One of country music’s singular figures made his first appearance on a Billboard chart four decades ago when Dwight Yoakam debuted on the Hot Country Songs list dated March 1, 1986, with “Honky Tonk Man.”
Born in Kentucky and raised in Ohio, Yoakam emerged out of the cowpunk scene in Los Angeles, where his unique musical persona was allowed to flourish in the city’s nightclubs. He played an aggressive rhythm guitar, employed stylized dance steps and applied a hard-edged vocal tone with an arresting hiccup in his phrasing. After he broke nationally with his Reprise debut, Yoakam would quickly be paired with Randy Travis as the leading lights among the New Traditionalists, a cadre of acts — including George Strait, Ricky Skaggs and The Judds — who combined classic country influences with modern, CD-era sound quality.
Yoakam wrote much of his material, but “Honky Tonk Man” came from another source: the late Johnny Horton, who was credited as a cowriter with songwriter Howard Hausey and manager Tillman Franks. Horton rose to No. 9 with his version of the song 30 years prior, and it was released again in 1962 — 17 months after Horton’s death in a car accident — rising to No. 11.
Yoakam bested Horton’s chart runs, peaking at No. 3 on June 14, 1986. It was the first of 39 titles to hit the list, including 14 top 10 releases, led by two No. 1 singles: a 1988 collaboration with Buck Owens on “Streets of Bakersfield” and 1989’s “I Sang Dixie.”
