Early 1980s Pop Music Success
In 1981, Newton's third solo album, simply titled Juice, was released. It spawned three consecutive Top-10 pop hits: "Angel of the Morning" (written by Chip Taylor); "Queen of Hearts"; and an updated version of "The Sweetest Thing (I've Ever Known)" (the original version appeared on the 1975 Silver Spur debut album), which earned Newton the first of several No. 1 Country singles. A fourth single, "Ride 'Em Cowboy," was lifted from Juice in 1984 to support Newton's first Greatest Hits album and reached the Top 40 of the Country chart.
Juice sold more than a million copies in the United States and went Triple-Platinum (300,000 copies) in Canada. "Angel of the Morning" and "The Sweetest Thing (I've Ever Known)" each reached No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart, where Newton would chart regularly for the next several years. In 1982, Newton received two Grammy nominations for Best Female Vocalist: one for "Angel of the Morning" in the Pop category, and another for "Queen of Hearts" in Country.
These two singles became her biggest sellers in the United States, each earning an RIAA Gold certification. (Note: in 1981 and 1982, when these singles were certified, the RIAA standard for Gold singles was "more than 1 million copies sold"; in 1989, RIAA lowered the standard to 500,000 for Gold single certifications.) The songs were also sizable hits in Australia, Germany, Holland and other countries. While "The Sweetest Thing (I've Ever Known)" failed to receive a U.S. certification, the song's popularity propelled album sales from Gold to Platinum, and the recording remained in the Top 40 (of the Hot 100) for 18 weeks.
In the spring of 1982 Newton released her fourth solo album, Quiet Lies, which sold 900,000 copies in the United States. The album went platinum in Canada (100,000 copies). From Quiet Lies came the Top 10 Pop and Adult Contemporary hit "Love's Been a Little Bit Hard on Me" (which garnered her another Pop Female Vocalist Grammy nomination). "Break It to Me Gently" was the second single and hit No. 1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, No. 2 on the Billboard Country chart, and No. 11 on the Hot 100. The recording, a contemporary remake of a Brenda Lee hit from the '60s, won Newton her first Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance, beating out contemporaries Dolly Parton, Rosanne Cash, Emmylou Harris and Sylvia. The album's third and final single, "Heart of the Night," reached No. 4 on the Adult Contemporary chart in early 1983 and climbed to No. 25 on the Hot 100. The album also garnered Newton an award from Australia as the "Top International Country Artist" for the continent. In 1982, Newton toured with country band Alabama on the "Salem Spirit" double-headliner tour. (Various acts opened for Newton and Alabama.)
The direction for Newton's sixth and final Capitol album, 1983's Dirty Looks, was decidedly more rock-oriented and experimental than her usual blending of folk, pop and country styles. The album spawned a moderate-sized hit with "Tell Her No" (Hot 100 No. 27/AC No. 14) and the title track, a rock-edged number that charted low in the Hot 100. The single "Stranger at My Door" had a brief run on the country charts. The album was a moderate success, selling more than 300,000 copies in the United States and going Gold in Canada (50,000 copies). (The song "Dirty Looks" was written by Dave Robbins and Van Stephenson, who would later become part of the Country group Blackhawk in the 1990s. The pair also wrote Newton's 1984 country single "Restless Heart.")
According to a 1984 front-page article in Billboard magazine, changes at Capitol led Newton to return to RCA. The 1984 album "Can't Wait All Night" continued with a rock-oriented sound. The launch single "A Little Love" and the title track (which was written for Newton by Bryan Adams) became Newton's final charting pop singles to date, reaching No. 44 and No. 66, respectively; while "Restless Heart" made No. 57 on the country chart. "A Little Love" became Newton's seventh and final Top-10 hit on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart, reaching the No. 7 spot. (Newton's final double-header "Salem Spirit" tour with Alabama took place during this time, with Bill Medley of the Righteous Brothers as the opening act.)
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