Bobby Bare hit song turned things around
This week in 1977: The U.S. Army announced that it had conducted 239 openair tests of germ warfare; A Romanian earthquake killed 750 people and injured more than 5,000; President Jimmy Carter proposed the abolition of The Electoral College, and a singer from Ironton, Ohio, had his 46th hit record.
Some songs have been attempts to turn things in a different direction or sometimes even turn something on its head. According to Bob McDill, Bobby Bare’s 1977 hit, “Look Who I’m Cheating on Tonight” was certainly one of those songs.
McDill said, “That song was just an attempt to turn things on its head. The guy is back home with his wife—and now he’s cheating on his mistress! The song was mean’t to be very clever. I don’t know how clever it was—but that was an attempt to out-clever itself.”
McDill was inducted into The Nashville Songwriter’s Hall Of Fame in 1985. He has written more than 300 songs—many of which have been recorded by multiple artists, and 30 of them became No. 1 hits. During his songwriting career, McDill won 37 BMI Awards and 17 ASCAP Awards.
McDill’s “Look Who I’m Cheating on Tonight” was recorded by Bobby Bare and his RCA Victor single made the country charts on March 12th, 1977 and peaked at No. 21. It was on the charts for 14 weeks.
Bare placed 70 songs on the country charts between 1962 and1986—12 of those 70 songs also made the pop music charts. He joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1965 and was inducted into The Country Music Hall Of Fame in 2013.