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Commodores music biography continued...

King (trumpet), Thomas McClary (guitar), and Lionel Richie (vocals). They were soon joined by fellow students Milan Williams (keyboards), Ronald LaPread (bass) and Walter "Clyde" Orange (drums). After playing to sold out crowds locally, the band ventured to New York City, where in 1971 they were asked to try out for and won the opening slot on a Jackson 5 tour. The tour gave the group broad national attention and led to their signing with Motown, which was still the preeminent black label. Their first release, 1974's Machine Gun, was a pure funk disc led off by the sizzling instrumental title cut, which hit the top 10 on the Soul charts. It was followed by the Top 20 single "I Feel Sanctified," which led to their third single -- and first number one record -- in "Slippery When Wet." In September of 1976, they released "Just to Be Close to You," their second number one single and a number seven pop hit. The group's evolution away from funk and toward pop/soul ballads first announced itself with the 1977 album Commodores, which contained "Easy," a tune that established Richie as a first class balladeer, and zoomed to the top of the charts. At the same time, the Commodores released "Brickhouse," a dance funk classic that would become the group's signature hit. They continued their rise to stardom in 1978 with the international hit "Three Times A Lady," The metamorphosis continued in 1979 with perhaps their most beautiful ballad, "Still," as well as an interesting country/soul slow number, "Sail On." By the end of the decade, the Commodores had achieved huge crossover superstardom.



In 1982, the ultra-talented Lionel Richie left the Commodores for a solo career as a singer songwriter, and the group floundered for awhile before coming up with the Grammy winning R&B track Nightshift. The group left Motown in 1986 for Polydor, and continued to record with less success into the early 90s and beyond. The Commodores continue tour internationally, now as a threesome consisting of Walter Orange, J.D. Nicholas and William King. After all these years, they are still fan favorites.