Stuck On You: Lionel Richie’s Can’t Slow Down at 40
Looking back on a Diamond-certified soul classic
I was 10 years old the day Lionel Richie released his second solo album Can’t Slow Down on October 14, 1983.
At the time of its arrival in record stores, its presence on radio was as inescapable as Thriller had been the year prior. In fact, I don’t believe I ever owned a physical copy of Can’t Slow Down yet these songs are embedded in my sonic DNA as fastidiously as The Beatles. Especially its first smash, “All Night Long,” with its indelible West Indian rhythm twirling around Richie’s butter smooth vocals, which made for an irresistible force on both WPLJ and MTV with a video produced by Mike Nesmith of The Monkees and directed by Bob Rafelson, who helmed such Hollywood classics as Five Easy Pieces and The King of Marvin Gardens.
VIDEO: Lionel Richie “All Night Long (All Night)”
The hits just kept on coming after “All Night Long (All Night)” dominated the top of three Billboard charts (pop, R&B and adult contemporary), kicking off with the midtempo “Running With The Night” in November of ’83, which featured Steve Lukather of Toto on lead guitar and background vocals from a young Richard Marx. And though it only peaked at #7 on the Billboard pop chart, it provided an apt conduit for the trio of tender ballads that would coast Richie into further Top 10 renown here in the United States.
VIDEO: Lionel Richie “Hello”
“Hello,” released as a single the day before Valentine’s Day 1984, would become the second song off Can’t Slow Down to reach no. 1 on three different charts: the pop chart (for two weeks), the R&B chart (for three weeks), and the Adult Contemporary chart (for six weeks). The song also went to number one on the UK Singles Chart for six weeks. The ballad’s video, meanwhile, was directed by Bob Giraldi (Michael Jackson’s “Beat It”) and remains one of the most memorable clips of the 80s thanks to the romantic storyline where Richie falls for a beautiful blind girl who reciprocates her love in sculpture.
“Stuck On You” would be released as a single in June of ’84, and wound up not only peaking at no. 3 on the Billboard pop chart and no. 1 on the adult contemporary chart, but wound up hitting no. 24 on the Hot Country Songs chart as well. I might be wrong, but I’m pretty sure he was the first R&B act in the 80s to land on that chart but I could be wrong.
VIDEO: Lionel Richie “Penny Lover”
“Penny Lover,” released in September 1984, was the final single off Can’t Slow Down and co-written by Richie’s ex-wife Brenda Harvey Richie. And while it only peaked at no. 8 on the Hot 100, it would sit perched on top of the adult contemporary chart for four weeks.
As for the three remaining deep cuts on Can’t Slow Down, my personal favorite is “Love Will Find A Way,” which found Richie working in collaboration with renowned session musician Greg Phillinganes, who played alongside Stevie Wonder on Songs in the Key of Life and it shows in the song’s uplifting melodies.
The opening title track, meanwhile, with its pulsing bass and synthesizer squiggles, was the perfect way for Lionel to step into 1983 with a track you can almost breakdance to, while the David Foster co-written ballad “The Only One” still makes for the quintessential wedding song.
“Given Richie’s well-established appeal to white people, this surprisingly solid album bids fair to turn into a mini-Thriller, and good for him–it’s a real advance,” wrote Robert Christgau in The Village Voice at the time. “In the years since he became a ballad writer he’s learned how to sing them–’Hello’ is nowhere near as magical a song as ‘Easy,’ but the grain of Richie’s delivery gives you something to sink your ears into. And where the Commodores’ funk often sounded a little forced, his jumpy international dance-pop comes to him naturally even when he’s putting on that stupid West Indian accent.”
In the middle of writing this, knowing I still don’t have a proper copy in my collection, I broke down and ordered a used copy of the 20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition that came out in 2003, which features a slew of remixes and stripped down demo versions. I’m pretty psyched to become one of the 10 million and counting who have bought Can’t Slow Down. It’s an album that deserves to be Diamond-certified.
After all, this music is part of my sonic DNA. And 40 years later, the memories attached to these songs make them all the more closer to my heart. I know I’m not the only one.
- The Claypool-Lennon Delirium Hit the Beach - June 5, 2026
- LISTEN: Derek Thomas Shares ‘Running Fast Ain’t Free’ - June 4, 2026
- Hunter Morris: ‘Mountain’ Man - June 3, 2026
You May Also Like
-
April 11, 2023 -
October 28, 2018 -
September 5, 2018
