The 80's was not a good time for Motown; their records sales were in decline, several of their 'marquee' acts had left for over labels, such as Michael Jackson to CBS (1976) with Marvin Gaye following to the same label in '82; Diana Ross defected to RCA in 1981. Motown's star was on the wane and would eventually lead to Berry Gordy selling the company to MCA in 1988.
But while Motown was a shadow of it's glory days of the 60's and mid 70's, they did still have the occasional hit; Rockwell had a top 10 song with Somebody's Watching Me in 1984 while Stevie Wonder hit the top of the charts with I Just Called to Say I Love You in the same year with Part-Time Lover repeating the feat in 1985.
But it was mostly Lionel Ritchie, now solo after leaving The Commodores, that carried Motown on his shoulders in the 1980's with no.1 hits like Hello and All Night Long (All Night). And it was his third solo album, the 1986 release Dancing on the Ceiling that holds the honour of being the last release from an independent Motown records to reach no.1 in a chart, peaking in the top position on the Billboard Hot 200. The single release of the title track failed to match the album's success however; it reached no.7 on the UK Singles Chart and no.2 on the Billboard Hot 100, behind Take My Breath Away by Berlin and Stuck With You by Huey Lewis and the News.
And no post about Dancing on the Ceiling would be complete without a mention about the video; directed by Stanley Donen, whose most celebrated works are the Gene Kelly films Singin' in the Rain and On the Town. Donen took a page out of his own playbook too, with the party and famous ceiling dance reminiscent of Fred Astaire's routine in Donen's 1951 film Royal Wedding .
But while Motown was a shadow of it's glory days of the 60's and mid 70's, they did still have the occasional hit; Rockwell had a top 10 song with Somebody's Watching Me in 1984 while Stevie Wonder hit the top of the charts with I Just Called to Say I Love You in the same year with Part-Time Lover repeating the feat in 1985.
But it was mostly Lionel Ritchie, now solo after leaving The Commodores, that carried Motown on his shoulders in the 1980's with no.1 hits like Hello and All Night Long (All Night). And it was his third solo album, the 1986 release Dancing on the Ceiling that holds the honour of being the last release from an independent Motown records to reach no.1 in a chart, peaking in the top position on the Billboard Hot 200. The single release of the title track failed to match the album's success however; it reached no.7 on the UK Singles Chart and no.2 on the Billboard Hot 100, behind Take My Breath Away by Berlin and Stuck With You by Huey Lewis and the News.
And no post about Dancing on the Ceiling would be complete without a mention about the video; directed by Stanley Donen, whose most celebrated works are the Gene Kelly films Singin' in the Rain and On the Town. Donen took a page out of his own playbook too, with the party and famous ceiling dance reminiscent of Fred Astaire's routine in Donen's 1951 film Royal Wedding .
 |  |
 |  |
 |  |
No comments:
Post a Comment