yet again, defend the indefensible: LIONEL RICHIE

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I remember sometime in the 80s he did an interview where he said he was a better songwriter than Lennon/McCartney - ergo, total respect from me.

― Dadaismus (Dada), Wednesday, 9 July 2003 13:45 (twenty years ago) link

And Goodie Mob's "World Party" is based on "All Night Long [fine] (All Night." That song is OK.

Didn't one of the dudes in Goodie Mob lose a leg? That is totally fucked up.

― Tom Breihan (Tom Breihan), Wednesday, 9 July 2003 13:46 (twenty years ago) link

Didn't those allegations of abuse of his wife kind of kill off his career? I don't think it ever went to trial, but it happened down around the time his career went into the tank.

― earlnash, Wednesday, 9 July 2003 13:53 (twenty years ago) link

as long as we're quoting lyrics featuring Mr. Lionel Ritchie: "never been a bitch, so I don't act bitchy / smooth on the vinyl like Lionel Ritchie" from the Pharcyde. that internal 'vinyl/Lionel' has made for many happy moments in my life.

I was a rockin' HS senior when Can't Slow Down was at its peak, and hated it until I realized that that tape and Van Halen's 1984 were completely ace despite the cheese and were furthermore causing me to have an intense sexual attraction to Stephanie C., my grade-rival and nerdy girl friend since 5th grade. Never thought of her as cute before I saw her in a bathing suit awkwardly singing along to "All Night Long (All Night)," and then became a little obsessed with her. The power of pop music!

Um, and suddenly revelatory breasts.

― Neudonym, Wednesday, 9 July 2003 13:54 (twenty years ago) link

"suddenly revelatory breasts" would be a great name for a band.

― Lord Custos Epsilon (Lord Custos Epsilon), Wednesday, 9 July 2003 14:13 (twenty years ago) link

.. or a rock opera.

― dave225 (Dave225), Wednesday, 9 July 2003 14:14 (twenty years ago) link

or an artsy fartsy foreign comedy badly translated from French (it's actually about a bakery that makes naughty baquettes.)

― Lord Custos Epsilon (Lord Custos Epsilon), Wednesday, 9 July 2003 14:20 (twenty years ago) link

Didn't those allegations of abuse of his wife kind of kill off his career?

Weren't the allegations that his wife was abusing him?

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 9 July 2003 14:20 (twenty years ago) link

Yeah. She caught him cheating and beat his ass. Possibly with a bust statue of his head.

― Lord Custos Epsilon (Lord Custos Epsilon), Wednesday, 9 July 2003 14:21 (twenty years ago) link

But I think his career lost momentum for two reasons:
1) Sidelined by Throat Cancer for years
2) "Dancind on the Ceiling" was a load of dirty trousers.

― Lord Custos Epsilon (Lord Custos Epsilon), Wednesday, 9 July 2003 14:22 (twenty years ago) link

"suddenly revelatory breasts" would be a great name for a band.

"Phantasized Persecutory Breast" is a Severed Heads song.

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 9 July 2003 14:39 (twenty years ago) link

so, no-one is going to defend "say you, say me"? except maybe keith, who mentioned that one couldn't escape its alleged "seductive powers"?

― Tad (llamasfur), Thursday, 10 July 2003 06:49 (twenty years ago) link

i would like to take this opportunity to say that i did NOT say the video was amazing... damn that cozen!

― Dave Stelfox (Dave Stelfox), Thursday, 10 July 2003 08:50 (twenty years ago) link

five months pass...

THREAD REVIVE ... why the fuck not?!?

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Friday, 12 December 2003 18:52 (twenty years ago) link

I'm really enjoying The Simple Life. There, I've said it.

― Vic Funk, Friday, 12 December 2003 19:37 (twenty years ago) link

Enjoyable, but it's still a mark against him.

― nickn (nickn), Friday, 12 December 2003 19:41 (twenty years ago) link

She's adopted though, so Lionel's genes are not at fault.

― El Diablo Robotico (Nicole), Friday, 12 December 2003 19:43 (twenty years ago) link

He had a dream. He had an awesome dream.

― rainman (rainman), Friday, 12 December 2003 20:00 (twenty years ago) link

"Sail On" is one of the greatest songs of all time
though I hated Lionel all thru the 80's
took me til the 90's to reverse and realise I'd been a dumbell

"Endless Love" is one of the greatest duets of all time
though I still don't care for Diana Ross

― Paul (scifisoul), Saturday, 13 December 2003 23:07 (twenty years ago) link

There's absolutley nothing wrong with lionel richie!! wtf??

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Saturday, 13 December 2003 23:14 (twenty years ago) link

i know!
today at work i put on the cd just to hear "all night long (all night)" and it was so good! and then i was like, oh wait but i have to hear "dancing on the ceiling." oh, and "say you say me." ooh, and "running with the night!"

the video for "all night long (all night") takes the cake though - the dancing cop!

― stolenbus (stolenbus), Saturday, 13 December 2003 23:57 (twenty years ago) link

i like how in "Running With the Night" Lionel puts the accent on the word "the," it's like you can tell it used to have other words

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Sunday, 14 December 2003 00:12 (twenty years ago) link

"Can't Slow Down" is a great album.

Too bad the Quiet Storm genre disappeared. It was soooooo much better than today's R&B...

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Sunday, 14 December 2003 00:23 (twenty years ago) link

geir if you'd been around for mozart you would have complained that he didn't sound like bach

― Thomas Tallis (Tommy), Sunday, 14 December 2003 01:27 (twenty years ago) link

Bach was too rhythmic...

― Lord Custos Omicron (Lord Custos Omicron), Sunday, 14 December 2003 04:28 (twenty years ago) link

I didn't complain about Britpop. Not all changes in musical taste are negative.

Away from melody=bad
Towards more melody=good

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 16 December 2003 01:30 (twenty years ago) link

do you like stravinsky, geir?

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Tuesday, 16 December 2003 01:37 (twenty years ago) link

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 16 December 2003 01:38 (twenty years ago) link

Madness. "Symphony Of Psalms" is amazing.

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 16 December 2003 01:39 (twenty years ago) link

There was some promo for that television spectacle with Nicole Ritchie on Entertainment Tonight, and they referred to her as "the daughter of legendary singer, Lionel Richie."

So there you go, ET says he's legendary, so he has to be great.

― mike h. (mike h.), Tuesday, 16 December 2003 20:05 (twenty years ago) link

one year passes...

My mother gave me her copy of Can't Slow Down and I'm as happy as a clam in shit right now. A sterling example of mainstream pop.

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Saturday, 23 July 2005 21:39 (eighteen years ago) link

I like the break in "All Night Long" when he says "feel good...FEEL GOOD!" and then that horn section kicks in and everybody starts to cha-cha.

― p.j. (Henry), Saturday, 23 July 2005 21:42 (eighteen years ago) link

Dude, and "Running With The Night"! New Order's "Subculture" is like its hungover, sullen cousin.

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Saturday, 23 July 2005 21:45 (eighteen years ago) link

six months pass...

the first verse all the way up to the chorus of "All Night Long (All Night)" is really quite night, it's just the chorus that wrecks it

― Thomas Tallis (Tommy), Sunday, 19 February 2006 22:53 (eighteen years ago) link

OK so this thread inspired me to go see what iTunes had in the way of Lionel Richie solo stuff 'cause I'd always been curious about his late nineties stuff. I wound up finding the demo of "All Night Long (All Night)," though, and it's quite amazing - it's Richie & session musicians playing a song for which he hasn't really got lyrics yet. What he does have is the feel, and the song itself (the changes) - and he's got the chorus: so he just ad-libs words & phrases that come to mind through all the verses, and scats when he doesn't have words or phrases. It's just really cool in a still-being-born sort of way. He's already got the whole structure down, is the thing - he knows there's going to be a drop-out for just percussion, and he's got the rather uninteresting bridge that'll make it more exciting when the chorus comes back...worth seeking out, anyhow.

― Thomas Tallis (Tommy), Sunday, 19 February 2006 23:07 (eighteen years ago) link

also: no horns!

― Thomas Tallis (Tommy), Sunday, 19 February 2006 23:08 (eighteen years ago) link

Reading all the madness upthread made me laugh out loud a few times.

― Dan (Also, Green Leather Pants!) Perry (Dan Perry), Sunday, 19 February 2006 23:15 (eighteen years ago) link

I LOVE MUSIC...

there must be thousands of fucking threads dealing with crap like Killing Joke Mountain Goats Sonic Youth The Fall etc....or whatever amateurish shit is preferred around here....

yet somebody better not dare attempt to begin another Lionel Ritchie thread because it will only be locked....

then that somebody will be referred to a thread that doesn't even have the same premise....

POV or whatever that shit is....as far as I can tell, it seems a little different than this defend the indefensible shit....actually I wouldn't even defend the guy...

yet here we are at I LOVE MUSIC

more like I LOVE MEDIOCRITY

― bahto habito, Tuesday, 21 February 2006 03:28 (eighteen years ago) link

Best moment in "Hello" video = where Lionel picks up the telephone and tenderly croons into the receiver: "Hello?"

― Joe (Joe), Tuesday, 21 February 2006 03:38 (eighteen years ago) link

then puts down the phone and keeps singing to her!?

― Black Arkestra (Black Arkestra), Tuesday, 21 February 2006 03:40 (eighteen years ago) link

Do you think the video for "All Night Long" was an inspiration for Janet Jackson's video for "When I Think of You"? Don't they both have dancing cops?

― Joe (Joe), Tuesday, 21 February 2006 03:40 (eighteen years ago) link

eleven months pass...

hello! is it me you're looking for?!?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AtkQs1MI5k

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Friday, 2 February 2007 20:30 (seventeen years ago) link

every one you meet
they're jamming in the street

― sexyDancer (sexyDancer), Friday, 2 February 2007 21:11 (seventeen years ago) link

Hello? [This is Spencer Chow's first and only thread. Please read even if you hate me because I think it is very important.]

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Friday, 2 February 2007 21:26 (seventeen years ago) link

No mention of "Young Girls Are My Weakness" The Commodores' Machine Gun, written by Mr. Richie?

― Eazy (Eazy), Friday, 2 February 2007 21:29 (seventeen years ago) link

Yes, Machine Gun is the shit.

― mucho (mucho), Friday, 2 February 2007 22:27 (seventeen years ago) link

that was one FAKE southern accent he sang with on "sail on," like he was trying a little too hard for a country-soul fusion (and hes from alabama, too!)

― Rev. Hoodoo (Rev. Hoodoo), Saturday, 3 February 2007 01:37 (seventeen years ago) link

one year passes...

I've been listening to and watching LR on Youtube. Quite compelling! I started wondering about finding a LR hits CD.

The video for 'All Night Long' is wonderful, and the track itself is at least interesting.

― the pinefox, Monday, 4 August 2008 13:13 (fifteen years ago) link

Can't Slow Down is an excellent album, and the video for "All Night Long (All Night)"--very important, that parenthetical "(All Night)"--is excellent both as a time capsule (i.e. the clothes) and as a way of promulgating Lionel's guy-next-door-who-wants-to-unite-the-world vibe. Also, once when I was DJ'ing in Tracer Hand's basement I followed P!nk's "Get the Party Started" with "All Night Long (All Night)"--again, that parenthetical "(All Night)" is what makes that title for me--and it rocked the motherfucking house. So for that alone he and it would be classic.
-- M Matos (M Matos)

Imagine - Tracer Hand had a basement big enough for a LR-style disco!!

― the pinefox, Monday, 4 August 2008 13:16 (fifteen years ago) link

What I also like about that video: the chastity - the way LR is interested in Community rather than in his own desires.

― the pinefox, Monday, 4 August 2008 13:17 (fifteen years ago) link

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