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Conveniently, Thomas McClary was too busy touring the world with The Commodores to attend his first two high school reunions.The Florida native had absolutely no reason to go back, but for the three brave souls who befriended him when no one else would. Protesters had lined the sidewalk on the 14-year-old’s first day of ninth grade in 1964, chanting racial slurs. His peers had shot glares in his direction. And then, one of them had lit his shirt on fire.
He calmly patted out the smoldering fabric and turned around, only to face half the football team staring at him. They all put their hands behind their backs, hiding the lighter and the culprit by standing in solidarity.
Mr. McClary was one of the first African-American students to integrate the Florida school system prior to the enforcement of Brown v. Board of Education. And he angered a lot of people by doing so.
“There were times I’d be walking to school and kids would throw oranges at me,” recalled Mr. McClary, who couldn’t help but laugh at the memory. “But I knew I’d get through it. I always had this sense of knowing. I always envisioned myself on the stage.”
Four years later, it happened. Mr. McClary was an eager college freshman waiting in the registration line at Tuskegee University in Alabama when he heard someone whistling every note to an Eddie Harris saxophone solo about 15 students back.
He immediately gave up his spot and moved toward the back.
“Hey man, are you a musician?” Mr. McClary asked, butting in line and interrupting the whistler’s flawless tune.
“Oh, nah, not really,” he responded shyly.
With a raised, skeptical eyebrow, Mr. McClary forged ahead. “Well, I play guitar and I’m looking to put a band together. We’re going to be the black Beatles.”
That caught the other student’s attention. Later that week, when the two of them were auditioning other musicians together, he whipped out a saxophone and wowed Mr. McClary.
With that, the guitarist enlisted the musician—who turned out to be Lionel Richie—and the seeds of The Commodores were planted. By the 1970s, they had landed a two-year tour with The Jackson Five and a Motown contract.
In the decade that followed, the band churned out hit after hit— “Brick House,” “Easy” and “Three Times a Lady,” to name a few, until it got to be too much. Two years after Mr. Richie quit the band in 1982, Mr. McClary left to pursue a solo career and to focus on his family life—more specifically, a wife and seven children, he explained.
“I wanted to be there with my kids and nurture them at their youthful age. Take them to their soccer games and dance lessons,” he said. “So now, I’m reenergized. We’re back.”
Mr. McClary is on stage again—this time alongside Walter “Clyde” Orange, J.D. Nicholas, King “WAK” and their five-piece band—delivering a funky, soft-rock sound, which they will bring to the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center on Sunday night. There, they will debut two new songs, “America” and “Mr. Cool Breeze.”
The latter, which Mr. McClary co-wrote with his 20-year-old son, Ryan, is even hotter than “Brick House,” he said.
“Yes, I’m telling you,” he insisted. “Oh my Lord, it’s incredibly high-energy. You’re getting me excited about this, yes, yes! Woo!”
He laughed and continued, “We’re trying to impact lives when we go, wherever we go. We want to make a difference and we want our music to penetrate the hearts, the souls of people.”
Just before Mr. McClary took his musical hiatus, he did make it back to his high school for his class’s 15-year reunion. He greeted his fans, made a speech and even signed autographs—some of them for the children of those who had tormented him all those years ago.
“Forgiveness is very important, especially when you’re creative and trying to move on,” he said. “We’re coming back out with this incredible energy and creativity, and you’re about to experience the next phase of where The Commodores are going to be taking the world. I am absolutely loving it, girl.”
The Commodores will play the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center on Sunday, July 6, at 8 p.m. Tickets start at $95. For more information, call 288-1500 or visit whbpac.org.
on Jul 1, 2014