its almost impossible these days for an artist over 40 to get any airplay on the top 40 stations these days and even more difficult if you were a popular artist from the 80's such as Lionel was..so how in the world has he been able to get so much airplay for his new song "call it love?" its one of the most added songs and it keeps getting more popular..i think its an average song for Lionel at best but i just find it amazing and pretty cool that they are playing him on top 40 radio ...but ya gotta wonder...is this payola at its best?

I don't think the song is highly requested, so...

It could be because of his famous (or infamous) daughter. After all, most pop radio stations are playing Paris Hilton's new song, and they know that most young people associate Paris Hilton with Nicole Richie and "The Single Life" reality show. Most young people know that Paris' parents own the Hilton Hotel chain, but they may not have known that Lionel Richie was Nicole's dad, and even if they did, they may not be too familiar with his music, so this is an opportunity for those people to get to know Lionel Richie. It's sad in a way if this is true, but then again, a lot of younger people only know Ronald Isley as Mr. Biggs in the R. Kelly videos, and others only know Paul McCartney from his band Wings.

728huey said:

It is worse than sad when non-entities like Paris Hilton can even get the opportunity to be heard on radio waves. It only shows the completely insane music scene that we have here now in 2006.

And I dont wish any ill health to his daughter...but really...why on earth should we care what she or Paris Hilton do? Being annointed as a "celebrity" is clearly not worth what it used to be when at least you were famous for something approaching entertainment talent in music, tv film or print media. These girls are media symbols because they like to party??? Good grief.....

I have heard the song, not too thrilled with it...and wish that artists would at the very least not try to ape the sounds of today....it is just too desperate a move.....but hey, he is being heard...and at the very least, he does have a Legacy that he can be proud of.
[Edited 7/27/06 20:43pm]

I haven't heard the song.

Allnall said:

This isn't really new. The public used to have a fascination with Gloria Vanderbilt, "The poor little rich girl", and so many other "non-celebs". The only difference is that there are so many more channels today to tune into these lives.

I do agree that the life of the "true-celeb" gets more difficult. Especially as today "everyman" is the celeb and there seems to be more appeal in this, to many.

It's an interesting theory that Nicole is the way that many connect to Lionel Richie. I would guess that this only counts for a very small percentage but I'd love to know the numbers on that one.

yep, check out #54...

http://www.mmr247.com/mmr...0&cutoff=1



Never was a huge Lionel Ritchie fan but how weird is to see him rankied in there along side Ciarra, Pink and P Diddy .

Lets hear it for the 50+ crowd . Gives you some hope for Prince

newpower99 said:

Hopefully this is the start of a trend.Bon Jovi got quite a bit of top 40 airplay with who says you cant go home a few months back

Obviously he was paired with the guy who did Ne-Yo's song plus he's flopped once in the hands of LA Reid so they took a more contemporary approach so Lionel won't be like Christina Milian...

He's one of my fave artists. I've just recently started to get into his stuff

Here's his official website http://www6.islandrecords...e/home.php

I finally heard "I Call it Love". I like it. ...I am also very excited to see that Chuckii Booker wrote stuff for the album. I WILL buy it now.

...His website also says that Raphael Saadiq did some writing and production.

Mazerati said:

Simple. Ne-yo, (Mr. "So Sick" and "Crazy Love") a 20-something hot new artist/lyricist helped write the song and sings backing vocals on the song. The song sounds just like the two current singles from Ne-Yo's debut album. And I think the guy who produced the majority of Ne-yo's album produced this song for Lionel.

Hopefully this will be the only track that is like this. I usually always love Lionels work old and new, but this RB production, typical, typical, typical. Not a great statement from someone who is supposed to be un-typical.

lastdecember said:

See my post above for the reason it sounds so un-Lionel like.