Premium Only Content

Commodores - Just to Be Close to You (Live in The Netherlands 1978) Soundboard
Commodores - Just to Be Close to You (Live in The Netherlands 1978) Soundboard
Commodores, often billed as the Commodores, are an American funk and soul group. The group's most successful period was in the late 1970s and early 1980s when Lionel Richie was the co-lead singer.
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.
Commodores were formed from two former student groups, the Mystics and the Jays. Richie described some members of the Mystics as "jazz buffs". The new six-man band featured Lionel Richie, Thomas McClary, and William King from the Mystics, and Andre Callahan, Michael Gilbert, and Milan Williams from the Jays. To choose their name, William King opened a dictionary and randomly picked a word. "We lucked in," he remarked with a laugh when telling this story to People magazine. "We almost became 'The Commodes.'
The bandmembers attended Tuskegee University in Alabama. After winning the university's annual freshman talent contest, they played at fraternity parties as well as a weekend gig at the Black Forest Inn, one of a few clubs in Tuskegee that catered to college students. They performed cover tunes and some original songs with their first singer, James Ingram (not the famous solo artist). Ingram, older than the rest of the band, left to serve in Vietnam, and was later replaced by drummer Walter "Clyde" Orange, who wrote or co-wrote many of their hits. Lionel Richie and Orange alternated as lead singers. Orange was the lead singer on the Top 10 hits "Brick House" (1977) and "Nightshift" (1985).
The early band was managed by Benny Ashburn, who brought them to his family's vacation lodge on Martha's Vineyard in 1971 and 1972. There, Ashburn test-marketed the group by having them play in parking lots and summer festivals.
Machine Gun (1974)
Caught in the Act (1975)
Movin' On (1975)
Hot on the Tracks (1976)
Commodores (1977)
Natural High (1978)
Midnight Magic (1979)
Heroes (1980)
In the Pocket (1981)
Commodores 13 (1983)
Nightshift (1985)
United (1986)
Rock Solid (1988)
No Tricks (1993)
-
8:54
Classic Rock Live Music (High Quality Audio)
19 days agoSavatage - The Hourglass (Live in Oberhausen, Germany 2025) Video
201 -
2:09:16
Tucker Carlson
3 hours agoCandace Owens: Macron, Harvey Weinstein, and Why “Christ Is King” Totally Broke People’s Brains
82.2K106 -
2:03:12
Side Scrollers Podcast
4 hours agoBlabs is Absolutely DISGUSTED By Nintendo | Side Scrollers Live
13.2K2 -
LIVE
SportsPicks
3 hours agoCrick's Corner: Episode 57
49 watching -
59:32
Sean Unpaved
3 hours agoNasty Boy Unleashed: World Series Champ Rob Dibble Unloads on the MLB & Trade Deadline
24.3K -
LIVE
Lara Logan
13 hours agoLAWFARE UNDER FIRE: Treniss Evans Leading the Charge Against a Weaponized Justice System | Ep 29
539 watching -
5:56:35
JuicyJohns
7 hours ago $3.18 earned🟢#1 REBIRTH PLAYER 10.2+ KD🟢$500 GIVEAWAY SATURDAY!
63.7K2 -
15:32
Scammer Payback
6 hours agoTormenting the Scammer Who Did This
12.3K19 -
17:28
IsaacButterfield
10 hours ago $0.81 earnedThe Government Just Banned Free Speech in the UK
13.1K8 -
2:01:46
Tim Pool
20 hours agoIs Trump Still Winning? | The Culture War LIVE Debate
186K258