Last night Lionel Richie reunited onstage in Auckland at Vector Arena with two former Commodores, Thomas McClary and Ronald LaPread. By all accounts, the concert was phenomenal mixture of the funk, the soul and the balladry that made these men superstars for the first time in the 70s and I’m gutted I couldn’t be there.

I have Ronald to thank for so many of the highlights of my career, including hanging out with him and Lionel three and a half years ago, meeting Stevie Wonder and best of all, doing a weekly soul and R&B show together on my old station Easy Mix. Each week we got to talk about everything from what it was like touring with the Jackson 5 in the early 70s, Diana Ross pushing Ronald out of the way at his first Motown meeting, playing tennis with Arthur Ashe, campaigning with Martin Luther King Junior, beating Rod Stewart at soccer, where he was when Marvin Gaye died and the chills the band all felt when Lionel sat down and played them a song called Three Times A Lady.

Myself, Lionel, Clare Healy, Ronald.

The Commodores have always been one of my absolute favourite bands and where some critics thought they were diluting their product by including the ballads that became the cornerstone of Lionel’s solo career, the fact they could do so many different styles made them all the more compelling. News is out that Lionel is set to release a country album and while that might surprise casual fans, if you go back and listen to songs like Sail On, Stuck On You, Deep River Woman etc, you can definitely hear the Alabama in there (not to mention that the band Alabama sang with him on Deep River Woman).

With the exception of the Bee Gees, I can’t think of another band who moved as easily between so many genres as the Commodores did; the blistering funk of Slippery When Wet, the dance-pop of Lady You Bring Me Up, the gospel of Jesus Is Love, the soul of Just To Be Close To You, the country of Sail On, the quiet storm of Zoom, the romantic balladry of Still. Just how they remain outside of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall Of Fame is a mystery, especially compared to some of the acts with far shorter hit-lists and far fewer albums sold. This is the first black act to sell out three nights in a row at Madison Square Gardens remember. A certain Bob Marley was their opening act (1979 – would have been a pretty decent concert).

The Commodores in 1978.

So for this week’s Song of the Week, I’ve chosen a Commodores favourite that was written by Ronald with Lionel back in 1977. Ronald had most of the music ready before taking the song to Lionel where they collaborated on the lyrics and in true Lionel fashion, took the song to a place neither of them knew it could go. At the time, Ronald’s wife Kathy was terminally ill and there was a period when the Commodores found this song too emotional to play live.

These days the song is a celebration, and alongside Brick House, is the Commodores song Lionel most often proclaims as his favourite. Here it is, the full version of Zoom: