Can't Slow Down (Lionel Richie album)



Can't Slow Down is the second solo studio album by American recording artist Lionel Richie. It was released on October 11, 1983 by Motown Records. It has sold over 20 million copies, and is Richie's most successful album. Five singles were released from Can't Slow Down, all of which hit the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, including two that reached #1: "All Night Long (All Night)" and "Hello". The album also won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1985.

Critical reception
In a contemporary review for The Village Voice, music critic Robert Christgau gave the album a "B+" and called it a "surprisingly solid" improvement, particularly with respect to Richie's ballad singing. He felt that its "jumpy international dance-pop" suits Richie more than the Commodores' funk had and predicted that, considering his "well-established appeal to white people," Can't Slow Down has the potential to become a "mini-Thriller". Don Shewey of Rolling Stone magazine gave the album four out of five stars and said that, although the ballads are monotonous, Richie successfully broadens his music for different listeners and draws on contemporary artists such as Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson: "if you can't innovate, imitate. And the more honest they are about their sources, the better."

In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave it four-and-a-half out of five stars and wrote that Richie took a conservative, melodic hook-based approach on an album whose hits showed him at his best and whose only weakness was a short running time. In 1999, Q magazine included Can't Slow Down on its list of the best Motown records of all time and stated, "Production values are high, his songwriting craft is at its peak and at least one track - the global smash 'All Night Long' - is an anthem to good times that makes the heart sing and feet twitch".

Commercial performance
The album reached #1 on the Billboard album chart. It also spent 59 consecutive weeks inside the Top 10 (including the entire year of 1984) and a total of 160 weeks (over three years) on the Billboard 200. After being the third best-selling album of 1984, it went on to win a Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1985, beating out such heavyweight contenders as Born in the U.S.A. by Bruce Springsteen and Purple Rain by Prince. By 1986 the album had sold 15 million copies, eventually selling over 20 million.

Can't Slow Down achieved the feat of having every single released hit the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Two songs, "Hello" and "All Night Long (All Night)", both went to #1. Other hits include "Stuck on You" (US #3), "Running With the Night" (US #7), and "Penny Lover" (US #8). The ballad "The Only One" was a significant song from the album which was never released as a single, yet remains a popular staple of Richie's live performances.

The single "Stuck on You" also reached #24 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart (now Hot Country Songs).

20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition
On May 6, 2003, a two-CD Deluxe Edition of the album was released in conjunction of the 20th anniversary of the album's original release date. This version included several mixes originally included on various singles from the album at the end of the first CD, including instrumental versions of the 12-inch extended mixes of "All Night Long (All Night)" and "Running with the Night". Disc 2 showcased demo or alternate versions of all tracks from the original album, plus additional unfinished songs from the same sessions, all previously unreleased.

Personnel
Personnel as listed in the album's liner notes are:


 * Marilyn Ammons - hoopa holler vocals (2)
 * Israel Baker – concertmaster (3, 4, 6)
 * Brian Banks – synthesizer programming (5)
 * Thomas Dolby – synthesizers, Fairlight CMI programming
 * Harry Bluestone – concertmaster (8)
 * Michael Boddicker – synthesizer (3-5, 7, 8), vocoder (7)
 * Sonny Burke – Fender Rhodes (8)
 * Diane Burt – chant vocals (2)
 * Sue Ann Butler - hoopa holler vocals (2)
 * James Anthony Carmichael – producer (1-5, 7, 8), arranger (1), chant vocals (2), rhythm arrangements (3-5, 7, 8), string arrangements (3-4, 8)
 * Jim Cassell – second recording engineer (8)
 * Melinda Chatman – vocal sound effects (2), chant vocals (2), hoopa holler vocals (2)
 * Joe Chemay – bass guitar (4, 7, 8)
 * Terry Christian – second recording engineer (6)
 * Jane Clark – additional engineer
 * David Cochrane – synthesizer (1), guitar (1, 5), arranger (1), background vocals (2, 5, 7), chant vocals (2), vocoder (1), bass (1), synthesizer programming (1)
 * Sheldon J. Cohn, Esq. - hoopa holler vocals (2)
 * Steve Crimmel – second recording engineer (1-5, 7)
 * Sandy Dent-Crimmel - hoopa holler vocals (2)
 * Ruth Diaz - hoopa holler vocals (2)
 * Paulinho Da Costa – percussion (2, 7)
 * Nathan East – bass guitar (5)
 * David Egerton – second recording engineer (1-5, 7), hoopa holler vocals (2)
 * Mark Ettel – second recording engineer (1-5, 7)
 * Larry Ferguson – recording engineer (6)
 * Chuck Findley – trumpet
 * David Foster – producer (6), rhythm arrangements (6), keyboards (6), bass guitar (6)
 * Humberto Gatica – recording and mixing engineer (6)
 * Sylvia Genauer - hoopa holler vocals (2)
 * Gary Grant – trumpet
 * Rejauna Lynn Green - hoopa holler vocals (2)
 * Gabrielle Greig - hoopa holler vocals (2)
 * Dr. Lloyd Byro Greig – chant vocals (2)
 * Sally Greig - hoopa holler vocals (2)
 * Tanya Greig - hoopa holler vocals (2)
 * Bernie Grundman – mastering
 * Calvin Harris – recording and mixing engineer, backing and chant vocals (2)
 * Brenda Harvey-Richie – chant vocals (2), production assistant
 * Jeanette Hawes – background vocals (6), chant vocals (2)
 * Jerry Hey – trumpet, horn arrangement
 * John Hobbs – Fender Rhodes (3), piano (7)
 * Mitch Holder – guitar (4)
 * Janice Marie Johnson – chant vocals (2)
 * Darryl Jones – guitar (2), hoopa holler vocals (2), acoustic guitar (4), electric guitar (8)
 * David Kraai - technical support
 * Abraham Laboriel – bass guitar (2, 3)
 * Fred Law – second mixing
 * Paul Leim – drums (3, 4, 8), Simmons drum (1)
 * Charlie Loper – trombone
 * Jeremy Lubbock - string arrangements (6)
 * Steve Lukather – guitar (6), guitar solo (7)
 * David Malvin - hoopa holler vocals (2)
 * Anthony Marinelli – synthesizer programming (5)
 * Richard Marx – backing vocals (2, 5-7), chant vocals (2)
 * Alison Maxwell - hoopa holler vocals (2)
 * Tim May – guitar (2), acoustic guitar (8)
 * Jerry Montes - hoopa holler vocals (2)
 * John Michael Montes - hoopa holler vocals (2)
 * Billy "Bass" Nelson - hoopa holler vocals (2)
 * Greg Phillinganes – synthesizer (5), GS1 Synthesizer (2, 5), rhythm arrangements (5), hoopa holler vocals (2)
 * Jeff Porcaro – drums (track 7)
 * Bill Reichenbach – trombone
 * Deborah Joyce Richie – chant vocals (2)
 * Lionel Richie – lead vocals, producer, vocal arrangements, rhythm arrangements (2-4, 6-8), backing vocals (2, 5, 6, 7), GS1 Synthesizer (2-4), piano (8), chant vocals (2)
 * Carlos Rios – guitar (2, 3), hoopa holler vocals (2)
 * John "J.R." Robinson – drums (2, 6)
 * Louie Shelton – guitar (4, 8)
 * Karen Siegel – second mixing
 * Suzanne Stanford – chant vocals & hoopa holler vocals (2)
 * Randy Stern - hoopa holler vocals (2)
 * Fred Tackett – acoustic guitar (4)
 * Wilbert Terrell - hoopa holler vocals (2)
 * Deborah Thomas – backing vocals (2, 5, 7), chant vocals (2)
 * Kin Vassy – backing vocals (2)
 * Susan Wood - hoopa holler vocals (2)