Songoftheday 5/24/15 - You know sometimes I sit and wonder just how this world would be, if we had all the people laughing and everybody living in harmony...


"Se La" - Lionel Richie
from the album Dancing On The Ceiling (1986)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #20 (two weeks)
Weeks in the Top-40: 7

Today's SOTD comes from 80s pop superstar Lionel Richie, whose Dancing On The Ceiling album had already spun off four top-10 pop hits with the title track, "Love Will Conquer All", "Ballerina Girl", and the #1 "Say You, Say Me". The fifth single pulled from the record was the reggae-lite of "Se La", written by Richie with Greg Phillinganes. Roughly translated from Spanish as "Is The", I guess he might have been goin' for the French phrase "C'est La Vie" ("That's Life")....


"Se La" became the fifth top-20 hit from Dancing On The Ceiling in May of 1987. The record did much better at the adult contemporary (or "easy listening") format, where it peaked at #5, and the R&B chart, where it stopped at #12. Internationally, the single went to #12 in the Netherlands, but just missed the top-40 in both England and Germany. It would be Lionel's last hit for five years, as he took time off on his career to care for his father and to rest.

(Click below to see the rest of the post)


..Here's Lionel on his Outrageous tour in 1987...


...and again from his tour in 2009...


Up tomorrow: An "American" British new wave singer goes to Motown.

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