John Katsilometes

[The Kats Report]

Lionel Richie brings his enduring hit parade to Planet Hollywood

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When he says he’s doing All the Hits, he means it.
Photo: Alan Silfen

It’s difficult to measure, today, the fame of Lionel Richie yesterday. In the late-1970s through the ’80s, this man was everywhere. He was a recording star and an omnipresent force on the radio, and got featured on MTV as often as that network’s tiny astronaut.

Rare was the weekend in the ’80s when Casey Kasem didn’t announce a Richie song on American Top 40. He has sold 100 million records over his years with the Commodores and as a solo artist. His second album, Can’t Slow Down, has sold 20 million copies, a staggering number by any measure. Among all-time, top-selling contemporary artists, Richie sits at No. 31, behind The Beach Boys and ahead of Neil Diamond, according to Billboard magazine. He closed the 1984 Summer Olympics in LA, and he still shows huge drawing power, performing for 120,000 fans last June at England’s Glastonbury Festival and 80,000 at Bonnaroo a year earlier.

With all that artistic equity, Richie was an easy call to perform at Axis theater, the 4,600-seat party pit at Planet Hollywood. He’s set to headline 10 dates from April 27 through May 18, and returns for another set of 10 in September and October.

Richie is a “legacy” act, spanning generations and cultures. You know all the songs. He still puts on a highly energetic show at whatever age he is. Sixty-six? Fantastic.

The show is called All the Hits, so we’ll be treated to most of the top singles. But what are Richie’s biggest efforts, as a Commodore and solo artist? We’ll count them down, in a highly subjective fashion:

10. “Hello.” This is a great ballad, where the message is very clearly stated. You cannot listen to this song without remembering the video, in which a young, blind woman carves a clay bust of Richie, cast as an acting coach. He sings to her all the way through the process. Richie complained to the video’s director, Bob Giraldi, that the bust used in the video didn’t look anything like him, but who cares? I seem to remember J.J. Jackson weeping during the world premiere.

9. “Running With the Night.” Along with “Hello,” a single from Can’t Slow Down, and a fine road-trip song.

8. “Still.” Richie’s second-best ballad while with the Commodores.

7. “All Night Long (All Night)” Would be higher on the list, but he did go a little overboard with this one during the Olympics. It’s a great dance number, but 9 minutes? It’s an encore song, certain to ramp things up at Axis.

6. “Endless Love.” In 1981, when Richie was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song, presenter Bette Midler referred to this single as, “Endless Love, from the endless movie, Endless Love.” That’s right, it was from the movie soundtrack. It was also the second-highest selling single of that year, behind “Bette Davis Eyes” by Kim Carnes.

5. “Sail On.” Richie’s best ballad while with the Commodores.

4. “Say You, Say Me.” David Letterman routinely quoted from this song. “Oh, Paul,” he would say to bandleader Paul Shaffer. “I had a dream. I had an awesome dream.” That’s how I’ll always remember it.

3. “Dancing on the Ceiling.” One of those songs that gets commonly derided, but damn, play the long version—the 7-minute playout—and you will feel the groove. As with many great dance numbers, simply ignore the lyrics and move.

2. “Easy.” You can still say it in common conversation. “We can brunch anywhere. I’m easy. Easy like Sunday morning.” Thank Lionel for that.

1. “Brick House.” This is Richie’s best work as an R&B vocalist, and I mean by a country mile. Or maybe an urban mile. Whatever. I defy anyone not to bounce to the bassline of this song. Legend has it that during a studio session in 1977, a technical malfunction forced the band to halt recording. Bassist Ronald LaPread started playing whatever came to mind, the band joined in until the song was built, brick by brick. It’s funk at its best, a far cry from “Hello,” but you’ll hear that, too.

Lionel Richie: All the Hits April 27-May 18 & September 21-October 12; Sunday, Wednesday & Saturday; 8 p.m.; $59-$219. Axis at Planet Hollywood, 702-777-6737.

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