Walter Orange

Commodores is 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.\n', ' The group\'s most successful period was in the late 1970s and early 1980s when Lionel Richie was the 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". In 1986, the Commodores won their first Grammy for the song "Nightshift".\n', ' The Commodores originally came together from two former student groups, the Mystics and the Jays. Richie described some members of the Mystics as "jazz buffs".\n', '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. They wanted to change the name. To choose a new name, William 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.\'"\n', '