Rabbitt continued to place in the country Top Ten into 1990.
'Suspicions,' his satiny country chart-topper from 1979, crossed over into the pop charts and the adult contemporary charts, and he stayed there through 1983 thanks to such hits as 'Step by Step' and 'You and I,' a duet with Crystal Gayle. 'Drivin' My Life Away,' 'I Love a Rainy Night,' and 'Someone Could Lose a Heart Tonight,' a clutch of number one country hits from the early '80s, all pulsated to a light rockabilly beat, a signature of Rabbitt's that was sometimes overshadowed by his facility for easy listening. Rabbitt pioneered this synthesis as a songwriter, getting his first break when Elvis Presley had a hit with his 'Kentucky Rain' in 1969, but it was 'Pure Love,' a buoyant bopper Ronnie Milsap took to number one in 1974, that established the template for Rabbitt's career: R&B-inflected country performed as if it was pop, underpinned by affection for old-time rock & roll. A pivotal figure in country music in the 1970s and '80s, Eddie Rabbitt eased country into softer, smoother territory, incorporating elements of soul and soft rock on a series of crossover hits that created the template for the urban cowboy era.
