Working with the Commodores

Commodores - Nightshift Album

Right after Lionel Richie left the Commodores, the Commodores picked up a new lead singer by the name of JD Nicholas.

JD is a great singer and JD and I had sung on quite a few records singing background together for other artists prior to him joining the Commodores. JD had also worked a while with the group Heatwave. Since the Commodores and SWITCH was on Motown we had met quite a few times.

Well in 1985 I had been working with Dennis Lambert, great songwriter /  producer on various projects and he was called in to work with the Commodores to produce this upcoming album. Dennis Lambert called me in to do some backgrounds on a song he had written called "Nightshift". The song 'Nighshift' not only became the hit song from this album, but it was also the title track. The song was a tribute to Jackie Wilson and Marvyn Gaye.

The Commodores Performing

This song was the first hit attained by the Commodores following Lionel Richie's departure from the group. It was also their biggest hit after Richie's departure, peaking at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 and rising to number one on the Hot Black Singles chart, as well as number three in the UK Singles Chart.

Although the band was against the label's decision to release it as a single, it won a Grammy Award in 1985 for Best Vocal R&B Performance by a Duo/Group. The song features the lead vocal from Walter Orange, whose lead appeared years before on "Brick House". The 2nd vocalist on the song is JD Nicholas.

The Commodores today

I got to sing background on quite a few different songs for this particular album, but the song Nightshift was such a huge hit that it overpowered the rest of the project.

Since then JD and I have stayed in touch and I've got to see the Commodores perform a few times.  As always it was fun, but it's been a while since I've worked with the Commodores. 

Until Next Time - Phillip