Tag: the Corporation

Jackson Five – “I’ll Be There”

by thedailyrecord, posted in Motown, Song Review

Jackson Five – “I’ll Be There,” Pop #1, R&B #1

By Joel Francis
The Daily Record

To say that the Jackson 5’s formula was successful would be a terrific understatement. Three upbeat, bubblegum hits, all penned and produced by Berry Gordy and his faceless Corporation, all No. 1 pop and R&B smashes.

Gordy’s decision to break from the formula for the group’s fourth hit was shocking. Not known as one to mess with a sure thing, Gordy dumped the Corporation and partnered with Hal Davis, Willie Hutch and Bob Wests to craft a ballad that placed Michael Jackson directly the spotlight, and relegated his brothers to a support role.

The result was the J5’s most successful single ever, selling 4 million copies in the United States and cementing the band’s career beyond bubblegum. “I’ll Be There” was also the group’s last No. 1 hit; three more singles ceilinged at No. 2.

Only 12 years old at the time, Jackson dumps more emotion into his delivery than many singers twice his age possess. His clarion call to give love another chance is graceful and penetrating. Gordy positioned Diana Ross as the J5’s mentor – her influence shines in Jackson’s delivery, both in phrasing and tone.

“I’ll Be There” was covered by Mariah Carey and Trey Lorenz as a duet in 1992. The single was her sixth No. 1 hit, but the less said about her treacly reading the better. More interestingly, it appeared on the fourth album by Southern California punk rockers Me First and the Gimme Gimmes in 2003, who frequently recorded ironic covers. “I’ll Be There” graced two other Motown releases. The Temptations recorded a version for their 2006 album “Reflections” and sister La Toya Jackson cut it for her 1995 covers album. Many artists, including Carey, the New Kids on the Block, Jaime Foxx and Ne-Yo and Green Day performed “I’ll Be There” in tribute to Jackson after his death on June 25, 2009.

Michael Jackson performed “I’ll Be There” on all of his solo tours, frequently getting emotional and breaking down mid-song.

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Jackson 5 – “The Love You Save”

by thedailyrecord, posted in Motown, Song Review

Jackson 5 – “The Love You Save,” Pop # 1, R&B # 1

By Joel Francis
The Daily Record

The process behind the J5’s two previous singles was too successful and irresistible not to try again. And for the third time, the resulting song stuck at the top of the chart.

The product of a Berry Gordy and the Corporation, “The Love You Save” bears more than a passing resemblance to “ABC” and “I Want You Back.” Don’t fall into the trap of writing off the song as a carbon copy, though. “The Love You Save” has a more complex arrangement – it deviates from AABA structure – and greatly benefits from Jermaine’s supporting vocals. Plus it’s just as infectious and fun as the first two singles.

On their tours in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, the Jacksons combined all three songs in one medley. It was an obvious and surefire idea. Put these three together and you’ve got 10 minutes of music guaranteed to put a smile on the most hardened face and get the most sedentary feet moving.

The lyrics in “The Love You Save” echo the warning Diana Ross delivered five years earlier on “Stop! In the Name of Love,” another Motown No. 1. Both songs open hard on the word “stop” and implore their partners to both slow and settle down. Playing these songs back to back shows how far Motown has pushed soul music. The excitement of the Holland-Dozier-Holland composition is tempered by Ross’ mannered delivery that almost turns her pleading into nagging. On the other hand, the Corporation’s number jumps out of the speakers with a kinetic energy and Michael’s charismatic vocals. The supporting string arrangement is only hint of the assembly line Motown sound that HDH developed.

Few artists have covered “The Love You Save.” More noteworthy are the songs penned by Joe Tex and the Holmes Brothers that bear the same name.

Jackson 5 – “ABC”

by thedailyrecord, posted in Motown, Song Review

Jackson 5 – “ABC,” Pop # 1, R&B # 1

By Joel Francis
The Daily Record

Tito, Jermaine, Jackie, Marlon and, of course, Michael Jackson blasted to the top of the chart with their debut single, “I Want You Back.” Five months later, they duplicated the feat with their second effort, “ABC.”

Like their previous release, “ABC” was written and produced by the Corporation, the faceless entity label head Berry Gordy created in the wake of Holland-Dozier-Holland’s departure. Never again would Motown’s writers and producers usurp the performer’s fame. Structurally, “ABC” also resembles “I Want You Back;” the two songs share the same spirit and melody lines.

“ABC” opens with a bright burst of fuzz guitar and piano a split second before Michael wordlessly sings the equivalent of sunshine and a smile. Michael had yet to enter his teens, but his voice pops out of the speakers with remarkable authority and maturity.

Because of their ages, the Jackson 5 were branded “bubblegum” in the early years of their career. The tag isn’t completely unfair – their debut album does open with a version of “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah”  – but the way Michael yells “Sit down girl, I think I love you!” is pure soul.

With its great bass line, the way the syncopated drumming plays off the piano line, and sprinkling of Latin percussion over the top “ABC” is pop perfection.

The song’s concept came from Corporation member Freddie Perren, a former school teacher. Perren noted the similarity between teaching and producing, namely forming a lesson play, or song idea, then having the students/musicians echo it back until attaining perfection.

“ABC” is one of Motown’s biggest song, but Gordy never saw fit to give the tune to any of his other artists. It hasn’t even been sampled that often (the less said about Ghostface Killah’s version, the better). Although the song today has been unfairly relegated to children’s compilations and oldies collections, “ABC” rocked the house parties of both young and old alike back in the day.

Jackson 5 – “I Want You Back”

by thedailyrecord, posted in Motown, Song Review

Jackson 5 – “I Want You Back,” Pop #1, R&B #1

By Joel Francis
The Daily Record

“I Want You Back” not only introduced America to the biggest post-Elvis superstar in the world. It also kicked off the unprecedented success of a group having its first four singles top the chart, and returned the mojo Motown lost with the departure of Holland-Dozier-Holland.

The Jackson 5 – Michael, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon and Jackie – were famously raised in Gary, Ind. by their ambitious and abusive father Joe. When his sons started showing musical aptitude, Joe Jackson saw them as his ticket out of the Gary steel mills and, after music lessons, sent them out on the chitlin circuit. Their shows caught the eye of Sam and Dave and Gladys Knight, who recommended the group to Motown chief Berry Gordy. Because Gordy already had one child star with Stevie Wonder, he declined to sign them.

One year later, in 1968, the Jackson 5 were paired with Knight and Bobby Taylor and the Vancouvers, who were riding their lone Motown hit “Does Your Mama Know About Me.” Taylor and Knight were so impressed by the J5’s performance that they videotaped an audition and send the tape to Gordy to his new home in Los Angeles. Gordy was still reluctant to sign another child act, but relented after watching the tape.

Of course Knight and Taylor received little credit for bringing the Jackson 5 to Motown. The glory went to Diana Ross, who had nothing to do with the quintet or their signing, but received top billing on their debut album, “Diana Ross presents the Jackson 5.”

The arrival of the Jackson 5 draws a sharp line between the Detroit and Los Angeles eras of Motown. Gordy had recently relocated to Los Angeles to start a film career for both himself and Ross, his lover. Although some early J5 songs were recorded at the Hitsville studio in Detroit, Gordy moved the group out to California for grooming.

Gordy copied the songwriting template of the Supreme’s successful “Love Child” to craft “I Want You Back.” He called three of his best writers – Freddie Perren, Deke Richards and Alphonso Mizell – to help him retool a song originally intended for either Gladys Knight or Diana Ross as either “I Wanna Be Free” or “I Want You Back.” As on “Love Child,” Gordy billed the collective anonymously. After the defection of Holland-Dozier-Holland, Gordy did not want any more of his songwriters to become “back room superstars.” Known only as “The Corporation,” the team wrote many of the Jackson 5’s early hits.

One of the most infectiously joyous songs in the Motown catalog, “I Want You Back” has been covered several times. Nickel Creek recorded a bluegrass version in 2007, two pop girl groups – Cleopatra and the West End Girls – had international hits with their 1990s interpretations. It was recorded by indie rockers Discovery on their 2009 debut, and performed by British singer Mika, KT Tunstall and even Guns N Roses in concert.

“I Want You Back” was sampled by Kris Kross for their 1992 hit “Jump,” and Kanye West for Jay-Z’s 2001 smash “Izzo (H.O.V.A.).”

Diana Ross and the Supremes – “Love Child”

by thedailyrecord, posted in Motown, Song Review

Lovechild-single-supremes
Diana Ross and the Supremes – “Love Child,” Pop # 1, R&B # 2

By Joel Francis

The departure of Holland-Dozier-Holland reverberated throughout Hitsville, but no one felt it as acutely as the Supremes. Between 1964’s “Where Did Our Love Go” and 1967’s “Reflections,” the powerhouse songwriting and production triumvirate landed 10 songs at No. 1 and a three more in the Top 10.

Berry Gordy spared little expense in turning the Supremes into the biggest group on his label, and he was loathe to see them slink back to their pre-HDH obscurity. Before the two trios met, the best the Supremes could muster was No. 23. Those numbers were no longer acceptable.

Desperate, Gordy sequestered a half dozen of his best writers in a Detroit hotel and demanded they come up with a new hit for Diana Ross and the Supremes. Credited anonymously to “The Clan,” the result was another No. 1 hit for Gordy’s favorite group. The Clan model worked so well, Gordy revived it the following year, this time as “The Corporation,” to write hits for the Jackson 5. Gordy gave both these teams generic names to prevent writers and producers from superseding the fame of the performer or the label.

It would have been fascinating to be a fly on the wall as the writers pitched this song to Gordy. Love songs were the Supremes bread and butter, but it’s doubtful Gordy envisioned his siren singing about abstinence. In “Love Child,” a woman, scarred by being born out of wedlock, the singer tries to convince her man to “hold on just a little bit longer” and understand that “no child of mine will be bearing/The name of shame I’ve been wearing.” “Love Child” wasn’t the first song to touch on unwanted pregnancy – Gordy himself and Smokey Robinson wrote the song  “Bad Girl” in the early days of the Miracles  – but it became the definitive song on the subject until “Billie Jean.”

Diana Ross is the only Supreme to appear on “Love Child,” and for once her voice does a song justice. This might be because the background of the woman in the song mirrors Ross’s childhood in the Brewster-Douglass housing project in Detroit. Unlike the song’s subject, Ross was born to married parents. The painfully shy Ross could no doubt to the lyrics like “So afraid that others knew I had no name” and “I started school/And a worn, torn dress that somebody threw out. Too poor to afford the stylish clothes she coveted, the aspiring fashion designer made her own clothes cobbled from scraps and hand-me-downs.

“Love Child” opens with a few bars of funk guitar before the sweep of strings relegate the guitar to the back of the mix. The arrangement – particularly the strings and backing vocals – foreshadows the disco trend that would serve Ross so well in the decade to come. For such a hard-driving song, the percussion is surprisingly soft. During Hitsville’s production-line heyday, the song would have been driven by snare and tambourine. Nearly a minute of “Love Child” passes before the snare a full drum kit completely engage. Instead, the propulsion rests with what sounds like ride cymbal, maracas and a glockenspiel.

Although they aren’t on the record, Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong performed the song with Ross on the Ed Sullivan Show in September, 1968. Despite the show’s conservative stance against the Rolling Stones “Let’s Spend the Night Together,” and the Doors “Light My Fire,” they lyrics to “Love Child” were performed as-is with no discussion. It was one of the group’s final performances on the popular Sunday night TV staple.

Despite its success, few performers have covered “Love Child.” It is unlikely the Supremes number will be confused with Deep Purple’s 1975 song of the same name.

Michael Jackson: We want you back

by thedailyrecord, posted in Motown
(Above: Bill Cosby emcees the Jackson 5’s infectious reading of “Dancin’ Machine.”)

By Joel Francis
The Daily Record

Before Michael Jackson was the King of Pop or Wacko Jacko he was little Michael, the adorable child singer for the Jackson 5. Michael and his brothers were the final star group to come out of Hitsville U.S.A. Their career bridges the gap between Motown’s glory days in Detroit and its descent to becoming just another record label in Los Angeles.

Hannah Montana, the Jonas Brothers and all the other tween pop stars with arena tours and television shows would be nothing today without the groundwork Michael and the Jackson 5 laid in the early ‘70s. Motown founder Berry Gordy was among the first businessmen to recognize how lucrative the tweener market could be. He marketed the Jackson 5 to fans the same age as the performers. Black or white, young Americans tried to imitate the dance moves and routines they saw on the Ed Sullivan Show, network television specials and even the band’s own Saturday morning cartoon.

Like that other brilliant piece of musical marketing, the Monkees, the Jackson 5 didn’t write their own material. Holland-Dozier-Holland may have departed, but Gordy was able to round up another ad hoc songwriting team to write material for the teen sensations. Anonymously dubbed “The Corporation” so other labels wouldn’t steal them away from Motown, the team was responsible for “ABC,” “I Want You Back,” “The Love You Save,” “Maybe Tomorrow” and “Sugar Daddy” to name but a few of their J5 hits.

The music may have been marketed to tweens, but it more than holds up today. The titles alone of the aforementioned songs should be enough for smiles to spread on most faces. Don’t worry if they don’t, though. After a few bars have played, they will jolt the rest of the way into your consciousness, making you involuntarily start tapping your feet and grooving along with the happy rhythms.

In 1972, 14-year-old Michael started cutting his own records for Motown. His early solo hits include “Got to Be There,” a cover of “Rockin’ Robin.” Michael’s first No. 1 solo hit was the title song to the film “Ben.” The movie may have been about a boy and his pet rat (Ben was the rat, of course), but Michael’s song was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song.

Jackson’s biggest moment occurred when he was no longer on the Motown label, but front and center on Motown’s stage. In 1983 a television special was shot in Los Angeles celebrating 25 years of Motown records. Many of the label’s biggest hits reunited or returned to pay tribute to Berry Gordy and Hitsville, U.S.A. After performing with his brothers as the Jackson 5 for the first time in eight years, Michael took the stage himself to perform his new song “Billie Jean” and debut the dance step that defined the ‘80s – the moonwalk.

That iconic moment helped propel Michael’s career to unfathomable heights, but his music was never as fresh, fun and invigorating as it was before. As the decade fell away, Michael fell into parody and a host of other well-known problems.

But forget about all of that. Tonight, celebrate the kid who couldn’t stop smilin’, dancin’ and singin’ in front of those day-glo bell bottoms and beret-topped afros. Remember Michael for his best years on Motown.

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