![]() ![]() When the music channel started, MTV brass didn’t think black artists were rock ’n’ roll enough to play. The video helped break race barriers on MTV. But for some reason, even with ‘Endless Love,’ I squeaked right in.”Ĥ. The government has to allow you in, and certain artists’ music is considered risqué. “They said the first time they heard American music was in 1984 or ’85. ![]() ‘Hello,’ ‘Say You, Say Me’ and ‘All Night Long.’ “They told me they teach English in the schools with my songs. “We just got back from Shanghai, where we played ‘Chinese Idol,’ ” says Richie, who was floored by the audience’s command of his lyrics. The song is used to teach English to children in China. ’ As long as I am not cursing you out, I am going in the right direction.”ģ. “Somewhere in that made-up language, I am actually saying something, because even to this day, we’ll play India, and someone will tell me, ‘Yes, you’ve touched on certain words in. But Richie needed them immediately - so he churned out his own dialect. ![]() “The guy said, ‘Lionel, there’s 101 African dialects.’ ” When the singer asked for just a few words, he was told it would take a few weeks. “ ‘Tam bo li de say de moi ya, Hey Jambo Jumbo.’ ” He had called a friend at the United Nations to get some African phrases. “That is a wonderful joke,” Richie says of the lyrics. ![]() The African-sounding lyrics are gibberish. Sometimes, by not thinking, you find exactly what you want.”Ģ. “All Night Long.” ’ He looked at me like I was nuts. “I was leaving his house, and I said, ‘I’m going back to work all night long.’ Then I said, ‘Wait a minute. I wrote everything - ‘Well my friend, the time has come,’ ‘Fiesta, forever’ - and I still didn’t have a hook.”Īfter nearly three months of struggle, the singer had a eureka moment when dining with his friend Lloyd Greig, a Jamaicanborn physician. “If the song is called ‘Easy,’ you write ‘easy’ first. It took me months to find one,” says Richie. “It was the first time I’ve ever written a song where I didn’t have a hook. The title was inadvertently inspired by a Jamaican gynecologist. In honor of the tune’s birthday, Richie divulges five things you didn’t know about “All Night Long.”ġ. It’s been 30 years since the former Commodore released the iconic “All Night Long” off his second solo album, “Can’t Slow Down.” The song has become a cultural phenomenon: Richie performed it at the 1984 Olympics closing ceremonies, it was used in numerous commercials - including for General Motors and Mountain Dew - and was even parodied on “The Simpsons.” Richie appeared in animated form twice on “The Simpsons”: for the video parody below, and a 2007 episode in which he’s the in-flight entertainment on Mr. A January 2012 episode of “The Simpsons” parodied the “All Night Long” video… …complete with dancing Bart and Milhouse. And it becomes contagious.” Bob Rafelson, who directed the 1970 Jack Nicholson film “Five Easy Pieces,” helmed the video. “And then you walk out on the stage, and the adrenaline hits, and you forget about what you’re thinking. “There are days when you’re thinking, ‘I just don’t feel like singing ‘All Night Long,’ ” he says. On Tuesday, the Grammy winner will bring his most beloved hits to Barclays Center. “And then you realize that no matter what you put out there, the crowd will add the rest of the excitement to it.” “You work out your stamina, you work out your brain,” Richie tells The Post. After all, the 64-year-old just embarked on a monthlong North American tour, “All the Hits, All Night Long,” last Wednesday. Lionel Richie has been hitting the gym and working on his stamina. Standout singer quits 'American Idol' in stunning exitĬlaudia Conway's 'American Idol' performance was full of surprises 'American Idol' judges break silence on Caleb Kennedy's abrupt exit New Rick James doc reveals how penis-wielding coke binge helped Lionel Richie ![]()
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