Monday Music "Somebody's Knockin" by Terri Gibbs

This song I remember from the early 1980's, the song had a haunting quality about it.  I had forgotten about it because it had faded away,  I did remember the DJ's talking about the artist was blind.  This was before the age of MTV so music videos were hit and miss.  I was listening to my Sirius/XM and they were doing their top 40 for April 4 1981 and this song came on and it was like a flash from the past.

Gibbs was born in Miami, Florida, but raised in the Augusta, Georgia, suburb of Grovetown. Although born with eyesight, she lost it as a newborn due to an incubator accident. Despite her blindness, she learned to play piano at age three. As a child, she sang in the church choir and at talent contests, and at age seventeen, she opened for Bill Anderson. Her parents wanted her to be treated no differently from sighted people and she was sent to public school, graduating from Butler High School in Augusta in 1972. She performed in and around the Augusta area and eventually, she met Chet Atkins, who advised her to move to Nashville, Tennessee, to pursue a country music career, which she did at age eighteen. After failing to find a record deal, she returned to Miami and joined a band called Sound Dimension. She continued to perform locally, later forming a band called the Terri Gibbs Trio, which performed at a Steak and Ale in Augusta, Georgia. Gibbs then sent a demo tape to record producer Ed Penney of MCA Records, signing to the label in 1980. Penney was a former Boston disc jockey and a long-time songwriter. He liked her voice on her demo, but felt she needed stronger material. He co-wrote "Somebody's Knockin'" for her and also produced the song.

Gibbs' first single release was "Somebody's Knockin'", which was also the title of her 1981 debut album. This song was a crossover hit upon its 1980 release, reaching No. 8 on the U.S. country charts, No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 3 on the Adult Contemporary charts. It was followed by "Rich Man", a No. 19 country hit which also entered the pop charts. Her debut album won her the Academy of Country Music's Top New Female Vocalist award. She was also the first winner of the Country Music Association's Horizon Award (which is awarded to emerging artists), and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Country Song and Best Female Country Vocal Performance for "Somebody's Knockin'." Gibbs performed on the Grand Ole Opry as well.