://www.countryuniverse.net/2020/04/06/a-country-music-conversation-sirius-top-1000-country-songs-of-all-time-640-631/

CMT still shows music videos, too, and in fact, just recently committed to equal play: the same amount of videos for men AND women a day. 🙂

RIP Bill Withers and John Prine. 😢

Kenny Rogers, Jan Howard, Joe Diffie, and now John Prine (the last two from COVID-19). I know there were two other music deaths this past week (Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne--also from COVID-19--and Bill Withers), but country music has been experiencing one loss after another these last few weeks. I'm ashamed to admit I'm not NEARLY as familiar with John Prine as I should be--I first knew him as the inspiration for Kacey Musgraves' "Burn One with John Prine", then later for Miranda Lambert's cover of his song "That's The Way the World Goes 'Round" on her third album Revolution (and of course, for writing Bonnie Raitt's "Angel from Montgomery"), but I KNOW how many musicians he's inspired, both in and out of country music, and among the indie county/Americana scene in particular. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Grammys less than THREE MONTHS AGO. He was right there in the audience! I really thought he'd beat this--his wife Fiona did. This sucks SO much. RIP, John. 😢

Not to mention she was pregnant with their daughter at the time, too. I really never watched AMC, except for bits and pieces before OLTL came on (and a classic episode on Soapnet or two), but I remember thinking they were so beautiful together, and being so happy when Maria turned up alive in 2002 (and then he's killed off a few years later--I know John & Eva were divorcing by then, but damn). And watching their first date scenes, I LOVE how open Maria is about loving country music. I do, too. 🙂 And her wedding dress (the first one, lol) is one of my all time favorite soap wedding dresses EVER. ❤️

Given how they were married to other people when they first got together...yeah, I'm not surprised. It took longer than one would expect, I guess, but still. Hunt Block (Ben Warren) once told SOD that he would overhear them having sex in the dressing room next to his when he was on the show (I don't think outright named them, but he made it pretty obvious).

Online GL reunion on Wednesday afternoon! https://www.soapoperadigest.com/content/guiding-light-online-reunion/

For those of you who also watched Guiding Light, there will be an online reunion among some of the cast (after the successful ATWT online reunion the other day) on April 8th at 3 PM Eastern. Three dual GL and OLTL alumni--Kim Zimmer, Jerry ver Dorn, and Liz Keifer (she briefly played Joy O'Neill, the sister of Bo's late wife Didi, in the mid-80's)--are among the participants. https://www.soapoperadigest.com/content/guiding-light-online-reunion/

Glad Gayle King just mentioned Joe Diffie and his passing, even though the performance for him was online. I knew it would probably be hoping for too much to get a mention of Jan Howard’s passing, but at least she got a tribute from the Grand Ole Opry last weekend.

Sheryl Crow really does fit within country music very well. Her official country album from 2013, Feels Like Home, is REALLY good. And of course she lives in Nashville and is raising her two boys there, so I can see how her brand of rock has combined with country over the years. 🙂