Commodores Christmas

Commodores Christmas is a Christmas album released by The Commodores in 1992.

Track listing

References

Commodores

The Commodores are an American funk/soul band, which was at its peak in the late 1970s through the mid 1980s. The members of the group met as mostly freshmen at Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University) in 1968, and signed with Motown in November 1972, having first caught the public eye opening for The Jackson 5 while on tour.

The group's most successful period was in the late 1970s and early 1980s when Lionel Richie was co-lead singer. The band's biggest hit singles are ballads such as "Easy", "Three Times a Lady", and "Nightshift"; and funky dance hits which include "Brick House", "Fancy Dancer", "Lady (You Bring Me Up)", and "Too Hot ta Trot". However it was in 1986 that the Commodores won their first Grammy for the song "Nightshift".

Band history

The Commodores originally came together from two former groups, the Mystics and the Jays. There was even a Jazz aspect to one of the groups. They wanted to change the name. Together, a six-man band was created from which the notable individuals were Lionel Richie, Thomas McClary, and William King from the Mystics; Andre Callahan, Michael Gilbert, and Milan Williams were from the Jays. To choose a new name, William "WAK" King opened a dictionary and randomly picked a word. "We lucked out", he remarked with a laugh when telling this story to People magazine. "We almost became 'The Commodes!

Commodores (album)

Commodores is the self-titled fifth studio album by the Commodores, released in 1977. The album spent eight weeks at the top of the R&B/soul albums chart, the second of their albums to do so, and was their first Top 5 pop album.

There is also a previously released extended version.

Reception

The band employed a variety of musical styles for the album, highlighted by the popular anthem "Brick House". With Walter Orange's squeaking/growling voice on the lead, and Ronald LaPread's roundtone bassline, this track peaked on the U.S. Hot 100 at #5, and the U.S. R&B Chart at #4. As their second single, "Brick House" helped to propel the Commodores into the spotlight as a leading R&B act.

In contrast to "Brick House", "Easy" is a pop-soul ballad with mellow vocals by Lionel Richie with a Southern country twist.

"Zoom" is one of the Commodores' best known tunes, despite not being released as a single in the US. It reached #38 on the UK singles chart.Fergie sampled "Zoom" in her song "All That I Got (The Make-Up Song)" on the album The Dutchess.

Commodores 13

Commodores 13 is the tenth studio album by the Commodores, released in 1983. It is their first album after Lionel Richie left the group, and their last album with guitarist Thomas McClary before his departure from the band (McClary recorded a solo album for Motown Records in 1984, and then retired from the music industry). The song "Turn Off the Lights" was written as a sequel to 1981's "Lady (You Bring Me Up)".

Track listing

Chart positions

Personnel