K.T. Oslin: 80s Ladies / This Woman, CD

Chart success came late to K T Oslin, who was almost 46 years old when her first RCA single ‘Wall Of Tears’ cracked the Top 40 in the opening weeks of 1988.  She had been plugging away at a career for more than 20 years at that point, building an impressive CV that included time spent as a folk singer, a Broadway stage actress, a jingle singer and an in demand songwriter. The only thing missing from said CV – up to that point, at least – was a string of hit singles and LPs. That would all change with the release of these two albums.

“80s Ladies” title track hung around the charts for the whole of the summer of ’87, peaking at #7, giving Oslin genuine success at last and boosting the sales of the album – which eventually reached #1 the following February, after RCA had culled two more hits from it. Both ‘Do Ya’ and ‘I’ll Always Come Back’ reached #1.

 “This Woman” spawned 5 singles, including the title track (a #5 hit), the charming ‘Hey Bobby’ (#2) and a smaller hit (peak #73) in ‘Didn’t Expect It To Go Down This Way”. These hits spanned the whole of 1989, and helped the album achieve a second platinum disc for Oslin to go with the one she’d received for “80’s Ladies”