Commodores
The Commodores are an American band from Detroit, who celebrated their biggest success in the 1970s on the Motown label. They evolved from " a dynamic radio / party band to a popular ballad group" and were 1974-1988 with 30 hits in the American R & B charts. With Three Times a Lady ( 1978) and Still (1979 ) they each reached No. 1 on the pop and R & B charts. With the top 10 success of Night Shift (1985 ) In Germany they had their greatest success.
Career
The band was born from the merger of the band The Mystics and The Jays. The founding members were: William King (trumpet ), Thomas McClary (guitar), Ronald LaPread (bass ), Walter Orange ( drums), Lionel Richie (saxophone ), and Milan Williams (keyboards). All the band members took care of the vocals. Your success career began in 1971 when they were selected as the opening act for the Jackson Five and a half years went on tour with them. First Singles 1969-1973 had no success.
The best known hits were Slippery When Wet (1975 ), Sweet Love, Just to Be Close to You (1976 ), Easy, Brick House (1977 ), Three Times A Lady (1978), Sail on, Still (1979 ), Lady ( You Bring Me Up ), Oh No (1981) and Night Shift (1985). The instrumental title track from their debut album Machine Gun was in the U.S. to a kind of anthem at many sporting events.
1982 rose Richie left the band to pursue his solo career started in the previous year. This led to the slow decline of the band. Richie was replaced by saxophonist JD Nicholas.
With the title Nightshift, a tribute to the 1984 deceased musicians singers Marvin Gaye and Jackie Wilson, the Commodore early 1985 managed a last big hit, for which they were after eight nominations for the first time awarded the Grammy. The band left Motown in the same year. The subsequent albums United ( 1986) and Rock Solid (1988 ) published by Polydor, but could not build on the previous successes.
In 2003, the Commodores were incorporated into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame.
The founding member Milan Williams died on 9 July 2006 at the age of 58 years to the consequences of severe cancer in the MD Anderson Hospital in Houston, Texas. Today, the band continues, but with only three members: William King, Walter Orange and JD Nicholas.
Discography
Albums
Motown
Polydor
Other labels