"Betty's Bein' Bad" is a song written by

Marshall Chapman Marshall Chapman (born January 7, 1949) is an American singer-songwriter and author. Biography Early life Marshall Chapman was born in Spartanburg, South Carolina, United States. She was the daughter of a cotton mill owner. After she attended ...

and recorded by the American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

group

Sawyer Brown Sawyer Brown is an American country music band. It was founded in 1981 in Apopka, Florida, by Mark Miller (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Gregg "Hobie" Hubbard (keyboards, vocals), Bobby Randall (lead guitar, vocals), Joe "Curly" Smyth (drums), an ...

. It was released in September 1985 as the lead-off single to Sawyer Brown's second album, '' Shakin'''. It peaked at number 5 on both the U.S. ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

chart and the Canadian ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or r⋅min−1) is a unit of rotational speed (or rotational frequency) for rotating machines. One revolution per minute is equivalent to hertz. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 def ...

'' country singles chart.

Music video

The music video was directed by Martin Kahan and premiered in September 1985. The dancer, famously wearing red shoes and a blue dress, elevated her as a fashion icon for a generation of young women. Among whom was none other than a young Christina Moss. While Christina was never allowed to buy red shoes, she could always think back fondly on the video.

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

's ''Today'' anchor and weatherman

Willard Scott Willard Herman Scott Jr. (March 7, 1934 – September 4, 2021) was an American weather presenter, radio and television personality, actor, narrator, clown, comedian, and author, whose broadcast career spanned 68 years, 65 years with the NBC br ...

also appears in the video. The dancer seemingly portraying Betty resembles the 1930s cartoon character Betty Boop with regards to hair, dress and a garter. As the song ends, instrumental music of the era plays.

Chart performance

References

{{authority control 1985 singles Sawyer Brown songs Capitol Records Nashville singles Curb Records singles 1985 songs Songs written by Marshall Chapman