Sweet Love -- Commodores (1976) 12/16/21

When you look back to 1976, it's hard to remember that, at that point in time, The Commodores were one of America's premier funk bands...and Lionel Ritchie was known primarily as their pianist, saxophone player, and occasional lead singer.

But '76, was a pivotal year for the group. Lionel started writing ballads. Good ones. So good, the Commodores started adding more of them to their albums with great success.

Their first non-funk hit--written and spoken/sung by Lionel--was "Sweet Love," and it instantly became a "Great Song of the '70s."

It reached #2 on Billboard's Soul Chart...and it was also the Commodores' first Top 10 POP hit, landing at #5 on the Hot 100.

"Sweet Love" was just the beginning of a long string of "Great '70s Ballads" by The Commodores, and pretty much set the stage for Lionel to become one of the Top-Selling solo artists of the '80s!

From 1976: