The Pixel Classroom: The History of 9 to 5

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: Well, hello everybody, and welcome to the Pixel Classroom Podcast. I'm your host, of course, Ryan Reid. And today we're gonna actually go back as our first episode of the history of music here. We're gonna go all the way back to 1980. That's right. I was two years old. The decade was officially kicking off, which would of course be the prophets for a lot of classic series, including Stranger Things. And there were certain songs where you only needed to hear the first few seconds and you immediately knew what. Is coming. And this one, I don't think we need any instruments. We just have the pair of acrylic fingernails. Click, click, click, click, click, click. And you know it. It is officially Dolly Parton's nine to five. It's one of the most those songs that almost shouldn't work as well as it does. It's upbeat, it's catchy, it's fun. And put it on and people start singing along with it. You might even start dancing to it, even. I know I have. And then you might actually listen to what Dolly is really singing about. You wait a minute, and Believe it not, this is actually a depressing song. Believe if you think of it. This song is about getting up every morning, going to work, barely getting by, watching everybody else take credit for what you do, and realize that no matter how hard you work, somebody above you seems to benefit more than you are doing. And you're dancing along with a song for the workplace inequality. And that is actually what is about the brilliance of nine to five. Because behind one of Dolly Parton's most recognizable songs is a story about working women. Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, and of course Dolly yourself about a movie that nobody quite expected to become as big as it did, especially back in nineteen eighty. And a pair of acrylic fingernails that sounded suspiciously like a typewriter. But our story doesn't actually begin with Dolly Parton. It doesn't even begin with the movie. It begins with a group of working women, believe it or not. Long before the stong, there was a movement. Back in 1973, at the time of clerical and secretarial work was one of the most common occupations for American women. And women working in offices were dealing with very real problems: unequal pay, limited opportunities for advancement, unfortunately, harassment, discrimination. And Boston often treated their employee female employees very different from the male employees. It was a very interesting time. And if you look at a lot of the shows during the mid to late 70s, from the Maryland tired more show to Eamon Three's company, this was very common. In Boston, believe it or not, a group of women were office workers began organizing. This organization became known as nine to five. And that's important to the story because years before Dolly even would sing those words, 9 to 5 was a real organization fighting for changes in the workplace. One person who became interested in these women experiences, believe it or not, was Jane Fonda. And Fonda knew Karen Nusboum, one of the founders of 9 to 5, and began learning about the experience of women working in the offices. Originally, the idea that eventually became 9 to 5 was going to be considerably actually more serious than it was. But when director Colin Higgins and writer Patricia Resnick, the idea just kept constantly evolving. Instead of working a heavy drama about workplace inequality, they were going to make it a comedy. And that's interesting because the movie eventually accomplishes exactly what Dolly's song would accomplish. It made you laugh about something that really wasn't very funny. Jane Fonda actually heard Dolly Parton. And that's actually where I get to the favorite part of my story here. Jane Fonda had been talking with Lily Tallman about the movie. Back when it was in its early stages. And afterward, Jane was driving home, and on the radio came Dolly Parton's song Two Doors Down, which is also a favorite of mine. And Jane later described having an almost immediate reaction. She could suddenly picture Dolly Parton sitting behind a typewriter. And she thought, you know, Dolly Parton needs to be in this movie. Now remember something. Dolly Parton was already a star. She had had, you know, recording professional for years, she had major hits. She even had television experiences, but Dolly had never really acted in a feature film. Keep mind, this is 79, 1980. And Jaden Fonda wanted to change that. And when Dolly was approached by playing Doline Rhodes, she agreed with a condition. She wanted to write the theme song for the movie. And now if you think about it, Dolly's about to walk into a movie set with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin for the f her first featured film. And she's basically saying, I'm trying the acting thing, but I'm bringing songwriting with me. And that turned out to be a pretty good decision, believe it or not, now that history is looking up. So Dolly went to Hollywood. Dolly later said she wasn't particularly intimidated by working alongside Jane Founder, Lily Tomlin at the time, who were very well known actors. But she had grown up with sisters. To her, Jane and Lily basically became two more girlfriends, she said. And apparently that's exactly what happened. The three develop a genuine friendship. While making the movie. And they were pajama parties at the Beverly Hills Hotel, believe it or not, where they were getting together, which is kind of funny if you think about it. And Jane Fonda later did joke that even during those gatherings, Dolly would emerge from her bedroom completely made up in full Dolly Regala. And Jane said also she couldn't finish a day without Dolly making her laugh. Good times. But Dolly was also talking about the acting seriously. And she deliberately didn't bring her guitar on the set because she didn't want to distract herself from learning this new job. And there was also one other problem. She still had a song to write for the movie. And it so between takes, Dolly actually started watching and she looked around the set and she watched what was happening. Keep in mind, they were trying to make this as authentic as a 1979, 1980s work office in the city could look. So she collected ideas and she would go back to the hotel at night and write things down or pick up her guitar and work with them. But during the day without that guitar, Dolly actually still needed something to help her with the rhythm. And Dolly Parton had something available. Her fingernails. So that's where the whole typewriting part comes in. Because you know, she had her acrylic nails, she had her very long nails, and she had a habit of clicking and rubbing them together. Which working on the song, she started playing a rhythm with them. And then she realized something. It sounded exactly like a typewriter. Click, click, click, click. And suddenly Dolly had this rhythmic foundation for what would become nine to five. Now you think about how perfect that was. This is a movie about women working in the office in 1980. What was one of the most defining sounds of the office? Of course, a typewriter. These days we hear, of course, keyboards on a computer or people tapping their phones. But she eventually turned this sound into a percussion. And this wasn't merely a Cute story Dolly told years later. She actually used her nails for the recording. She really did if you listen to it. And they were reportedly credited by Nails by Dolly, believe it or not. And they loved it. And only Dolly Parton could turn a manicure into a musical instrument and end up with a number one recording as a result. So as production continued, Dolly kept writing. She later said she came up with the idea like about a hundred verses, she said originally, according to at least what history says in several interviews. So obvious most of this never really made it to the finished song, but some were funny. Some were actually based on things she actually saw around the set. She also apparently went to an actual office building somewhere in between takes. Some were never intended to actually even survive to the final recording. But Dolly actually absorbed the world of the movie and translated it perfectly into the music. And eventually she was ready to show Jane and Lily what she had. So Dolly played the early version of nine to five with them outside the set. And Jay Fonda remembered looking at Lily Tomlin. And they actually got goosebumps, they said, at least especially Lily Tomlin. And Lily actually said she remembers being absolutely amazed by what she heard. And they apparently understood almost immediately this wasn't something gonna be a movie theme. This could be an anthem. And after that, Dolly had some fun with them. So Jane and Lily kept wanting to know what else she'd been writing. And Dolly stretched out to the processes, giving them new pieces as she went along. It became one of those little rituals during production. And when it came down to time to record the actual song, Dolly even invited Jane and Lily to participate in the background vocals. Now, because of this point, nine to five wasn't simply going to be something Dolly was attack, you know, attaching to their movie. The song was had grown beyond the experience because of making it. So, what is actually the song saying in all this wonderful history? Well, if you think about it, because of nine to five is an incredibly clever idea. It's musically fun, it's energetic. Dolly sounds almost joyful in the song. I know I was always singing it when I was a little kid, listening to it on the radio and later with the movies, and what the song actually was about, because the worker wakes up, gets herself moving, heads to work, works hard, and still struggles financially. Hmm. Some things we can even talk about at the time of this recording in 2026, 46 years later. Her eyes can be taken taken by anybody else. Its advancement is difficult. The people on the top appear to benefit from the work being done by others underneath them, and it's not. particularly cheerful if you listen to the songs. Yet Dolly makes you want to dance to it. And I think that's part of the reason the song became so powerful. She doesn't just begin lecturing you. She gets you singing at first. And somewhere along that way, she realizes, wait, this is messed up. Why does it have to work this way? And that's exactly what the movie was talking about. Nine to five follows those three women working in the you know consolidated companies. Yes, I know the time, but you gotta think of what companies are called this day and age. There's Violet Newston, played by Lily Tomlin. Judy Burnley, played by Jane Fonden, of Dolly Parton as you know, Dora Lee Rhodes. And their boss is, of course, the Franklin Hart Jr., played by the wonderfully and terribly Dabney Coleman. And man, that man was just everywhere. Hart is a, of course, sexist, dishonest, manipulative. And eventually, after a series of increasingly ridiculous events, the women's turn the tables on. And you know, and it's a comedy. It's actually a very funny comedy because it still stands. Even some of the fantasy jokes they do in the movie. I mean, come on. You got Lily Tomlin doing poisoning poisoning as, you know, it's no white. You have Jane doing a thing, and Dolly actually gets a, you know, a rope and everything else and puts them up. Jane Fonda actually hunts her like in the world's, you know, most dangerous game and puts, you know, Mr. Hart as a trophy on her wall. It's hilarious. But underneath all that comedy are some really serious issues that inspire the original nine to five movement. Workplace discrimination, harassment, unequal treatment, women doing work without receiving appropriate recognition, women being denied advancement. And that's the genius of this movie and then the song when they came together. The movie makes you laugh about something that really technically shouldn't be funny. And the song makes you dance to something that really isn't happy. But then everything comes out. Dolly releases nine to five in the single in November of 1980. And it was included in their album, of course, nine to five and odd jobs. And the movie writing stuff. December, December of that year. And both became enormous successes. The film earned more than a hundred million at the domestic box opera. Keep on that's this that made it the second highest grossing film of 1980. What beat it? There was a little movie called what I think it was George George Lucas wrote it. I think it was the Empire Strikes Back. But then, you know, I digress. Think about that. Dolly's first feature film. Finishes behind Star Wars as one of the biggest movies of 1980. Meanwhile, the song has become its own phenomenon. In February of 1981, 95 reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100. It also reached one of Billboard's country charts. I mean, come on, Billboard Hot 100 is is is number one. It's number one in the country chart. Whoa. And then the song also earned Dolly an Academy Award nomination for best. Original song, which she unfortunately did not win. But the Grammys happened, and she actually won Best Country Song and Best Female Country Vocal Performer of the Years. Two Grammys in 1981. And had that little Oscar nomination behind it. It was a number one pop hit, it was a number one country hit, and it was the second biggest movie of 1980. I have to say that was not too bad for old Dolly Parton, especially her first attempt at acting, and Dolly had a fantastic joke about that. She said she already figured out how the movie business worked. If nine to five became a hit, she shared in the glory with Jane and Lily. But if it flopped, well, she said Jane and Lily were the experienced actresses. So they could she could blame her. But you know, she said her plan B just wasn't necessary. But because of this, nine to five did something else. It launched another part of Dolly Parton's career. She had entered the project as an established reading star who had never acted in the featured film. She came out and was a movie star. Two years later, the best little whorehouse in Texas, of course, with opposite Burt Reynolds, then Ryan Stone with Sylvester Stallone in 1989. She came across one of her most beloved characters as Tru V. Jones in Steel Magnolias. And in 1992, another favorite of mine, Straight Talk, a movie that didn't become a massive theater blockbuster, but developed its own. Following, and of course, took place in the lovely city of Chicago. But nine to five proves something. Dolly wasn't simply a musician who appeared in a movie. She could act. Willie Tomman later proven out to nine to five is evidence of Dolly's incredible versatility. And that's an important part of Dolly's story. She was a music star. She was a songwriter. She was an actress. She was a boil businesswoman. She had Dollywood. She was a philanthropic. She was a champion for books. She kept adding chapters. And one of the biggest piffits happened because Jane Fonda heard Two Doors Down on the Radio. And imagine Dolly sitting at a typewriter. And of course, past ones work. The movie was absolutely successful. It had enough that Hollywood wasn't finished with the idea. So in 1982, two years afterwards, the fall, and I do remember it in syndication, 95 became a television sitcom. And there was a fun, you know, Dolly connection. Dor Lee, the character Dolly played in the movie, was played on television by Dolly's younger sister Rachel Denison. Rita Mornino took on the violet role, and Valerie Curtin, of course, played Judy. Even the theme song had an interesting television history, with Phoebe Snow actually performing it during the show's earliest episodes before Dolly's version became associated with later episodes. And it did run for two seasons. But even though the show ran and ended in the f spring of nineteen eighty five, nine to five wasn't quite finished. Decades later the story moved to another medium, of course The stage in Broadway. And who better to write the music? Well, of course, the one and only Dolly Parton. This time she wasn't simply writing one theme song, she wrote the music and lyrics for an entire musical adaption of 9 to 5. The production eventually reached hot Broadway in 2009. And but you gotta think of that progression. In 1980, Dolly writes a song that accompanied the movie. Nearly three decades later, she writes an entire theatrical score to expand on that world. And the movie had become a television show and it was a musical. And the song still remained at the center of everything. It was always a wonderful little piece in between these three women, between Jane, Lily, and Dolly. There's a lovely epilogue of friendship beginning in the movie set, but Jane Fonda, Lily Tom, and eventually starred together in Grace and Frankie on Netflix. And in the show's 2022 finale, a familiar face, of course, appeared, which was, of course, Dolly Parton. More than forty years, technically forty two, forty-three, if you want to talk about the filming of the film, they were all back together. Jane, Lily, and Dada guarded for a short little thing. It wasn't literally Violet and Judy and Dorleen. I'm sorry, Dorley reuniting, but come on. We all know what we were actually looking at. The friendship had begun making in ninety five, survived more than four decades. And here they are doing this wonderful, fantastic scene in Grace and Frankie. So how does it still do it? Because this song still fascinates me all this song, especially for some lung kid who didn't even know what it was about or really understood much about the movie when he saw Free Movie Channel back in 83, 84. But the workplace that inspired it has changed dramatically. Typewriters are mostly gone. Secretary Poole is, you know, depicted in the movie largely belonging to a completely different era versus now. We have computers, email, smartphones, video meetings, remote work, hybrid work. We entire careers exist today that nobody in 1980 could have ever imagined, especially at the end of that year. But play nine to five is somebody today and they still understand it. Why? The technology has changed, but the feeling hasn't. Working hard and wondering whether you're getting ahead, feeling unappreciated, watching somebody else get credit, waiting at opportunity to advance, but trying to balance work and everything else happening in your life. Those experiences didn't just disappear when we replaced the typewriter with a laptop, like the one I'm recording on. And that's why nine to five remains one of more of the novities of nineteen eighty. It became an anthem. And its legacy continues now. Because here's something worth remembering. Before the movie, before even Dolly, before Grammys and Broadway, there was a women organization in Boston in nineteen seventy-three. That was a good five years before I was even around. And they called themselves Nine to Five. Their experiences help inspire Jane Fonda. Jane helped turn those experiences into a movie. Jane heard Dolly part on the radio and realized she wanted her in the movie. Dolly agreed with the conditions that she could write the theme. And then Dolly, around between takes without her guitar, started clicking those acrylic fingernails together. And that sounded like a typewriter. And from that little rhythm came one of the most recognizable songs of her entire career. Number one pop hit. Number one country hit two Grammys Oscar nomination television series a Broadway musical and a movie that helped turn one of the country's largest, biggest stars into a movie star. I have to say that is quite the journey for somebody who just clicked a couple of their fingernails together. Dolly Parton's career lasted more than half a century. And you gotta think about those songs. Jolene, Coat of Many Colors, I Will Always Love You, her version. Here you come again, Smoky Mountain Christmas, Straight Talk, Jolie, as I said, and many, many more. And you think about Dollywood. You think about the television appearances, the collaborations, Islands in the Stream, you know, with Kenny Rogers, the business empire, the philanophrae, and everything else she accomplished. And yet say three words nine, two, five. And chances are you're already hearing Dolly. Maybe you're even hearing those fingernails. And that's the strange thing about music history. Sometimes the song begins with a piano, sometimes a guitar, sometimes a producer who finds that perfect beat in a recording studio. And sometimes it takes actress named Jane Fonda hearing Dolly Parton on the radio. And Dolly agrees to make her first movie as long as she gets to write the theme song. She leaves her guitar behind because she's trying to concentrate on acting. And while waiting around on set, she discovers those fingernails of hers. Sounding like a typewriter. And more than four decades later, we're still listening to it. We're still singing to it. And maybe that's the greatest accomplishment of 9 to 5. Dolly made us dance to a song about something that wasn't actually particularly funny. And while she we were dancing, she made us listen. And I think that's the one thing we always should remember about Dolly Parton. She got us to listen. And that is all I have for today on the Pixel Classroom Podcast, especially this history of music. Thank you for joining us today on the Pixel Classroom Podcast. Remember, like and subscribe. Please share the video. Please share the audio recording. We love to hear from guests from you. Keeps the podcast growth and keeps the algorithms happy. And guess what? I'll be back more for our next journey in musical history here on the Pixel Classroom Podcast. So until next time, everybody, keep learning, keep creating, and maybe. Pour your cup of ambition. I'll see you next time.