Easy (Commodores song)

"Easy"
A-side label of 1977 US vinyl single
Single by Commodores
from the album Commodores
B-side"Can't Let You Tease Me"
ReleasedMarch 1977 (1977-03)
Genre
Length
  • 4:14 (album version)
  • 4:50 (extended version)
LabelMotown
Songwriter(s)Lionel Richie
Producer(s)
  • James Anthony Carmichael
  • Commodores[4]
Commodores singles chronology
"Fancy Dancer"
(1977) 		"Easy"
(1977) 		"Brick House"
(1977)
Official video
"Easy" on YouTube

"Easy" is a song by American band Commodores from their fifth studio album, Commodores (1977), released on the Motown label. Group member Lionel Richie wrote "Easy" with the intention of it becoming another crossover hit for the group given the success of a previous single, "Just to Be Close to You", which spent two weeks at number one on the US Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart (now known as the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart) and peaked at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1977.[5]

Released in March 1977, "Easy" reached number one on the Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart (for a single week, on July 16) and number four on the Billboard Hot 100. The success of "Easy" paved the way for similar Richie-composed hit ballads such as "Three Times a Lady" and "Still", and also for Richie's later solo hits.

American rock band Faith No More covered the song in 1992 and released it as a single in December of that year. This version became a worldwide hit, reaching number one in Australia and becoming a top-ten hit in eight other countries. On the Billboard Hot 100, it peaked at number 58.

  1. ^ Breihan, Tom (December 23, 2019). "The Number Ones: Commodores' 'Three Times A Lady'". Stereogum. Retrieved July 7, 2023. 'Sweet Love,' 'Just To Be Close To You,' and 'Easy' are all recognizably soul songs.
  2. ^ "Commodores "Easy"".
  3. ^ Breithaupt, Don; Breithaupt, Jeff (July 17, 2000). "Movin' On Up: Corporate Soul". Night Moves - Pop Music in the Late 70s. St. Martin's Griffin. p. 101. ISBN 978-0-312-19821-3.
  4. ^ "Commodores – Easy (song)". australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved February 24, 2008.
  5. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 130.