Artist · chart history
The Commodores
Band Tuskegee United States Formed 1968 US funk/soul band with Lionel Richie
The Commodores formed in 1968 in Tuskegee, United States. The Commodores has 5 chart appearances on 5 radio countdowns from 3 stations on RockLists, spanning 2005–2026. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Brick House”, which appears on 3 lists with a best position of #5. The station that charted The Commodores most often is WFPK (Louisville, KY), with 2 appearances.
The Commodores got their start at Tuskegee Institute in 1968, a bunch of mostly first-year students who formed a band and kept at it long enough to open for the Jackson 5 on tour. By November 1972 they had signed with Motown, and the lineup that made their name, Lionel Richie, Thomas McClary, Ronald LaPread, Milan Williams, William King and Walter Orange, could turn on a dime from greasy funk to satin balladry.
1977 proved both sides in one go. "Brick House" is pure funk muscle, a strutting, rubber-band bassline and horns that slam the door, while "Easy" is the flip side, a Sunday-morning ballad as relaxed as its title. The late '70s and early '80s, with Richie sharing lead vocals, were their golden run, and the big hits kept coming in both flavours: ballads like "Three Times a Lady" and "Nightshift", dance-floor burners like "Too Hot ta Trot" and "Lady (You Bring Me Up)".
They've sold more than 70 million albums, won a Grammy from nine nominations and landed in both the Alabama Music Hall of Fame and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs by The Commodores on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brick House | 3 | #5 | – | – | |
| 2 | Easy | 1 | #1544 | – | – | |
| 3 | Night Shift | 1 | #457 | – | – |
Every countdown appearance
| Year | # | Song | Countdown |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 457 | Night Shift | WFPK Top 500 Songs of the '80s |
| 2022 | 359 | Brick House | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '70s |
| 2020 | 1544 | Easy | WXPN 2020 Greatest Songs of All Time |
| 2014 | 629 | Brick House | WXPN 885 All-Time Greatest Songs (2014) |
| 2005 | 5 | Brick House | WFPK Top 100 Party Songs |
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