Cristy Lane
b. Eleanor Johnston, 8 January 1940, Peoria, Illinois, USA. Lane was the eighth of twelve children brought up in a economically depressed area. In 1959, she married country music fan, Lee Stoller, who encouraged her to sing country and, after many local performances, she made her first single, Janie Took My Place, in Nashville in 1968. She and her husband sold their Peoria nightclub, Christy's Inc., and moved to Nashville in 1972. Stoller formed LS Records, chiefly to release his wife's product. Her first entry on the US country charts was with Tryin To Forget About You’ in 1977. She then had Top 10 country hits with Let Me Down Easy, I'm Gonna Love You Anyway, Penny Arcade and I Just Can't Stay Married To You. Further country hits followed but Stoller was jailed for fin ancial irregularities. She moved to United Artists and had a US country number l in 1980 with a gospel song written by Marijohn Wilkin and Kris Kristofferson, One Day At A Time. Her husband, released from jail and inspired by Slim Whitman's album sales through television advertising, took over her career and started marketing her in a similar way. He did it so well that he was able to write about his success in a book, ONE DAY AT A TIME.