Commodores is an American funk and 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 in 1968, and signed with Motown in November 1972, having first caught the public eye opening for the Jackson 5 while on tour.
Lionel Brockman Richie Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer.
Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever is a 1983 television special, produced by Suzanne de Passe for Motown Records, to commemorate Motown's 25th year. The program was taped before a live audience at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, California on March 25, 1983, and broadcast on NBC on May 16. Among its highlights were Michael Jackson's performance of "Billie Jean", Smokey Robinson's long-awaited reunion with The Miracles, a Temptations / Four Tops "battle of the bands", Marvin Gaye's inspired speech about black music history and his memorable performance of "What's Going On", a Jackson 5 reunion, and an abbreviated reunion of Diana Ross & the Supremes, who performed their final #1 hit, "Someday We'll Be Together" from 1969. The show was co-written by de Passe with Ruth Adkins Robinson who would go on to write shows with de Passe for the next 25 years, including the follow-up label tributes—through "Motown 40", Buz Kohan was the head writer.
Caught in the Act is the second studio album by The Commodores, released in 1975. Caught in the Act included the #1 R&B hit "Slippery When Wet", penned by Thomas McClary, the sextet's lead guitarist.
Commodores is the 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.
Hot on the Tracks is the fourth studio album by the Commodores, released by Motown Records in 1976. It includes the Top Ten pop single "Just to Be Close to You". The album was the band's first #1 album on the R&B albums chart.
Dancing on the Ceiling is the third solo studio album by American singer Lionel Richie, released on July 15, 1986. The album was originally to be titled Say You, Say Me, after the Academy Award-winning track of the same name, but it was renamed to a different track's title after Richie rewrote several songs on the album. The album was released to generally positive reviews and it made No. 1 on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 4 million copies. The album was Richie’s second with session guitarist Carlos Rios. Following this album's release, Richie went on a long hiatus, not releasing an album of entirely new material for another ten years.
Machine Gun is the debut studio album by The Commodores, released on July 22, 1974, on Motown Records.
"Three Times a Lady" is a 1978 song by American soul group the Commodores for their album Natural High, written by lead singer Lionel Richie. It was produced by James Anthony Carmichael and the Commodores.
"Easy" is a song by American band Commodores from their fifth studio album, Commodores, released on the Motown label. Group member Lionel Richie wrote "Easy" with the intention of it becoming another crossover hit for the group given the success of a previous single, "Just to Be Close to You", which spent two weeks at number one on the US Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart and peaked at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1976.
Milan B. Williams was an American keyboardist and a founding member of The Commodores.
Back to Front is the first compilation album by American singer Lionel Richie, which was released on May 5, 1992, by Motown Records. It contains songs from both his successful solo career and as part of the band the Commodores, along with three new tracks (1–3). The international version of the album also includes the tracks "Dancing on the Ceiling" and "Stuck on You". It debuted atop both the UK Albums Chart and the ARIA Albums Chart, and spent 12 weeks at number one on the Dutch Album Top 100. The single "Do It To Me" reached #21 at US Hot 100.
Heroes is the eighth studio album by the Commodores, released in June 1980 by Motown Records.
Commodores 13 is the tenth studio album by the Commodores, released in 1983 on Motown Records. It's also the first album by the band after the departure of Lionel Richie, who began his solo career in 1982.
In the Pocket is the ninth studio album by the Commodores, released by Motown Records in 1981. It is the last Commodores album to feature Lionel Richie, as he left the band to start a solo career the following year. The bulk of the album was recorded at Web IV Recording Studio in Atlanta, Georgia. This album contained two hit singles, "Oh No" and "Lady ".
Endless Love: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack album to the film of the same name. The album was released worldwide by Mercury Records and PolyGram in 1981.
Tuskegee is the tenth and most recent studio album by American singer Lionel Richie. It was released by Mercury Records on March 5, 2012 in the United States. The album consists entirely of reinterpretations of previously released songs by Richie, each performed with a different guest artist, all of which are stars in the country music genre. Tuskegee is named after the Alabama city where Richie was born and later completed his undergraduate degree at Tuskegee Institute.
Upside Down: The Collection is a compilation album by Diana Ross, released by Spectrum Music/Universal in the United Kingdom in 2012. This album is a budget collection containing songs that were released from 1970 through 1981 on Motown Records. In the UK, 17 of the 20 songs contained in this compilation reached the Top 40. In the U.S., 12 of these songs made it onto the Billboard Top 40 singles charts, and 6 of those 12 reached number 1.
James Anthony Carmichael is an American Grammy-winning musician, arranger, and record producer. At first he started off in Los Angeles as an arranger and producer for Motown acts like The Temptations and the Jackson 5. Carmichael went on to attain fame in arranging and producing artists such as the Commodores, Atlantic Starr, Diana Ross and Lionel Richie.
The Very Best of The Commodores is the seventh compilation album by American funk/soul band Commodores, released in 1995 on Motown Records. The album charted at No. 26 on the UK Pop Albums chart and at No. 39 on the New Zealand Pop Albums chart. The album has been certified Silver in the UK by the BPI.
