1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:02,320 Speaker 1: Where Were You In ninety two is a production of 2 00:00:02,400 --> 00:00:08,560 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio And this song is an American pop 3 00:00:08,840 --> 00:00:12,800 Speaker 1: icon and one of the biggest country hits of all time. 4 00:00:13,520 --> 00:00:16,680 Speaker 1: Either you love it, you hate it, you can never 5 00:00:16,840 --> 00:00:25,000 Speaker 1: deny the far reaching appeal. Welcome to Where Are You? 6 00:00:25,079 --> 00:00:29,080 Speaker 1: In a podcast in which I your host Jason Lautier, 7 00:00:29,400 --> 00:00:32,400 Speaker 1: look back at the major hits, one hit wonders, shocking 8 00:00:32,479 --> 00:00:35,680 Speaker 1: news stories, and irresistible scandals that shaped what might be 9 00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:40,279 Speaker 1: the wildest, most eclectic, most controversial twelve months of music ever. 10 00:00:42,760 --> 00:00:46,000 Speaker 1: This week before a party in the USA, there was 11 00:00:46,120 --> 00:00:48,720 Speaker 1: the party in the Back. This is the story of 12 00:00:48,760 --> 00:00:52,320 Speaker 1: an inescapable ditty, a boot shuffling dance craze, and an 13 00:00:52,400 --> 00:00:56,880 Speaker 1: irrepressible hairstyle that took the world by storm. With his 14 00:00:56,960 --> 00:01:01,440 Speaker 1: steamy good looks and painted on jeans, must molded country phenom, 15 00:01:01,560 --> 00:01:04,720 Speaker 1: Billy Ray Cyrus came out of nowhere where the hit 16 00:01:04,800 --> 00:01:08,360 Speaker 1: that catapulted him to superstardom, But he and his butt 17 00:01:08,760 --> 00:01:12,600 Speaker 1: also became the butt of many many jokes. While his 18 00:01:12,640 --> 00:01:16,040 Speaker 1: breakout smash Achy Breaky Heart is widely regarded as one 19 00:01:16,080 --> 00:01:19,040 Speaker 1: of the dumbest songs of all time, it's music video 20 00:01:19,120 --> 00:01:22,959 Speaker 1: turned line dancing into a global sensation and turned legions 21 00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:27,480 Speaker 1: of young listeners onto a struggling, waning genre. In this episode, 22 00:01:27,560 --> 00:01:31,679 Speaker 1: we dive into Cyrus's goofy, complicated legacy and the lasting 23 00:01:31,720 --> 00:01:35,399 Speaker 1: influence of his untamed locks, but we'll also detail how 24 00:01:35,400 --> 00:01:38,080 Speaker 1: the singer had the last laugh when he returned the 25 00:01:38,080 --> 00:01:41,680 Speaker 1: pop charts decades later to break records and once again 26 00:01:41,720 --> 00:01:55,040 Speaker 1: turned the world of country upside down. Juliette Lamb lives 27 00:01:55,040 --> 00:01:58,880 Speaker 1: in Richardson, Texas, a city about fifteen miles outside Dallas. 28 00:01:59,480 --> 00:02:01,760 Speaker 1: She used to an immigration but it is now retired. 29 00:02:02,200 --> 00:02:04,560 Speaker 1: When she's not taking care of her nine year old mother, 30 00:02:04,880 --> 00:02:07,840 Speaker 1: she teaches line dancing at two different places. Half Finds 31 00:02:07,880 --> 00:02:11,200 Speaker 1: Recreations Center in Richardson and play No Senior Recreations Center 32 00:02:11,240 --> 00:02:14,760 Speaker 1: in Plano, a city in North Texas. She usually caps 33 00:02:14,760 --> 00:02:17,840 Speaker 1: her classes at around twenty five students, the youngest of 34 00:02:17,840 --> 00:02:20,360 Speaker 1: whom were in their fifties, the oldest in their eighties. 35 00:02:21,200 --> 00:02:23,920 Speaker 1: Lamb was born and raised in Taiwan, but came to 36 00:02:23,960 --> 00:02:28,160 Speaker 1: Texas in ninety three for their education. She'd never seen 37 00:02:28,200 --> 00:02:30,400 Speaker 1: people line dancing until a friend took her to a 38 00:02:30,480 --> 00:02:33,200 Speaker 1: Christmas party on a ranch in two thousand two, and 39 00:02:33,240 --> 00:02:37,200 Speaker 1: I was asked to join them to try to dance. 40 00:02:37,320 --> 00:02:39,440 Speaker 1: I told them I don't know how to line dancing. 41 00:02:39,480 --> 00:02:43,120 Speaker 1: They said, don't worry, just you know, join us and try. 42 00:02:43,480 --> 00:02:46,880 Speaker 1: I did. I tried and they liked it. So the 43 00:02:46,919 --> 00:02:51,360 Speaker 1: following months, in January two thousand three, I started taking 44 00:02:51,720 --> 00:02:58,519 Speaker 1: line dance classes. Lambetta always loved dancing, so she picked 45 00:02:58,560 --> 00:03:01,680 Speaker 1: up line dancing very quickly. By two thousand seven, she 46 00:03:01,760 --> 00:03:04,880 Speaker 1: was teaching classes of her own. Since then, she's choreographed 47 00:03:04,880 --> 00:03:08,480 Speaker 1: more than seventy routines, conducted workshops in the US, Canada, 48 00:03:08,520 --> 00:03:12,040 Speaker 1: and Taipei, and racked up two Dancers Choice Awards and 49 00:03:12,080 --> 00:03:15,880 Speaker 1: two Crystal Boot Awards, including one in two thousand fifteen 50 00:03:16,120 --> 00:03:19,440 Speaker 1: for International Instructor of the Year. She says she's by 51 00:03:19,480 --> 00:03:21,919 Speaker 1: no means of pro but watch some of her YouTube 52 00:03:21,960 --> 00:03:24,040 Speaker 1: videos and as clear as this lady knows what she's doing. 53 00:03:24,600 --> 00:03:28,840 Speaker 1: Lamb choreographed her own number for Billy Ray Cyrus country 54 00:03:28,840 --> 00:03:31,959 Speaker 1: and pop smash Achy Breaky Heart in two thousand eight, 55 00:03:32,320 --> 00:03:35,400 Speaker 1: after doing some research and learning that the hugely popular 56 00:03:35,440 --> 00:03:37,840 Speaker 1: line dance that accompany the release of the single would 57 00:03:37,840 --> 00:03:41,200 Speaker 1: be too hard for her beginner's classes. Lamb teaches her 58 00:03:41,200 --> 00:03:44,240 Speaker 1: achy breaky Heart routine a mix of grape vines, hitches, 59 00:03:44,320 --> 00:03:47,800 Speaker 1: heal and toe moves, kick stumps, and claps to this day. 60 00:03:48,120 --> 00:03:52,600 Speaker 1: For people who have very little line dance experience, or 61 00:03:52,680 --> 00:03:56,560 Speaker 1: for people who had no line dance experience, they can 62 00:03:56,600 --> 00:04:00,280 Speaker 1: easily tried and learn. So she didn't discover this song's 63 00:04:00,320 --> 00:04:02,720 Speaker 1: original line dance or see its music video until more 64 00:04:02,720 --> 00:04:05,680 Speaker 1: than a decade after it came out. Lamb loved Cyrus's 65 00:04:05,680 --> 00:04:09,119 Speaker 1: achy breaking Heart when she first heard back when you'd 66 00:04:09,120 --> 00:04:12,280 Speaker 1: have to be headless to successfully avoid it. I liked 67 00:04:12,320 --> 00:04:17,279 Speaker 1: his voice, um I. I thought the song has a 68 00:04:17,400 --> 00:04:22,719 Speaker 1: very catchy tune. It has a very strong beat um 69 00:04:22,760 --> 00:04:26,840 Speaker 1: and it was very evenly phrased. She has since watched 70 00:04:26,839 --> 00:04:29,280 Speaker 1: the video, taking in Billy Ray Cyrus and all his 71 00:04:29,440 --> 00:04:33,160 Speaker 1: honky glory. She's also properly listened to the lyrics and 72 00:04:33,240 --> 00:04:35,520 Speaker 1: which he pleads with the woman who dumped him to 73 00:04:35,680 --> 00:04:39,080 Speaker 1: keep his heart in the dark about it, fearing that 74 00:04:39,120 --> 00:04:43,159 Speaker 1: the damaged organ will blow up and kill him. Lamb's 75 00:04:43,200 --> 00:04:45,839 Speaker 1: own heart goes out to the song's jilted Moby narrator, 76 00:04:46,560 --> 00:04:48,919 Speaker 1: but she also now has a fuller picture of the 77 00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:52,680 Speaker 1: hysteria that ensued when Cyrus burst onto the scene. His 78 00:04:52,839 --> 00:04:58,680 Speaker 1: album so nine million copies worldwide and made him a 79 00:04:58,800 --> 00:05:12,800 Speaker 1: house world nar in older one hundred languages. And that's incredible. Yeah, 80 00:05:12,960 --> 00:05:17,200 Speaker 1: it is incredible, And given cyrus Is cheesiness, some would 81 00:05:17,200 --> 00:05:21,160 Speaker 1: say incredibly ridiculous. But when Lamb insists that no one 82 00:05:21,200 --> 00:05:24,480 Speaker 1: can deny the song's power, she's right. If you didn't 83 00:05:24,480 --> 00:05:27,000 Speaker 1: love it, can break your heart or Cyrus's neck warming 84 00:05:27,080 --> 00:05:31,960 Speaker 1: Kentucky waterfall, that's marvelous slang for a mullet, or all 85 00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:36,200 Speaker 1: that fancy honky tong footwork you at least secretly or 86 00:05:36,360 --> 00:05:40,960 Speaker 1: not so secretly loved to hate it all. And well, 87 00:05:41,560 --> 00:05:44,440 Speaker 1: you gotta give Cyrus props. He knew a hit when 88 00:05:44,480 --> 00:05:47,480 Speaker 1: he heard one, something he again demonstrated with a certain 89 00:05:47,560 --> 00:05:51,480 Speaker 1: record shattering collaboration he left on just a few years ago. 90 00:05:52,400 --> 00:05:55,880 Speaker 1: And man, did this guy hustle. But to truly understand 91 00:05:56,000 --> 00:05:59,680 Speaker 1: how to truly appreciate who Billy Ray Cyrus is, you 92 00:05:59,760 --> 00:06:05,920 Speaker 1: for got to know who he was. Before Billy Ray 93 00:06:05,920 --> 00:06:08,760 Speaker 1: Cyrus became a household name, the man with the plan 94 00:06:08,880 --> 00:06:11,600 Speaker 1: and the iconic mullet, he was just a guy from 95 00:06:11,680 --> 00:06:15,960 Speaker 1: Flatwoods Kentucky. He didn't even originally intend to become a singer. 96 00:06:16,279 --> 00:06:19,880 Speaker 1: He was an athlete, specifically a baseball player, which might 97 00:06:19,920 --> 00:06:23,279 Speaker 1: explain those insane tree trunky biceps. He loved to show 98 00:06:23,279 --> 00:06:26,599 Speaker 1: off all the time. Yeah, Billy Ray Cyrus was fighting 99 00:06:26,600 --> 00:06:29,680 Speaker 1: for the right to bear arms. And when you got 100 00:06:29,800 --> 00:06:31,640 Speaker 1: arms like that, you've got to fight for your right 101 00:06:31,680 --> 00:06:36,679 Speaker 1: man anyway. Cyrus's dad, Ron Cyrus, was a steelworker turned 102 00:06:36,720 --> 00:06:40,240 Speaker 1: politician who also played guitar, and his grandfather was a 103 00:06:40,240 --> 00:06:44,560 Speaker 1: Pentecostal preacher. Billy grew up listening to gospel and bluegrass 104 00:06:44,600 --> 00:06:47,479 Speaker 1: and started singing at a young age. He tried playing 105 00:06:47,520 --> 00:06:50,320 Speaker 1: his dad's guitar, but because he was left handed, he couldn't, 106 00:06:50,520 --> 00:06:53,839 Speaker 1: so he abandoned the pastime. Billy Ray left hander here 107 00:06:53,920 --> 00:06:56,800 Speaker 1: and I have literally been there. He eventually got a 108 00:06:56,800 --> 00:07:00,360 Speaker 1: baseball scholarship to Georgetown College, a private Christian college in 109 00:07:00,360 --> 00:07:03,400 Speaker 1: George Town, Kentucky, but his heart just wasn't in the game. 110 00:07:03,920 --> 00:07:06,440 Speaker 1: He wanted to start a band, so five weeks in 111 00:07:06,600 --> 00:07:09,960 Speaker 1: his first semester, he dropped out of school to pay 112 00:07:10,000 --> 00:07:12,480 Speaker 1: the bills. He drove a forklift at a cigarette warehouse, 113 00:07:12,760 --> 00:07:14,960 Speaker 1: and one day, while taking a break and letting the 114 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:18,680 Speaker 1: tunes from a West Virginia pop radio station wash over him. 115 00:07:18,720 --> 00:07:21,640 Speaker 1: He heard a promo for a Neil Diamond concert. The 116 00:07:21,720 --> 00:07:25,360 Speaker 1: eighth person to call the station would win two free tickets. 117 00:07:25,360 --> 00:07:27,760 Speaker 1: Cyrus one. It was the first time he'd ever won 118 00:07:27,880 --> 00:07:37,080 Speaker 1: anything on his own. Semial Diamond to perform hits like 119 00:07:37,200 --> 00:07:41,520 Speaker 1: Sweet Caroline was a divine defining experience for Cyrus, which 120 00:07:41,920 --> 00:07:46,720 Speaker 1: fair that concert would change his life forever. His days 121 00:07:46,760 --> 00:07:49,960 Speaker 1: of playing Catcher were over. He found a left handed 122 00:07:50,000 --> 00:07:53,080 Speaker 1: guitar and formed a band called Slide Up enlisting his 123 00:07:53,120 --> 00:07:55,680 Speaker 1: brother Kebo, two guys from the cigarette wahouse who played 124 00:07:55,680 --> 00:08:00,000 Speaker 1: bass and drums, and another guitar player and to enjoined him. 125 00:08:00,080 --> 00:08:06,280 Speaker 1: Yea by Cyrus had ditched his job at the warehouse 126 00:08:06,320 --> 00:08:09,680 Speaker 1: to focus on music. Ernest do that he was, he 127 00:08:09,720 --> 00:08:13,920 Speaker 1: wrote down his goals. I will become a successful singer, 128 00:08:14,080 --> 00:08:19,600 Speaker 1: songwriter and entertainer. I will entertain around the world. God 129 00:08:19,600 --> 00:08:22,520 Speaker 1: will use my music to touch people's lives and represent 130 00:08:22,680 --> 00:08:25,680 Speaker 1: his light and love. I will be known as the 131 00:08:25,760 --> 00:08:30,760 Speaker 1: next Elvis Presley. My gorgeous, perfect mullet will make the 132 00:08:30,840 --> 00:08:34,959 Speaker 1: history books and change fashion forever. Okay I added that 133 00:08:35,040 --> 00:08:37,720 Speaker 1: last bit, but I'm not wrong. It was a slow 134 00:08:37,760 --> 00:08:41,280 Speaker 1: climb for Sly Dog. They worked the bar circuit. Cyrus 135 00:08:41,280 --> 00:08:43,040 Speaker 1: tried to make it out in Los Angeles, living out 136 00:08:43,040 --> 00:08:45,960 Speaker 1: of his Chevy Burretta. As he told USA Today in 137 00:08:45,960 --> 00:08:49,240 Speaker 1: two thousand seventeen, quote, I was always just one failure 138 00:08:49,240 --> 00:08:51,520 Speaker 1: away from resigning to the fact that maybe I need 139 00:08:51,559 --> 00:08:53,720 Speaker 1: to go get a real job. I would have gone 140 00:08:53,760 --> 00:09:00,319 Speaker 1: back to Flatwoods. Finally, after nearly ten years of being 141 00:09:00,360 --> 00:09:04,640 Speaker 1: told no, Cyrus landed a record here with Mercury Nashville Records. Well, 142 00:09:04,640 --> 00:09:07,160 Speaker 1: he toiled away on new music. He and Sly Dog 143 00:09:07,200 --> 00:09:09,840 Speaker 1: continued to perform for local fans at their steady gig 144 00:09:09,960 --> 00:09:13,360 Speaker 1: at the Ragtime Lounge in Huntington, West Virginia. But if 145 00:09:13,400 --> 00:09:15,920 Speaker 1: his career was about to explode, he'd wind up needing 146 00:09:15,920 --> 00:09:21,559 Speaker 1: another aspiring songwriter to light the fuse. Don von Truss 147 00:09:21,679 --> 00:09:24,960 Speaker 1: was a Tennessee based military veteran whose day job was 148 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:28,280 Speaker 1: hanging wallpaper. He played with some bands at high school, 149 00:09:28,480 --> 00:09:30,840 Speaker 1: but his plans of pursuing music were halted when he 150 00:09:30,880 --> 00:09:33,680 Speaker 1: was sent to serve in the Vietnam War. When he returned, 151 00:09:33,920 --> 00:09:37,000 Speaker 1: he continued dabbling in it in his free time. One 152 00:09:37,080 --> 00:09:40,280 Speaker 1: day in he was fooling around with the guitar and 153 00:09:40,360 --> 00:09:44,320 Speaker 1: drum machine and his sister's basement. Two simple chords later, 154 00:09:44,640 --> 00:09:46,280 Speaker 1: and he had the bones of a tune that would 155 00:09:46,280 --> 00:09:49,839 Speaker 1: eventually become a key breaky heart. He explained to Rolling 156 00:09:49,920 --> 00:09:53,040 Speaker 1: Stone in two thousand seventeen that a vision came to 157 00:09:53,120 --> 00:09:56,640 Speaker 1: him while writing it. Quote, I saw kids dancing in 158 00:09:56,720 --> 00:09:59,000 Speaker 1: my mind, and I remember telling my wife that, and 159 00:09:59,040 --> 00:10:02,600 Speaker 1: she thought I was a little grewey. Undeterred by his 160 00:10:02,800 --> 00:10:06,160 Speaker 1: judge wife, von Trust presented the ditty to a friend 161 00:10:06,160 --> 00:10:09,920 Speaker 1: who worked in music publishing. He told him he had 162 00:10:10,040 --> 00:10:12,640 Speaker 1: to finish it and not to get a co songwriter. 163 00:10:12,880 --> 00:10:15,480 Speaker 1: Sensing immediately that I had a future on the charts, 164 00:10:16,080 --> 00:10:19,000 Speaker 1: so von Trast completed the song and teamed up with 165 00:10:19,040 --> 00:10:21,480 Speaker 1: his friend to whip up a demo. As he recalled 166 00:10:21,520 --> 00:10:23,640 Speaker 1: in a two thousand nineteen interview with the newspaper of 167 00:10:23,679 --> 00:10:27,480 Speaker 1: the Tennessee and quote, everybody was jumping up and down 168 00:10:27,559 --> 00:10:30,840 Speaker 1: about the song. Really, something in us told us it 169 00:10:30,920 --> 00:10:35,920 Speaker 1: had great potential. Von Trast started shopping it around, knowing 170 00:10:36,040 --> 00:10:39,040 Speaker 1: darn well the competition in Nashville was fierce and there 171 00:10:39,040 --> 00:10:46,160 Speaker 1: were no guarantees. Meanwhile, Billy Ray. Cyrus and his team 172 00:10:46,160 --> 00:10:49,280 Speaker 1: had chosen nine songs for his debut album, Some Gave All, 173 00:10:49,520 --> 00:10:51,560 Speaker 1: the title track of which was a tribute to folks 174 00:10:51,600 --> 00:10:53,880 Speaker 1: who had served in the military. Yeah, you can see 175 00:10:53,880 --> 00:10:57,240 Speaker 1: where this is going. His producers and the head of 176 00:10:57,280 --> 00:11:00,800 Speaker 1: A and R wanted one more track. One day well, 177 00:11:00,800 --> 00:11:02,760 Speaker 1: Cyrus was on a break while rehearsing with his band 178 00:11:02,760 --> 00:11:06,240 Speaker 1: in Huntington's. His producer Joe Scape told him he had 179 00:11:06,240 --> 00:11:09,240 Speaker 1: a song he wanted to play him and Cyrus's guitarist 180 00:11:09,280 --> 00:11:12,199 Speaker 1: Terry Shelton's apartment. Scape sat down at the kitchen table 181 00:11:12,440 --> 00:11:15,800 Speaker 1: and popped a tape into Shelton's boom box, announcing, you 182 00:11:15,880 --> 00:11:18,120 Speaker 1: might think I'm crazy, but I think this thing is 183 00:11:18,160 --> 00:11:22,800 Speaker 1: a hit. He pressed play. Cyrus barely made it through 184 00:11:22,840 --> 00:11:25,720 Speaker 1: the first verse before leaping from his chair and shouting, 185 00:11:26,000 --> 00:11:29,640 Speaker 1: that's me, that's me. Love it. He knew instantly it 186 00:11:29,679 --> 00:11:33,080 Speaker 1: was special. He learned that the track called Don't Tell 187 00:11:33,120 --> 00:11:36,319 Speaker 1: My Heart was written by Don von Trust, Vietnam vet 188 00:11:36,440 --> 00:11:38,920 Speaker 1: who hung wallpaper for a living but love to write songs. 189 00:11:39,320 --> 00:11:42,440 Speaker 1: The demo was catching. The melody and the lines Don't 190 00:11:42,480 --> 00:11:44,880 Speaker 1: Tell My Heart by Achy breaking Heart got stuck in 191 00:11:44,920 --> 00:11:47,760 Speaker 1: your head, and it definitely seemed like something the crowds 192 00:11:47,760 --> 00:11:57,040 Speaker 1: at his shows would want to dance to. Not everyone 193 00:11:57,080 --> 00:11:59,880 Speaker 1: has such a warm response to the song. The gospel 194 00:11:59,880 --> 00:12:02,720 Speaker 1: and country quartet The Oak Ridge Boys had considered it, 195 00:12:03,000 --> 00:12:05,760 Speaker 1: but their front man Duane Ace Allen didn't like the 196 00:12:05,840 --> 00:12:09,600 Speaker 1: lyrics Achy Breaky Heart, so the band never recorded it. 197 00:12:09,600 --> 00:12:12,719 Speaker 1: Seems thirty years later, they're still kicking themselves for it, 198 00:12:13,160 --> 00:12:15,240 Speaker 1: but they wanted known that it wasn't all their fault. 199 00:12:15,840 --> 00:12:18,240 Speaker 1: In two thousand twenty, a post from their official Twitter 200 00:12:18,320 --> 00:12:22,160 Speaker 1: handle read true that Duyne Allen was not crazy over 201 00:12:22,240 --> 00:12:25,080 Speaker 1: the lyrics Achy Breaky, but it was r C Records 202 00:12:25,080 --> 00:12:27,720 Speaker 1: at the time that turned down the song. A still 203 00:12:27,800 --> 00:12:30,160 Speaker 1: had it in his pile of songs to be considered, 204 00:12:31,360 --> 00:12:34,839 Speaker 1: but those guys would kill for a time machine. Another group, 205 00:12:35,080 --> 00:12:37,960 Speaker 1: the Northern California trio The Mercy Brothers, also had an 206 00:12:37,960 --> 00:12:40,679 Speaker 1: issue with those lyrics. They recorded the song for their 207 00:12:41,920 --> 00:12:45,720 Speaker 1: self titled second album, but changed the words to don't 208 00:12:45,760 --> 00:12:49,960 Speaker 1: tell my heart my aching breaking heart. Sorry, don but 209 00:12:50,000 --> 00:12:53,640 Speaker 1: actually no, not sorry, don you lucky bastard, because Billy 210 00:12:53,840 --> 00:12:56,240 Speaker 1: did dig those lyrics, As he writes in his two 211 00:12:56,240 --> 00:12:59,800 Speaker 1: thousand thirteen memoir hill Billy Hart. Once I got ahold 212 00:12:59,800 --> 00:13:01,840 Speaker 1: of it, I never let that song out of my grasp. 213 00:13:02,240 --> 00:13:05,560 Speaker 1: I loved him. Indeed, he would grab Don't Tell My 214 00:13:05,640 --> 00:13:08,080 Speaker 1: Heart like the back of someone's moet and hold on 215 00:13:08,240 --> 00:13:11,280 Speaker 1: for dear life, dragging it all the way back to 216 00:13:11,320 --> 00:13:13,160 Speaker 1: the bar where he and his band would play it 217 00:13:13,240 --> 00:13:16,079 Speaker 1: that very night after he discovered it, and then he'd 218 00:13:16,120 --> 00:13:18,760 Speaker 1: ultimately dragged it all the way to the bank where 219 00:13:18,800 --> 00:13:22,600 Speaker 1: he'd cash up big fat check for a big fat hit. 220 00:13:30,760 --> 00:13:33,599 Speaker 1: But Cyrus's life was pretty nutty at this point. It 221 00:13:33,720 --> 00:13:35,640 Speaker 1: was bad enough he was living among heaps of cassettes 222 00:13:35,640 --> 00:13:38,280 Speaker 1: and microphones and various other crap in his Chevy burretta 223 00:13:38,280 --> 00:13:41,440 Speaker 1: will recording songs for some gave all worse after he 224 00:13:41,480 --> 00:13:43,920 Speaker 1: finished recording them. He lost his long time gig at 225 00:13:43,920 --> 00:13:46,520 Speaker 1: the Rag Time after he and his band stopped performing. 226 00:13:46,520 --> 00:13:48,000 Speaker 1: He left the bar one night because a fight he 227 00:13:48,000 --> 00:13:50,960 Speaker 1: had broken out there, Like I'm talking like guns, knives, 228 00:13:51,000 --> 00:13:54,000 Speaker 1: people getting tossed over tables kind of fight. So now 229 00:13:54,080 --> 00:13:57,600 Speaker 1: Cyrus was hustling again, taking gigs in North Carolina, Georgia, 230 00:13:57,800 --> 00:14:01,440 Speaker 1: Myrtle Beach, Virginia, Kentucky. Dude needed to catch a break 231 00:14:02,400 --> 00:14:05,560 Speaker 1: in a conference room full of Mercury executives in December nine, 232 00:14:06,679 --> 00:14:09,680 Speaker 1: Cyrus weighed in on a slew of decisions for his 233 00:14:09,760 --> 00:14:12,480 Speaker 1: forthcoming debut album, except for release in just a few months, 234 00:14:13,000 --> 00:14:14,760 Speaker 1: but he had a very strong opinion about what the 235 00:14:14,760 --> 00:14:17,559 Speaker 1: first single office should be. Don't Tell My Heart was 236 00:14:17,600 --> 00:14:20,560 Speaker 1: basically catinet for fans at his shows. He played it 237 00:14:20,560 --> 00:14:22,760 Speaker 1: and they had it straight to the dance floor, but 238 00:14:22,880 --> 00:14:27,360 Speaker 1: the title needed a tweak. Cyrus said, the name of 239 00:14:27,400 --> 00:14:30,720 Speaker 1: that song is wrong. Everybody calls it the achy breaky song. 240 00:14:31,160 --> 00:14:33,880 Speaker 1: They yell at out all night, play that achy breaky song. 241 00:14:34,320 --> 00:14:37,960 Speaker 1: He suggested they rename it achy Breaky Heart. The label agreed. 242 00:14:38,960 --> 00:14:42,000 Speaker 1: When Cyrus met Von Trust, they bonded straight away. As 243 00:14:42,000 --> 00:14:45,760 Speaker 1: Cyrus recalled to the Village Voice in two quote, he 244 00:14:45,840 --> 00:14:47,960 Speaker 1: thanked me for writing some gave all, and I thanked 245 00:14:48,000 --> 00:14:50,360 Speaker 1: him for his service. I asked him if he ever 246 00:14:50,400 --> 00:14:52,920 Speaker 1: wondered if the name of the song is achy breaky Heart, 247 00:14:53,360 --> 00:14:55,280 Speaker 1: and he said, call it what you want to call it, 248 00:14:55,400 --> 00:14:58,760 Speaker 1: just put it out. We let her loose. Von Truss 249 00:14:58,840 --> 00:15:01,400 Speaker 1: even joined Cyrus's b and and toured with him for 250 00:15:01,440 --> 00:15:05,040 Speaker 1: a decade. Cyrus has called on Trust his quote unquote 251 00:15:05,160 --> 00:15:08,800 Speaker 1: musical soulmate, and they wanted to collaborate for thirty years. 252 00:15:10,720 --> 00:15:13,160 Speaker 1: One safety, Breaky Heart was set as the lead single. 253 00:15:13,640 --> 00:15:16,880 Speaker 1: Mercury's promotions team developed a strategy to get the song 254 00:15:16,960 --> 00:15:21,440 Speaker 1: major exposure. They couldn't deny Cyrus's beefcake status. He had 255 00:15:21,480 --> 00:15:24,480 Speaker 1: a cherubic face and intense, piercing eyes that seemed to 256 00:15:24,560 --> 00:15:27,560 Speaker 1: stare into your soul. But he was also hairy, chested 257 00:15:27,560 --> 00:15:31,600 Speaker 1: and virile. He wore baggy sleeveless shirts, allowing his nipples 258 00:15:31,600 --> 00:15:35,160 Speaker 1: to play peekaboo with his audiences. Women lusted after him, 259 00:15:35,280 --> 00:15:38,840 Speaker 1: and no doubt some men did too. He also had moves. 260 00:15:39,400 --> 00:15:41,280 Speaker 1: The label knew what needed to play up all that 261 00:15:41,360 --> 00:15:44,280 Speaker 1: charisma and the tracks music video, so it decided to 262 00:15:44,360 --> 00:15:50,600 Speaker 1: spotlight Cyrus performing a key Breaky Heart live as Sandy niece. 263 00:15:50,880 --> 00:15:54,720 Speaker 1: Mercury's then director of public relations told the Tennessee and 264 00:15:54,760 --> 00:15:56,920 Speaker 1: we were going to turn on women all over the 265 00:15:56,960 --> 00:15:59,760 Speaker 1: country and put a demand on country radio to play 266 00:15:59,800 --> 00:16:04,720 Speaker 1: that song. They shot the video in January at the 267 00:16:04,760 --> 00:16:08,560 Speaker 1: Paramount Art Center in Ashland, Kentucky, filling it with a 268 00:16:08,680 --> 00:16:12,400 Speaker 1: swarm of fans that included Cyrus's sister, his future wife 269 00:16:12,440 --> 00:16:16,040 Speaker 1: Tish and his newly ex wife, Cindy. As he notes 270 00:16:16,040 --> 00:16:18,680 Speaker 1: in his memoir, it may be the only music video 271 00:16:19,040 --> 00:16:21,880 Speaker 1: ever made with both the singer's ex wife and future 272 00:16:21,880 --> 00:16:26,040 Speaker 1: wife in it. This guy at Cojones positioned in the 273 00:16:26,080 --> 00:16:29,680 Speaker 1: front row of the audience some heavily permed, hot and 274 00:16:29,680 --> 00:16:32,600 Speaker 1: bothered ladies who, when not oddly, and the singer were 275 00:16:32,640 --> 00:16:37,680 Speaker 1: engaging in some serious synchronized boot scooting. It's actually quite impressive, 276 00:16:38,360 --> 00:16:40,760 Speaker 1: almost as impressive as a number of rhyan stones and 277 00:16:40,840 --> 00:16:46,200 Speaker 1: cans of hairspray holding their looks together. You see, Mercury 278 00:16:46,200 --> 00:16:50,200 Speaker 1: had enlisted country singer Lee Greenwood's ex wife Melanie Greenwood, 279 00:16:50,320 --> 00:16:54,440 Speaker 1: to choreograph a line dance to accompany the song. There was, however, 280 00:16:54,600 --> 00:16:58,000 Speaker 1: a collaborative effort. When Cyrus and his team met with Greenwood, 281 00:16:58,120 --> 00:17:00,520 Speaker 1: he was impressed by her line dancing skills, but thought 282 00:17:00,560 --> 00:17:03,200 Speaker 1: that the dance needed something distinctive to make a stand out. 283 00:17:04,040 --> 00:17:05,879 Speaker 1: Greenwood asked him what he did when he's saying a 284 00:17:05,960 --> 00:17:09,320 Speaker 1: key breaky heart for audiences. He swiveled his hips slightly. 285 00:17:09,960 --> 00:17:15,080 Speaker 1: She incorporated that saucy little move into her coreo. In 286 00:17:15,080 --> 00:17:19,000 Speaker 1: addition to the music video, Cyrus's label produced an eleven 287 00:17:19,040 --> 00:17:22,439 Speaker 1: minute line Dance tutorial video, which is sent to bars 288 00:17:22,440 --> 00:17:26,080 Speaker 1: and clubs across the US. It also sponsored a national 289 00:17:26,320 --> 00:17:30,080 Speaker 1: dance contest. The line Dance caught fire before the singer's 290 00:17:30,080 --> 00:17:33,080 Speaker 1: debut album even hit shelves, and by the end of March, 291 00:17:34,520 --> 00:17:37,119 Speaker 1: a Key Breaky Heart and landed on billboards Hot Country 292 00:17:37,119 --> 00:17:40,680 Speaker 1: Singles Chart before the single had even officially been released. 293 00:17:48,640 --> 00:17:52,800 Speaker 1: In Robert k Orman was working as a music reporter 294 00:17:52,840 --> 00:17:55,760 Speaker 1: for the Tennessee and and covering Music Row National's Musical 295 00:17:55,800 --> 00:17:59,040 Speaker 1: Epicenter for USA Today. He was the first reporter in 296 00:17:59,160 --> 00:18:01,919 Speaker 1: Nashville to do a story on Billy Ray Cyrus. He 297 00:18:02,040 --> 00:18:05,040 Speaker 1: spent days with the singer, riding horses and motorbikes with 298 00:18:05,119 --> 00:18:09,280 Speaker 1: him for TV specially directed. Orman attributes the Ikey Breaky 299 00:18:09,320 --> 00:18:12,960 Speaker 1: pandemonium to changes in both Nashville and in pop music. 300 00:18:13,320 --> 00:18:15,880 Speaker 1: You see, by the time Ikey Breaky Heart blew up, 301 00:18:16,359 --> 00:18:20,119 Speaker 1: Nashville had already begun to evolve. Neo traditionalist acts like 302 00:18:20,200 --> 00:18:24,320 Speaker 1: Ricky Skaggs, Keith Whitley, and the Judds had reinvigorated country music, 303 00:18:24,400 --> 00:18:27,920 Speaker 1: and we're attracting a younger demographic. As with pop music, 304 00:18:28,240 --> 00:18:31,199 Speaker 1: the genres visual component had become as important as the 305 00:18:31,320 --> 00:18:35,159 Speaker 1: artist's sound. Nashville was starting to shed its silly Hehaw 306 00:18:35,240 --> 00:18:39,760 Speaker 1: image for something hipper. Meanwhile, pop had undergone its own changes. 307 00:18:40,359 --> 00:18:43,760 Speaker 1: Says Ormond. There was a void in pop music at 308 00:18:43,760 --> 00:18:46,600 Speaker 1: the time that pop had forgotten that people like to dance. 309 00:18:47,080 --> 00:18:50,720 Speaker 1: Then along came billy, bridging the gap between country and pop, 310 00:18:51,000 --> 00:18:54,160 Speaker 1: and so here came this phenomenon out of country music, 311 00:18:54,880 --> 00:18:59,159 Speaker 1: initially out of Texas of people blind dancing to songs, 312 00:19:00,040 --> 00:19:04,679 Speaker 1: and Akey Breaky was designed and perfectly placed to become 313 00:19:04,920 --> 00:19:07,919 Speaker 1: one of the leading songs of that sub genre, that 314 00:19:07,920 --> 00:19:13,280 Speaker 1: that line dance genre. And Billie was beautiful, he was gorgeous, 315 00:19:13,320 --> 00:19:17,320 Speaker 1: and uh, it was just a perfect confluence of the song, 316 00:19:17,560 --> 00:19:20,000 Speaker 1: the singer, and the trend of country line dancing. They 317 00:19:20,000 --> 00:19:23,320 Speaker 1: all sort of came together in that moment. Cyrus was 318 00:19:23,359 --> 00:19:25,639 Speaker 1: a bit of a wild card, and the video for 319 00:19:25,680 --> 00:19:28,479 Speaker 1: Achy Breaky Heart. He doesn't look like other male country 320 00:19:28,480 --> 00:19:31,359 Speaker 1: singers of the era. First off, instead of a stets 321 00:19:31,359 --> 00:19:33,639 Speaker 1: and hat on top of his head, he has a thick, 322 00:19:33,880 --> 00:19:37,080 Speaker 1: dark nest of hair and a ship ton more cascading 323 00:19:37,119 --> 00:19:40,840 Speaker 1: down his shoulders. Instead of cowboy boots, he sports white sneakers. 324 00:19:41,880 --> 00:19:45,760 Speaker 1: His shirt is unbuttoned and oversized. His jeans are skin tight. 325 00:19:46,520 --> 00:19:50,359 Speaker 1: He dances around the stage using confidence and sexuality, like 326 00:19:50,400 --> 00:19:52,359 Speaker 1: he's about to do his strip tease at any moment. 327 00:19:52,880 --> 00:19:55,639 Speaker 1: Rumors later swirled that he was a former Chippendale dancer. 328 00:19:56,520 --> 00:20:00,440 Speaker 1: Both buff and pretty. He blurs gender lines. He knows 329 00:20:00,440 --> 00:20:04,400 Speaker 1: he's a fox. Billy. Ray Cyrus was a country disruptor 330 00:20:04,520 --> 00:20:08,760 Speaker 1: and a pop disruptor. He had the full UH package 331 00:20:10,040 --> 00:20:13,760 Speaker 1: in April two, just a month after it had descended 332 00:20:13,840 --> 00:20:18,000 Speaker 1: upon Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. A Key Breaky Heart 333 00:20:18,119 --> 00:20:21,320 Speaker 1: took its sad shattered little blood pumping organ to the 334 00:20:21,400 --> 00:20:26,120 Speaker 1: number one spot and stayed there for five weeks. Meanwhile, 335 00:20:26,240 --> 00:20:28,760 Speaker 1: by May of that year, the single was a pop 336 00:20:28,920 --> 00:20:31,720 Speaker 1: crossover hit, reaching number four on the Billboard Hot One. 337 00:20:32,640 --> 00:20:35,280 Speaker 1: It became the first country single to go platinum since 338 00:20:35,359 --> 00:20:40,960 Speaker 1: Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton's three hit Islands in the Stream. 339 00:20:41,160 --> 00:20:44,680 Speaker 1: Von Trust recalled to the Tennessee and that manufacturers literally 340 00:20:44,720 --> 00:20:47,119 Speaker 1: couldn't keep up with the demand for the single. He 341 00:20:47,200 --> 00:20:50,040 Speaker 1: said they even stopped selling it worried it would quote 342 00:20:50,200 --> 00:20:54,720 Speaker 1: cannibalize from the album. After that album, some gave All 343 00:20:54,800 --> 00:20:58,600 Speaker 1: was released in May. It's sword to number one on 344 00:20:58,640 --> 00:21:02,680 Speaker 1: Billboard's Country and Hop Album charts, eventually going platinum nine 345 00:21:02,720 --> 00:21:07,040 Speaker 1: times over and selling twenty million copies worldwide, and wait 346 00:21:07,080 --> 00:21:11,360 Speaker 1: for It ended up becoming the biggest selling debut album 347 00:21:11,359 --> 00:21:15,840 Speaker 1: by a male artist ever. At the thirty five Grammy Awards, 348 00:21:17,320 --> 00:21:19,600 Speaker 1: A Key Breaky Heart was nominated for Record of the 349 00:21:19,680 --> 00:21:23,520 Speaker 1: Year and Best Male Country Vocal Performance, and Cyrus was 350 00:21:23,560 --> 00:21:27,119 Speaker 1: nominated for Best New Artists. So we went home empty handed. 351 00:21:27,520 --> 00:21:29,840 Speaker 1: A Key Breaky Heart was named Single of the Year 352 00:21:30,040 --> 00:21:37,080 Speaker 1: by Country Music Association Awards. The song became truly inescapable. 353 00:21:37,760 --> 00:21:40,600 Speaker 1: It was an international smash that was essentially played on 354 00:21:40,640 --> 00:21:44,240 Speaker 1: the radio on loop to the point that it started 355 00:21:44,320 --> 00:21:50,280 Speaker 1: driving people insane. Up next, we explored the backlash to 356 00:21:50,400 --> 00:22:15,600 Speaker 1: Billy Ray's Party in the Back. M Billy Ray. Cyrus's 357 00:22:15,640 --> 00:22:20,040 Speaker 1: Achy Breaky Heart was suddenly everywhere, not only blowing up 358 00:22:20,040 --> 00:22:23,800 Speaker 1: in the US, but also hitting number one in Australia, Canada, 359 00:22:24,240 --> 00:22:27,560 Speaker 1: and New Zealand and number three in the UK. But 360 00:22:27,640 --> 00:22:30,920 Speaker 1: because of the singles omnipresence and the way it's once 361 00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:35,520 Speaker 1: catchy lyrics and melody metastasized into something thoroughly grading it 362 00:22:35,720 --> 00:22:40,440 Speaker 1: harvested a bountiful crop of haters. In a two thousand 363 00:22:40,520 --> 00:22:44,719 Speaker 1: seventeen interview with Banner graphic Don von Trust admitted quote, 364 00:22:45,080 --> 00:22:47,560 Speaker 1: there was a little backlash after a while. I heard 365 00:22:47,560 --> 00:22:50,000 Speaker 1: stories about people threatening some radio stations that were playing 366 00:22:50,000 --> 00:22:55,000 Speaker 1: it repeatedly. And you know, Cyrus's whole vibe was pretty polarizing. 367 00:22:55,560 --> 00:22:57,440 Speaker 1: In fact, he pretty much became one of the most 368 00:22:57,440 --> 00:23:01,600 Speaker 1: polarizing someone say, detested figures of music that year, says 369 00:23:01,640 --> 00:23:05,000 Speaker 1: country music historian Robert Orman. He was country, there was 370 00:23:05,040 --> 00:23:08,720 Speaker 1: no question about it. But he was also breaking the 371 00:23:08,800 --> 00:23:14,439 Speaker 1: mold a little bit um by by his visual presentation. Uh, 372 00:23:14,720 --> 00:23:19,439 Speaker 1: the long hair, the cut off of clothes, the just 373 00:23:19,600 --> 00:23:22,639 Speaker 1: everything was a little just a little bit different and 374 00:23:22,680 --> 00:23:27,240 Speaker 1: a little bit backwoods and a little bit off. He 375 00:23:27,440 --> 00:23:30,040 Speaker 1: was not like other other people at the time. He 376 00:23:30,160 --> 00:23:33,959 Speaker 1: was used his own thing. Cyrus faced the same criticism 377 00:23:34,000 --> 00:23:36,920 Speaker 1: that Katie Lang had faced. She was another country singer 378 00:23:36,960 --> 00:23:40,600 Speaker 1: who dared to dance with abandon and La Goofy. Like her, 379 00:23:40,680 --> 00:23:44,520 Speaker 1: Cyrus shook up the genre, challenged gender stereotypes, and emphasized 380 00:23:44,560 --> 00:23:48,480 Speaker 1: country's pop potential. In doing so, he too elicited some 381 00:23:48,560 --> 00:23:52,200 Speaker 1: double takes. Shane of Golden persch Bocker as a professor 382 00:23:52,240 --> 00:23:54,600 Speaker 1: of music studies at Temple University and the author of 383 00:23:54,640 --> 00:23:57,840 Speaker 1: Queer Country, a book releases year that examines queer and 384 00:23:57,840 --> 00:24:02,320 Speaker 1: trans performers in country in americonomy It. Her research focuses 385 00:24:02,359 --> 00:24:06,560 Speaker 1: on how history and identity, gender raise ethnicity, class, sexuality, 386 00:24:06,840 --> 00:24:11,400 Speaker 1: shape music, and vice versa. She reiterates Robert Ormond's opinion 387 00:24:11,720 --> 00:24:15,240 Speaker 1: the billy's unconventional style and approach to country threw off 388 00:24:15,280 --> 00:24:18,520 Speaker 1: some country purists. When we talk about men, we you know, 389 00:24:19,119 --> 00:24:22,840 Speaker 1: complement them on their brilliance and um their minds, you know, 390 00:24:22,960 --> 00:24:25,760 Speaker 1: and we don't draw attention to their bodies in the 391 00:24:25,800 --> 00:24:28,080 Speaker 1: way that we draw attention to women's bodies. And I 392 00:24:28,160 --> 00:24:31,080 Speaker 1: noticed that song draws a lot of attention and its 393 00:24:31,160 --> 00:24:35,080 Speaker 1: lyrics to body parts, not just the achy breaking heart, 394 00:24:35,119 --> 00:24:37,840 Speaker 1: but all different body parts and the way that they're 395 00:24:37,840 --> 00:24:41,879 Speaker 1: responding to his feelings and his rejection, his romantic rejection. 396 00:24:41,960 --> 00:24:45,119 Speaker 1: And so yeah, I think that sort of questions the 397 00:24:45,240 --> 00:24:48,720 Speaker 1: masculinity of the song in a way. The song is 398 00:24:48,800 --> 00:24:52,680 Speaker 1: a little weird. Cyrus's heart, or rather the narrator's heart, 399 00:24:53,119 --> 00:24:56,240 Speaker 1: is referred to as he don't tell my heart my 400 00:24:56,359 --> 00:25:00,720 Speaker 1: achy breaky Heart. I just don't think he'd understand. So 401 00:25:00,760 --> 00:25:03,520 Speaker 1: it's a totally separate entity from the singers had him brains, 402 00:25:04,480 --> 00:25:06,679 Speaker 1: and Cyrus is not only drawing all his attention to 403 00:25:06,720 --> 00:25:10,639 Speaker 1: his body parts and in a way objectifying himself further, 404 00:25:11,359 --> 00:25:14,240 Speaker 1: he's also delighting in rhymes and lyrics that for many 405 00:25:14,280 --> 00:25:18,439 Speaker 1: readers hokey, insincere, and like a parody of country, like 406 00:25:18,560 --> 00:25:23,760 Speaker 1: we saw with Katie Lang. Embracing the honky tonk humor. 407 00:25:23,920 --> 00:25:28,040 Speaker 1: The hillbilly humor of country music in the late eighties 408 00:25:28,160 --> 00:25:33,600 Speaker 1: and the early nineties was dangerous to the country industry 409 00:25:33,680 --> 00:25:39,359 Speaker 1: because they were putting forth a much more serious image 410 00:25:39,359 --> 00:25:44,640 Speaker 1: of country music, and ever since the Nashville Sound marketed 411 00:25:44,680 --> 00:25:48,200 Speaker 1: country music to a much wider audience, people on the coasts, 412 00:25:49,240 --> 00:25:53,240 Speaker 1: middle class people. They were trying to attract people to 413 00:25:53,280 --> 00:25:58,040 Speaker 1: hearing these stories and relating to them and not encouraging 414 00:25:58,200 --> 00:26:01,119 Speaker 1: some of that hillbilly humor that could bring shame to 415 00:26:01,400 --> 00:26:04,920 Speaker 1: working class and rural people, and it certainly did with 416 00:26:04,920 --> 00:26:08,000 Speaker 1: with things like the book and movie Deliverance, you know, 417 00:26:08,240 --> 00:26:11,840 Speaker 1: making people feel embarrassed to be from Appalachia and from 418 00:26:12,080 --> 00:26:17,200 Speaker 1: rural communities and be working class people and So for 419 00:26:17,320 --> 00:26:20,760 Speaker 1: Billy ray Cyris to come, you know, immediately out of 420 00:26:20,760 --> 00:26:26,359 Speaker 1: the gate with a crossover hit perhaps already made people suspicious. 421 00:26:26,440 --> 00:26:31,360 Speaker 1: And then um, he's dancing, and he's you know, sexy 422 00:26:31,520 --> 00:26:34,399 Speaker 1: and has a mullet and is singing all about his 423 00:26:34,480 --> 00:26:38,280 Speaker 1: different body parts and his heartbreak. Um, maybe that's enough 424 00:26:38,440 --> 00:26:42,080 Speaker 1: in that moment to make it a question for some people. 425 00:26:43,160 --> 00:26:46,440 Speaker 1: Singer Travis Tripp was one of those people. He questions 426 00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:50,000 Speaker 1: IRUs is seriousness, authenticity and stage presence, and was in 427 00:26:50,200 --> 00:26:54,879 Speaker 1: no hurry to release the Wiggle. In June, the popular 428 00:26:54,920 --> 00:26:57,560 Speaker 1: country Artists made his feelings abundantly clear to the press, 429 00:26:57,640 --> 00:27:00,480 Speaker 1: saying ikey Breaky Heart was quote unquote frivolous and that 430 00:27:00,560 --> 00:27:03,639 Speaker 1: a success suggested that country music was deteriorating into a 431 00:27:03,680 --> 00:27:08,840 Speaker 1: quote unquote as spiggling contest says Robert Orman. Country stars 432 00:27:08,920 --> 00:27:13,719 Speaker 1: male and female, generally do not move. They pretty much 433 00:27:13,800 --> 00:27:17,600 Speaker 1: stand there and present the song Billy did. Billy danced 434 00:27:17,640 --> 00:27:21,600 Speaker 1: on stage, Um, and that was unusual for the time, 435 00:27:21,600 --> 00:27:27,000 Speaker 1: And I think that is why men didn't flock to 436 00:27:27,080 --> 00:27:29,520 Speaker 1: him the way women did. I think men are uncomfortable 437 00:27:30,080 --> 00:27:33,160 Speaker 1: with men that are too good looking, and if they 438 00:27:33,320 --> 00:27:35,919 Speaker 1: dance on stage, that's kind of like, that's not manly 439 00:27:36,240 --> 00:27:39,600 Speaker 1: or that's not you know that in country music, that 440 00:27:39,680 --> 00:27:42,600 Speaker 1: was not done. Cyrus writes in his memoir hill Billy 441 00:27:42,680 --> 00:27:45,600 Speaker 1: Hart that he considered responding to trits dis but his 442 00:27:45,760 --> 00:27:49,720 Speaker 1: politician father talked him out of it, saying, son, you 443 00:27:49,760 --> 00:27:51,480 Speaker 1: have to take it as a compliment that you made 444 00:27:51,480 --> 00:27:54,440 Speaker 1: someone so upset. You can't have so many people out 445 00:27:54,480 --> 00:27:58,040 Speaker 1: there love that thing without having someone hated. You. Don't 446 00:27:58,080 --> 00:28:01,199 Speaker 1: say nothing. You just go about your busines us okay, 447 00:28:01,359 --> 00:28:04,879 Speaker 1: But Cyrus didn't totally take his dad's advice. At the 448 00:28:06,160 --> 00:28:09,560 Speaker 1: American Music Awards, where he won Favorite New Country Artist 449 00:28:09,760 --> 00:28:12,960 Speaker 1: and a key Breaky Heart won Favorite Country Single, the 450 00:28:13,040 --> 00:28:16,600 Speaker 1: singer took the opportunity to read his adversary as he 451 00:28:16,680 --> 00:28:19,440 Speaker 1: hit the stage and accepted the statue for Favorite Country Single. 452 00:28:19,760 --> 00:28:23,360 Speaker 1: He shouted, Tonight, this award is from you, the fans, 453 00:28:23,359 --> 00:28:25,480 Speaker 1: and as far as I'm concerned, to those people who 454 00:28:25,520 --> 00:28:28,800 Speaker 1: don't like aky Breaky Heart, here's a quarter call someone 455 00:28:28,840 --> 00:28:34,119 Speaker 1: who cares. Cyrus's remark refer to Travis Tritt hit Here's 456 00:28:34,119 --> 00:28:37,199 Speaker 1: a quarter called someone who cares. A single that, unlike 457 00:28:37,200 --> 00:28:41,080 Speaker 1: Cyrus song never made its number one that's right. That evening, 458 00:28:41,320 --> 00:28:44,240 Speaker 1: the City Library was open, and Billy Ray cyrus through 459 00:28:44,280 --> 00:28:48,040 Speaker 1: Travis Tritt's inferior number two single at Him the Shade. 460 00:28:49,120 --> 00:28:52,560 Speaker 1: But the iron mockery didn't stop there. Reacting to the 461 00:28:52,600 --> 00:28:58,080 Speaker 1: song's ubiquity, weird Al Yankovic penned a spoof a Key 462 00:28:58,160 --> 00:29:01,600 Speaker 1: Breaky Song, in which he beg DJ's not to play 463 00:29:01,640 --> 00:29:05,240 Speaker 1: the single, rattling off a list of divisive musical artists 464 00:29:05,240 --> 00:29:09,960 Speaker 1: he'd rather hear Aba Barry Manilow, Vanilla Ice, Nucas on 465 00:29:10,040 --> 00:29:13,280 Speaker 1: the Block, Tiffany Yoko Ono. He even went so far 466 00:29:13,280 --> 00:29:15,600 Speaker 1: as they say he preferred they quote unquote time met 467 00:29:15,720 --> 00:29:19,120 Speaker 1: a chair and kick me down the stairs. The hatred 468 00:29:20,280 --> 00:29:22,480 Speaker 1: The song got quite a bit of play on country 469 00:29:22,520 --> 00:29:25,560 Speaker 1: radio stations, but Yankovic admitted that it was a little 470 00:29:25,640 --> 00:29:28,360 Speaker 1: rude and gentleman that he is. Included a message in 471 00:29:28,360 --> 00:29:30,880 Speaker 1: the liner notes of Al Palooza, the album on which 472 00:29:30,880 --> 00:29:34,920 Speaker 1: Akey Bricky Song appears. He wrote all songwriting proceeds from 473 00:29:34,960 --> 00:29:37,440 Speaker 1: Akey Breaky Song will be donated to the United Cerebral 474 00:29:37,480 --> 00:29:41,920 Speaker 1: Palsy Association. Responding to a question from a fan about 475 00:29:41,920 --> 00:29:45,680 Speaker 1: a Yankovic explained both the writer of aky, Bracky Heart 476 00:29:45,720 --> 00:29:47,360 Speaker 1: and I were a little uncomfortable over the fact that 477 00:29:47,360 --> 00:29:50,520 Speaker 1: the parody was a little bit well means spirited, so 478 00:29:50,560 --> 00:29:52,080 Speaker 1: we thought it would kind of take the edge off 479 00:29:52,080 --> 00:29:54,360 Speaker 1: of it if we donated all the songwriting proceeds to 480 00:29:54,400 --> 00:29:58,400 Speaker 1: a worthy charity see such a gentleman, as if we 481 00:29:58,440 --> 00:30:04,360 Speaker 1: needed another reason to love weird. Tabloids also found an 482 00:30:04,400 --> 00:30:07,360 Speaker 1: easy target in Cyrus, with one reporting about his alleged 483 00:30:07,400 --> 00:30:11,280 Speaker 1: Chippindal's past. Come on it sort of tracks, however, in 484 00:30:11,360 --> 00:30:14,960 Speaker 1: April nineteen, when they reported that a young waitress had 485 00:30:15,000 --> 00:30:17,240 Speaker 1: given birth to his child while a different woman his 486 00:30:17,320 --> 00:30:20,240 Speaker 1: current main squeeze at the time, Trish, was pregnant. Well 487 00:30:20,640 --> 00:30:26,360 Speaker 1: that was a fact, Massy. Let you know who else 488 00:30:26,360 --> 00:30:29,120 Speaker 1: found an easy target in Mr Cyrus Elephant and the 489 00:30:29,200 --> 00:30:32,480 Speaker 1: Goddamn Chipmunks, who covered a key breaking Heart in the 490 00:30:32,560 --> 00:30:36,880 Speaker 1: fall of on their country album Chipmunks and Low Places. 491 00:30:37,400 --> 00:30:39,680 Speaker 1: But you know Cyrus went ahead and joined it on 492 00:30:39,760 --> 00:30:42,920 Speaker 1: the fun, contributing some speaking parts to the song, which 493 00:30:42,960 --> 00:30:45,760 Speaker 1: reached number seventy one on the Billboard Hot Country Songs 494 00:30:45,800 --> 00:30:49,280 Speaker 1: chart and became the trio's first entry on any Billboard chart. 495 00:30:49,520 --> 00:30:53,240 Speaker 1: Thirty two years go, Chipmunks so maybe everyone won in 496 00:30:53,280 --> 00:31:04,080 Speaker 1: this case. More than a decade later, the Hecklers were 497 00:31:04,160 --> 00:31:08,080 Speaker 1: still beyond the bio. On the two thousand four special 498 00:31:08,280 --> 00:31:11,720 Speaker 1: v H one and Blender Magazine present fifty Most Awesomely 499 00:31:11,840 --> 00:31:16,120 Speaker 1: Bad Songs ever, Aky Barky Heart came in at number two, 500 00:31:16,840 --> 00:31:19,760 Speaker 1: just behind Starships We Built the City, a song that 501 00:31:19,800 --> 00:31:23,600 Speaker 1: pretty much everyone agrees sucks ass. But Cyrus also had 502 00:31:23,600 --> 00:31:26,640 Speaker 1: some heroes on a side. For example, Bruce Springsteen covered 503 00:31:26,640 --> 00:31:29,680 Speaker 1: ay Breaking Heart live, declaring I don't care what anybody says, 504 00:31:29,800 --> 00:31:32,680 Speaker 1: It's a damn good little rock song. And when Cyrus 505 00:31:32,760 --> 00:31:34,800 Speaker 1: got a letter in the mail from Johnny Cash, his 506 00:31:34,920 --> 00:31:38,160 Speaker 1: Achy Breaky Heart nearly gave out altogether. In the letter, 507 00:31:38,200 --> 00:31:41,400 Speaker 1: Cash wrote, thirty six years ago, I was working with 508 00:31:41,440 --> 00:31:43,800 Speaker 1: Elvis and saw him take the same kind of flak 509 00:31:43,840 --> 00:31:47,120 Speaker 1: you're taking now. Congratulations on the way you're handling it. 510 00:31:47,160 --> 00:31:51,240 Speaker 1: All in your case as an Elvis's the good outweighs 511 00:31:51,240 --> 00:31:54,120 Speaker 1: the bad. Let him have it. I'm in your corner. 512 00:31:55,520 --> 00:31:57,800 Speaker 1: Laugh all you want, haters, but have you ever got 513 00:31:57,880 --> 00:32:02,720 Speaker 1: a letter from Johnny Cash? But here's the thing. As 514 00:32:02,760 --> 00:32:04,920 Speaker 1: much as folks thought Billy Ray, Cyrus was just some 515 00:32:05,080 --> 00:32:09,200 Speaker 1: lucky himbo. He actually was quite self aware, as he 516 00:32:09,240 --> 00:32:13,400 Speaker 1: writes in his memoir Hilboly Heart, Trust Me, I knew 517 00:32:13,400 --> 00:32:15,240 Speaker 1: a Aikey breaking heart. It was either love it or 518 00:32:15,280 --> 00:32:17,960 Speaker 1: hate it. There was no middle ground, not with a 519 00:32:18,000 --> 00:32:21,280 Speaker 1: song that big. It turns out Cyrus wasn't a clueless 520 00:32:21,320 --> 00:32:25,680 Speaker 1: beefcake dude was a savvy businessman. He knew what audience 521 00:32:25,680 --> 00:32:28,680 Speaker 1: has wanted, how to market himself, and ultimately how to 522 00:32:28,720 --> 00:32:33,320 Speaker 1: adapt and shapeshift to sustain his celebrity. He parlayed the 523 00:32:33,400 --> 00:32:36,080 Speaker 1: massive success of Some Gave All into an acting career, 524 00:32:36,560 --> 00:32:38,920 Speaker 1: even landing a bit part in David Lynch's moody film 525 00:32:38,960 --> 00:32:42,120 Speaker 1: moholland Drive. Okay, admittedly he was playing a himbo pool 526 00:32:42,120 --> 00:32:44,480 Speaker 1: boy in that one, but he also showed up in 527 00:32:44,480 --> 00:32:48,000 Speaker 1: the series doc The Nannie and Diagnosed his murder, and 528 00:32:48,080 --> 00:32:51,840 Speaker 1: a Toronto stage production of Annie Get Your Gun. Oh, 529 00:32:52,000 --> 00:32:54,320 Speaker 1: and remember how the Gossip Rags reported that Cyrus had 530 00:32:54,400 --> 00:32:59,680 Speaker 1: knocked up two women within the same year. Well, following 531 00:32:59,680 --> 00:33:03,160 Speaker 1: all that famine fortune, his wife Trish gave birth to 532 00:33:03,200 --> 00:33:09,000 Speaker 1: their first child, her name Destiny Hope Cyrus, or as 533 00:33:09,000 --> 00:33:12,400 Speaker 1: we know her today, Miley Cyrus and two thousand and 534 00:33:12,440 --> 00:33:15,440 Speaker 1: six Billy Ray and Miley unveiled their Disney show Hannah 535 00:33:15,440 --> 00:33:18,840 Speaker 1: Montana to the world. The series, about a teenage girl 536 00:33:18,920 --> 00:33:21,200 Speaker 1: named Miley who's leading a double life as a pop 537 00:33:21,240 --> 00:33:25,440 Speaker 1: star Hannah Montana while navigating adolescence, ran for four seasons. 538 00:33:26,000 --> 00:33:28,800 Speaker 1: On it, Billy Ray played her dad, Robbie Ray. Yeah, 539 00:33:28,840 --> 00:33:31,720 Speaker 1: they didn't really try to vail things here, Billy Ray. 540 00:33:31,800 --> 00:33:34,719 Speaker 1: Cyrus was aware of his outsider status and Nashville and 541 00:33:34,840 --> 00:33:37,800 Speaker 1: in pop, knowing he could just fade away and fall 542 00:33:37,840 --> 00:33:41,600 Speaker 1: into some one hit wonder Ubliette. The key to longevity, 543 00:33:41,720 --> 00:33:46,520 Speaker 1: as it always has been, was reinvention. Achy Breaky Heart 544 00:33:46,560 --> 00:33:50,520 Speaker 1: has been recorded in languages like Welsh, Japanese, and Spanish. 545 00:33:50,960 --> 00:33:54,640 Speaker 1: The Mexican Quintet Cabayo Dorado turned the song into a 546 00:33:54,640 --> 00:33:58,000 Speaker 1: wedding classic in Mexico in the mid nineties. In two 547 00:33:58,040 --> 00:34:01,200 Speaker 1: thousand seventeen, to sell breat Sinco de Mayo and the 548 00:34:01,240 --> 00:34:04,640 Speaker 1: twenty anniversary of Thanky Bricky Heart, Cyrus teamed up with 549 00:34:04,720 --> 00:34:10,239 Speaker 1: them to re record their versions Masks, which Cyrus and 550 00:34:10,320 --> 00:34:15,920 Speaker 1: Von Trust produced. Cyrus continued to release country tunes sixteen 551 00:34:16,000 --> 00:34:19,720 Speaker 1: studio albums total. However, no one would be as huge 552 00:34:19,800 --> 00:34:22,840 Speaker 1: as Some Gave All, which was the best selling album, 553 00:34:24,040 --> 00:34:27,400 Speaker 1: spending seventeen consecutive weeks at the top of the Billboard 554 00:34:27,400 --> 00:34:30,640 Speaker 1: two hundred at that point, the longest time spent by 555 00:34:30,640 --> 00:34:34,720 Speaker 1: a debut artist at number one. He never had another 556 00:34:34,760 --> 00:34:37,400 Speaker 1: solo pop hit after Aki Berkey Heart, But did he 557 00:34:37,440 --> 00:34:45,359 Speaker 1: really need to? The man gave us Hannah Montana. If 558 00:34:45,360 --> 00:34:47,919 Speaker 1: you're still not convinced that Mr Mullet had the last laugh, 559 00:34:48,000 --> 00:34:52,440 Speaker 1: I have three words for you, Old Town Road. We 560 00:34:52,480 --> 00:34:55,360 Speaker 1: all know how the story goes by now, clever social 561 00:34:55,360 --> 00:34:58,680 Speaker 1: media star and musical upstar records a country trap song. 562 00:34:59,280 --> 00:35:02,800 Speaker 1: It starts a sending the Hot Country Songs chart until 563 00:35:02,800 --> 00:35:07,280 Speaker 1: Billboard disqualifies it, claiming it doesn't count his country social 564 00:35:07,320 --> 00:35:09,640 Speaker 1: media star, who had already tweeted that he wanted Billy 565 00:35:09,719 --> 00:35:11,400 Speaker 1: Ray on his song since he loved him from his 566 00:35:11,480 --> 00:35:14,800 Speaker 1: Hannah Montana days, gets him too, not only voices support 567 00:35:14,840 --> 00:35:17,880 Speaker 1: of the song, but re recorded with the Upstart as 568 00:35:17,920 --> 00:35:22,560 Speaker 1: a duet. The man who in two turned country on 569 00:35:22,640 --> 00:35:27,000 Speaker 1: its stuffy old dance hating head re emerged in two 570 00:35:27,000 --> 00:35:30,399 Speaker 1: thousand nineteen to part the Tumbleweeds, kick up the dirt 571 00:35:30,800 --> 00:35:33,239 Speaker 1: and show everyone that there was a new shareff in 572 00:35:33,320 --> 00:35:36,280 Speaker 1: town Well, a sheriff and a deputy. In this case, 573 00:35:36,840 --> 00:35:39,839 Speaker 1: he saw potential in this young whipper snapper and saw 574 00:35:39,880 --> 00:35:42,920 Speaker 1: a bit of himself and him too. He had also 575 00:35:42,960 --> 00:35:48,200 Speaker 1: been deemed unworthy by certain country muckey MUCKs. I've been 576 00:35:48,239 --> 00:35:52,560 Speaker 1: watching everything going on with O t R. When I 577 00:35:52,600 --> 00:35:55,000 Speaker 1: got thrown out the charts, Well and Jennings said to me, 578 00:35:55,760 --> 00:35:58,760 Speaker 1: take this as a compliment. Means you're doing something great, 579 00:35:59,160 --> 00:36:03,759 Speaker 1: Cyrus tweeted to him. Only outlaws are outlawed. Welcome to 580 00:36:03,760 --> 00:36:09,279 Speaker 1: the club. The rest is chart history. Soon came The 581 00:36:09,360 --> 00:36:13,239 Speaker 1: Old Town Road Remix, a duet between twenty year old 582 00:36:13,320 --> 00:36:18,160 Speaker 1: rapper singer Little Nasax and Billy Ray Cyrus of their 583 00:36:18,160 --> 00:36:21,800 Speaker 1: record breaking nineteen weeks It's spent at number one in 584 00:36:21,840 --> 00:36:25,120 Speaker 1: the Billboard Hot one hundred. Eighteen of them were credited 585 00:36:25,120 --> 00:36:29,919 Speaker 1: to both Nasax and Cyrus. The song became Cyrus's first 586 00:36:30,000 --> 00:36:32,480 Speaker 1: number one single on the Hot one hundred and also 587 00:36:32,560 --> 00:36:37,360 Speaker 1: one in his first Grammy Awards, one for Best Pop 588 00:36:37,440 --> 00:36:41,600 Speaker 1: Duo Group Performance and another for Best Music Video. In 589 00:36:41,760 --> 00:36:47,759 Speaker 1: joining forces, these outlaws created something universally beloved, something that 590 00:36:47,840 --> 00:36:53,960 Speaker 1: transcended genre and appealed to so so many listeners, says 591 00:36:53,960 --> 00:36:59,080 Speaker 1: Shane of Golden persch Bocker. That remixed version immediately, you know, 592 00:36:59,200 --> 00:37:03,759 Speaker 1: authentic the song for some country listeners, but also um 593 00:37:03,840 --> 00:37:07,520 Speaker 1: as Little no Sex says, it attracted people who had 594 00:37:07,760 --> 00:37:10,320 Speaker 1: had thought that they would be turned off by country music. 595 00:37:10,719 --> 00:37:15,400 Speaker 1: Like Aky Bricky Heart, Old Town Road was absurd and ubiquitous, 596 00:37:15,400 --> 00:37:18,879 Speaker 1: but this time was Internet, and like Aky Bricky Heart, 597 00:37:19,120 --> 00:37:22,600 Speaker 1: it had country traditionalists up in arms. Who was this 598 00:37:22,719 --> 00:37:25,360 Speaker 1: kid who came out of nowhere with no experience or 599 00:37:25,440 --> 00:37:28,920 Speaker 1: dues paid in Nashville to take country, hip hop and 600 00:37:29,120 --> 00:37:33,920 Speaker 1: pop by the balls. But also, like Cyrus, Little Nozex 601 00:37:34,000 --> 00:37:38,239 Speaker 1: proved to detractors he wasn't going anywhere, well except to 602 00:37:38,280 --> 00:37:42,399 Speaker 1: Hell to give Satana lap dance. The parallels between these 603 00:37:42,400 --> 00:37:46,520 Speaker 1: two singers stories are uncanny. Both were college shopouts who 604 00:37:46,520 --> 00:37:49,960 Speaker 1: became overnight sensations after putting out a massive hit single 605 00:37:50,360 --> 00:37:54,200 Speaker 1: and serving a head turning look that totally disrupted country music. 606 00:37:54,960 --> 00:38:00,200 Speaker 1: A collaboration seemed too perfect, like a foregone conclusion. You know, 607 00:38:00,480 --> 00:38:04,799 Speaker 1: when Little nos Sex came around with this invitation to 608 00:38:04,920 --> 00:38:09,800 Speaker 1: collaborate and remix the song, it was the next great opportunity, 609 00:38:10,239 --> 00:38:16,640 Speaker 1: you know, to be reintroduced to another another audience. Um 610 00:38:16,680 --> 00:38:19,520 Speaker 1: to be playful in the same kind of way around 611 00:38:19,560 --> 00:38:22,760 Speaker 1: country music, you know, to not to not have such 612 00:38:23,000 --> 00:38:26,480 Speaker 1: strict boundaries and kind of solemness around it, but to 613 00:38:26,520 --> 00:38:28,960 Speaker 1: have a little fun with it and also do something 614 00:38:29,000 --> 00:38:33,120 Speaker 1: that's clearly country music. Right. They're they're black cowboys, going 615 00:38:33,160 --> 00:38:36,880 Speaker 1: back to the very beginning, so it's it's authentic in 616 00:38:36,960 --> 00:38:50,719 Speaker 1: that way. Up next week, splore what is arguably the 617 00:38:50,800 --> 00:38:56,239 Speaker 1: most notorious element of the cyrusmithils his mullet. As we 618 00:38:56,280 --> 00:38:59,720 Speaker 1: go behind the Hair, behind the Man, we're left wondering 619 00:39:00,680 --> 00:39:20,719 Speaker 1: was Billy Ray Cyrus actually onto something. We've spent this 620 00:39:20,760 --> 00:39:23,879 Speaker 1: episode talking about Billy Ray Cyrus, but you can't talk 621 00:39:23,920 --> 00:39:27,280 Speaker 1: about the man without talking about the mullet. Like Sampson 622 00:39:27,520 --> 00:39:31,000 Speaker 1: or any respectable drag queen, Cyrus was only as good 623 00:39:31,000 --> 00:39:34,960 Speaker 1: as his wig. Preparing to revisit Ikey Breaky Heart all 624 00:39:35,040 --> 00:39:38,280 Speaker 1: these years later, I couldn't tell you half the lyrics 625 00:39:38,280 --> 00:39:41,240 Speaker 1: to the song. I certainly couldn't remember any of the coreo. 626 00:39:42,000 --> 00:39:45,440 Speaker 1: But the mullet is permanently seared into my brain, into 627 00:39:45,480 --> 00:39:49,520 Speaker 1: all of our brains. It's a tell as old as time. 628 00:39:50,280 --> 00:39:53,480 Speaker 1: If Cyrus took an old Town Road straight to come back. 629 00:39:53,520 --> 00:39:58,320 Speaker 1: Bliss in two thousand nineteen his legendary token, We've soon followed. 630 00:39:59,000 --> 00:40:02,960 Speaker 1: The mullet a ka the Mississippi mud Flap a k a. 631 00:40:03,080 --> 00:40:06,120 Speaker 1: The Tennessee top Hat a k a. The beaver Paddle 632 00:40:06,480 --> 00:40:10,120 Speaker 1: a k eight. The Kentucky Waterfall has been enjoying a 633 00:40:10,120 --> 00:40:13,640 Speaker 1: renaissance the past few years. Call it the Tiger King effect. 634 00:40:14,719 --> 00:40:16,760 Speaker 1: Or maybe it was all those months spent in lockdown 635 00:40:16,760 --> 00:40:19,640 Speaker 1: when salons and barber shops were closed and we had 636 00:40:19,680 --> 00:40:22,759 Speaker 1: no choice but to let everything go to ship or 637 00:40:23,480 --> 00:40:26,239 Speaker 1: and a lovely twist none of us could have expected. 638 00:40:26,440 --> 00:40:29,080 Speaker 1: Maybe it was Billy Ray's own daughter, Miley Cyrus, who 639 00:40:29,120 --> 00:40:31,680 Speaker 1: sparked the modern mullet movement, not without the help of 640 00:40:31,800 --> 00:40:35,600 Speaker 1: Rihanna and Zendia. Though whatever the reason, whoever is to 641 00:40:35,640 --> 00:40:39,440 Speaker 1: blame or thank, the mullet is once again making the rounds. 642 00:40:40,320 --> 00:40:44,840 Speaker 1: It's popped up in runway shows for Alexander McQueen Blanciaga, Kenzo, 643 00:40:45,080 --> 00:40:48,160 Speaker 1: Rick Owens, and Sella McCartney, And on the Red carpet 644 00:40:48,680 --> 00:40:50,880 Speaker 1: Who could forget when none other than Little nos X 645 00:40:51,000 --> 00:40:53,560 Speaker 1: rocked up with the two thousand twenty one MTV Music 646 00:40:53,600 --> 00:40:56,880 Speaker 1: Awards boasting a Jerry Curl mullet and eleven or halfpence 647 00:40:56,920 --> 00:41:01,760 Speaker 1: suit half gowned by a Telly Versacchi. Meanwhile, the USA 648 00:41:01,840 --> 00:41:06,520 Speaker 1: Mullet Championships launched in including Men's, Kids, teens, and fee 649 00:41:06,600 --> 00:41:11,240 Speaker 1: mullet divisions. Magda rich Co is the founder of Harari, 650 00:41:11,840 --> 00:41:15,440 Speaker 1: a gender neutral, all inclusive barbershop with locations in Brooklyn, 651 00:41:15,640 --> 00:41:18,960 Speaker 1: New York City, and Los Angeles. She's been giving modern 652 00:41:19,040 --> 00:41:22,160 Speaker 1: mullets for fifteen years, but she says these days the 653 00:41:22,200 --> 00:41:26,000 Speaker 1: account for thirty tot of her business. She considers the 654 00:41:26,040 --> 00:41:28,600 Speaker 1: mullet to be more than just a zoom friendly hairstyle 655 00:41:28,640 --> 00:41:31,120 Speaker 1: for folks working from home. You know, the old saying 656 00:41:31,160 --> 00:41:34,239 Speaker 1: business in front, party in the back. So I feel 657 00:41:34,239 --> 00:41:37,120 Speaker 1: like Amala is a liberal of like a rebellion, and 658 00:41:37,200 --> 00:41:39,640 Speaker 1: when a person gets Amla, they're just kind of like, 659 00:41:40,880 --> 00:41:42,680 Speaker 1: you know, showing people that they're not going to have 660 00:41:42,760 --> 00:41:44,640 Speaker 1: a hair in the back, you know, to the collar. 661 00:41:45,280 --> 00:41:49,240 Speaker 1: They're more of a rebel or you know, just somebody 662 00:41:49,239 --> 00:41:52,480 Speaker 1: who wants to have a good time and have a fun, 663 00:41:52,520 --> 00:41:56,200 Speaker 1: trendy haircut. Rich Co discovered Billy Ray Cyrus in middle 664 00:41:56,200 --> 00:41:59,040 Speaker 1: school through a girlfriend who was really into country. She 665 00:41:59,160 --> 00:42:02,480 Speaker 1: thought a key breaky heart was catchy and liked his look. Yeah, 666 00:42:02,480 --> 00:42:04,000 Speaker 1: I mean I thought it was cool. I was definitely 667 00:42:04,080 --> 00:42:07,480 Speaker 1: inspiration for like gay guys. Cyrus often comes up in 668 00:42:07,560 --> 00:42:10,640 Speaker 1: clients looking for mullet cuts head a priori. But if 669 00:42:10,680 --> 00:42:13,840 Speaker 1: he's the most name checked celebrity of her male clients, 670 00:42:13,880 --> 00:42:16,759 Speaker 1: they figured out ways to personalize their mullets. Does that 671 00:42:16,840 --> 00:42:20,840 Speaker 1: just wat People are just like go and deconstruct, you know, 672 00:42:20,880 --> 00:42:24,399 Speaker 1: whatever was to make it more original and like more 673 00:42:25,040 --> 00:42:29,319 Speaker 1: current for the times. The number of modern mullet variations 674 00:42:29,480 --> 00:42:34,200 Speaker 1: is staggering. There's a Kentucky waterfall, the baseball mullet, the 675 00:42:34,320 --> 00:42:37,640 Speaker 1: ziggy stardust mullet, which of course David Bowie made famous, 676 00:42:38,080 --> 00:42:42,480 Speaker 1: the mohawk mullet combo, the Pompador mullet, the shag mullet, 677 00:42:42,520 --> 00:42:46,000 Speaker 1: the mullet with countless different fades, and the wolf cut, 678 00:42:46,160 --> 00:42:50,080 Speaker 1: which Billie Eilish and Miley Cyrus have launted recently. In 679 00:42:50,120 --> 00:42:54,880 Speaker 1: my neighborhood of Bushwick, Brooklyn, I've seen pretty much every 680 00:42:54,960 --> 00:42:57,920 Speaker 1: last one of them. Turns out, Billy Ray Cyrus was 681 00:42:57,960 --> 00:43:02,000 Speaker 1: onto something as rich co test. The mullet is actually 682 00:43:02,040 --> 00:43:07,080 Speaker 1: incredibly versatile. It's possibilities are endless. It's you know, also 683 00:43:07,120 --> 00:43:09,160 Speaker 1: a lot of times like gender affirming or you know, 684 00:43:09,160 --> 00:43:13,200 Speaker 1: it's also gender neutral. So I think that's really cool 685 00:43:13,239 --> 00:43:16,840 Speaker 1: about it to anybody can have it. Furthermore, taking the 686 00:43:16,880 --> 00:43:19,680 Speaker 1: plunge into that Kentucky waterfall is a fast way to 687 00:43:19,719 --> 00:43:22,719 Speaker 1: show the world that you have zero fox left to give, 688 00:43:23,120 --> 00:43:27,000 Speaker 1: that you own the road, that you own your identity. 689 00:43:27,440 --> 00:43:30,239 Speaker 1: People are just I don't know, they get so much 690 00:43:30,320 --> 00:43:32,880 Speaker 1: life from it. When you know they have like a 691 00:43:32,920 --> 00:43:35,000 Speaker 1: regular hair, got really long hair, and then they come 692 00:43:35,040 --> 00:43:37,600 Speaker 1: in and they get a mullet makeover. Oh my god, 693 00:43:37,640 --> 00:43:40,719 Speaker 1: it's like a whole new persona comes up. You know, 694 00:43:40,760 --> 00:43:45,080 Speaker 1: the confidence and like the swag love mur hadum. Cyrus 695 00:43:45,120 --> 00:43:47,200 Speaker 1: had that swag, which is why he was able to 696 00:43:47,200 --> 00:43:50,120 Speaker 1: make millions of listeners swoon and get plenty of them 697 00:43:50,160 --> 00:43:52,120 Speaker 1: to strap on their boots and get in on the 698 00:43:52,200 --> 00:43:55,760 Speaker 1: latest dance craze. We can't deny the role his hairplate 699 00:43:55,840 --> 00:43:59,640 Speaker 1: in solidifying that swag. Cyrus may have ditched that mullet 700 00:43:59,719 --> 00:44:04,200 Speaker 1: years ago, but it's legacy lives on. When I asked 701 00:44:04,200 --> 00:44:06,520 Speaker 1: about his post Old Town Road future in a two 702 00:44:06,560 --> 00:44:10,680 Speaker 1: thousand nineteen New York Post interview, Cyrus replied, you want 703 00:44:10,719 --> 00:44:13,279 Speaker 1: me to be really honest with you. I was thinking 704 00:44:13,280 --> 00:44:15,680 Speaker 1: about retiring because to me, this is the perfect way 705 00:44:15,719 --> 00:44:18,239 Speaker 1: for me to go out for years and years, I said, 706 00:44:18,440 --> 00:44:20,400 Speaker 1: Man if I could ever just make it back to 707 00:44:20,440 --> 00:44:22,839 Speaker 1: the top, I think I just retire and quit at 708 00:44:22,840 --> 00:44:25,400 Speaker 1: the top. Never dreamy it could ever even be close 709 00:44:25,440 --> 00:44:29,160 Speaker 1: to possible. Lo and behold, this ride happens. And there's 710 00:44:29,160 --> 00:44:31,799 Speaker 1: been so many great ideas coming at me. That's why 711 00:44:31,840 --> 00:44:33,960 Speaker 1: I'm not going to retire, because I now have a 712 00:44:34,000 --> 00:44:36,680 Speaker 1: whole another album of some ideas with some people I 713 00:44:36,840 --> 00:44:39,319 Speaker 1: love to make some music with, and it turns me on. 714 00:44:40,480 --> 00:44:44,960 Speaker 1: The unfathomable crossover success of a debut novelty song kick 715 00:44:45,040 --> 00:44:50,240 Speaker 1: started Cyrus's career. The record chattering success of another twenty 716 00:44:50,280 --> 00:44:55,160 Speaker 1: seven years later reignited it. In September two, one Lele 717 00:44:55,239 --> 00:44:58,799 Speaker 1: nas X's debut single, Old Town Road, which morphed into 718 00:44:58,800 --> 00:45:03,680 Speaker 1: a collaboration with Cyrus Us, became certified fifteen times platinum 719 00:45:03,719 --> 00:45:08,440 Speaker 1: by the Reporting Industry Association of America, moving fifteen million units, 720 00:45:08,480 --> 00:45:12,560 Speaker 1: the first record ever to do so. Mr Mullet could 721 00:45:12,560 --> 00:45:15,960 Speaker 1: no longer be called the one hit wonder. Meanwhile, country 722 00:45:16,040 --> 00:45:18,640 Speaker 1: is hardly a dirty word in the pop world. Sure, 723 00:45:18,719 --> 00:45:21,360 Speaker 1: Little nas Ex quickly transitioned into hip hop and pop, 724 00:45:21,719 --> 00:45:24,960 Speaker 1: but country acts like Casey Musgraves, Marion Morris, and Orville 725 00:45:24,960 --> 00:45:27,000 Speaker 1: Peck not to mention, this artist you might have heard 726 00:45:27,000 --> 00:45:31,080 Speaker 1: of named Taylor Swift have substantial and dedicated followings and 727 00:45:31,160 --> 00:45:34,719 Speaker 1: critical acclaim to boot go ahead, don't tell your heart 728 00:45:34,760 --> 00:45:37,279 Speaker 1: that Cyrus helped instigate the country pop cross over three 729 00:45:37,280 --> 00:45:41,000 Speaker 1: decades ago. But you might be lying to it. Maybe, 730 00:45:41,600 --> 00:45:45,360 Speaker 1: just maybe we've been underestimating Billy Ray Cyrus all along, 731 00:45:45,880 --> 00:45:49,600 Speaker 1: says country music historian Robert Ormond. He did wonderful things 732 00:45:49,600 --> 00:45:51,839 Speaker 1: for the business. You know. He brought a lot of 733 00:45:51,960 --> 00:45:55,120 Speaker 1: ears to the to the business, and a lot of 734 00:45:55,120 --> 00:45:57,560 Speaker 1: young people to the business. And he's never really been 735 00:45:57,600 --> 00:45:59,839 Speaker 1: given the credit. I don't think that he should get 736 00:46:00,680 --> 00:46:05,080 Speaker 1: for for what he did. And yes it was it 737 00:46:05,160 --> 00:46:08,760 Speaker 1: was a novelty, and yes Old Town Road was a novelty. 738 00:46:08,800 --> 00:46:12,200 Speaker 1: But look, Little mass X went on to create to 739 00:46:12,239 --> 00:46:17,600 Speaker 1: surprise everyone by creating just as big as hits Um 740 00:46:17,640 --> 00:46:21,120 Speaker 1: in the in the hip hop genre. Like his signature hairstyle, 741 00:46:21,320 --> 00:46:24,800 Speaker 1: Cyrus proved to be surprisingly enduring. He knew he couldn't 742 00:46:24,840 --> 00:46:28,840 Speaker 1: be part of the mainstream country sound, and so he 743 00:46:28,920 --> 00:46:31,680 Speaker 1: developed a career as an actor, I know, and did 744 00:46:31,719 --> 00:46:36,160 Speaker 1: other things outside the genre and leading outside music to 745 00:46:36,160 --> 00:46:41,439 Speaker 1: to keep him on the on the radar. So yeah, 746 00:46:41,520 --> 00:46:44,840 Speaker 1: he did show him. Juliet lamb our Texas line danswer 747 00:46:44,840 --> 00:46:48,720 Speaker 1: would agree. Sure, she's biased. She thinks Cyrus is incredibly handsome, 748 00:46:48,719 --> 00:46:50,560 Speaker 1: and she's phoned all the way to Taiwan to teach 749 00:46:50,560 --> 00:46:54,240 Speaker 1: students her achy breaking heart dance routine. But she also 750 00:46:54,280 --> 00:46:58,239 Speaker 1: finds Cyrus's great and resilience inspiring. Well, I think you know, 751 00:46:58,360 --> 00:47:04,760 Speaker 1: by reading his biography, he taught me a good lesson. 752 00:47:05,960 --> 00:47:10,640 Speaker 1: He strikes me as a very persistent man. There's always 753 00:47:10,640 --> 00:47:14,040 Speaker 1: a voice inside his head told him he would be 754 00:47:14,200 --> 00:47:21,680 Speaker 1: a musician. He listened, so he clearly defined exactly what 755 00:47:21,760 --> 00:47:25,240 Speaker 1: he wanted to happen, and that's the way he reached 756 00:47:25,440 --> 00:47:40,840 Speaker 1: his dream. That's the story. Now, if you don't mind, 757 00:47:41,239 --> 00:47:56,160 Speaker 1: I'm going to go get my mouet touched up. Where 758 00:47:56,160 --> 00:47:58,080 Speaker 1: Were You in ninety two was the production of I 759 00:47:58,239 --> 00:48:01,480 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. The exactly of producers are Noel Brown and 760 00:48:01,560 --> 00:48:05,160 Speaker 1: Jordan run Talk. The show was researched, written and hosted 761 00:48:05,200 --> 00:48:08,399 Speaker 1: by me Jason Laffier, with editing and sound design by 762 00:48:08,440 --> 00:48:11,919 Speaker 1: Michael Alder June. If you like what you heard, please 763 00:48:11,960 --> 00:48:14,840 Speaker 1: subscribe and leave us a review. For more podcasts for 764 00:48:14,960 --> 00:48:17,359 Speaker 1: my heart Radio, check out the I heart Radio app, 765 00:48:17,640 --> 00:48:20,400 Speaker 1: Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows,