Songfacts®:

• The Commodores wrote "Too Hot Ta Trot" for the 1978 film Thank God It's Friday, where they also perform the song. The film is a lot like Saturday Night Fever, but set at a different disco, and this time it's Friday night. It also starred Donna Summer instead of John Travolta.
  
  The group was on tour when the got the call to appear in the film - their movie debut. When they got to the Hollywood set, they were told they needed to write a song to perform in their scene, so they came up with "Too Hot Ta Trot," inspired by a character in the film that was always up for a wild time.
• The entire group is credited for writing this song, but drummer Walter Orange, who also sang lead on the track, wrote the lyric. He said in the Billboard Book of #1 R&B Hits: "It's not one of those that we put a whole hell of a lot of thought into. It was one of those singalong chants, but the group was hot. It was our time."
• Thank God It's Friday was modestly successful at the box office, but berated by critics - Rolling Stone called it Saturday Night Earache. It did feature Donna Summer's hit song "Last Dance," and also marked an early appearance of Terri Nunn, who later fronted the group Berlin.
• The title is based on the phrase "hot to trot," a popular saying the '70s to indicate a sexually adventurous person. It's also the name of a 1988 movie starring Bobcat Goldthwait and a talking horse.
• A #1 R&B hit, this was one of the last funk hits for the Commodores, who were having more success with ballads written and sung by Lionel Richie. On this track, he plays saxophone.