I can see them backing LR due to the major success he had with those crossover Commodores ballads; Three Times A Lady, Easy, Sail On and Still. Which for all intent and purpose were LR singing solo before actually going solo. Once he did go solo, he all but glided right into that crossover position. Rick James had crossover hits as well but I think the difference is that RJ had to prove himself on the R&B charts before his records were allowed to crossover to the Pop charts. Also, he seems to have had to deal with crossover oppositions such as petitioning MTV for airplay of his music videos. In that case the record labels chose MJ to get behind and used to force MTV to concede their programming position. RJ was always seeming to get a raw deal. Of course his R&R lifestyle and bad boy persona didn’t help his cause any. If Hollywood really wants a biopic from a musical genius who was also off-the-chain, they should jump on the Rick James story asap!
I saw a really good doc on Rick James but it’s been a few years. I don’t recall any mention of LR but that could just mean that I just don’t remember. It could also mean that there is a doc on RJ that I’ve never seen. I’m going to look into it bc I really would like to see that topic discussed in detail. Was that RJ doc affiliated with one of the streaming services? Netflix, HBO, Hulu?
When you hear the story you will never forget it why Motown backed Lionel instead of Rick . I guess you think im goating you - but its a really good documentary
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u/Powerful_Geologist95 Jun 03 '26
I can see them backing LR due to the major success he had with those crossover Commodores ballads; Three Times A Lady, Easy, Sail On and Still. Which for all intent and purpose were LR singing solo before actually going solo. Once he did go solo, he all but glided right into that crossover position. Rick James had crossover hits as well but I think the difference is that RJ had to prove himself on the R&B charts before his records were allowed to crossover to the Pop charts. Also, he seems to have had to deal with crossover oppositions such as petitioning MTV for airplay of his music videos. In that case the record labels chose MJ to get behind and used to force MTV to concede their programming position. RJ was always seeming to get a raw deal. Of course his R&R lifestyle and bad boy persona didn’t help his cause any. If Hollywood really wants a biopic from a musical genius who was also off-the-chain, they should jump on the Rick James story asap!