The Commodores made a brief appearance in the 1978 film Thank God It's Friday. There, Ashburn test marketed the group by having them play at outdoor spaces such as parking lots and summer festivals. The early band was managed by Benny Ashburn, who brought them to his family's vacation lodge on Martha's Vineyard in 19. (Orange was the lead singer on the Top 10 hits 'Brick House' and 'Nightshift'.) Lionel Richie and Orange alternated as lead singers. Ingram, older than the rest of the band, left to serve active duty in Vietnam, and was later replaced by Walter 'Clyde' Orange, who wrote, or co-wrote, many of their hit tunes.

They performed mostly cover tunes and some original songs with their first singer, James Ingram (not the famous solo artist). 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. The band originated while its members attended Tuskegee University in Alabama. 'We lucked out,' he remarked with a laugh when telling this story to People magazine. To choose a new name, William King opened a dictionary and randomly picked a word. 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. Richie described some members of the Mystics as 'jazz buffs'. The Commodores originally came together from two former student groups, the Mystics and the Jays. In 1986, the Commodores won their first Grammy for the song 'Nightshift'. 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'. 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 is an American funk/soul band, which was at its peak in the late 1970s through the mid 1980s.

Commodores discography rar