Let us do a thread on this great songwriter. As you know, he started out with the funk group the Commodores who were a tight funky group with strong rhythmic precision and horn charts that rivaled that of Kool And The Gang.However, as time wore on, Lionel's great love songs started to garner attention and the group began to become more of a ballad type of group{at least the singles being released were mostly ballads}.

Then Lionel went out on his own in 1982 and had MAJOR solo success. You got to remember in 1983, he only trailed MJ in terms of popularity and album sales. His great 1983 album Can't Slow Down sold nearly 20 millon copies and won Album Of The Year at the Grammy Awards in 1985. In the 90's he kind of fell off, but a lot of his most popular songs are staples on Adult Contemporary radio. Here are a few of my favorite songs by this great songwriter{I'm adding his Commodores stuff on this list BTW}.

Did you know that Lionel has written some of his most famous songs while sitting on the toilet? (LOL)


***This Is Your Life(1975)

***Slippery When Wet(1975)

***Just To Be Close To You(1976)..Classic stuff

***Zoom(1977)

***Easy(1977)

***Three Times A Lady(1978)

***Still(1979)...Oh man this song is so beautiful. Nice lyrics from Lionel on this one.

***Truly(1982)

***Running With The Night(1983)..One of my favorite 80's songs. I love the energy of this song and the climax as well. I used to love the video for this song as well.

***Love Will Find A Way(1983)...My favorite song off of the Can't Slow Down album. I never get tired of hearing this song.

***Say You Say Me(1985)...More great lyrics from Lionel. This one won Lionel an oscar for Best Original Song From A Motion Picture. This song was featured in the movie White Nights.

The best he did you forgot;

Miss Celie's Blues by Tata Vega.

Taken from The Color Purple Soundtrack...

And let's be honest about his regular output...
He was a sort of 80's commercial trollop, so to speak.
Fun, and it's rather hard to write irritating songs that stick in your mind for so long.
These days we only see him in Europe if we need an affordable former super star.
Rather smart again. Bit commercially whorish, but he gets free tickets to Holland to push the first bloody stone in a record attempt and say cheesy things to the kids in every Starmaker all over Europe. Smart, smart man.
[This message was edited Mon Dec 16 6:22:13 PST 2002 by gooeythehamster]

I'm easy like sunday morning

His last two albums have been completely forgettable, but it doesn't take away from what he has accomplished. He was a really good songwriter (some songs were cheesy, but many were excellent). His last truly great album was his "comeback" album in 1995 called "Louder than Words". This album was very underrated. Featured production from Jam and Lewis and Babyface like every other r and b album in the 90s- but the songs were really strong.

On the flip side, ONE he could have kept was "Dancing On The Ceiling". Oh my goodness that song was hideous. What in the world he was thinking when he WROTE and recorded that one?. Strangely enough the song went to number #2 on the pop charts 86'.

That's so funny that U just brought up Lionel..Just yesterday I picked up tix 4 his show here in Hawaii on 11 Jan...It should be a good night...Aloha~

RomeoMustDie said:

Brother915 said:

That's very telling.

But I ain't gonna threadjack your Lionel thread.

gooeythehamster said:

Mine as well

Supernova said:

Yea...I heard this from him on one of those radio interviews back in 84'. Sounds like a FUNKY situation if you ask me.....Ok, so I won't quit my day job.

We all know one of his best songs is Penny Lover!!! I love this jam, even though it's got the same drum beat as "Seasons" by Zoom! Has anyone else noticed this? LOL!

rdhull said:

I think He is a Great Songwriter&a Good Piano&Sax Player as well.the Guy still puts on a Damn Good Live Show.but His Last couple of Albums were Weak IMHO."Love Will Find A Way"&"High on Sunshine" got much play this weekend.

Harlepolis said:

Miss got taste...

Brother915 said:

Oh yes,that song is HORRIBLE! I was really disappointed with that song.Remember the chessy video? Aaaahhh!!

But,the 'Dancing On The Ceiling' album had a few decent songs,like "Love Will Conquer All" and "Ballerina Girl".

Here are just *some* of my favorite Lionel songs,many recorded with The Commodores...


***"This Is Your Life"(1975)---I love this song,even though it has the same melody as the 1974 Earth Wind & Fire song "Devotion".

***"High On Sunshine"(1976)---The story goes that Motown was gonna release this song as a single,but chose "Just To Be Close To You" instead.Both songs are GREAT,but this one really should have been a single too.

***"Zoom"(1977)---The 1977 album 'The Commodores' is their strongest work imo.This song is one of the many highlights.

***"Easy"(1977)---Ditto

***"Sail On" (1979)---"Sail On...honey...good times never felt so good".Indeed!

***"Lady" by Kenny Rogers (1980)---Lionel wrote and produced this song for his pal Kenny,and it is probably my favorite song by Kenny Rogers.

***"Endless Love"(1981)---Don't front,y'all know that this is the ULTIMATE wedding song...lol...

***"You Are"(1982)---breezy midtempo R&B jam

***"You Mean More To Me"(1982)---I've always loved this underrated pop ballad,buried near the end of Lionel's first solo album.

***"Tell Me"(1982)---One of the highlights from Lionel's first solo album.A midtempo offering,it's a great song from a great album.

***"Love Will Find A Way"(1983)---People always accuse Lionel of "selling out" after he left The Commodores.But this song is delightfully soulful,and wouldn't have sounded out of place on a Maze album.It's my favorite song from the hit-filled 'Can't Slow Down' album.

***"Running With The Night"(1983)---Admittedly,it's hard to listen to this song without thinking of the Michael Jackson-inspired video...lol...but it's still a great pop track.

***"Love Will Conquer All"(1986)---Unfortunately,the 'Dancing On The Ceiling' album wasn't his best work.But this song,which became the second single,is terrific.Like "Love Will Find A Way",it's warm and soulful.

***"Do It To Me"(1992)---I love the bridge on this song..."My friends say I'm a dreamer...it takes a fool in love to know what I'm feeling...Each time you say goodbye,I find a reason why,to give us one more try...there's no end,no end baby".

DavidEye said:

it was cool too see Rodney Dangerfield in the video at least.

DavidEye said:

"High on Sunshine" is my cut."Love will find a way&Love will Conquer all both Co-Written with Greg Phillinganes love them Jams.Running with the Night video had a MJ feel because Michael Peters the same Cherographer for "the THriller" video&Beat It Video worked with Lionel for this VIdeo.Shelia E. was looking cute in that Red dress YES LAWD!!!"All Night Long"All Night reminded me of "Wanna Be Startin Somethin"."You Are" is the cut.

mistermaxxx said:

Yes... Shelia looked GORGEOUS in the video. Also the reason why MJ's "Beat It" and "Running With The Night" looked similiar is because they both were directed by Bob Gerdorf(sp) or something like that. He was in demand during those days.

Brother915 said:

yeah I was thinking on the Dance steps.but yeah on the directing.Bob Gerdorf did also "Love is a Battlefield" with Michael Peters bringing the dance ROutines.funny how all of that went hand&hand?

I know the spelling on Bob's last name is not right. I think a more accurate spelling is Giraidi of something like that. I'm sure a fellow orger will come and redeem me shortly.

Brother915 said:

i just looked in a older MJ book i have his last name is Giraldi.did we make Bob's day or what? Peace

mistermaxxx said:

I'm waiting for Motown/Universal to re-master the Commodores albums from the 70s.Several months ago,there was talk that they would soon be releasing a re-mastered version of Lionel's 'Can't Slow Down' CD.It has now been expanded to a 2-CD set,with many outtakes,demos,12" versions,etc.It's now set to come out sometime in 2003.

DavidEye said:

I can't wait either.I remember you mentioning it a few months back& I had my Money all set looking for that Lionel Richie Set.Peace Man&always Much props too you Getting the 411 on things.