Commodores (album)
Encyclopedia
Commodores is a self-titled album
released in 1977 by the Commodores
. The album spent eight weeks atop the R&B/Soul Albums chart as their second album to do so, and was their first Top 5 Pop Album.
". With Walter Orange's squeaking/growling voice on the lead, and Ronald LaPread's roundtone bassline, this cut 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 propel the Commodores into the spotlight as a premier R&B act.
In contrast to "Brick House", "Easy" is a pop-souls ballad featuring mellow vocals by Lionel Richie
with a Southern country twist. A famous cover of "Easy" was done by the band Faith No More
.
"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)" from the album The Dutchess
.
In the UK this album was released as "Zoom" on Tamla Motown STML 12057.
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
released in 1977 by the Commodores
Commodores
The Commodores are an American funk/soul band of the 1970s and 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...
. The album spent eight weeks atop the R&B/Soul Albums chart as their second album to do so, and was their first Top 5 Pop Album.
Reception
The band employed a variety of musical stylings for the album, highlighted by the popular sex anthem "Brick HouseBrick House (song)
"Brick House" is a funk song from the Commodores' 1977 album Commodores and is one of their most popular songs. The single peaked at #5 in the U.S. and #32 in the UK pop charts.-Creation and recording:...
". With Walter Orange's squeaking/growling voice on the lead, and Ronald LaPread's roundtone bassline, this cut 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 propel the Commodores into the spotlight as a premier R&B act.
In contrast to "Brick House", "Easy" is a pop-souls ballad featuring mellow vocals by Lionel Richie
Lionel Richie
Lionel Brockman Richie, Jr. , is an American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Since 1968, he has been a member of the musical group Commodores signed to Motown Records...
with a Southern country twist. A famous cover of "Easy" was done by the band Faith No More
Faith No More
Faith No More is an American rock band from San Francisco, California, formed originally as Faith No Man in 1981 by bassist Billy Gould, keyboardist Wade Worthington, vocalist Michael Morris and drummer Mike Bordin. A year later when Worthington was replaced by keyboardist Roddy Bottum, and Mike...
.
"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
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
. Fergie sampled "Zoom" in her song "All That I Got (The Make-Up Song)" from the album The Dutchess
The Dutchess
The Dutchess is the debut and only studio album by American recording artist Fergie, who is a member of The Black Eyed Peas. The album was released on September 19, 2006. As of 2008, the album has sold more than six million copies worldwide...
.
In the UK this album was released as "Zoom" on Tamla Motown STML 12057.
Track listing
- Squeeze the Fruit - (Walter Orange) 3:00
- Funny Feelings - (Lionel RichieLionel RichieLionel Brockman Richie, Jr. , is an American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Since 1968, he has been a member of the musical group Commodores signed to Motown Records...
, Thomas McClary) 4:51 - Heaven Knows - (Lionel RichieLionel RichieLionel Brockman Richie, Jr. , is an American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Since 1968, he has been a member of the musical group Commodores signed to Motown Records...
, Thomas McClary) 4:41 - Zoom - (Lionel RichieLionel RichieLionel Brockman Richie, Jr. , is an American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Since 1968, he has been a member of the musical group Commodores signed to Motown Records...
, Ronald La Pread) 6:43 - Won't You Come Dance With Me - (Lionel RichieLionel RichieLionel Brockman Richie, Jr. , is an American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Since 1968, he has been a member of the musical group Commodores signed to Motown Records...
, Thomas McClary) 3:47 - Brick HouseBrick House (song)"Brick House" is a funk song from the Commodores' 1977 album Commodores and is one of their most popular songs. The single peaked at #5 in the U.S. and #32 in the UK pop charts.-Creation and recording:...
- (Lionel RichieLionel RichieLionel Brockman Richie, Jr. , is an American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Since 1968, he has been a member of the musical group Commodores signed to Motown Records...
, Milan WilliamsMilan WilliamsMilan B. Williams was an American keyboardist and a founding member of the Commodores band.Williams was born in Okolona, Mississippi and began playing the piano after being inspired by his older brother Earl, who was a multi-instrumentalist...
, Walter Orange, Ronald La Pread, Thomas McClary, William King) 3:27 - Funky Situation - (William King) 3:39
- Patch It Up - (Milan WilliamsMilan WilliamsMilan B. Williams was an American keyboardist and a founding member of the Commodores band.Williams was born in Okolona, Mississippi and began playing the piano after being inspired by his older brother Earl, who was a multi-instrumentalist...
) 3:58 - Easy - (Lionel RichieLionel RichieLionel Brockman Richie, Jr. , is an American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Since 1968, he has been a member of the musical group Commodores signed to Motown Records...
) 4:16
Charts
| Year | Album | Chart positions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
US R&B Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999... |
||
| 1977 | Commodores Commodores (album) Commodores is a self-titled album released in 1977 by the Commodores. The album spent eight weeks atop the R&B/Soul Albums chart as their second album to do so, and was their first Top 5 Pop Album.-Reception:... |
3 | 1 |
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart positions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
US R&B Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,... |
US Dance |
||
| 1977 | "Brick House" | 5 | 4 | 34 |
| "Easy" | 4 | 1 | — | |