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Top Dance Hits
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The Jackson Five began the 1970's with the release of their first single on
Motown Records I Want You Back. It shot to the top of Pop and R&B record charts. Soon, the 5 brothers from Gary, Indiana were superstars. A series of hits followed. These included ABC, The Love You Save, I'll Be There and many others.
By 1973, however, a frenetic release schedule had worn out the group's welcome. They were no longer a fixture at the top of the Pop charts and their R&B hits were not the blockbusters they once had been.
The Jackson Five's late 1973 album Get It Together pointed in a possible new direction. The title song became a favorite in underground dance clubs. The album closed with Dancing Machine, a track which generated
interest, and, when it was retooled on the Dancing Machine album in 1974, it became one of the first true Disco smash hits. Dancing Machine put the Jackson Five on
the top of the R&B chart and in the Pop top ten for the first time in three years.
The Jackson brothers became a fixture on dance club playlists for the next decade. The Dancing
Machine album was followed by Moving Violation. Pop and R&B success were muted, but the track Forever Came Today was a midsummer 1975 Disco hit.
Frustrated by creative barriers put up by Motown management, the Jackson Five elected to leave Motown in 1976. After a fiery legal battle, Motown won the right to keep the Jackson Five name so the group adopted the name the Jacksons. Jermaine Jackson, son-in-law of Motown founder Berry Gordy, Jr., remained with Motown as a solo artist. Youngest brother Randy replaced him in the group.
Epic was the new home label for the
Jacksons and they were immediately put to work with Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff, the writing and producing team behind the origins of Philly Soul. 1976's The Jacksons album featured the pop hit Enjoy Yourself, but 1977's Goin' Places was another disappointment.
The Jackson brothers finally were allowed to produce and write their own material for the 1978 Destiny album. The result was one of their best recordings and the album features the platinum-selling Shake Your Body (Down To the Ground) single with newly mature vocals by Michael Jackson, an embrace of state-of-the-art R&B grooves, and a powerful remix by John Luongo for clubs. The brothers went on a massive world tour, and two years elapsed before the next group album. Meanwhile, Michael emerged as an adult star with his 1979 Off the Wall album produced by Quincy Jones. Triumph, the album released in 1980 by the Jackson brothers as a group was a gift to club audiences. Can You Feel It, Lovely One, and Walk Right Now were Dance chart smashes.
After another massive group tour, Michael Jackson continued his ascent as a solo superstar with the release of Thriller, the best-selling album of all time, in 1982. The next group album did not appear until 1984, four years after the last. Victory included a reunion with Jermaine and became the first album officially recorded by all six Jackson brothers. The leadoff single State of Shock, with Rock guitar and a guest appearance by Mick Jagger, scored on the Dance chart. The union
of all six Jacksons was short-lived, however, and when the final Jacksons studio album 2300 Jackson Street emerged five years later in 1989, the lineup
included only Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, and Randy Jackson. Nothin (That Compares 2 U), created with the then-emerging songwriting and producing team of L.A. and Babyface, was the final Dance hit for the group.
