Flashback Friday: "Islands in the Stream" - Kenny Rogers with Dolly Parton (1983)

Let's take a step back to 1983, when two country artists came together to record a song that didn't sound very country at all.

There's a reason for that, though: Neither Kenny Rogers nor Dolly Parton wrote this song. It was in fact written by the Gibb brothers, better known as The Bee Gees.

And looking back on it, the song does sound rather Bee Gees-ish: less "Stayin' Alive" and more "How Deep is Your Love", but I definitely hear an influence. And that's kind of my problem with this song: it feels like it should have been performed by The Bee Gees. They would have probably made it more interesting than this.

You see, Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton just aren't meant to sing something written by The Bee Gees. They're much better when they stick to their country roots. That's why this doesn't work for me. The Bee Gees probably couldn't perform "The Gambler" well at all, and the reverse is true.