Lionel Richie hit #1 with Can’t Slow Down

Can’t Slow Down Lionel Richie

Released: October 11, 1983 Peak: 13 US, 123 RB, 13 UK, 11 CN, 13 AU Sales (in millions): 10.0 US, 1.89 UK, 21.0 world (includes US and UK) Genre: pop/R&B

Tracks: Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to charts. Can’t Slow Down All Night Long (All Night) (9/17/83, 1 US, 2 UK, 1 RB, 1 AC, gold single) Penny Lover (10/6/84, 5a US, 18 UK, 8 RB, 1 AC) Stuck on You (6/23/84, 3 US, 12 UK, 8 RB, 1 AC) Love Will Find a Way The Only One Running with the Night (11/26/83, 7 US, 9 UK, 6 RB, 6 AC, 49 AR) Hello (2/25/84, 1 US, 1 UK, 1 RB, 1 AC, gold single) Total Running Time: 40:56

Rating: 4.295 out of 5.00 (average of 21 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About Lionel Richie Lionel Richie was born in 1949 in Alabama. He went to Tuskegee Institute on a tennis scholarship and graduated with a Bachelo of Science degree in economics. While there, he became a singer and saxophonist with the Commodores. They became a prominent R&B group in the 1970s with Motown. Richie “gradually steered the band away from rigid soul and funk towards a more commercial pop sound.” AB He became the group’s most prominent member, singing lead on #1 hits “Three Times a Lady” and “Still” as well as top-five hits “Easy” and “Sail On.” After success as a songwriter – Kenny Rogers took Richie’s song “Lady” to #1 – and a huge #1 hit as a solo artist paired with Diana Ross on 1981’s “Endless Love,” Richie decided it was time to pursue a solo career. His self-titled 1982 solo debut was a four-time platinum smash with three top-five hits, including the #1 song “Truly.” His Second Album Richie quickly followed up his debut with Can’t Slow Down. He “ran with the sound and success of his eponymous debut, creating an album that was designed to be bigger and better.” AM He follows the template of Michael Jackson’s Thriller by “adding funky dance pop and watered-down elements of hard rock to the expected ballads.” TB As Rolling Stone’s Don Shewey said, “If you can’t innovate, imitate. And the more honest they are about their sources, the better.” WK “But safe bets do pay off, and with Can’t Slow Down Richie reaped enormous dividends.” AM The album generated five top-ten hits, topped the Billboard album chart, and spent 59 consecutive weeks in the top 10. It became Motown’s biggest seller AB and won the Grammy for Album of the Year. The Songs Here are insights into some of the album’s songs. “All Night Long (All Night)” For the first single from Can’t Slow Down, Richie went with All Night Long (All Night). A Q magazine review called it “an anthem to good times that makes the heart sing and feel twitch.” WK Richie showed how he was more suited to “jumpy international dance pop” WK than the funk music he made with the Commodores. WK “Running with the Night” Richie “adds a bit of rock with the sleek nocturnal menace of Running with the Night,” AM the album’s second single and another top-ten hit. It is “one of the best songs here.” AM Richie “ups the ante on his dance numbers, creating grooves that are funkier.” AM “The dance songs roll smooth and easy, never pushing the beats too hard and relying more on Richie’s melodic hooks than the grooves.” AM “Hello,” “Penny Lover,” and “Stuck on You” Richie embraces being a pop singer, especially on the “smooth ballads.” AM where Village Voice’s Robert Christgau said Richie demonstrates a “surprisingly solid” improvement. WK The other three top-ten hits from Can’t Slow Down all worked in this vein, from Penny Lover to the “country-ish Stuck on You” AM and the album’s second #1 hit, Hello. Other Songs With only eight songs, “the short running time does suggest the record’s main weakness, one that it shares with many early-‘80s LPs — the songs themselves run on a bit too long, padding out the running length of the entire album. This is only a problem on album tracks like Love Will Find a Way, which are pleasant but a little tedious at their length, but since there are only three songs that aren’t hits, it’s a minor problem. All the hits showcase Lionel Richie at his best, as does Can’t Slow Down as a whole.” AM Notes: The 20th anniversary of the album, released in 2003, added remixes originally released on the singles and instrumental versions of “All Night Long” and “Running with the Night” as well as demos and alternate versions of all the songs on the album. A couple of unfinished songs, “Ain’t No Sayin’ No” and “Tell Me,” are also included.

Review Sources: AM AllMusic.com review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine AB Michael Spilling (editor) (2015). Best-Selling Albums: From Vinyl Records to Digital Downloads. Amber Books Ltd.: London, United Kingdom. Page 122. TB Thunder Bay (2005). Albums: The Stories Behind 50 Years of Great Recordings. Thunder Bay Press; San Diego, CA. Page 221. WK Wikipedia Related DMDB Links: First posted 3/28/2008; last updated 12/8/2024.