Something's going on that's not quite clear

Continuing my trip back through the 1986 album charts

07/09/86 : Dancing On The Ceiling - Lionel Richie

Our second visit with the only Lionel we've met so far and this is a peculiar one - I know and like the title track, but I feel absolutely no inclination to listen to the album. I'm just expecting a whole load of American blandness - but maybe I'll be proved happily wrong.

I wouldn't call it bland actually - it's just very, very smooth. It's not really my thing, but there's nothing wrong with it and he's got a nice voice. I knew the title track and "Say You, Say Me" but I wouldn't remember any of the others if you played them to me now - and that's all I've got to say about it really!

We're at #2 in the charts this week on his fourth week of an impressive 53 week run, with this being as high as it got with Now 7 keeping it in second place for three weeks. The rest of the top five were Now 7 (obviously), Five Star, Paul Simon (a new entry) and Madonna with the next highest new entry being Paul McCartney (#7).

Wikipedia tells us this is his third solo album and has a reasonable amount of text (114 milliPeppers) which tells us remarkably little and it even tells us twice that the album was going to be called Say You, Say Me - but (spoiler alert) it wasn't. There are a few interesting names in the personnel list though - Eric Clapton, Randy Jackson and Sheila E are hidden amongst a load of very serious (and probably seriously talented) session musicians.  Critics were nice enough about the album but the public went mad for it (although not quite as mad as they went for Can't Slow Down) particularly in the US where it got to #1 and sold four million copies.

"Customers also listened to" The Commodores (surprise!), Billy Ocean, Whitney Houston and Michael Bolton. There's nothing wrong with any of this and there are some decent tunes in there, but it's not one I'll be seeking out again.

31/08/86 - A few fine singles
14/09/86 - Just a bit of a mess