yet again, defend the indefensible: LIONEL RICHIE

That should be "for," of course....though I doubt he has any for me either.

Lionel Richie is totally defensible, if only for "You Are" off his first solo record and everything the Commodores ever did while he was in the band. Come on, even you have a soft spot for "Easy," don't you?

Faith No More's rendition, maybe. I don't know. Sure, there are worse charactes than Lionel Richie out there, I suppose. "All Night Long" is a bit of a headache, though, you must admit.

"Say You, Say Me," on the other hand, sucks the big one.

i often play all night long at the end of dj sets with no irony whatsoever! it's a bloody good record

All Night Of The Living Dead Long (All Night)

And I saw Lionel this morning -- they were playing VH-1 at the laundromat again, and that "I Love '80s" series was on, this one focusing (or "focussing," as they say in The New Yorker) on 1985. Lionel introduced a snippet highlighting the best "Makeout Songs" of the year (which fortunately did not include a Lionel Richie song). He sounded like a man anxious to get paid.

i would kill for a recording of this... i have a yorkshire colliery band version of louie louie and it's one of my all time faves ever

Sorta reminds me of what that shill Dave Marsh said about "Penny Lover" vs. the Smiths. Moron.

I had the first two albums and enjoyed them very much in them early eighties but I can only remember the singles now and have no inclination to revisit his music further. And sorry, Mr. Stelfox, but the "Hello" video just defines ultracheese.

Hmm... I guess I can buy that. Yeah, I suppose Controversy is relatively the worst of his early records, despite the presence of that glorious title track. "The Walk" comes pretty close to perfection though.

Who are these lame hipsters "discovering" Controversy?!

I don't think I can find any semblance of pity, empathy, kindness or good will in my heart from Mr.Richie.

No offense Alex, but none of these are attributes exhibited particularly often in your ILM posts. In fact I'm hard put to name many phenomena outside of the Killing Joke that you have voiced approval of.

LETS RUN OVER LIONEL RICHIE WITH A TANK
"Man, his song,
It really stank,
Let's run over Lionel Richie,
With a tank."

Exactly! It is the perfect video, the touchstone that will never be equalled in this cynical age.

I really don't understand how Lionel came to be listed as "indefensible" when he wrote so many great songs with the Commodores and his solo stuff was pretty good too.

Still, it did always piss me off that Q listed Can't Slow Down as one of the top ten greatest Motown albums.

Then, typically, you're not really paying attention. I have posted favorable comments about a myriad of artists.

And Matos, I fucking LOVE the Pointer Sisters. I grew up on Break Out.

Love the artist, hate the art. ;-)

Also: "Hello? Hello?" "Hello?/Is it me you're looking for?" "Oh yeah, I have a singing rapist in my apartment; BRING IT, CHUMP."

Well, be fair Dan, she is blind.

Also, asking a blind person if they're looking for you: C/D?

Also, I like the name Lionel. I think more people should have that name.

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

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.

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

"Phantasized Persecutory Breast" is a Severed Heads song.

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

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

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

Away from melody=bad
Towards more melody=good

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

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

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

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.

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!!

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

I thought Milan Williams wrote "Machine Gun."

A fantastic songwriter who has, however, lost it since the mid 80s. Up to and including the "Dancing On The Ceiling" album, he was fantastic. His last album was dreadful though.

I vaguely remember reading an interview where he said he originally intended Can't Slow Down to be semi-heavy guitar rock, but realized that no one in 1982 radioland would touch it. Musta pissed him off when "Beat It" and "Let's Go Crazy" took off.

I don't get how he thought the tutor-student relationship in the 'Hello' video was acceptable. But I find it fascinating to see how his videos in that era involve extra dialogue, narrative, sense of LR playing a character.

I vaguely remember reading an interview where he said he originally intended Can't Slow Down to be semi-heavy guitar rock, but realized that no one in 1982 radioland would touch it. Musta pissed him off when "Beat It" and "Let's Go Crazy" took off.

Hall And Oates had done the AOR/rock/R&B fusion for ages already. But I realise they were white and, in 1983, that made a lot of difference.

For a moment baby
For a moment baby
For a moment baby
SugarsugarsugaryeahyeahyeahyeahyeahYEAAAHHH

"Hello" is great if you can listen to it without the video playing in your head. Seriously.

No. Hello is not going to be played in my presence. I will not even admit the fact that I bought the "You Are" single in 6th grade. I refuse. He must be silenced. Lionel Richie is not to be defended. KEEP AWAY. Bimble warned you, Bimble tried to help you.

You're crazy. If you can't accept "Hello" for what it is, you need a new set of ears. Great composition - creepy and great sense of narrative.

Hahahhahah I would rather die than watch that video.

although I do recall you said don't watch the video.

Do you know the initials of his name are L and R??????

LOU REED?????????????????????????????????????????????????????////

hes quite easily defensible.

Of course. And "Stuck on You" is on this album too. Cool cover, too.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/46/Richieslow.jpg

If those songs came out in the seventies, they'd be a lot "cooler".

Is it me you're looking for (blind girl)?

the 80s is cooler right now.

The desperation of it blows all of your punk poo out of the water. You need this song.

NO I DO NOT NEED THIS SONG YOU PUNK

I will gladly sit with a Prince fan for 56 torturous hours of nonstop Prince than hear Lionel.

The Hello video rules.

She's fucking blind!!! It's horrible, creepy. Steer clear of it.

Donna Summer could totally whip his ass with a hand behind her.

She's also a high school student.

The part where LR phones her is priceless.

hahahaha you guys need better dope in your house

lol pwnd. We were all scrapin and doing knifers the other night.

"All Night Long" is a great video. Can YOU rock those leather pants?

hahhahhah I HATE YOU. THIS IS A FUCKING LIONEL RICHIE THREAD
AND WHAT THE FUCK AM I DOING POSTING ON IT?

Can you rock the pants AND THAT SHIRT? xpost

OH shit

getting into Lionel Richie is kinda like shaving your arm pits. Like at first you're really apprehensive, but then you do it, and it feels really weird and slidey and uncomfortable when you sweat, and you THINK it's in a good way, but like whatever cuz HEY I JUST GREW AS A PERSON or something.

Um. nb I'm kinda drunk.

YES, i BE DRUNK TOOO

But to be honest I think that is a very homosexual way to sum up Lionel Richie. Just sayin'...

Oh fuck, that movie! What is that from?

That comedy video is funny, but I seriously hope you are not saying Lionel Richie has no soul....

What I'm saying is that LR in the Commodores >>> LR solo. I suppose that LR solo is more bland, more mainstream.

(xpost) "Amazon Women on the Moon"

Amazon Women On the Moon! That was it.

Wasn't that scene longer, or...? I swear I remember bits with David Allen Grier at a piano.

Defence closed.

yay, an excuse to spread this around

http://www.zshare.net/audio/530744696af27b2f/

i didnt realise this many ppl hated all night long! you guys are crazy

Bimble Lionel Richie is the actual 80s that you yearn for. Without him your main area of interest is a vast empty soundless sea.

ilx is rarely as easy as sunday morning

b... b... but that's because many ILXors work on the nightshift

(and before anyone points it out, I know that LR left the Commodores years before Nightshift was released)

the video for "Hello" is so hilariously awesome/bizarre that it permanently burned into my memory, despite only watching it once.

Can't Slow Down is a surprisingly solid album and "Stuck on You" is a genuinely moving and excellent country ballad.

Not listened to much of his output aside from this album; "Say You, Say Me" is garishly 80s and I really don't need to hear "Endless Love" ever again...

Re: "Endless Love," I always felt that Lionel was put to better use in another teen romance of the era

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuVH5LcEZj0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuVH5LcEZj0

Can't Slow Down is a surprisingly solid album and "Stuck on You" is a genuinely moving and excellent country ballad.

"surprisingly"

well, as I've said, I'm not particularly familiar with his catalog, so when I looked at the tracklisting, the only songs I recognized were "All Night Long", "Running with the Night" and "Hello". I didn't know about the other very good songs.

"Stuck On You" and "Penny Lover" hold up, don't they?

hell yes.

Last American Virgin has a great soundtrack, iirc.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/ba/The_Last_American_Virgin_movie_poster.jpg/220px-The_Last_American_Virgin_movie_poster.jpg

Side 1

"Teen Angel Eyes" - Tommy Tutone (3:30)
"De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da" - The Police (4:07)
"Whip It" - Devo (2:38)
"When I Find You" - Phil Seymour (5:13)
"Better Luck Next Time" - Oingo Boingo (3:30)
Side 2

"Are You Ready for the Sex Girls?" - Gleaming Spires (4:00)
"Since You're Gone" - The Cars (3:30)
"I Know What Boys Like" - The Waitresses (3:14)
"Airwaves" - The Fortune Band (3:46)
"I Will Follow" - U2 (3:34)
In addition to this, the film contains a compendium of other 1980s radio hits:

"Oh No" - The Commodores
"Open Arms" - Journey
"Keep on Loving You" - REO Speedwagon
"Just Once" - James Ingram
"That's the Way (I Like It)" - KC and the Sunshine Band
"Love Action (I Believe in Love)" - The Human League
"Shake It Up" - The Cars
"Besame Mucho & Granada"- Los Fabulosos 3 Paraguayos
"It Aint Easy Comin' Down" - Charlene
"Zero Hour" - The Plimsouls
"In the Flesh" - Blondie
"España Cani" - The Dancing Brass

Love 'running with the night'. What are the original lyrics that tracer is referring too tho?

"Say You, Say Me" is hideously 80s.

I've already said that upthread, but I was listening to it again and it bears repeating.

so listen to it again

"hideously 80s" = my aesthetic now basically

I'll defend Hello -- it's got a great melody, the singing is full of pathos, and although some of the lyrics are a little too cheesy for their own good, there are a couple of subtle things that really capture the loserish longing of a guy too afraid to even talk to the object of his affection, especially "Hello, is it me you're looking for?" The kind of almost magical thinking that a guy in his position can resort to -- he's never even made himself apparent to her, yet he imagines that she might be looking for him. He doesn't actually have the slightest idea who she is or what she's like, yet he has almost creepily constructed elaborate fantasies about her (I say "almost" creepily, because it's the kind of thing I think most guys engage in at some point in their lives).

This week has been Lionel Richie week in my work, Greatest Hits playing every morning so far - it was George Benson the week before - I'm not the biggest fan but the guy is undoubtedly a class songwriter.

Came here to give big ups to "You Are," and see that I already did it way back in 2003. Some things never change.

I'm stuck on him.

I was confused about the inclusion of Nightshift before I realized you weren't restricting your Commodores considerations to only years he was a Commodore.

my wife's a big fan and i went with her to a gig a few years ago with fairly low expectations but tbh it's one of the best gigs i've ever been to as far as staging, pacing and frequency of hits goes

the guy puts on a hell of a show and he is massively charismatic onstage

Lionel is classic as fuck.

What the bloody hell happens three minutes into Say You, Say Me? I mean it wasn't a great song anyway but this hot garbage won an Oscar.

Lionel Richie IS classic as fuck.

I'd forgotten about 'Don't Wanna Lose You'! Saw the video to that quite a lot in '96, and it made the Top 20. I can still sing it in my head now even though I haven't heard it for 23 years.

https://i.imgur.com/pn8lXBh.png

Lionel Richie's stuff is wildly uneven to me, but I lean towards the Commodores hits. There's really not much by the post-Richie Commodores that I want to play, but I like "Night Shift" more than any of their previous hits except "Brick House."

(Even though those two do not have Richie on lead vocals, he's still THE guy in that group.)

"Night Shift" is a lovely neon puddle a-shimmer.

Even now I have to echo "Marvin... Marvin..." when I hear his name.

I still have no regrets about putting that song on the top of my ballot when we polled Motown a few years back.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7j9iSbz0qc

^^ love this scene and movie

Pre-Cambrian ILM was a miserable place..

The most charismatic and charming man I ever interviewed. Total classic, even the soppy stuff. Somebody needs to sing about endless love, and he's the master of it.

“Hello” is a masterpiece

"Easy" is undeniable.

Was in a supermarket last weekend and saw his face on the cover of People or similar and he pretty much looks the same these days.

The pulse in “Running With The Night” alone means Lionel will be forever classic

The end of the first verse of "Three Times a Lady" is my favourite Lionel Richie moment: "...I must say out loud...", goes to the discordant augmented (?) chord, and then hangs on it for an extra measure before the chorus. He knows he has you hooked, he can keep you listening through this strange chord.