Commodores - Nightshift

I never liked Lionel Richie, and honestly never really gave two shits about the Commodores. I didn't want to count how many times she was a lady. When Lionel fancied himself the third wheel to the Prince / Michael Jackson milking stool I had to suffer through Can't Slow Down when I was at my girlfriends house. She also loved the Cats Soundtrack too ... ah the blush of a first love. I will say though that I did love Louie Shelton's guitar solo on "Hello" you gotta give credit where credit is due. It was a weird thing when I found myself strangely enamoured with "Nightshift."

I found the album cheap back in the day and I think I played it once before filing it away. I did pull the title track off for a few mix tapes but I never really gave the album a chance. I listened once and passed judgment and that was that.

During my recent trip to Krazy Bob's to flip through his discount bins I found several copies of Nightshift, and each time I saw a copy I kept thinking to myself, "You know, that one song was pretty bloody good. Who knows there may be more hidden in the grooves." He'd been seeding the bins too since I'd been last, and there were quite a few albums tucked under my arm. I had no intention of getting any more records, but then there it was ... an absolutely near mint copy of Nightshift.

I heard the little voice chime in, "You never know."

Being of strong will and resolve I caved.

Now let's be completely transparent here, I was never really the intended target audience for this one. At the time I was a 21 year old skinny white kid who loved rock and roll and everything thing else was by association shit. Of course as I was in charge of what I considered "rock and roll" so occasionally other stuff crept in, but generally I wasn't all that keen on R&B or disco, or Madonna.

Well, here I am four decades later listening to the Commodores and I am listening with intent. Oh make no mistake this still isn't my preferred genre but I have a little more appreciation for pop in general than I once did. 

Nightshift was produced by Dennis Lambert who had previously produced acts like The Righteous Brothers, Glen Campbell's "Rhinestone Cowboy" and "Baby Come Back" by Player in '77. The band also enlisted Peter Wolf (not that one, the other one) to help with arrangements and instrumentation on five of the album's nine tracks.

I guess Motown figured that Lionel one on side, and the remaining Commodores on the other the label would be able to have their cake and eat it too. Nightshift is tightly crafted and deliberately executed. There was nothing new here and despite being so meticulously executed it ultimately boils down to a simple ingredient that either works or doesn't. The songs. 

There are a couple of bright spots, the title track, which still inexplicably gets me in the feels, and the album's opening cut. the very Michael Jacksonish "Animal Instincts" complete with the little squeals and ooh oohs. Even "Slip of the Tongue" that opens the second side is kind of fun. However, the album is mostly sort of pleasantly meh. Nightshift would be the last album to go gold which was better than their previous outing, but their platinum days were far behind them.

They're still out there picking up the occasional shift.