# Razzy Bailey

Rasie Michael Bailey (February 14, 1939 – August 4, 2021), better known as Razzy Bailey, was an American country music singer, songwriter and musician. In the early 1980s, he scored 5 No. 1s on the Billboard country music charts.

## Early life

Bailey was born in Five Points, Alabama, United States, and raised on a farm in La Fayette, Alabama. Bailey got his first experience of musical performance as a member of his high school's Future Farmers of America string band. After graduation, he married and had children immediately and had little time to pursue his career, but he spent many years playing occasional gigs at honkytonks in Georgia and Alabama and developing his songwriting.

## Early releases

In 1966, Bailey took his material to Bill Lowery at Atlantic Records, who arranged for him to record "9,999,999 Tears" backed by a studio band featuring Billy Joe Royal, Joe South, and Freddy Weller. The song failed to hit the charts at that time, but Bailey was encouraged, forming the pop trio Daily Bread which released a pair of albums on small labels. Another group, The Aquarians, followed in 1972; in 1974, Bailey recorded the album I Hate Hate simply as "Razzy." It sold over half a million copies before being picked up by MGM Records.

## Career at RCA

In 1976, Dickey Lee recorded "9,999,999 Tears", and it became a country and pop hit in 1976, and in 1977, Lee repeated this with another Bailey tune, "Peanut Butter," which also went into the charts. As his songwriting talents became known, Bailey signed with RCA Records and, in 1978, began releasing singles of his own songs. His first hit as a singer-songwriter, "What Time Do You Have To Be Back in Heaven?", was on the charts for over four months. Bailey charted a total of seven No. 1 singles on Billboard's "Country" charts and another eight Top 10 in the late 1970s and early 1980s. His sound combines R&B influences with country; his version of Wilson Pickett's "In the Midnight Hour" was a country hit. His last country No. 1 hit was with "She Left Love All Over Me" in 1982.
Bailey had three double sided number 1's in succession on the Country chart, a feat never accomplished by any other artist.
He also operated Razzy's Hit House, his recording studio where he helped other artists with their projects.

## Personal life

Bailey died in August 2021, at the age of 82.

## Discography
### Albums

| Year | Album | Chart Positions | Chart Positions | Label |
| Year | Album | US Country | US | Label |
| 1974 | I Hate Hate | | | MGM |
| 1979 | If Love Had a Face | 33 | | RCA |
| 1980 | Razzy | 12 | | RCA |
| 1981 | Makin' Friends | 8 | 183 | RCA |
| 1982 | Feelin' Right | 10 | 176 | RCA |
| 1982 | A Little More Razz | 59 | | RCA |
| 1983 | Greatest Hits | 33 | | RCA |
| 1984 | The Midnight Hour | 36 | | RCA |
| 1985 | Cut from a Different Stone | 38 | | MCA |
| 1986 | Arrival | | | MCA |
| 2009 | Damned Good Time | | | SOA |

### Singles

| Year | Single | Chart Positions | Chart Positions | Album |
| Year | Single | US Country | CAN Country | Album |
| 1966 | "9,999,999 Tears" | — | — | Single only |
| 1974 | "I Hate Hate" (as Razzy)$^A$ | — | — | I Hate Hate |
| 1976 | "Keepin' Rosie Proud of Me" | 99 | — | Single only |
| 1978 | "What Time Do You Have to Be Back to Heaven" | 9 | 20 | If Love Had a Face |
| 1978 | "Tonight She's Gonna Love Me (Like There Was No Tomorrow)" | 6 | 5 | If Love Had a Face |
| 1979 | "If Love Had a Face" | 6 | 33 | If Love Had a Face |
| 1979 | "I Ain't Got No Business Doin' Business Today" | 10 | 18 | If Love Had a Face |
| 1979 | "I Can't Get Enough of You" | 5 | — | Razzy |
| 1980 | "Too Old to Play Cowboy" | 13 | — | Razzy |
| 1980 | "Loving Up a Storm" | 1 | 10 | Razzy |
| 1980 | "I Keep Coming Back" / "True Life Country Music" | 1 | 3 | Razzy |
| 1981 | "Friends" / "Anywhere There's a Jukebox" | 1 | 9 | Makin' Friends |
| 1981 | "Midnight Hauler" | 1 | 1 | Makin' Friends |
| 1981 | "Scratch My Back (And Whisper in My Ear)"$^B$ | 8 | — | Makin' Friends |
| 1981 | "She Left Love All Over Me" | 1 | 2 | Feelin' Right |
| 1982 | "Everytime You Cross My Mind (You Break My Heart)" | 10 | 9 | Feelin' Right |
| 1982 | "Love's Gonna Fall Here Tonight" | 8 | 11 | A Little More Razz |
| 1982 | "Poor Boy" | 30 | — | A Little More Razz |
| 1983 | "After the Great Depression" | 19 | 23 | Greatest Hits |
| 1983 | "This Is Just the First Day" | 62 | 48 | Greatest Hits |
| 1984 | "In the Midnight Hour" | 14 | 32 | The Midnight Hour |
| 1984 | "Knock on Wood" | 29 | — | Cut from a Different Stone |
| 1984 | "Touchy Situation" | 43 | — | Cut from a Different Stone |
| 1985 | "Modern Day Marriages" | 51 | — | Cut from a Different Stone |
| 1985 | "Fightin' Fire with Fire" | 78 | — | Arrival |
| 1985 | "Old Blue Yodeler" | 48 | — | Arrival |
| 1986 | "Rockin' in the Parkin' Lot" | 63 | 42 | Arrival |
| 1987 | "If Love Ever Made a Fool" | 69 | — | Singles only |
| 1988 | "Unattended Fire" | 58 | — | Singles only |
| 1988 | "Starting All Over Again" | 73 | — | Singles only |
| 1989 | "But You Will" | 65 | — | Singles only |
| 1991 | "Fragile (Handle with Care)" | — | 36 | Singles only |
* $^A$"I Hate Hate" peaked at No. 67 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 50 on the RPM Top Singles chart in Canada.
* $^B$B-side to "Midnight Hauler."

### Music videos

| Year | Video |
| 1980 | "Friends" |
| 1981 | "Anywhere There's a Jukebox" |
| 1981 | "Midnight Hauler" |
| 1981 | "I've Had My Limit (Of Two-Timing Women)" |
| 1982 | "Night Life" |
| 1985 | "Old Blue Yodeler" |