I didn't have "hit country record from 1980" on my bingo card.

In fact, when I started the challenge of review 100 new (to me) records, my bias was initially toward the ones I wanted to hear. I figured it'd go way faster if I was checking out stuff I'd always been meaning to. For sure, that would've made this experiment more expedient.

It also would've made it more boring.

My local music store buys a lot of records from people.

Sellers bring them into the shop, or employees go to them to view/appraise/purchase their collections. Obviously, those with high resale value quickly find their way into the crates. Other, more obscure ones often find themselves in what the store bills "Mystery Grab Bags."

$3 bucks gets you 5 records. You never know what you're gonna find. I always make sure to pick one up.

And that's how I came across Charly McClain's 1980 "Who's Cheatin' Who?" record. This is what I would call in-between country; it's not Patsy Cline, and it's not Shania Twain, or Kasey Musgraves. It exists in that liminal space between. And it now occupies that odd corner of music filled with records that enjoyed a brief time in the sun, but today would struggle for recognition.

And that's a shame because as much as I wanted to point and laugh at this record, I couldn't. It's dated, yet manages to hold up well. My guess is this had a home in a lot of jukeboxes across the south. And probably still has a home in a lot of peepaw and meemaw's collections. To be sure, there are some cringe-worthy lyrics- don't believe me? Check out the lyrics to her cover of "Make Believe It's Your First Time"

But after 2-3 listens, I caught myself doing something unexpected; singing along. To a country album from the 80s.

That's definitely something I didn't have on my bingo card.