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This week in 1982: Christian militiamen killed hundreds of men, women and children in two Palestinian refugee camps; Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman, 67, has died from a seven-year battle with cancer; Mexico nationalized banks to stop the flight from the capital; and a singer from Oak Cliff, Texas, recorded his 7th hit album.
The songs are written for a variety of reasons, but according to Rafe Van Hoy, the idea for Michael Martin Murphey’s 1982 No. 1, “What’s Forever For” came from the divorce of a couple he believed to be together forever.
And according to Murphey, he first heard the song when Van Hoy sang it during a guitar hit in Nashville.
He commented, “The song was just a very important love song. It just seemed to say the right thing to say and it touched a lot of people.”
And the song wasn’t new when Murphey first heard it, having already been recorded by several other artists including TG Sheppard, John Conlee, Anne Murray and Johnny Mathis.
Michael Martin Murphey’s single “What’s Forever For” on Liberty Record entered the country music charts on June 19, 1982 and peaked on the charts on September 25.
The single was produced by Jim Ed Norman and was Murphey’s 7th song and his debut number 1.
Michael Martin Murphey was born in 1945 in Oak Cliff, Texas, and formed a band called The Texas Twosome while in high school. He toured in 1967 as “Travis Lewis” from The Lewis & Clark Expedition. He then worked as an editor for several publishing houses and appeared in the films “Take This Job and Shove It” and “Hard Country”.
He was named ACM “New Vocalist of the Year” in 1982.
He placed 29 songs on the country music charts between 1976 and 1991, including two No. 1.
His 29 ranked songs included duets with Katy Moffatt, Holly Dunn and Ryan Murphey.
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