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Commodores to work a night shift at Riverside Casino

04-07-2008 | Music

By Steven Horowitz

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As a founding member of the Commodores, William King has been responsible for selling more than 60 million records, but he’s not ready to slow down.

“I am one of those people who love to keep busy,” King says over the telephone from Atlanta, where he is actively involved with a non-music business venture. He has no intention of taking it easy.

The Commodores are about to go on tour again and will be playing Riverside Casino at 8 p.m. Saturday, April 12. King is one of two of the original six group members still performing with the band. One member, Lionel Richie, left for a solo career back in 1983, while the others have retired and moved on.

Walter “Clyde” Orange is still with band, as is J.D. Nichols, the former Heat Wave lead singer who joined the Commodores in 1984. King, Orange and Nichols are backed by a five piece combo, the Mean Machine.

“We are a powerful eight,” King says with a chuckle in his voice. “Everyone plays an instrument, sings and dances. We all know each other inside and out. We pack a potent punch!”

Indeed, one would expect no less from a group with such strong and funky hits as “Brick House,” “Machine Gun” and “Too Hot ta Trot.”

The group began as an instrumental combo while freshmen at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama in 1968. The Commodores have always been known for their ability to play hard driving songs as well as tender ballads like “Easy,” “Sail On,” “Three Times a Lady” and “Night Shift.”

“It all begins with the music, with the melody. A good tune is one a person can walk down the street and whistle, even if they are just whistling it in their heads. Whether it’s up tempo or slow doesn’t matter,” King says. “The first thing people listen to is the music. You can have a great track with lyrics that aren’t that good and people will buy it. But not vice versa. The music has got to grab you.

“If you have a great melody, you can frame it in any genre and make it a great song. You might change the texture and call it acid rock, country western or rap, but if you wrap it around the right melody you are going to have a great song,” King says, adding that he’s heard Commodores records performed by others in different styles and they still sound good.

The Commodores play all their hits when performing live. “We jump right into it and give people want they want,” King says. “We are not totally in control of shows. The audience plays a part. They sing along. We don’t have to encourage them; they can feel it’s all right.

“And sometimes, when you do this year after year, night after night, hour after hour, the mind can wander,” King says. “We might sing something out of order and people in the audience shout out ‘No, that’s the first verse!’ They do not want you to mess up their song. It’s not our song anymore. Once it’s out there it becomes part of their memories, distinctly linked to some part of their life, and they don’t want you to mess up, and they will let you know it.”

King then pauses and says quietly: “Let me tell you a secret. This stuff we are doing now, talking, working and such? For us, that’s just the time between being on stage. That’s where we come alive. That’s when our adrenaline pumps. That’s what really matters.

“We live for jamming,” King says. “Tell the people coming to the show. I guarantee we are going to have a blast.”