FIFTY YEARS AGO we were humming along to the hits of 1976. Some have magnificently stood the test of time; others have not. Join us on Memory Lane as we review them on their golden anniversaries.
Last week was the sixth and last week Elton John and Kiki Dee were at number one, and we thought we would be on to the next chart-topper today. It was not to be. Dolly Parton died last week and as our own small tribute we are playing a song from an album she released in 1976 – All I Can Do. Here’s the title track.
This is not Dolly’s greatest, but it is what she was putting out half a century ago. It expresses a universal dilemma: does a woman concentrate on her career and being independent; or does she see her future as being with the man she is falling for. It expresses women’s sexual desire, but also their fear of rejection. Fifty years ago it was not easy to accept that you could have love and a career – and in many parts of the world it still isn’t.
Women like Dolly inspire us to keep on telling it like it is and demanding equality and liberation. RIP Dolly.
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