Daily News from New York, New York • 481

Lights 25 Sunday, May 18, 1986 Don't Look Now But That's Lionel Richie Singles i IF YOU'RE EVER wandering the streets of L.A. during the wee hours and find a solitary figure pacing the sidewalks, it just might be Lionel Richie out gathering inspiration for a song. "Being famous is like being put in a little capsule that isolates you from being a normal human," says Richie. "You're separated from other people by limousines and bodyguards. So you have to struggle to get back to real life." What's the pop maestro's solution? "When it's so dark I won't be recognized, I sneak out, and people tell me the story of their lives.

They could be bag people or truck drivers or storeowners. But their stories come from the songs." Heavy metal stalwarts Iron Maiden and W.A.S.P. (who, by the way, are both man- time to release something. We are a bilingual group. Our original records made 10 years ago were in both Spanish and in English.

Did you have any problems with that when yon signed to CBS? They wanted us to do it all in Spanish because we were signed with their Latin American division. They thought the records would sell better in Spanish. We said that was fine but we wanted to maintain the right to record in English. Our public in Latin America knows we're bilingual because our live sets include some of the American hits. So, when the time came last year, we released "Dr "This album has been bottled up inside me for about two years now," Vincent says.

"I've always known exactly what it would sound like, and now that it's finally happened, it's everything I expected it to be." But before Vincent could venture into the recording studio, he had to gather together a band that would do his material justice. "Vinnie Vincent Invasion" consists of Vincent on lead guitar, Dana Strum on bass (who co-produced the album), vocalist Robert Fleischman and drummer Bob Rock. "Everyone in this band is very special," says Vincent "There's a lot of incredible talent here, and I'm really happy to be working with these guys." As far as the actual tracks on the album go, though, let's just say that Vincent isn't quite ready to "kiss and tell." Cuba when the blacks went over and mixed with the resident culture. How did you write the song, "La I told our drummer we should write an original tune using the element of the Conga but mixing it with dance music. He wrote it on the way from Amsterdam to London.

People went nuts for it! I read you were also influenced by the Carpenters. Is that true? Personally, I loved Karen Carpenter. I listened to her a loL We both sing in altos. Usually, women are sopranos. They say that In my ballads I have a certain -sound that she had.

Have you ever faced any political problems traveling through Central and South America? They have very, very tight security. We were in El Sal-, vador last year and they had 1 about 25 armed militiamen in front of our cars, wherever we wenL Each musician had a personal bodyguard with a machine gun. To tell you the truth, it was one of the quietest trips we had. We don't get into politics. I don't think music and politics mix very welL Is It true there's street named after you in Miami? Yes, the mayor of Miami travels a lot and everywhere he went, he'd hear our music or seen us.

He thought we promoted the city nicely and he found out we genuinely love Miami. He called us when we were staying in New York to tell us he was changing the name of the street we live on to Miami Sound Machine Boulevard as a token of appreciation to us. Liz Derringer frequently profiles pop musicians for City 1. GREATEST LOVE OF ALL, by Whitney Houston (Arista) (Last Week: 2 2. LIVE TO TELL, by Madonna (SireWarner Bros (6) 3.

IF YOU LEAVE, by Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark 5 4. ON MY OWN, by Patti LaBelle Michael McDonald (MCA) 4 5. BAO BOY, by Miami Sound Machine (Epic) 110 6. WEST END GIRLS, by Pet Shop Boys (EMI-America) 1J 7. SOMETHING ABOUT YOU, by Level 42 (PolydorPolygram) (81 8.

YOUR LOVE, by The Outfield (Columbia) (3 8. ALL I NEED IS A MIRACLE, by Mike The Mechanics (Atlantic) (12). 10. ALL THE THINGS SHE SAID, by Simple Minds 13 11. DIGGING YOUR SCENE, by The Blow Monkeys (RCA) (14 12.

TUFF ENUFF, by The Fabulous Thunderbirds (CBS AssociatedEpic) (15 13. ADDICTED TO LOVE, by Robert Palmer (IslandAtlantic) (11 14. A DIFFERENT CORNER, by George Michael (Columbia) (NEW 15 WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR ME LATELY, by Janet Jackson BACK 1 WEST END GIRLS (Rtmix) by Pet Shop Boys (EMI-America) (Last Week; 1 2. ON MY OWN, by Patti LaBelle Michael McDonald (MCA) (2 3. BAD BOY (Rtmii), by Miami Sound Machine (Epic) (BACK) 4.

SOMETHING ABOUT YOU (RmiiL by Level 42 (PolydorPolygram) (7 IS YOUR LOVE STRONG ENOUGH, by Bryan Ferry (MCA) (8 6. PETER GUNN, by The Art of Noise featuring Duane Eddy (Chrysalis) (10 7. LIVE TO TELL, by Madonna (SireWarner Bros (5) 8 NASTY (Remix), by Janet Jackson (4 9 CRUSH ON YOU, by The Jets (MCA) 9 10 SWEETHEART, by Rainy Davis (Supertronics') (BACK 11. WHAT I LIKE, by Anthony The Camp (Warner Bros (BACK 12. KISS (R.mixVLOVE OR MONEY, by Prince and The Revolution (Paisley ParkWarner Bros 6 13.

JUMP BACK (Sat Mt Fr), by Dhar Braxton (Sleeping Bag) (11 14. THE FINEST, by The S.O.S. Band (TabuEpic) (3 15. JUMP, by Man Friday (Vinylmania) (NEWJ Based on unit-sales information supplied by the following N.Y. area retailers: The Record Hunter Si Tower Records RASO aged by the Smallwood Taylor Group in L.A.) have broken with heavy metal tradition to produce anti-drinking and-driving bumper stickers, which have been on sale at concerts since Feb.

15. Iron Maiden's sticker depicts their ghoulish mascot "Eddie" rising from a grave to warn: "If you drink and drive, you can die!" Packer Up Vinnie Vincent, former lead guitarist for Kiss, will release his debut album, "Vinnie Vincent Invasion," in June, and he'll be backing the disc up with an international tour. Beat," which got very popular on Anglo stations in Miami We then exported it to Europe. It went to No. 1 on all the dance charts in Germany, France, Holland, England and Spain.

It then crossed over into the pop charts In England, and climbed into the top five in some of the other countries. It ended up selling over a million units for us in Europe. That got us noticed in the States. Billboard had it at No. 12 on the American dance charts.

What exactly is the It's music from Cuba, an Afro-Cuban rhythm born in' "mNOBr The Mamas and financ8? Mamas 1 nuuan i By ANNE M. MIDNIGHT STROLLER: Lionel Richie Jy been a few solo artists to achieve this crossover. Julio Iglesias is an example. To what do you attribute your success? One thing is that we have leader. That's Emilio.

He's the director. He hired everyone. Even though he allows a lot of creative freedom, we all know there is going to be a final decision made. I think it helps a lot to have someone in charge, to give strong direction. We all get along steal-well because we were kids when we got together.

Our- bassist AvilaJ was 15, soar drummer Garcia was 16, 1 was 17, and Emilio was 22. iWe've grown up together and swe' all share similar backgrounds. We will have been together for 11' years this October. I think our popularity has been growing in the U.S. because dance music has been 'getting steadily more percussive over the past few years.

iThe public here is getting accustomed to a Latin feel. Also our timing was very 2good with this record. We "were waiting for the right ok) singing this time, with extensive use of vocal choruses Night," "Growing and songs based more on a whole story than a series of verses. "I'm a Ho, which sounds like It will be another one of those wild and crazy rap Jokes, turns out to be the best song. It even borrows a verse from the El Oorados's "At My Front Door." Naat DM.

ONE UNERS GTR (Arista). V4. The new Steve HoweSteve Hackatt band plays tasteful, energetic guitar-based, uptempo album rock very weH. Next step: a personality. .38 SPECIAL, "Strength In Numbers (MM).

Yi. Maybe the best of the Southern rock bands, these country-flavored boys keep getting better. LITTLE RIVER BAND, "No Reins" (Capitol), it it. Good tunes, good songs (ike "When the War Is Over." Spmehpw, Jpugfy jtJJkgco UVUIlLllllliiKl 1 VwTC WLDWASSE BOB GROSS WEINER7 wnere are the four lndhWi ial i no papas from? TIE? 5 in Too, aw C38 die? vr6 Papas re ANSWERS It lAu "llf.Tl-.i OJJ4-i. I r-4f itiii.