4) and their first upbeat single in almost five years, " Lady (You Bring Me Up)" (No. In 1981 they released two top-ten hits with "Oh No" (No. In 1979, the Commodores scored another top-five ballad, "Sail On", before reaching the top of the charts once again with another ballad, " Still". 4 in the US, followed by funky single "Brick House", also top 5, both from their album Commodores, as was "Zoom". In 1977, the Commodores released " Easy", which became the group's biggest hit yet, reaching No. After those recordings the group developed the mellower sound hinted at in their 1976 top-ten hits, "Sweet Love" and " Just to Be Close to You". Three albums released in 19, Caught in the Act was funk album, but Movin' On and Hot on the Tracks were pop albums. Another 1974 song "I Feel Sanctified" has been called a "prototype" of Wild Cherry's 1976 big hit "Play That Funky Music". " Machine Gun" (1974), the instrumental title track from the band's debut album, became a staple at American sporting events, and is also heard in many films, including Boogie Nights and Looking for Mr. Goodbar. There, Ashburn test-marketed the group by having them play in 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" (1977) and " Nightshift" (1985). Lionel Richie and Orange alternated as lead singers. Ingram, older than the rest of the band, left to serve in Vietnam, and was later replaced by drummer Walter "Clyde" Orange, who wrote or co-wrote many of their hits. They performed 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 bandmembers attended Tuskegee University in Alabama. "We lucked out," he remarked with a laugh when telling this story to People magazine. To choose their name, William King opened a dictionary and randomly picked a word. The new six-man band featured Lionel Richie, Thomas McClary, and William King from the Mystics, and Andre Callahan, Michael Gilbert, and Milan Williams from the Jays. Richie described some members of the Mystics as "jazz buffs". Commodores formed from two former student groups, the Mystics and the Jays.