“Love Out Loud”
Earl Thomas Conley
Written by Thom Schuyler
Radio & Records
#1 (1 week)
May 26, 1989
Billboard
#1 (1 week)
June 17, 1989
“Love Out Loud” is a lovely way to end Earl Thomas Conley’s impressive run of eighties No. 1 singles.
Hearing it right next to Clint Black’s “A Better Man,” it sounds especially eighties. After writing about hundreds of eighties country hits, I mean that as a compliment. It has that soft and pleasant not quite pop, not quite rock, middle of the road country sound that served as a backdrop for so many great singers during the decade, Conley included.
Even the point of view feels a step behind Black’s clearly articulated, emotionally intelligent protagonist. Conley’s still in the era where men can’t say the words that they feel in their hearts, while Black signals a new generation of men who will proudly love out loud. (Black to the point of nausea, but you can read about that in the nineties feature.)
Conley’s story continues in the nineties with an additional chart-topping hit.
“Love Out Loud” gets a B+.
Every No. 1 Single of the Eighties
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If “A Better Man” was the first 90s country song, then “Love Out Loud” may well have been the last Urban Cowboy song. This one got away from me over the years and I don’t think I heard a single instance of recurrent airplay in the 90s or 2000s, so it was a thrill to revisit here, as is often the case with me for those country-pop vibes of my childhood. The beat is addictive and the lyrics connect for a bashful Scandinavian like myself just as was the case with Toby Keith’s “Me Too”, the 90s iteration of this lyric. Earl goes out with a winner, and it’s been a pleasure overall to revisit his work as an adult because the majority of his stuff wasn’t working for me in elementary school but the majority it does now.
Grade: B+
“Love Out Loud” is not a bad song but as MarkMinnesota noted, I’ve heard it very few times on radio since 1989. I would give it a B- as I really don’t like the production on the song, although he does have a good voice
…”It has that soft and pleasant not quite pop, not quite rock, middle of the road country sound that served as a backdrop for so many great singers during the decade, Conley included.”
after reading this my brain tricked me a little and came up with john conlee’s picture instead of conley’s. funny enough, this conclusion would have worked for conlee as well. it’ll be interesting to listen to the no. 1s from here on and hear whether the transition will (subjectively) feel like an abrupt one or more of a smooth one over a extended period of time than usually implied when pinpointing the new era to the arrival of the influential class of 89.
comparing the sound here to similiar material from the earlier part of the decade, from where it still takes largely, it becomes clear that it sounds at notch or two crisper – more pop-flavoured. just a sign of the times or the final try to fight the new times rolling in? the later would suggest quite a degree of foresight by nashville.
It is a significant observation that the country production style heard on this hit was representative of the genre throughout much of the ’80s. That it walked some mid-line between pop and rock influences in no way made the music less country. The hybrid sound, which also incorporated folk elements (and artists), was its own style, immediately identifiable. This feature has highlighted how worthy many of the chart topping hits were of genuine celebration and commendation.
The decade has produced no shortage of classic country music moments.
This is important, because the ’80s is often singled as the sell-out decade of pejorative pop-country music that almost ruined the art form until the new traditionalists saved it. It is often still ridiculed, and it’s biggest artists still mocked as something less than.
This latest Earl Thomas Conley chart topper is a great rebuttal to that narrative. Listened to in context, this style and sound is a springboard to the nineties country boom.
Conley still sounds great. The production is familiar and comfortable.
As a country music fan, I am proud of the music created throughout the ’80s.I have the “tenderest of words” for the table that was set for the class of ’86 and ’89.
A common country thread weaves throughout the two decades of number one hits covered so far, demonstrating it is the ties that bind that matter most.