Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

  Motown, my great love, has given me so many favorite artists and Lionel Ritchie was one of them. He went solo in the 80's and scored some great hits and once again Diana Ross was there for the launch. Their duet Endless love was a #1 hit and Lionel would score four other solo ones. A true legend. And still around. Check out also

Say you, say me is Lionel Ritchie's 5th (and last so far) solo US #1 single in 1986. It also won both Oscar and Golden Globe as the best original song from a movie (White nights), but it wasn't included on the movie's soundtrack album because Motown didn't want the lead single off his album to be on another label. Fair enough. In 2012 Lionel re-recorded the song with Danish Rasmus Seebach (Tommy's son) for his duets album, and it went to #3 in Denmark.

After Lionel Ritchie left Commodores in 1982 the group's members kept changing, and even if the band is still active, Grammy winning Nightshift in 1985 is their last major hit (US #3, UK #3). The song was written and dedicated to Marvin Gaye and Jackie Wilson who died the year before. What's going on by Gaye is mentioned in the song, as are Wilson's (Love keeps me lifting) Higher and higher as well as Baby work out.In 2010 they released a new version dedicated to Michael Jackson and his 1,2,3 and I'll be there as well as Rock with you are mentioned, along with many late singers.   Winston Groovy has recorded the song and dedicated to Bob Marley. Fantasia sampled the song into her Lose to win

"I love you. I want you. I need you." Hence three times a lady. This Lionel Richie penned song became the first #1 for the Communards. It also topped the charts in UK, Ireland, Canada and Australia - among others - in 1978.    Nate Harvell took the song to #28 in the country charts the same year, and Conway Twitty to #7 in 1983, Countless other covers have followed later: a1 , The Shadows , Kenny Rogers

 "Ooh, that's why I'm easy I'm easy like sunday morning..." Everyone knows that iconic  song line..... Commodores made themselves known when touring with The Jackson 5 after having signed to Motown in 1972 and started scoring major hits in the mid 1970's after being formed in 1968 from a reunion of two school bands, The Mystics and The Jays from Tuskegee University (then Institute). Lionel Ritchie penned Easy became a #4 hit in 1977, the first one of many real classic soft Ritchie ballads.    Faith No More covered the song in 1993 and took it to #1 in Australia, #2 in Norway and #3 in UK, among others. 

This blogger's first love in music was Motown. Then came Eurovision song contest. This summer I will be posting Motown stuff as the summer series. A few times Eurovision has flirted with the Motown sound as Motown has influenced Western pop music like nothing else. (Listen to The Beatles debut album for example!) And all those Motown artists choreographies?! How Eurovision styled are they?  Motown sound. The Detroit sound. The Funk Brothers. Holland-Dozier-Holland. Motown - the sound of young America. Berry Gordy's love child changed the music business and became the first ever cross over label that appealed to both blacks and whites. Hitsville U.S.A. A real hit factory. Along before Stock-Aitken-Waterman created something similar with PWLin the 1980´s in UK. The Motown legacy is nspiration to many today's artists as well the foundation of the careers of many in the past decades. If this year's Eurovision song contest winner Salvador Sobral made an appeal for...

Denmark has a lot to live up in the Eurovision song contest 2016: last two times the contest has been in Sweden Denmark has won. Everyone seems to expect them to do the triple, and that after the failure in the 2015 contest. For the occasion they have revamped their national final and one can only hope big names will be there. Like Rasmus Seebach, who is a superstar on his own right besides being a son of multiple Eurovision veteran, late Tommy Seebach. Rasmus has released three studio albums and one live since 2009, all of them have went to #1 in the Danish charts and sold incredibly 36 times platinum and he has even a gold record from Sweden, and some notoriety in Germany where he scored hts with English version of his songs Angel and Calling . In Denmark he has four #1 singles so far. He has also dueted with Lionel Ritchie . He's coming out with a new album in November, hopefully he left some goodie for DMGP...... Below is Uanset , he's latest single and first offering...

Anouk has been announced as the main artist in this year's Symphonica in Rosso, a Dutch affair that has offered us likes of Lionel Ritchie, Diana Ross, Sting, Marco Borsato and Paul De Leeuw in previous years. As the title suggest, artists perform with full symphonic orchestra. Anouk comments: "This came just in the right time! I'm releasing my new album Sad singalong songs and I really want to perform them proparly, with a big orchestra! " If she will perform them also as the first Dutch Eurovision winner in 38 years, we will know in a few weeks.... Meanwhile, listen Birds .