Motown Records, at this point, has given forth to a well-established trend that sees many of their star acts still going strong today, albeit with reshuffled lineups The Commodores might not be quite as long in the tooth as the likes of, say, The Four Tops, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t deserve respect for a career that has now spanned in excess of forty-five years. The band also has been on extensive world tours throughout the 90s and 2000s playing at venues ranging from festival stages to arenas. Though the group drastically slowed down production of original studio albums they still kept busy re-recording their greatest hits, putting out Christmas albums and forming their own record label. The Commodores changed their sound to a more straightforward pop tone in the late 80s and in the 90s the lineup narrowed down to only three core members: Walter Orange, William King, and J.D. The single was not only a massive critical success it also did immensely well commercially spending 4 weeks on top of the charts. Nicholas to fill the Richie’s position and shortly after put out the single “Nightshift”, which earned the group a Grammy for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals. Richie left the Commodores just a year after the release of “Endless Love”.ĭespite the loss of one of their star members, the Commodores managed to perform at the top of their game. The popularity of this song acted as a precursor to the success of Richie’s solo career. The single remained at No.1 on the US R&B charts for 7 weeks and the US pop charts for 9 weeks. The same year Lionel Richie released the No.1 single “Endless Love” with R&B/pop legend Diana Ross. The band continued to keep their stride in the 80s and in 1981 released the No. The band managed to top this with the release of “Three Times a Lady” and the 1979 ballad “Still”, both which peaked to No. It became a disco sensation and went to No. The single was based on an off the cuff bass riff from Ronald LaPread and lyrics penned by William King’s wife. The group made a slight departure from their hard driving funk sound and delved into slow downed ballads and soft jams (this is particularly evident in the country roots ballad “Easy”) however, the Commodores returned strongly to form with their breakthrough single “Brick House”. 12 on the US charts and went all the way to No.1 on the US R&B charts. “Caught in the Act” and “Movin’ On” came out in 1975 while “Hot on the Tracks” was released in 1976. “Cebu” was a soul-oriented smooth jam that was a key song in the pioneering of the Quiet Storm genre.Īfter the release of “Machine Gun” the band put out three albums within a two year time span. The band followed up this hit with yet another instrumental track called “Cebu”. It was even sampled on the Beastie Boys’ classic album “Paul’s Boutique”. The song has gone on to be featured in countless sporting events and has been incorporated in the movies “Boogie Nights” and “Looking for Mr. They secured a deal with Motown and released their first single “Machine Gun”, which reached #7 on the R&B charts and #22 on the pop charts. The group’s performances were met with overwhelming enthusiasm and eventually caught the attention of the renowned soul label Motown. The Commodores past the audition and got the position opening up for the Jackson 5. The band boosted their prominence in New York City and auditioned for an un-known opening spot for a high profile act. The band eventually booked a residency for two weeks at the club and steadily started building a name for themselves outside their hometown. The band started booking dates around town and even travelled to New York to play the club, Smalls Paradise. Lionel Richie and Clyde Orange filled the vacant spot alternating on vocals. James Ingram was the band’s original singer however, he was several years older than most of the other members and left the band to serve in the Vietnam war. The band started out as a sextet with Lionel Richie, Thomas McClary, and William King transitioning from the Mystics and Andre Callahan, Michael Gilbert, and Milan Williams coming from the Jays. The members of the Commodores met in the late 60s at Tuskegee University in Alabama and initially emerged from two different groups.
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