Brickhouse (1977) 10/15/20

Today's “Great Politically Incorrect Song of the '70s” was, without a doubt, the longest-running guaranteed floor-filler in Eau Claire/Chippewa Valley dance club history.

I started playing the song at She-nannigans in 1977, and for the next 7 YEARS, I played it whether I was spinning at Trader & Trapper, Wagner's Down Under, Top of the Town at Fanny Hill, or even at wedding dances and private parties. And I wasn't the only DJ who would fill the floor with it. ALL of us got the same reaction!

The second the crowds realized “Brickhouse” by the Commodores was playing, there was a mad dash for the dance floor. It was sooo funky and sooo danceable, you just couldn't help yourself.

So why was it politically incorrect? Well, by today's standards, the song is incredibly sexist (just listen to the lyrics), but back then, no one seemed to care, including the ladies who out there on the floor.

There's more than a little irony to the back story.

The Commodores were jammin' in the studio one night when they came up with the “groove” and instrumental basics of the song. They needed lyrics, however, so at the end of the session, trumpeter/guitarist William King went home to write some.

King fell asleep while trying to work something out, but when he woke up, he found a pad of paper on his chest with the lyrics already written! Turns out that King's wife, Shirley, who was also a songwriter, had listened to the track and finished the song!

Yes, a woman wrote the line, “showin' off her knockers fallin' down to her knees.”

The rest of The Commodores loved it! They decided that drummer Walter “Clyde” Orange would sing it, with regular lead singer Lionel Ritchie on saxophone.

Chartwise, the song hit #5 on Billboard's Hot 100...but in the discos of Eau Claire and the Chippewa Valley, it was #1 for a VERY long time. :-)

It's still sexist, but Shirley King didn't seem to mind when she wrote it, and I don't remember a single complaint from the ladies on the dance floor.

But even if you do take issue with the lyrics, you have to admit the “groove” makes it a “Great Song of 1977!”

The Commodores: