Earl Thomas Conley (October 17, 1941 – April 10, 2019) was an American country music singer and songwriter….who between 1980 and 2003 recorded ten studio albums….with seven for RCA Records….as he charted more than thirty singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart….of which eighteen reached # 1….and since all eighteen were during the decade of the 1980’s….as Conley had the most # 1 hits by any artist in any genre during that decade.
Feeling that he wasn’t making any progress in Nashville, Conley moved to Huntsville, Alabama to work in a steel mill in 1974….when he met record producer Nelson Larkin….who helped him sign with independent record label GRT….after which he released four singles on that label, none of which became hits. At the same time, he was selling songs that he had written to other artists, including Conway Twitty and Mel Street…..who were having lots of success with them…..Earl Thomas returned to Nashville, now writing for Nelson Larkin’s publishing house…..when in 1979, he signed a recording contract with Warner Bros. Records…..and two years later, he had his first Top 40 hit, “Dreamin’s All I Do”…..when shortly thereafter, he left the label and joined Sunbird Records….where once again he worked with Larkin…..and this time, Conley found success with a Top Ten and a # 1 single within the next two years. He continued to have success over the next few years….and in 1983 he was nominated for multiple Grammy Awards for his song “Holding Her and Loving You”. He set a record the following year as the first artist in any genre to have four # 1 singles from the same album, Don’t Make It Easy for Me….which was released in May 1983…..as that was about the time this video seen herewith was produced. In 1986, Conley was credited with breaking down country music barriers in his duet with pop/R&B singer Anita Pointer of the Grammy-winning Pointer Sisters…..when their single, “Too Many Times” was the title track to his 1986 album that reached # 2 on the Country chart.
