Saturday, April 27, 2013

JANIE FRICKE: RADIO ROMANCE EXHIBIT
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.
 
#  #  #

No comments:

Post a Comment