Easy – Commodores | Top 40 Chart Performance, Story and Song Meaning
Chart Performance: Pop (#4) & R&B (#1); 1977
Story Behind The Song By Ed Osborne
1974 was a banner year for the Commodores. Three years after being signed to Motown Records and many a night spent as opening act for the Jackson 5, the former Tuskegee Institute students scored their first chart single with the funky Machine Gun.
Within a year the group had its first R&B #1 in Slippery When Wet. Pop fans, however, didn’t jump on the Commodores bandwagon until 1976 when the band released the mellower Sweet Love and Just To Be Close To You.
After Fancy Dancer failed to crack the Top 40, saxophonist-turned-singer Lionel Richie decided to write a song everyone would embrace. The result was Easy, easiest the most relaxed song released by the Commodores to date. It rode the airwaves throughout the summer of 1977; peaking at #4 at the end of August.
Although the group did grab mainstream attention with the funked-up Brick House, Easy‘s across-the-board appeal became the model for the group’s most successful singles.
This content and all Song Meaning articles were created and written by Top 40 Contributing Editor Ed Osborne. © 2024 Ed Osborne. All Rights Reserved. In addition to these song meaning articles, Ed has written our “Year in Music 1960s-1990s” articles.
Produced by:
- James Anthony Carmichael
- Commodores[
Lyrics Written by:
- Lionel Rich
Ed Osborne
Hi. I got my first record at age two and never looked back, spending a decades-long career in radio and the music business. Even after years of reading about and listening to all types of music, I am still fascinated by it. Apart from that, I’m endlessly intrigued by art, nature, and the inner lives of people (and dogs).