‘ HELLO’ IS THE ‘ PICK- UP LINE OF LIFE’
Lionel Richie and Mariah LOS ANGELES Carey singing their top songs in concert is an event that could go All Night Long.
That’s why Richie, 68, is calling his upcoming 22- stop tour with “very special guest” Carey, 47, the All the Hits Tour, which kicks off July 21 in Oakland. It’s simply all hits.
“Mariah’s coming with her stack, and I’m coming with my stack, and we have to get in and get out or someone is going to die,” Richie says.
Fully recovered from his knee surgery in February, which delayed the tour, Richie is rested and ready to hear the fans shout as each chart- topper starts.
“Then they start singing along even louder than I am,” he says. “That amazes me the most as a writer.”
We asked Richie to rank these hits
( and one ’ 80s outfit): Q Out of all your love songs, what’s the best for loving?
A Hello is definitely the pick- up line of life. So they move in with Hello. You have to have strategic shots, right? Truly is the closer. Three Times a Lady, it means it’s just all over. But if you don’t start with Hello, you’re going to lose. Like a big dog.
Q What song brings the most tears?
A This is not fiction here, but at funerals ( people) play All Night Long and Dancing on the Ceiling. Do you think that applies? And you start thinking, how did I get to a funeral? But that was their favorite song. Even though they are uptempo, happy songs, it’s what people remember. It’s happy tears.
Q What’s your top apology for an ’ 80s outfit?
A My Dancing on the Ceiling ( video) outfit. Every time I see it I just go, “Really? I did put that on.” And I did. The outfit and the hair. You know, if I could redo it ... But that was the spirit of the times. You have to understand.
And of course, every time I see my son ( Miles Brockman Richie, 23) and I say, “Miles, you need to do something with your hair,” he just brings out that picture. And I just go, “OK, forget about it.”
Q What’s the No. 1 lyric people botch?
A It’s not fair to say which they botch. It’s the ones I botch. Some nights I walk on stage and I go, “What’s the second verse to Penny Lover?” I don’t know where I am that night. That’ll happen. But one I love is Brick House. The real words are, “Chicka ca, chicka ca, chicka now now.” And they go, “Shake it down, shake it down, shake it down now.” And I go, “No, no, it’s ‘ Chicka ca.’ ”
The whole audience is singing the wrong song. Q What’s your own top song?
A That’s a tough one. Easy would be my Commodores song. And probably All Night Long, from that era. But on stage every night, I just look forward to when you play that, you know it’s just going to be perfect. All Night Long will be the one where you know where it’s going.