Sail On - Commodores (1979) 6/30/21

By the late 1970s, the Commodores had become one of the world's top funk bands.

They were also gaining a reputation for their excellent ballads, most of which were composed and sung by their saxophone player--a fellow by the name of Lionel Ritchie.

We've already highlighted two of Lionel's songs for the Commodores: "Easy" and "Three Times a Lady." (You can read my posts about them by clicking the links below.)

Today, we're looking at one of his "Great Songs" from 1979: "Sail On." It's a song about a man who has finally realized his relationship is never going to work, and has decided to end it as painlessly as possible--and sail on without her.

"Sail On" was a Top 10 hit on three Billboard Charts: Adult Contemporary (#9), Black Singles (#8) and The Hot 100 (#4).

Success with "Sail On" (as well as the others mentioned above and linked below) led Lionel to believe he could make it as a solo act--and that's exactly what happened, as he became one of the top-selling solo artists of the '80s.

But first, he had to--pardon the pun--sail on from The Commodores.

"Sail On:" A Great Song of 1979:

"Easy:" https://www.facebook.com/MichaelCuuuk/posts/210580227082099

"Three Times a Lady:" https://www.facebook.com/MichaelCuuuk/posts/139153364224786