between the ages of 2 and 4, lionel richie was my favorite recording artist without question. my favorite song was "dancing on the ceiling." i remember staying up until 2 AM to watch him perform it at the closing ceremonies for the 1984 summer olympics in los angeles. except instead he performed "all nite long." at least that was my second favorite song.
anyways, oh what a feeling.
summers in spaldeen, stickball lessons...
the greatest story never told / sold.
full of deception, inveiglement, and obfuscation.
there is more to say here than i could ever say.
Music video
Arguably the music video attracted more attention than the song, for its story of Richie's character (a music teacher) having a seemingly unrequited love for a blind arts student (played by Laura Carrington, an actress who is not really blind) until he discovers she shares the feeling as demonstrated by the discovery that she is sculpting a likeness of his head (which was actually created by a professional sculptor who never met Lionel). The video has been parodied a number of times including a Starburst commercial when the sculpture is made from Starburst candy. According to the video's appearance in VH1's Pop Up Video, the video was an adaptation of an unproduced screenplay called "Spaldeen Summers".
Selected comments from Youtube:
ReplyDelete"LOL, classic stalking video, she can't see him following her, and what's with him hanging up on her when he goes into the chorus, HE KNOW'S SHE'S ALONE!! Definitely a classic at the time I never realized!!"
-calgaryjoe
"I LOVE this song. And the sculpture isnt supposed to be an exact replica, she's blind!"
-kdkret
"Best video ever.Every time I see him phone her "Hello!! Is it me you looking for!!" And then just hangs up, I crack up every time."
-hgkuttftftcfttghtghg
"i can understand a blind man loved by a woman.. but a man fallen to a blind woman.. is touching.. but long last.. i am not too sure.."
-lumx2
"funny thing, I once heard Lionel Richie is realy huge in Iraq! the american and Iraqui soldiers have like cleared neighberhoods of insurgents then celebrated by listening to some Lionels music! lol"
-slaballinmytrunk