www.dollymania.net                News                          July 1999

July 31: The Tennessean yesterday published a wonderful article on Dolly's filming of Blue Valley Songbird, complete with a photo of her in a red wig for the movie, which the article reports is to air on Lifetime in November. And guess what: The article states that her character flashes back to childhood in the 1970s, so either the writer made a mistake or the 53-year-old Dolly must be playing someone in her mid-30s! To read it, click here.

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July 30: Did you catch Dolly, No. 34, last night on VH1's 100 Greatest Women of Rock? Well, they opened playing "9 to 5" and speaking of her humble beginnings in poverty and rise to superstardom while showing photographs from Here You Come Again, Heartbreaker, 9 to 5 (film and album), a performance picture circa 1976, clip from the "Eagle When She Flies" video, clip from Straight Talk, clip from the "More Where That Came From" video, clip from the "Honky Tonk Songs" video and a photo from her 1987 ABC series. Then they played a performance clip of "Here You Come Again." Emmylou Harris said, "Dolly's voice just thrilled me the first time I heard it," adding that she was even more impressed when she learned what a brilliant songwriter Dolly is. They showed the video clip of the Trio performing on Dolly's syndicated mid-70s television show, and then they showed her performing "I Will Always Love You," circa 1975, also showing the sheet music for the song with "Words and Music By Dolly Parton." Shania Twain then noted, "She was the only really country female that was my idol as a child," and they showed a photo of Dolly perched atop the "Dolly" letters from her early television show. Dolly spoke of her love of performing in an interview clip from the 1992 VH1 special to promote Straight Talk, "Talkin' Straight with Dolly." And they showed the cover shot from Rainbow. Then they played "Islands in the Stream" and showed clips from the Kenny & Dolly: Real Love HBO special and another interview clip from the VH1 special. Later in the episode, Trio pal Emmylou Harris, No. 22, was lauded by Shania Twain and Gwen Stefani of No Doubt, who said her first concert was Emmylou, whom Stefani looked on "like a goddess." Linda Ronstadt, No. 21, was heralded by both Emmylou and Pat Benetar as one of "the most gorgeous" voices in music ever and by Pheobe Snow for having a "cry" reminiscent of Patsy Cline in her voice. And did ya notice Dolly was almost in the center of the collage of female singers shown each time they moved to a new number? Also, did ya notice that Dolly ranked higher than some of pop's top luminaries, including Gloria Estefan (81), Janet Jackson (77), Tammy Wynette (73), Loretta Lynn (65), Whitney Houston (61), Bette Midler (51), Cher (43) and Diana Ross (38) and almost equal with Barbara Streisand (31)! If you missed it, the episode will repeat at 4 p.m. Saturday, 7 p.m. Sunday and 1 a.m. Monday.

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July 26: Although rock's female movers and shakers ranked her at No. 34 on VH1's 100 Greatest Women of Rock, online fans who participated in the network's poll brought Dolly in only at No. 95 to tie with, among others, the legendary Patsy Cline (herself No. 11 on the official ranking). Other country artists from the online poll (with their positions from the actual rankings in parenthesis): Olivia Newton-John No. 12 (No. 95), Shania Twain No. 39 (not in Top 100), Linda Ronstadt No. 56 (No. 21), Amy Grant No. 59 (not in Top 100).

* In an article Sunday on VH1's 100 Greatest Women in Rock, New York Daily News staff writer David Hinckley noted, "It's good to have all three members of the Trio here: Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris and Dolly Parton."

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July 14: Trio II is nearing the gold mark (half a million) with 400,000 units sold, reports the Nashville Scene in an article on the head of Asylum Records appearing in Thursday's edition. The article further credits the album as one of the few which has turned the struggling label around. To read the full text, click here.

* Dolly comes in at No. 34 on VH1's Top 100 Women of Rock, to air beginning July 26 on the cable music network, according to E! Online. Other country performers? Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris, her Trio pals, are No. 21 and 22, respectively. Patsy Cline is No. 11, and k.d. lang is No. 33. Dolly's Honky Tonk Angel pals Loretta Lynn and Tammy Wynette also make the cut, at No. 65 and 73, respectively. Former country-turned-pop-turned-country singer Olivia Newton-John is No. 95, and country rocker Lucinda Williams is No. 97. Who's No.1? Aretha Franklin.

* A friend recently e-mailed me this article on Dollywood from Entertainment Weekly. Ckick here to read it. Thanks Greg!

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July 12:

* Did you catch Dolly's brief appearance on VH1's "Before They Were Rock Stars" Friday? The narrator showed three photos, saying Dolly, Roger Daltry and Peter Frampton: These three blonds hit it big in rock, but they were kind of hard to tell apart as children. Then people were asked to decide which kid was which star. Of course, any Dolly fan recognized her famous "Coat of Many Colors" school picture.

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July 9: The Austin American-Statesman's music critic Michael Corcoran yesterday released his list of the top 100 songs of the millennium, and Dolly comes in at No. 41 with "Jolene."

* Since she's to be inducted this September, the Country Music Hall of Fame website has added a Dolly page under its members section here.

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July 7: I just added a new page which lists each of Dolly's chart LPs and how high they went here.

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July 5: The Tennessean's Brad Schmidt said in his column Saturday that Billy Dean is reportedly to co-star with Dolly in her Lifetime film Blue Valley Songbird. A casting call for the film was held Saturday in Nashville.

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July 3: Dolly this week was to have recorded duet vocals for "Your Are For Charity," a single to be released in the U.S. later this year with Culture Club, reports the band's campy lead singer, Boy George, in his weekly column on a fan website in England. Yes, a Dolly and Boy George duet! To read the full text, with George just gushing over Dolly, click here.


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July 1: Unlikely Angel was recently released on DVD by Image Entertainment. It's Dolly's first DVD movie! Order here.

* Dollymania yesterday afternoon passed 15,000 visitors!Thanks for all who keep coming back!