3 Country Songs From 1985 That Every 80s Kid Still Knows Today

Country music in the middle of the 1980s is pretty easily identifiable. It is also revered as one of the best time periods within the genre. With that in mind, these are three of the best country songs that came out in 1985. They are all so good, it’s almost certain that every 80s kid still knows them by heart today.

“Touch A Hand, Make A Friend” by The Oak Ridge Boys

The Oak Ridge Boys include “Touch A Hand, Make A Friend” on their Step On Out album. But the song is actually a cover of one that was first released by The Staple Singers in 1974. Written by Homer Banks, Raymond Jackson, and Carl Hampton, The Staple Singers had a Top 5 R&B hit with “Touch A Hand, Make A Friend”.

But it’s The Oak Ridge Boys’ version that remains the most popular. The inspirational song says, “People seeing the light / Can’t you feel it in your heart, now? / A new thing is taking shape / Reach out and touch a hand / Make a friend if you can.”

“Girls Night Out” by The Judds

The Judds were still fairly new to the country music scene when they released “Girls Night Out”. Written by Brent Maher and Jeffrey Bullock, “Girls Night Out” is part of Why Not Me, the duo’s debut album.

The chorus of “Girls Night Out” starts with, “Well, it’s a girls’ night out / Honey, there ain’t no doubt / I’m gonna dance every dance ’til the boys go home.”

“Girls Night Out” is The Judds’ third No. 1 single. Perhaps no one is more surprised than Maher that this remains one of the most popular songs ever released by The Judds.

“I wrote it just to be a little ditty,” Maher reveals. “And it turned out to be a much bigger record than what I ever thought it would be. Actually, when I turned the record in, I never thought that would be a single.”

“Morning Desire” by Kenny Rogers

Kenny Rogers only released one single in 1985, and it’s “Morning Desire”. On his The Heart Of The Matter album, Dave Loggins wrote “Morning Desire” by himself.

The sexy song says, “Oh I listen to her breathe / And it makes me wanna wake her up / And tell her that I’m on fire / With morning desire.”

Not only did “Morning Desire” become a No. 1 country single for Rogers, but it also reached the Top 10 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart.

Photo by CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images

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