The Commodores - Brick House

[irock]

The thread about Lionel Richie made me think of this. This was one of the earlier hits from the Commodores, when they were known for loud, raucous funk. It's one of my favorites from them, along with Machine Gun (perhaps the all-time greatest funk instrumental), Slippery When Wet and Zoom.

[Deleted]

I hate this!

[ClassicCase]

Good song, but if I ever hear it on an urban AC station again running it another 40 billion times in rotation, I'll have to kill the consultants that suggested this. It does get annoying at times and the rhythmic oldies of late wore the hell out of it and it's sad.

Vocal note: the person that did the solo for Brick House was not Lionel Richie. It was group member Walter Orange, in which I had the pleasure of talking to back in '92 when they were pushing their new single which obliviously flopped after less than a month.

[Gorminako]

This is an outstanding song as were all the others you mentioned, irock. It was cowritten by all of the band's members, lead writer being Milan Williams, the keyboardist who was the most prolific of their songwriters at the beginning, writing most of their instrumentals. One exception is the haunting "Cebu", written by Thomas McClary. The Commodores were one of 3 bands whose every album I bought throughout their viable career.

[BFMR]

i don't mind it... it wasn't my favorite though

[tico]

Good 70s funk, but I too will scream if I hear this song anymore. Give it a rest, please!

[stevie nice]

Yeah, another song that 70s dance shows and Poly Esters and everything retro has burned to the point where I never wanna hear it again, but I can't deny that I loved it when it was charting and I do have the original 45 of it in my collection. I can still listen to "Machine Gun" for sure tho.

[jimmy74747]

I really dislike this song. The Commodores have so many better hits than this.

[Jeff]

I like the song.

[Nicholas2.0]

God, I love this song. And the first time I heard it in its entirety was only 5 years ago. That, along with all the other classic gems on the Pure Funk collection.

[reception]

I don't like it.

[mst3k]

Of course this song is now associated with all those promos for the new ABC show "Big House"... which looks like a reverse "Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air."

[jond7699]

Absolute Jam. One of the best of the whole Disco area. . "She's a brick housssse ... "

[jimmy74747]

I hate this song.

[cartman2002]

The tune went to #5 on the pop chart in 1977

[BillboardBoy]

This was on AT10 a couple weeks ago. Casey said in the song, they were comparing a well-built woman to a brick house. :)

[A Thug Named Slickback]

I guess this is a good funk song. But I really get tired of it.

[Hervard]

jimmy74747 said:

I really dislike this song.  The Commodores have so many better hits than this.

I agree. I don't really like their upbeat stuff at all. I prefer their more mellow songs, like "Easy", "Three Times A Lady", "Sail On" and "Still", among others.

I remember when the Commodores were the spotlight artist on "Countdown America" in May, 1985, this was the first song played. The others were the number one hits "Three Times A Lady" and "Sail On" and their song currently in the countdown, "Nightshift". Ironically, that was their first Top 40 hit after Lionel had left the group.

[cartman2002]

...and was their only top 40 hit they had after Lionel left the band

[Soulsista]

Overplayed, but still a classic.

[Live Your Life]

Classic.

[🇯🇲 lucy88 🇯🇲]

Classic. Nickelodeon's Snick House in 1999 even had their own their version of this song.

[🇯🇲 lucy88 🇯🇲]

#296 on Billboard's 500 Greatest Pop Songs

You Know What It Is: The mighty-migh-tay pop-funk smash that showed it wasn’t always pillowy ballads and synth-y ceiling dancing for Lionel Richie.

Because of You: The musical celebration of stacked women — 36-24-36es, as it were — might not have been invented by “Brick House,” but it certainly helped normalize a subject that was hardly common in late-’70s pop, helping lead to later anthems by the Queens, LL Cool Js and Sir Mix-a-Lots of the world.

Gimme More: To really hear the Commodores get funky, check out the blistering instrumental “Machine Gun,” further immortalized in later decades by Boogie Nights and the Beastie Boys’ “Hey Ladies.”