The Commodores navigated the musical seas from soul funk to pop ballads to become the premiere R&B pop group of the late seventies and early eighties, as well as the springboard for the phenomenal solo career of Lionel Richie. Today, Commodores hits such as “Brick House,” “Three Times A Lady,” “Still,” “Easy” and “Nightshift” remain among the most popular and recognizable songs of the era.
Its six original members (Richie, Milan Williams, Ronald LaPread, William King Jr., Thomas McClary, Walter “Clyde” Orange) met at Alabama’s Tuskegee Institute in 1968, choosing their name by randomly dropping a finger onto a dictionary page. Building a reputation as a hard funk party band, in 1971 the group won an audition for the coveted opening slot for a major Jackson 5 tour. As Motown labelmates, the Commodores toured with the Jackson 5 for two-and-a-half years before they would release an album.
When they did, it was with a bang: the hard funk instrumental “Machine Gun” was Top 40 pop and Top 10 R&B in 1974. An avalanche of hits followed in the next few years: the No. 1 pop and R&B “Three Times A Lady” and “Still”; the Top 10 pop and No. 1 R&B “Just To Be Close To You” and “Easy.” Other Top 10 pop hits were “Sweet Love,” “Brick House,” “Sail On,” “Lady (You Bring Me Up)” and “Oh No.” Hitting No. 1 R&B were “Slippery When Wet” and “Too Hot Ta Trot.” As the group evolved, Richie had become its main songwriter and his ballads took center stage.
By 1978, when they appeared in the disco movie Thank God It’s Friday, The Commodores had achieved crossover pop stardom. With that year’s “Three Times A Lady,” The Commodores ruled the airwaves. “Still,” in 1982, was the last No. 1 R&B hit for the group with Richie as a member. Nevertheless, two years later The Commodores won their only Grammy for “Nightshift,” their Top 10 pop and No. 1 R&B tribute to soul legends Marvin Gaye and Jackie Wilson. The hit album of the same name was their final one for Motown—for whom The Commodores were the best-selling male group of the seventies.
