For Diana Ross who turned 70 today, here are three of her biggest hits. For a full tribute to her towering role in 20th Century popular music, click here to link to a piece in the British paper The Telegraph written to mark her 70th. But for now, I want to focus on just three…
Tag: Lionel Richie
The Top 5 Underrated Lionel Richie Ballads
In my attempts to get over being unable to attend last night’s Lionel Richie concert (and mini-Commodores reunion with bassist Ronald LaPread), I thought I’d bust out another one of my “underrated” lists. A few days ago I wrote of Lionel Richie’s considerable funk credentials with a piece about the 10 best Commodores funk songs,…
Missing Kiwi On MH370 A Passionate Lionel Richie And Bee Gees Fan
The latest developments in the mystery of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 have turned attention towards the pilot and have in turn raised hopes, albeit faint, that the people onboard may still be alive. It’s really only when you find out the personal stories about people involved in tragedies that your cold fascination with a news…
The Top 10 Lionel Richie / Commodores Funk Songs – Lionel’s 2014 New Zealand Tour
The Commodores in the mid 70s. It’s one week today until Lionel Richie plays the first of three dates on his 2014 New Zealand tour*, so I thought it was time to remind people not just of how good he is, but how funky. I’m not one of those precious music fans who subscribes to…
Why Aren’t The Commodores In The Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall Of Fame?
At the moment I’m indulging in one of my favourite past-times which is listening to old Commodores albums. For those who don’t know, Ronald LaPread was the bassist in the Commodores from 1969 until his departure from the band in 1986 when he fell in love with an Iranian / Kiwi and moved to New…
Lionel Richie – ‘Tuskegee Volume Two’ Track-list
Lionel Richie is riding high in the charts with his first US number one album since 1986’s Dancing On The Ceiling, Tuskegee. Richie’s album of countrified duets of 13 of his most famous songs is described as a return to his country roots, though any true fan knows those roots have always been pretty close…
Needlessly Comparing Lionel Richie & Bruce Springsteen – Featured Songs From Their New Albums
Two of my biggest music heroes have returned with new albums in the last couple of weeks and while it might seem unlikely to put these guys side-by-side, there are a few things beyond longevity and massive success that align them. For starters, there are still Bruce Springsteen fans smarting from Lionel Richie taking out the Album of…
Rare Commodores Concert & Interview Footage From 1980
Here is some sensational footage from 1980 I’d never seen before where an interviewer spoke to each of the six Commodores in their homes in Tuskegee, Alabama. See my buddy Ronald LaPread (bass) from the 8 minute 30 second mark talk about how he can’t not dance while playing, despite the complex choreography. You also…
Lionel Richie Back Onstage With His Old Commodores Buddies
Last night Lionel Richie reunited onstage in Auckland at Vector Arena with two former Commodores, Thomas McClary and Ronald LaPread. By all accounts, the concert was phenomenal mixture of the funk, the soul and the balladry that made these men superstars for the first time in the 70s and I’m gutted I couldn’t be there….
Is Lionel Richie The Nicest Man In Showbiz? Hanging Out With A Couple Of Commodores, November 2007
The exuberant tale of 26-year old Lionel Richie and Commodores fanboy that gets to meet to his hero – three times… One-time-a-Lionel I knew was going to happen. Universal Records appreciated my daily on-air ravings about the magnificence of all things Lionel Richie and had put my name on the pre-concert meet ‘n’ greet list….
