Sure, the name “Lionel Richie” is practically synonymous with the word “corny”.
Corny as the man may be, no one sustains a forty-plus year career as an artist without significant talent and substance. The Alabama product has shown those qualities in spades since he emerged as the saxophonist/pianist/part-time lead singer of The Commodores in the early Seventies. Despite many peaks and valleys, Lionel’s never really gone away (barring a period in the late ’80s in which he went into exile following a series of domestic/family issues.)
The sound of the Commodores moved from hard funk (with a serious country flavor-check out the Southern-fried sermonizing Lionel does on “Just To Be Close To You”) to piano-based balladry occasionally cut with smoother pop/soul. Those changes increased the band’s viability, and they scored #1 pop and easy listening hits with “Three Times A Lady” in 1978 and “Still” in 1979.
In 1980, Lionel wrote and produced “Lady”, which became a massive crossover hit for Kenny Rogers. Less than a year later, the Diana Ross duet “Endless Love” spent 2 1/2 months atop the pop and soul charts. Lionel’s success overshadowed the band’s by this point, and it was an inevitability that a solo performing career would happen.
Shedding all funky pretense, Lionel’s solo work since breaking from The Commodores has gone straight for the middle of the road. For half a decade, he was a mainstay at the top of the pop charts with catchy (if cheesy) hits like “Hello” and “All Night Long”. He took home an Album Of The Year Grammy in 1985 for Can’t Slow Down (amidst the most qualitatively impressive field of nominees in recent memory.) A deeper dive into those solo albums reveals quality material that’s held up a lot more strongly than the hits, even though those hits are what’s been putting asses in seats for thirty years. The masses tuned out following 1986’s Dancing On The Ceiling, but there are many gems to be found in Lionel’s post-imperial work.
Most of the songs included below are available via digital storefronts and streaming services. However, for some reason, his 1996 comeback effort Louder Than Words is nowhere to be found, despite the fact that it’s (in my opinion) his second best solo effort. If all you know of Lionel is the Ja-faican accent and the “Hello” memes, check out the music below.
1. “You Are” (from Lionel Richie, 1982)
2. “Easy” (from Commodores, 1977)*
3. “Love Will Find A Way” (from Can’t Slow Down, 1983)
4. “Running With The Night” (from Can’t Slow Down)
5. “Love Will Conquer All” (from Dancing On The Ceiling, 1986)**
6. “Zoom” (from Commodores)*
7. “Time” (from Time, 1998)
8. “Ordinary Girl” (from Louder Than Words, 1996)***
9. “Sail On” (from Midnight Magic, 1979)*
10. “Sweet Love” (from Movin’ On, 1975)*
11. “I Like What You Do” (from Natural High, 1978)*
12. “Say I Do” (from Louder Than Words)****
13. “Do It To Me” (from Back To Front, 1992)
14. “Wandering Stranger” (from Lionel Richie)
15. “Heroes” (from Heroes, 1980)*
16. “Just To Be Close To You” (from Hot On The Tracks, 1976)*
17. “Lady (You Bring Me Up)” (from In The Pocket, 1981)*
18. “My Destiny” (from Back To Front)
19. “Girl, I Think The World About You” (from Hot On The Tracks)
20. “Say Yeah” (from Natural High)
21. “Oh No” (from In The Pocket)
22. “Still” (from Midnight Magic)
23. “Endless Love” (from the original soundtrack to the motion picture Endless Love, 1981)**
24. “Funky Situation” (from Commodores)*
25. “The Only One” (from Can’t Slow Down)
*-Commodores
**-Bonus points for the 12″ remix, prominently featuring background singer Marva King.
***-background vocals by Babyface and Peter Gabriel (!)
****-this isn’t even on YouTube. What the f…?
4 comments
Bernard says:
Jan 3, 2017
Splendidly crafted piece as per usual. Glad to see I’m not the only one who holds Louder Than Words in high regard. I would rank it 3rd behind Lionel Richie and Can’t Slow Down. Do have to say that I feel about Endless Love the same way you feel about Heal the World. I consider it the most horrid mega-hit ever. I’d take Don’t Worry Be Happy over Endless Love every time. Hope 2017 brings you more good days than bad days. I still got spaces reserved on my bookshelf for the Chronicles book and Joe’s upcoming book on Prince. Keep on keepin’ on Brother ‘Blerd.
MJ says:
Jan 4, 2017
Thanks for your continual support, BZ. The book is coming!! But hard to balance editing with the other stuff I’m doing. I need to take a week, shut everything down, and just finish the damn thing.
Louder Than Words is such a great album, but fell under the radar because Lionel was seen as so corny at the time. A very diverse record, too.
I can see how someone would feel a certain kind of way about “Endless Love”. Not only was it so ubiquitous at the time, but it ended up soundtracking weddings for years to come. Not to say Lionel didn’t write some awfully sappy songs (“Hello” and “We Are The World” for example), but I guess in light of those songs, it doesn’t seem so sappy?
John says:
Feb 2, 2017
How was Love Will Find a Way never an official single? That’s the one song I always went back to on Can’t Slow Down.
MJ says:
Feb 3, 2017
Cynical me thinks that Motown deliberately didn’t release it as a single because most of the album was so crossover-centric and they needed a song that would stick at Black radio (which often played album tracks as though they were singles.)