tommyo (02/25/83)
Is Lionel Richie a black Manilow or Rogers? I took some time to think about this, and I`d have to say he`s more of a Kenny Rogers. Why? Both artists originally belonged to a group The First Edition and The Commodores. Both are successful crossover artists, Kenny from CW to pop and Lionel from R&B to pop, and get great success on both charts. So far, both Richie songs since he went solo, TRULY and YOU ARE, plus his duet with Diana Ross, ENDLESS LOVE, are positive love songs. Rogers also has had basically all up-feeling songs - LOVE WILL TURN YOU AROUND, LADY, A LOVE SONG, LOVE THE WORLD AWAY, etc. Manilow, though he`s had great positive love songs, has also had downers - EVEN NOW, TRYIN TO GET THE FEELING, WHEN I WANTED YOU, etc. So Lionel Richie, by these standards, is a black Kenny Rogers. Paul Anka? GEEZ, when did he come back to life? O.K. yeah he put out an album celebrating his 25 years in the business, and had a minor adult-contemporary hit I`VE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU ALL OF MY LIFE 2 years ago, but he`s joined the ranks of such guys as Ed Ames, Bob Goulet, Bobby Vinton who just do Vegas and T.V. specials. I like his music, but I think his time on the top hits list is over. But as I type this I remember that a guy who had Billboards first #1 back in the 40s also had a bit hit in 1980 about the Big Apple, so who really knows. I want to be a part of it, net.music, net.music! To O`Connor ihuxw!tommyo (Hey, who took the `m` out of my first name in the last line)
jj (02/25/83)
I would like to (slightly ) dispute the comments about Kenny Rogers. "Rodgers has had mostly all upbeat love songs as hits.' <last sentence actually paraphrased, sorry> Do you mean upbeat love songs on the order of Lucille, Ruby-Don't Take Your Love to Town, and the like? Some upbeat!
Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) <cmoore@BRL-VLD.ARPA> (02/11/85)
I have heard from other sources that Lionel Richie's name has no "t".