>I said quality of the music AND what I (****) view as the
>levels of ones attempt to gain another audience at the expense
>of your former audience...
>
>No one is calling anyone an Oreo....That's Maxx's game...If
>only it could be that simple in an era (the '80s) when
>everyone was trying to cross over...

I do think that calling a Black artist white bread is basically calling them an uncle tom or a sellout but I see your point.
>
>The difference musically between say '80s Prince, '80s Rick
>James, and '80s MJ with '80s Lionel is those other acts
>managed to expand their audience without the stench of
>BLATANTLY going for the white middle America....

I just think MJ and Prince were better at making quality music that appealed to middle america than Lionel was but I don't know if they were any less guilty of that than Lionel was.
>
>But even more than that, it's the drop in quality of an artist
>who wrote "Zoom" and then went on to make "All Night Long" and
>"Dancing On The Ceiling"....
>
>And yet...that's not even my underlining gripe...It's the
>hypocrisy of some posters as it pertains to Lionel...
>
>Nothing more...nothing less..

I hear you. I'm not a fan of Lionel's 80's material either but I do question calling someone white bread for trying to appeal to a broader audience when as you mentioned that's what everyone was doing during the Reagan era.
>