OPENED AT COUNTRY MUSIC HALL OF FAME® AND MUSEUM
Nashville,
Tenn. (April 23, 2013) – Janie Fricke, one of country music’s original
80’s ladies, is being spotlighted in one of the Country Music Hall of
Fame® and Museum’s latest exhibits. Radio Romance: Mainstream Country in
the 1980s highlights a collection of artists that heavily incorporated
pop influences into their country music. The exhibit traces Fricke
throughout various points in her career including her early days as a
popular background vocalist.
Fricke is featured alongside other revolutionary pop-country
artists Barbara Mandrell, Eddie Rabbitt and Steve Wariner. The exhibit
is located on the 2nd floor inside the “Sing Me Back Home” exhibit and
will run through April 2015.
The artifacts on display in the Radio Romance include:
• Stage costume: Ruth Kemp designed a bugle-beaded
blouse, belt and skirt for Fricke to wear when she performed at Camp
David for President Reagan in 1981
• Awards: Fricke’s 1982 CMA Award for Female Vocalist of the Year and 1983 ACM Award for Top Country Female Vocalist
• Datebook: Janie’s “little black book” details
all of the studio sessions she attended when she worked as a popular
background vocalist. The book is opened to December 11, 1974; a day
where Janie sang back-to-back sessions with Skeeter Davis, Lynn Anderson
and Barbara Mandrell
About Janie Fricke:
Janie Fricke has taken country music to town, to the moon and to
the upper gold and platinum reaches of the national sales charts on the
way the way to becoming one of the most distinctively recognizable
female artists in the music industry.
It was, in fact, that “distinctive” quality in her voice that moved
her from the nameless-faceless world of national jingles and
commercials to center stage stardom. A litany of top commercials for
national corporations such as Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, United Airlines and
Pizza Hut established Janie as ‘the voice’ behind the products America
loved –virtually projecting her voice into every living room in the
country. Janie is credited as being the first female voice to be heard
on the moon when her weather jingle, exclusively produced for NASA, was
broadcast to the astronauts aboard Apollo 12.
In the 70’s Janie became Nashville’s #1 most in-demand session
singers lending her voice to artists like Elvis Presley, Tanya Tucker,
Barbara Mandrell, Eddie Rabbitt, Merle Haggard, Charlie Rich, Conway
Twitty and Ronnie Milsap, to mention a few.
But it was seven little words sung on Johnny Duncan’s #1 hit
“Stranger,” released in 1977, that undoubtedly skyrocketed Janie Fricke
towards super stardom. The ‘mystery girl voice’ on the song, singing the
line: “Shut out the light and lead me,” intrigued music fans and
professionals alike. Ultimately, Janie attracted the attention of
Country music’s key players and she landed a solo deal with Columbia
Records for Janie. Her down-home Indiana charm combined with
sophistication, natural beauty and a brilliant mega-watt smile made
Janie Fricke an unstoppable Country music super star.
Delivering a string of consecutive #1 hits in the early 80’s,
Fricke claimed Country Music’s top honor of Female Vocalist of the Year
in both 1982 and 1983, which celebrated a remarkable career landmark.
Janie established herself as the top country/pop mainstream artist,
producing hits such as “Don’t Worry ‘Bout Me Baby” and “It Ain’t Easy
Bein’ Easy,”—both of which topped the charts at #1. The Academy of
Country Music awarded her Top Female Vocalist honors in 1983
complimenting her Top Country Female Vocalist awards from both Billboard
and Cashbox. The highly-accredited voting membership of NARAS
recognized her industry impact with nominations including Best Female
Country Performance and Best Duet Performance. After becoming one of
Country Music’s leading goodwill ambassadors overseas and being
recognized as the Most Popular International Female Artist by one of the
UK’s leading music publications, it was clear that Janie’s success
resonated globally as well as nationally.
Still viable in the new landscape of Country music, with 23 studio
albums that have produced gold and platinum sales as well as a string of
#1 hits to her credit, Janie Fricke prefers to wear the mantel of
‘legend’ lightly. She remains passionately loyal and committed to her
music and her fans as one of the most distinguished
and likable performers in the industry.
About the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum
Accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, the Country Music
Hall of Fame® and Museum is operated by the Country Music Foundation, a
not-for-profit 501(c)(3) educational organization chartered by the state
of Tennessee in 1964. The museum’s mission is the preservation of the
history of country and related vernacular music rooted in southern
culture. With the same educational mission, the foundation also operates
CMF Records, the museum’s Frist Library and Archive, CMF Press,
Historic RCA Studio B and Hatch Show Print®.
More information about the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum is available at countrymusichalloffame.org or by calling (615) 416-2001.