Lionel Richie - Hello (Motown)

Lionel, weak with emotion, gives a right old tug to the heartstrings on this classic weepie tale of unrequited love. Your Mum's bound to make you turn it up when Top Of The Pops is on. (Peter Martin, Smash Hits, March 15, 1984)

Apart from sounding like a piece of incidental film music, this also sounds like a shrewd bit of formula writing with its eye on a number one, It's a shameless product of calculated timing and market-research, banking on the fact that the whole world loves a love song. The Motown ballads are renowned for their sex and soul. 'Hello' is just soppy mush from the Dean Friedman school of cheap sentiment. (Maureen Rice, No 1, March 3, 1984)