Singer changed his mind about ‘Older Women’
This week in 1981: U.S. Department of Agriculture reported using gene-splitting to manufacture a vaccine against hoof and mouth disease; Chicago Cubs baseball team was sold by William Wrigley to The Tribune Company for $20.5 million; U.S. baseball players went on strike; and a singer from Fountain Head, Tennessee, had his 15th hit record.
According to Ronnie McDowell, he did not like his 1981 No. 1, “Older Women” the first time he heard it.
Ronnie said “I just didn’t think women would like the idea of being called “older,” so the first time Jamie O’Hara played the song for me, I turned it down. Then I ran into him on an elevator and he played the song for me again. But this time I changed my mind. I told him that the song was not a putdown for older women, in fact I thought it was a positive thing for all of the over-25 ladies.”
So he recorded it and his “Older Women” single came on the country music charts June 27, 1981 and was in the No. 1 slot on September 12th.
It was his 15th charted song and his first No. 1.
“Older Women” was written by Jamie O’Hara and the single was produced by Buddy Killen.
O’Hara first came into the public eye when he wrote and recorded a tribute to Elvis Presley titled “The King Is Gone,” which was released on the independent Scorpion label and sold over five million copies.
McDowell was born in Fountain Head, Tennessee, and raised in Portland, Tennessee. He began his singing career in 1968 while in the U.S. Navy.
He placed 37 songs on the country music charts between 1977 and 1990, including two No. 1s.
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