US icon for Arab land

HIGH NOTES

M usic can be bewildering at times. And I'm not talking about the kind of bewilderment that Michael Jackson often causes. That's a mystery that might or might never be unravelled and we can only hope for his best.

But more to the point, I was recently informed about an article in the December 2006 issue of the American men's style and lifestyle magazine GQ about Lionel Richie being the most revered music and global icon throughout the Middle East.

In his article, GQ correspondent Andrew Corsello (who also does a mean karaoke version of the classic "Hello") has interesting tales to tell about the way in which the music star is worshipped by Arabs, ranging from common Iraqi soldiers who seemingly blasted the song "All Night Long" on their stereos when the Americans invaded Iraq in 2003, to eminent Arab leaders like the Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi who invited the star to perform on the 20th death anniversary of his daughter who was killed during an American air strike on his palace.

Like myself, millions of people around the world grew up with Richie constantly being played in the background. In the 1980s he was definitely among the most successful recording artists in the world and the brilliant pop songs that he wrote (including "We Are the World" with Michael Jackson) are etched firmly in the memory of people.

But the news of a phenomenon like Richie and his vast following in the Middle East is like a sudden awakening. You begin to wonder if there is something about his music that you missed and the non-English speaking Arab world didn't. According to the singer, there are two possible theories to validate this strange fanaticism.

The first is a simple one that suggests that his music is about love and, therefore, universal in its appeal. And this is what people in the Middle East like most about him and his music. But Celine Dion sings songs about love too and she isn't as popular as he is in the region. So this insane fan behavior really can't be about love alone.

The second theory is an interesting one where he says that because the Middle East has seen, and continues to see, conflicts, there exists a lot of underlying anger in the people of the region.

Some of Richie's songs, for example "Sail On" which he wrote with The Commodores, are at times full of anger. According to him, many of his songs, while sounding relatively simple to the listener, were actually songs through which he channelised an immense amount of anger that he felt within himself.

It's hard to imagine any anger in Richie's songs. It's also quite strange that the same people that the US are waging war with embrace a singer from the US so wholeheartedly. It's just another example of how music has the power to change things for the better.

While few artistes enjoy the kind of fame that Richie does in the Middle East, he isn't the only artiste who enjoys this region-specific fan base. There are other examples of artistes who are loved in regions other than their own home countries.

Danish pop band Michael Learns To Rock, for instance, has lost nearly all relevance to music fans in the world but Asian countries still can't seem to get enough of them and have always contributed to a majority of their album and concert sales.

Also, the 1980s' American pop singer Cyndi Lauper (of "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" fame) has been known to release music exclusively in Japan due to her following there. Music, and its reach, truly is quite bewildering.

craig_fernandes@hotmail.com