This question is not meant as a diss or anything. I am just curious as to what others on the forum think of Lionel Richie's music and contributions to Motown. I notice that he or his music is never discussed here, so please share your thoughts.
This question is not meant as a diss or anything. I am just curious as to what others on the forum think of Lionel Richie's music and contributions to Motown. I notice that he or his music is never discussed here, so please share your thoughts.
The Motown family and legacy, yes! The Motown sound, no!
Yes, 1980's Motown, for sure. Lionel's solo albums sold like hotcakes during that era. In fact, if memory serves, he was Motown's biggest hitmaker at that time. Not only that, in 1981, Diana's & Lionel's "Endless Love" gave Motown it's biggest duet single EVER! When it comes to '80s Motown and Lionel, it's hard to think of one without the other.
Last edited by Philles/Motown Gary; 04-08-2019 at 11:10 PM.
Not at first. Motown comes up almost like an afterthought when I think of Lionel
He’s not the only one either
Isley Brothers
Rick James
Debarge
Motown isn’t first to mind with any of them either
Also, can't forget Lionel's 1970s work with The Commodores. His contributions to Motown's success in the '70s and '80s was of vast importance.
Motown label, yep. But not of the sound.
Motown - absolutely
I agree with what's been said. Not at first, and not the Motown sound, but Lionel is definitely Motown.
Maybe the question should be, when you think of Lionel, do you think of Motown?
I agree, Tom. People seem to be comparing Lionel's music with the classic '60s Motown Sound which had changed by the 70s when The Commodores came along. And by the time of Lionel's '80s solo success with Motown, yet another decade had come and gone. Other than Motown's ongoing magic in the music, there's no way Lionel's music could be reminiscent of "The Motown Sound". Even as the question was posed, I don't understand the confusion.
Last edited by Philles/Motown Gary; 04-09-2019 at 10:57 AM.
I don't think of the Motown with Lionel Richie any more than I think Motown with say Diana Ross singing Love Hangover. What I think is that after the golden Motown sound era the label still had masses of top quality talent.
Once you get past the 60's I don't think anyone linked up certain artists with Motown anymore like they did in the 60's. That Motown Sound of the 60's gave its artist a definitive and immediately identifiable identity. It's like the Jimmy Jam/Terry Lewis era; when you heard those artists they produced, BAM! you KNEW and talked about it as a Jimmy Jam/Terry Lewis affair. Motown in the 70's and beyond? Good music, but no longer could you say an artists' name and immediately think MOTOWN. I always thought of Lionel Ritchie as artist first, Motown..."oh yeah, he was there too."
Au contraire, WaitingWatching -- mysterysinger and I both did....and still do. Once the classic Motown Sound of the '60s was over, we remained true to Motown and continued buying ALL of their product whenever possible -- especially '70s Motown. In the '80s, perhaps, to a lesser degree. But Motown's carry-over artists from the '60s and '70s [[Diana, Smokey, Stevie, Lionel) were still Motown to us, as were Motown's newly-signed '70s artists.. If you no longer linked them to Berry Gordy's Motown, that's cool, but some of us did and always will.
Last edited by Philles/Motown Gary; 04-09-2019 at 05:15 PM.
there's not that one artist that makes me think of Motown, it's a collective powerhouse of acts. perhaps part of the problem is that Lionel doesn't have that Detroit association, isn't of the core membership born there. but I would put him on equal footing as any other stand-out Motown name that comes to mind in importance to the brand .
Not at all. The real Motown is IVY JO HUNTER, THE FOUR TOPS, CHUCK JACKSON, DAVID RUFFIN, THE ANDANTES, FRANCIS NERO, THE SUPREMES, THE TEMPTATIONS, etc.
Thanks Gary. I think you have to distinguish between the different Motowns! It's not accurate to say that Lionel had anything to do with detroit era Motown and its classic sound. But it's also not fair to deny Lionel the credit for the classic music he made for the label in the 70s and 80s, and the Motown legacy he helped to forge.
For many in Detroit, Lionel may not represent Motown but to this NC boy, he does. Mainly what he contributed to being in the label.
When I think of Motown, I don't think of Lionel Ritchie. But when I think of Lionel Ritchie, I do think of Motown
Very good replies on the question. I'll go with not thinking of the Motown sound in general when thinking of Mr. Ritchie. My thought link is with the individuals, solo singers, musicians and groups that worked, and recorded there in the 60's.
There are two motown artist that i never think about and lionel richie is the other one!
I TOTALLY get that and think it's fantastic that you and others continued thinking in terms of linking artists with Motown well past the 60's. Are you both located in the U.K.? [[I always feel like I'm blowing that- U.K./England, even though it's been very well explained before!)I probably should have qualified those comments by applying them in general to people in the U.S.I think the U.K. has always been much stronger in having that devotion to Motown than people in the States. Just from my own experience with my friends, none of them automatically link anyone to any kind of a label. Nobody here says that's a Motown artist or that's an Arista artist, or that's an Epic artist. When Lionel was really hot, I never heard any of the people around me speak of him in terms of being a Motown artist.
But then again, nobody else around here was as diehard a fan of Motown as I was.
I'm in the U.S., WaitingWatching. I have to agree that Americans in general are at times fickle when it comes to recording artists, but not America's true Motown fans. When it comes to Motown, we're a faithful and loyal bunch. In fact, some of us are Motown completists who proudly own nearly every note of music Motown ever recorded -- both released and previously-unreleased. We owe it all to the magic of Motown's incredible '60s "Motown Sound". We were hooked early and it stuck with us until Berry sold Motown in 1988. After that, the only current-day Motown product I bought at the time was Diana and Stevie.
The reason some people don't mention Epic or Arista artists is because those were merely record labels that released all genres of music. Motown, however, was a "sound" -- a category unto its own which, during its 10-year heyday, took the world by storm and never stopped. Today, 60 years later, it has even spread to Broadway! Who would have ever guessed!
Last edited by Philles/Motown Gary; 04-12-2019 at 04:23 PM.
Motown was a revolution, a movement, a sound. That's why Stax, Atlantic, Chess, Epic or Arista are not looked on like that, those were simply labels. Motown was different. That's why of all the labels, Motown and the artists that shaped that sound and were the faces of that revolution [[Diana/Supremes, Marvin, Smokey Robinson, Temptations, Stevie Wonder, etc.) still gets big press to this day. You saw all the press Diana and Marvin got for their birthdays/stamp reveals/new albums. Once you're associated with Motown, you know you're part of something special.
there aren't many '80's kids' on here I don't think.. for those kids, they were all about Lionel, DeBarge, Rick James etc and they knew they were on Motown/Gordy because the MTV videos info at the lower corner of the screen told them so
Very good points. It never ceases to amaze me how singular Motown was in having that specific sound that to this day is so iconic. I'm not sure even the Philly Sound is as iconic with the general public. You're right in saying it's a category unto itself. I have loved Motown since I was 4 and still, it sometimes blows my mind.
Very true. Motown is the very reason I learned to play bass and a host of other instruments. I often think, how many artists would we be talking about so fervently to this day had then not been with Motown. I read once in a book a comment from an record exec back in the day something about how a lot of records were happening on Motown that wouldn't have made it elsewhere [[or something like that.) His point was that Motown just had everything covered so astonishingly well that if a record came out on a Motown label, it was almost automatically a hit.
There most definitely was an identifiable Stax sound.
Absolutely! As soon as you heard the horn section, you KNEW it was Stax! And not only that, Stax's Memphis Sound was Motown's biggest competitor. Also, certain Atlantic R&B artists [[especially Aretha & Wilson Pickett) recorded at Rick Hall's Fame studio, thus giving them the Muscle Shoals sound.
When I think of Motown, I think of the artists that recorded the defining hits for the company during what I call The Hitsville Era [[1959-1971). Since Lionel Ritchie's work at the label comes after that period, I don't think of him when I think Motown [[however, I do acknowledge his work both as a member of The Commodores & solo act).
Last edited by Motown Eddie; 04-13-2019 at 01:25 PM.
It's kinda like saying when you think of the Detroit Pistons, do you think of Ben Wallace???...If you're a Bad Boys fan, some diehard fans from that earlier era might say not... They won a championship with Ben...but his legend is likely not on par with Isiah, Dumars, Laimbeer, et al...Same with The Tigers and Miguel Cabrera...Most of us go back to the 68 team with Kaline, Horton, Lolich, and McLain...The classics...
Lol I just meant that Motown was so heavily promoted over the other labels. Stax definitely had an identifiable sound and was a revolution in its own right but it was never the powerhouse Motown was in the '60s.
No, not at all. Didn't realize that he was on Motown artist as a solo artist until I just read this post.
No!!!!!!!!!!!!
I don't know about "many" at least not compared to Motown but Isaac, Sam & Dave, Otis, Rufus, Johnnie Taylor and Booker T & the M.G.'s definitely laid the groundwork for soul music's global dominance... like I said, I give it up to Stax and they were just as much in the fight for civil rights and black excellence as Motown but Motown was ALWAYS on a wider scale...
Here is a list of some of the Stax Records artists:
https://staxrecords.com/artists/
Here is a more comprehensive list of Stax Artists:
Booker T. & the M.G.'s
Gus Cannon
The Astors
Rufus Thomas
Wendy Rene
Otis Redding [[Volt)
Carla Thomas [[Satellite, Atlantic, then Stax)
The Mar-Keys [[Satellite, then Stax)
The Mad Lads [[Volt)
Ruby Johnson [[Volt)
Mable John
Sam & Dave [[signed to Atlantic, recorded at Stax, recordings issued by Stax by arrangement with Atlantic until 1968)
Eddie Floyd [[Safice, Atlantic, then Stax)
The Charmels [[Volt)
Johnnie Taylor
William Bell
The Bar-Kays [[Volt)
Albert King
Ollie & the Nightingales [[Chalice, then Stax)
Wilson Pickett [[signed to Atlantic, recorded at Stax)
Don Covay [[signed to Atlantic, recorded at Stax)
Isaac Hayes [[Enterprise)
The Goodees [[Hip)
Christian Harmonizers [[Chalice)
Johnny Daye
Judy Clay
Arthur Conley [[Jotis, signed to Fame/Atco, recorded at Stax)
Veltones [[Satellite)
The Chips [[Satellite)
1968–1975: Post-Atlantic years
Isaac Hayes [[Enterprise)
Albert King
O. B. McClinton
Johnnie Taylor
Eddie Floyd
William Bell
The Soul Children
Little Milton
The Emotions [[Volt)
Booker T. & the M.G.'s
The Bar-Kays [[Volt)
David Porter
The Epsilons featuring Lloyd Parks -McFadden & Whitehead
Richard Pryor [[Partee)
Bill Cosby [[Partee)
The Staple Singers
The Ross Singers
The Rance Allen Group
Kim Weston
The Leaders [[Volt)
The Dramatics [[Volt)
The Temprees [[We Produce)
Jean Knight
Rev. Jesse Jackson [[Respect)
Mel and Tim
Moms Mabley [[Partee)
Luther Ingram [[Koko)
Terry Manning [[Enterprise)
Tommy Tate [[Koko)
The Nightingales
Frederick Knight
Shirley Brown
Calvin Scott
Inez Foxx
The Sweet Inspirations
Ernie Hines [[We Produce)
Roy Lee Johnson
Jimmy McCracklin
Lena Zavaroni[42]
Linda Lyndell [[Volt)
Round Robin Monopoly [[Truth)
Joyce Cobb [[Truth)
Larry Raspberry & the High Steppers [[Enterprise)
Eric Mercury [[Enterprise)
Ken Matthews
Lou Bond [[We Produce)
Glenn Yarbrough
2006–present: Concord years
Angie Stone
Ben Harper
Lalah Hathaway
Leela James
Leon Ware
N'dambi
Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats
Nikka Costa
Soulive
Southern Avenue[43]
Teena Marie
William Bell
Bookmarks