Song:We've Got Tonight
Album:Greatest Country Hits
I guess Kenny Rogers was the king of duets in the early 80s. His biggest duet was Islands in the Stream with Dolly Parton. That was recorded after Rogers switched from Capitol to RCA in 1983. When Liberty Records was owned by United Artists, Rogers scored several country hits with country music legend Dottie West. After Capitol bought UA in 1980, they wanted Rogers to be more of a pop singer. He scored a top five hit with Don't Fall In Love With A Dreamer, a duet with Kim Carnes. And Lionel Richie wrote and produced Lady which turned out to be the biggest hit of Rogers' career. After Rogers' next two albums didn't perform as well, he had one album left on his Liberty contract. Capitol chairman Larry Mazza knew that Rogers was leaving. He wanted him to make a big splash on the way out. At the time, Sheena Easton faltered after scoring a couple of big hits. Mazza thought a duet with Rogers could return her to the top of the charts. The song We've Got Tonight was written and originally recorded by another Capitol artist Bob Seger. Rogers liked the idea and he offered to phone Sheena and rehearse the song with her. After that, they recorded it with producer David Foster. The record topped the country charts and reached #6 on the Billboard Hot 100. They performed the song on the 1983 Sheena Easton TV special Act One. When asked about this recording, Bob Seger said "I know my mom will love it". Mission accomplished for Mazza and Rogers left Capitol for RCA. Here's Kenny Rogers and Sheena Easton performing We've Got Tonight on Sheena Easton's 1983 NBC TV special Act One. This entire show can be streamed for free on Youtube.
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