Did anyone catch the incredible performances this morning from Lionel Ritchie on the Steve Harvey Morning Show? Lionel Ritchie along with Chuckii Booker (where the hell has he been) put on an incredible impromptu performance right there in the studio. I knew Lionel was the shit but I have a whole new respect for the man after today. The fact that he forgot some of the lyrics made it even more real. He sang Three Times A Lady, Easy, Love Will Find A Way, Hello, Zoom and Endless Love on which co-host Jackie Reid sang Diana's part and she was damn good too.

They have got to replay this segment. Definitely one for the ages!
[Edited 6/5/06 19:27pm]
[Edited 6/5/06 19:30pm]

Didn't hear it, I'm not in LA

What exactly is Chuckii Booker DOING these days?

He produced a few of the tracks on Lionel Ritchies upcoming CD. LA Reid is the president of Lionel's record label and this is the first release. Chuckii is also going to be Lionel's music director on his upcoming tour. I also Raphael Saddiq also had a hand in producing the new CD as well. Prince should get a clue and let others produce him. He might be pleasantly suprised by the results.

BTW - The Steve Harvey Morning Show is broadcasted from NYC now
[Edited 6/5/06 19:46pm]
[Edited 6/5/06 19:46pm]

tpzlamont said:

My bad, thanks - can I hear it in the Bay Area though?

Lionel Ritchie, now help me out. that's the guy in this group called Commadoors, right?

Maze said:

No,
he's the guy who found a little Nicole wandering around aimlessly,
adopted her,
then didn't pay her any attention so that she eventually ended up aimlessly wandering around Paris.

http://abcnews.go.com/Nig...id=1974794

Oh, and Lionel doesn't have a "t" on his last name.

hopefully,Lionel's new album will be a soulful return to form,and not any more of that schmaltzy,European-sounding,Celine Dion-esque crap that he's been doing for years what he really needs to do is reunite with the Commodores and get back to the FUNK!

CalhounSq said:

seriously, where did they dig him up from? remember his jam turned away from way back?

dancerella said:

His name pops up here & there so he must have been working behind the scenes all this time, which is good. Audiences can only look @ those permanently chapped lips for so long

CalhounSq said:

The last i heard of him was a production credit on Philip baileys solo album in 1994. It has 2 chukki produced cuts. One of them "live it up", is way out funky. That synth funk he and bryan loren had was outta swing by the mid 90's.

Novabreaker said:

WTF?

Grown Iraqi men get misty-eyed by the mere mention of his name. "I love Lionel Richie," they say. Iraqis who do not understand a word of English can sing an entire Lionel Richie song.

The thing about guys like Chuckii Booker who have good musical chops is that they can find work in the music industry without being out front. I've played with guys who have actually been nominated for Grammy's, though they're unknown in the mainstream. They actually make a very good living playing music. Some of them make good money playing church gigs, which, for a keyboardist, can be very profitable.

I guess it's also a lot less stressful not having to worry about the whole frontman/recording artist/being in the spotlight thing. You get to make a living playing music without having to put up with a lot of the bs that comes with being a Lionel Richie or Chuckii Booker back in the day.

Musicians/recording artists can always go back to being strictly musicians. Recording artists become deejays or play the oldies circuit...

Oh yeah - songwriters can always collect royalties. I'll never forget an interview with James Ingram, in which he advised up and coming artists to learn all aspects of the business - playing, singing, writing and producing. The more weapons, the more options.

I think Chuckii is doin' well (Teddy Riley, too, for that matter).

JesseDezz said:

Yeah, Actually,i just met Chuckii 2 weeks ago @ Larrabee studios and he seems to be doing VERY well.
Not only did he do 6 cutz on Lionel's new CD but he's also working with Angie Stone and Michelle Williams (i.e. Destiny's Child). He is also into scoring film and writing jingles for commercials. ) i wonder if anyone really knows how much money is involved in that) He's a really nice brother and down to earth. he has extreme knowledge in the biz and the tracks he played @ the studio were SLAMMIN' harder than any stuff out there today. He really is on some other s***... has been for a while. He gets major respect from me.

JUST HEARD the new Lionel Richie CD "Coming Home"

Sweeeeet!

It's more R&B than i thought. Raphael Saadiq did a nice cut called "Sweet Vacation" and Chuckii Booker did 2 nice cuts called "Why" and "I'm missing Her". Overall, a great outing for Lionel's return. I didn't hear a "Brickhouse" type song but maybe that's a good thing. Wyclef has a bomb track on there as well so I would definitely pick it up. good to hear something fresh from an icon such as Richie.