Do you pay extra attention when the star-making-machinery music marketers rinse and repeat using their linguistic persuasion to hammer consumers with an assortment of hype phrases or language to sell music?

Looking through my CD's, I found Lionel Richie "The Definitive Collection," "The Ultimate Isley Brothers,"  "The Essential Jacksons," and "The Essential Dolly Parton."

• 20 songs on Definitive Lionel Richie
• 17 songs on Ultimate Isley Brothers
• 14 songs on Essential Jacksons
• 37 songs on Essential Dolly Parton

The Music

You be the judge. Quantity speaks volumes. In fairness, The Essential Dolly Parton is a two disc set.

I had the opportunity to play Dolly Parton's crossover hits on just a couple of non-country, general market stations during my long AM & FM career.

The diminutive hit maker moved the needle from capturing the hearts of country music purists to a crossover favorite saluting the every man and woman who worked 9 to 5.

All great lyrics, especially the ones sung by the country artists, have to be believable, must be authentic and have emotional impact.

Dolly's voice and delivery had all of those qualities.

The Essential Dolly Parton is the only slice of her music history that I have from this Locust Ridge, Tennessee native. Lucky me, to have this lone double CD in my collection. 

Dolly on the Radio

Dolly Parton, 1946–2026, worked for success in music, in Hollywood, and in life. Her father was functionally illiterate. He could not read or write. This element of her life gave her motivation to donate tons of books for the benefit of children learning to read in communities all over the planet.

How popular was this worldwide singing sensation and actor? When the news broke of Dolly's passing, the Beyoncé version of Dolly's song "Jolene" began spiking on iTunes according to radio business researcher Sean Ross.

His timely RadioInsight article about Parton was updated from "The Artist Who Fit Everywhere...But Radio" (before her death), to "Now, The Artist Who Fit Everywhere" detailing country and non-country stations breaking music formats to play her songs in tribute.

Ross's point is that thanks to research and testing at many country stations, Parton's magic touch began to slip away from their playlists as the years rolled on.

However, the ultimate tribute happened on Thursday, August 27, 2026 at 9 am Central, 8 am Eastern when a bevy of Tennessee radio stations all played Parton's "I Will Always Love You" simultaneously across the state.

What are her songs? Take a look. You'll find all of her hits.

NBC TV evening network news covered Dolly Parton's passing the day her death was announced in a show opening 14 minute segment. They never do that for a popular culture personality. The next night, they did another short feature about Dolly at the end of the program.

You may be of an age that you didn't know much about this "Jolene" prodigy. There was massive coverage of her passing. She succumbed from cancer.

As many more of these legacy artists hit their eighties, let's enjoy those who are still with us to the fullest extent.

Why Dolly was loved in Africa

As suggested earlier, there was a universal love for Dolly Parton by her admirers, even in Africa. Listen to her influence there, and discover Nelson Mandela's favorite Dolly Parton track. 

Bonus

When I was only 19 years old, I sampled quite a bit of radio from around the USA to decide if there was a future in the industry for me as an on-air announcer. In 2021, I put together an audio feature about early 1970's Midwestern USA radio from reel-to-reel recordings and from cassettes I managed to get a hold of.

One guy I really liked that I had on tape was Don Sainte-Johnn, who was on WGRT, Chicago. I just found out about a memoir Sainte-Johnn published in December, 2025: San Francisco's Last Top 40 Disc Jockey (Another One Bites the Dust).

I've received the paperback version of his book and hope to read and review it this fall. To hear him in the Midwestern USA feature, find Airchecks at the bottom of this page. Scroll down on the Airchecks page until you find the Midwestern USA 1972 section. He's in it. Enjoy!

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