I like the song "Love Will Conquer All" but the rest of the album puts me to sleep I remember after this album came out,I saw an article in a magazine (Right On!? Black Beat? Rock N' Soul?....can't remember which one) that was titled "Is Lionel Richie becoming the black Barry Manilow?" There was a sense that,at that point,he had gone too "pop" and had totally abandoned his R&B roots.

Last I checked Lionel was still rockin' - Hard. $$$$$$

''Dancing on the Ceiling" belongs on the list of songs the CIA used to torture detainees.

Ego101 said:

No, but it's been said the Rock Me Tonite video killed Billy Squire's career. I don't know if that's true or not.

Identity said:

''Dancing on the Ceiling" belongs on the list of songs the CIA used to torture detainees.

MotownSubdivision said:

I've never heard the album though I've heard the title song and some of "Ballerina Girl" and they (particularly the former) are cheesy though I don't hate them like almost everybody on here does. The album didn't reach the high plateau of Can't Slow Down, selling much less than its predecessor but was an objective commercial success, spawning a #1 single, 4 other Top 10's and ultimately going 4× platinum in the US. That sounds too successful to be so damaging to his career like many on here like to say but that's just me. Anybody else have an opinion on this? Is the hate that DotC gets over the top? No doubt it was a step down from his previous effort but I think people greatly exaggerate the album as what "ruined" his career just because they don't like it or don't like Lionel going the AC route or maybe even Lionel himself. If anything, he took far to long to release another album while he was still rising as a solo star and the fallout with Brenda hurt Lionel's image more than the silliness of DotC did.

the commercial success always occurs right after the foundation propels you to the pinnacle point of your career, then the commercial standard draws you away from that foundation, then the foundation withers, the root withers, and eventually, there are no more commercials to run

I had this tape when I was a little kid. I think what he accomplished in the early-mid 80s just wasn't followed up well in the late eighties. A lot of legends, white and black, who did not do dance music or new jack swing were left behind.

Cinny said:

A lot of legends, white and black, who did not do dance music or new jack swing were left behind.

The Rolling Stones & Sting released some New Jack/hip hop influenced remixes. Sting even made a music video for the Roxanne remix with Pras & Puff Daddy. David Bowie did a song with Al B. Sure!. Tammy Wynette sang on Justified And Ancient. Diana Ross released some house style songs. I think it was hip hop that made those older R&B acts obsolete on the R&B radio stations. Jodeci, Jade, Mary J. Blige, & SWV may have been singing but their image was hip hop, not fancy suits and dresses. But acts like Force MDs, The Sequence, New Edition, & Bobby Brown began combining rap and R&B in the 1980s. The ones that danced were doing more hip hop inspired moves, not the old style stepping that The Temptations did. Look at the dancers on Soul Train in the 1990s & 2000s when it went off the air. Cross Colors and sagging pants would not really have worked for Peabo Bryson. So he went the Disney theme song route that others did later like Elton John & Phil Collins.

Enhanced his career with white and European listeners.

Ruined his careers amongst black people and some critics - although 'hello' was cheesy as hell anyway.

I'd walk away happy if my networth was @ $200 Million and counting...

MickyDolenz said:

Cinny said:

A lot of legends, white and black, who did not do dance music or new jack swing were left behind.

The Rolling Stones & Sting released some New Jack/hip hop influenced remixes. Sting even made a music video for the Roxanne remix with Pras & Puff Daddy. David Bowie did a song with Al B. Sure!. Tammy Wynette sang on Justified And Ancient. Diana Ross released some house style songs. I think it was hip hop that made those older R&B acts obsolete on the R&B radio stations. Jodeci, Jade, Mary J. Blige, & SWV may have been singing but their image was hip hop, not fancy suits and dresses. But acts like Force MDs, The Sequence, New Edition, & Bobby Brown began combining rap and R&B in the 1980s. The ones that danced were doing more hip hop inspired moves, not the old style stepping that The Temptations did. Look at the dancers on Soul Train in the 1990s & 2000s when it went off the air. Cross Colors and sagging pants would not really have worked for Peabo Bryson. So he went the Disney theme song route that others did later like Elton John & Phil Collins.

I would feel more rewarded as an artist if I produced/created/conceptualized something authentic myself rather than sampling the work of others......

as I mentioned there were occassions through the past 35 years where sampling has been used in a very appropriate and respectful fashion, but it became a formulatic occurrence throughout the industry to sell massive records while the artists who generated the very music that was being sampled were pushed out of the landscape.....

I would feel elated being in a recording studio and literally creating the music from scratch, to me that's what being a producer/musician is supposed to be about, that's when u are making a real contribution to the world of music

Identity said:

''Dancing on the Ceiling" belongs on the list of songs the CIA used to torture detainees.

MickyDolenz said:

Cinny said:

A lot of legends, white and black, who did not do dance music or new jack swing were left behind.

The Rolling Stones & Sting released some New Jack/hip hop influenced remixes. Sting even made a music video for the Roxanne remix with Pras & Puff Daddy. David Bowie did a song with Al B. Sure!. Tammy Wynette sang on Justified And Ancient. Diana Ross released some house style songs. I think it was hip hop that made those older R&B acts obsolete on the R&B radio stations. Jodeci, Jade, Mary J. Blige, & SWV may have been singing but their image was hip hop, not fancy suits and dresses. But acts like Force MDs, The Sequence, New Edition, & Bobby Brown began combining rap and R&B in the 1980s. The ones that danced were doing more hip hop inspired moves, not the old style stepping that The Temptations did. Look at the dancers on Soul Train in the 1990s & 2000s when it went off the air. Cross Colors and sagging pants would not really have worked for Peabo Bryson. So he went the Disney theme song route that others did later like Elton John & Phil Collins.

-

Are you 80 years old or something. Most of your post are quite historical in context. Agreed by the way. Late 80's early 90's Teddy was King.

MickyDolenz said:

Cinny said:

A lot of legends, white and black, who did not do dance music or new jack swing were left behind.

The Rolling Stones & Sting released some New Jack/hip hop influenced remixes. Sting even made a music video for the Roxanne remix with Pras & Puff Daddy. David Bowie did a song with Al B. Sure!. Tammy Wynette sang on Justified And Ancient. Diana Ross released some house style songs. I think it was hip hop that made those older R&B acts obsolete on the R&B radio stations. Jodeci, Jade, Mary J. Blige, & SWV may have been singing but their image was hip hop, not fancy suits and dresses.

Exactly, and THEY MADE IT THROUGH THOSE TRENDS!

[Edited 11/30/15 10:12am]

mancabdriver said:

Enhanced his career with white and European listeners.

Ruined his careers amongst black people and some critics - although 'hello' was cheesy as hell anyway.

Reminds me of another prominent black, male artist who peaked in the 1980s.

I guess what it all boils down to is....how many hit records did Lionel have after Dancing On The Ceiling? I know he had a hit CD a few years ago,but it was a duets album.

SoulAlive said:

I guess what it all boils down to is....how many hit records did Lionel have after Dancing On The Ceiling? I know he had a hit CD a few years ago,but it was a duets album.

You could say this about many acts. How many big hit singles did the Rolling Stones & Paul McCartney have after the 1980s? But their tours were successful up til now. Stevie Wonder never hit the pop Top 10 again after Go Home in 1985.

MickyDolenz said:

phunkdaddy said:

Stevie didn't chart again in the top 10 on the pop charts but he was still killing it on the r&b charts. Skeletons and You Will Know were both number one Get It was also top 10 while Gotta Have You, Fun Day, and These Three Words all from the Jungle Fever Soundtrack were top 10.

I'm aware of that. That's why I said pop Top 10. Stevie also charted on the adult contemporary Top 10 too. The Hop 100 is the main chart. All the rest like R&B, jazz, dance, and country are sub charts. George Strait has 60 #1s on the country singles chart and close to 90 Top 10s in total, which is more than anyone else on any chart. But George had none that made Top 10 on the Hot 100.

MichaelJackson5 said:

MotownSubdivision said:

MichaelJackson5 said:

Reminds me of another prominent black, male artist who peaked in the 1980s.

Prince?

No. The dead one who never toured on US soil throughout the 1990s but was huge in Europe.

MichaelJackson5 said:

did "dancing on the ceiling" end Lionel's career??

it didn't. but it SHOULD have.

I have nothing - I repeat nothing

against any artist who wants to.. uh.. maximize their presence in the market

or sell trillions of records or whatever..

to me it simply seemed too "calculated" the way it happened with Richie.

in a period of a few years he went from

"mahtarial thaaangs.. that ah thought had so much VAL-yah

didn't reallyhaveany VAL-yahatall.."

to

"say you say me"

(yawn)

oh well. neither Richie - nor his "daughter" Nicole - nor any of the next 5 or 6 generations of this family will have to think about where they will live or what they will eat.

so that "dancing on the ceiling" piece equates to "living in luxury".

times 100,000.

or:

dancing on the ceiling = laughing all the way to the bank.

Lionel's good with it. that's what matters.

BobGeorge909 said:

No...I'd say peddling a country album on the home shopping network did thatm

That helped his career as it was his most successful album since the early 1990s. He also had Shania Twain on one of the songs and she hadn't released anything in a long time. So that probably contributed to sales of Tuskegee too. Country is a big market. Even Motley Crue had a tribute album featuring current country acts.

No, but it's been said the Rock Me Tonite video killed Billy Squire's career. I don't know if that's true or not.