Wanda Jackson started her career as a dare. Her church friends dared her to audition for a local radio station’s talent spot when she was 12 years old.
She took the dare and won, and ended up with a regular 15-minute slot on radio KLPR in Oklahoma City.
In the late Fifties and early Sixties, Wanda made red-hot rockabilly records like Fujiyama Mama, Hot Dog! That Made Him Mad and Let’s Have A Party, as well as the ballad Silver Threads and Golden Needles.
Her feral vocal stylings were considered by many to be too hot for the market to handle, and Jackson later toned down her act, recording country songs in Nashville. She became a born-again Christian in June 1971.
Jackson began to appear at one-night revivals, singing and giving testimony in churches all over the US. She also continued to perform secular concerts but refused to play in nightclubs.
