LioN4l Richie

emine

Friend of a friend of a friend made this...

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[Deleted User]

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andy

Lionel Ritchie is one of those people who was so bad in the 80s, it's forgotten how good he was in the 70s. (Others who were bad in the 80s/good in the 70s include Weller, Bowie, Elton, Wonder etc). I can only put this down to the invention of the Moog, MTV and a massive fall in the price of cocaine.

Anyway, as part of the rehabilitation of Lionel Ritchie, I offer Sail On, which was probably the first (only?) video to feature hanggliding.

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David

I'd say Wonder was the worst offender there. Scaling possibly the giddiest of heights and then coming out with that Bontempi baseline in 'I just called...' A shocking collapse of SG Warburg proportions.

ADGS

Bowie stopped being a great albums act in the eighties, but he was still putting out some brilliant singles.

Ian

I often muse on a variation on this theme entitled "when should the music star have died in a tragic accident thereby ensuring their legend status". Stevie Wonder an obvious here, a decent plane crash in 1980 and posthumous release of Masterblaster (possibly Happy Birthday, but I'm less convinced) would have put him on t-shirts and student walls. @Andy - I'd give Weller Start, Going Underground, That's Entertainment and Town Called Malice, all from the 80s. vespa crash before Bitterest Pill and the whole D.C. Lee Jam phase would have been authentic. Unfortunately sometimes mistakes could be made - Jonny Cash wouldn't have survived the Highwaymen phase following a bender induced coma on my reckoning, leaving him a decade or so short of the American series. In real life, Buddy Holly did it too young, I reckon he would have knocked out Sgt Pepper in his sleep five years before the mop tops got there. Should have taken the bus.

kreuzkav

I actually saw someone who really looked like Lionel Ritchie about 6 or 7 years ago walking down SGR near the Halal butcher shops near John Jones. He was in England on TV shows a lot at the time so maybe....

I think the one Bowie album which ranks with his late 60s to early 80s work is Heathen from 2002.

Ian

@kreuzkav - re Heathen. Too little too late ...

miss annie

@Ian There must be space on the 80's tour bus to heaven for The Rolling Stones (except Keef, without whom we would have no Captain Jack). In real life Elvis should have laid off the burgers and enjoyed a Rick Rubin produced revival.

ADGS

People always rave about Heathen to me, but a recent attempt at giving it another listen confirms that it's still incredibly boring. Now, 1: Outside and Earthling, while they both contained at least 50% dreck, were elsewhere startlingly exciting and innovative.

As for Weller, while I'd certainly agree that his solo career has been a disgrace, I've always considered The Jam to be a rather overrated bunch of mod revivalists who managed a handful of classic songs, but mainly while they were in the process of becoming the glorious, gorgeous Style Council.

andy

@Ian - Presumably you wash Brian Wilson out to sea in a surfing-related incident shortly after the release of Pet Sounds?

Your Stevie Wonder theory is supported by Marvin Gaye's reputation. Shot by his father in 1984, he was saved the indignity of having an equivalent of "I just called to say I love you" on his CV.

sincers

Music snobbery alive and kicking in N4.

David

Presumably Moby was stillborn.

sincers

...he says watching X Factor...

Ian

@missannie I went to the Elvisorama in Vegas once and they were playing tapes of Vegas Elvis singing the worst possible cover of Bridge Over Troubled Waters. It convinced me that if he were alive now he would be doing Wonderwall and Smack my Bitch Up in his semi drunk drawl. He would never have survived King Creole never mind got to the 68 special. On your Stones point I would be tempted to give them Start Me Up, but apart from Miss You in 78 it was a sorry 10 years so yes, France, Exile on Main Street in the can and a wrap party at Keef's place gone tragically wrong.

David

Elvis was without a doubt the greatest rock and roll swindle. The King my arse.

ADGS

You can't lose Brian Wilson after Pet Sounds, that deprives us of Good Vibrations and worse, Heroes and Villains.

After Smile was aborted, on the other hand...

ADGS

And Elvis is a rare case who should have lived ever so slightly longer, because when he died he was in talks to do Bowie's Golden Years. I'd have loved to hear that.

Arkady

Dylan is the archetype of course. But if he *had* died in that motorcycle accident in 1966 then there would have been no Blood on the Tracks, no Rolling Thunder review. Others think he'd have been better kicking the bucket after 1976. But then there would have been no 90s comeback, no Time out of Mind, no Love and Theft. The latter two albums stand proud with his best work. And that's just the best of it. There are few truly bad Dylan albums in my opinion, but I'm pretty obsessed. That video is hilarious, by the way.

kreuzkav

Time out of Mind is an amazing album and proof that getting old doesn't mean producing bad albums for many great singers. I think Lou Reed is a classic case of great work in his 20s and 30s ( he was no spring chicken when Transformer came out) and mediocre work later in his 40s and 50s.

However, Magic and Loss was quite a good one. Like Bowie's Heathen album (Bowie proclaimed this as an album of a 50 something man) it's quite sombre and a work of someone acknowledging their middle age and 'age' in general. A meditation.

Ali

How about Leonard Cohen been pretty consistent for a long while ! Good to see Leon Russell is back with a little help from Reg.

Emma

And no Bobby Dylan in the 80s would have meant no Handle With Care. And no BD now would mean no Theme Time Radio Hour!

miss annie

Theme Time was the reason that I finally bought a digital radio. For the truly obsessed (Arkady), and those who missed it the first time, they replay the shows here among other places. <http://www.dylanradio.com/>;

ADGS

I don't know about Cohen anymore, Dear Heather was pretty iffy. But by all accounts he's still excellent live (I very much regret not having had the 80 quid to check for myself).

David

I think Cohen still has the songwriting in him but the production pretty much ever since the mid 80's reminds me of a hotel band playing covers in Majorca to OAPs.

Ali

First we are forced to leave London a little (quite bad) L Cohen ditty The LibCons have sentenced us to five years of cuts They are changing the system from within They are coming now, for our votes the Libdems are coming to reward us First we are forced to leave London then we are moved to Hastings LibCons are guided by a signal from the heavens They are guided by the dogma in their minds They are guided by the beauty their privilege background brings First we are forced to leave London then we are moved to Hastings I'd really like to live beside you my friends I love your soul, your spirit and your clothes But you see the line moving us through the station? I told you, I told you I was one of those lazy ones Ah, you Libcons "loved" me as a loser But now you're worried that I just might win You know the way to stop me, but you don't have the discipline How many nights you prayed for this, so let your work begin First we are forced to leave London then we are moved to Hastings I don't like your financial business And I don't like these cuts that keep will keep me thin I don't like what your doing to my friends First we are forced to leave London then we are moved to Hastings I'd really like to live beside you my friends I love your soul, your spirit and your clothes But you see the line moving us through the station? I told you, I told you I was one of those lazy ones I gave you my vote LibDems But I can’t thank you for the pain that you sent me The LibDem monkey’s that has let this happen I worry every night now and will lose my job and pride First we are forced to leave London then we are moved to Hastings I am guided Ah, remember me, I used to live for music Remember me, I brought your groceries in Well I am not here anymore Because First we are forced to leave London then we are moved to Hastings

Ali

<http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23891018-the-poor-must-not-be-shunted-out-of-london.do>;

miss annie

@Ali There's already a thread for that. Can we go back to discussing music on this one please?

Arkady

I can vouch for Cohen live. Saw him at Glastonbury last year as the sun set. It was the only time I have openly wept at a gig, and that seemed to be a fairly widespread occurance. It was very manly crying though. Emma, good shout-out for the Traveling Wilbury's. Tweeter and the Monkeyman is probably my favourite. Theme Time Radio Hour is a treasure trove of the wierdest and most wonderful music ever committed to tape/wax cylinder.