The Jacksons Tribute

We all know about The Jackson Five and we also know about the solo careers of both Michael Jackson and Jermaine Jackson. But let's stop and give credit where credit is due to underappreciated group, The Jacksons. Born right after J5 and before Michael had gone to super stardom in 1976, The Jacksons held their own in the game of music. The line up consisted of Michael, Marlon, Tito, Jackie and little brother Randy. Although they weren't as famous as they were when they were little kids as J5, but The Jacksons were an amazing group who put out amazing hits. They've hit a few bumps down the line, but they've managed to keep their stride alive. So when you look into the history of the Jacksons, make sure that you check this era out. So let's take a journey into my tribute and check out all the studio albums they've put out and the hits that came within them.

This album was put out a year after they’ve left Motown and Jermaine gone, leaving them to recruit 15 year old Randy into the group. 17 year old Michael led the way once again and you can tell that he was coming of age. You can hear it in his voice that something special was going to happen in the future for him. This album’s two hit singles where the funky ‘Enjoy Yourself’ and the slow jam ‘Show the Way to Go’. This was their first album that was recorded under the Epic Records label, but also a part of the Philadelphia International label as well and you can hear it in their music. The sound on this album comes straight from the Philly label’s production team of Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. Most of the songs sound a lot like songs from labemates Billy Paul and The O’Jays. Not bad for a first album away from Motown.

‘Goin’ Places’ was as bad as the Jacksons can get as far as sales goes, but it was a good album to boot. Again, you could hear The Sound of Philly in their songs as they still worked close with produces there. Although this was considered their worse album, they did manage to produce some good songs from there. The title track was a nice song to start off with. ‘Different Kind of Lady’ was a good disco song to go with the times as 1977 was sort of the prime of disco. There are other songs that are worth listening to like ‘Find Me a Girl’ and ‘Do What You Wanna’. I personally like the song despite the critics. If you’re a fan, this shouldn’t be overlooked.

Seeing how bad the last album did, The Jacksons faded away from the Philly sound and signed solely onto Epic Records for the next album. December 17, 1978 was the day that 'Destiny' was released. This album not only was a total upgrade from the previous two albums but this marked the first time the Jacksons had written an entire album all by themselves and they didn't disappoint for this album is the probably the best album that they've created since becoming 'The Jacksons'. 'Blame it on the Boogie' was the song that put the brothers back on the map again. 'Shake You Body (Down to the Ground) was probably the song that made the entire album go platinum. This probably also caught the attention of the label for they see that Michael was the star of the group and eventually get him to the studio months after the album's release and go on to put out 'Off The Wall'. Again, their best album yet as 'The Jacksons'.

This album will always remind me of how it was sandwiched between Michael's 'Off The Wall' and 'Thriller'. Even though he was becoming a superstar, that didn't stop him from wanting to make another album with his brothers. This album is personally my favorite out of all of the albums they've put out. Even song on the album is amazing for you hear Michael finally reach his 'Superstar' voice on here. Especially on the song 'Can You Feel It'. 'Lovely One' is also a great song to dance to, but the gem on this album is 'The Place Hotel'. It was originally titled 'Heartbreak Hotel', but they didn't want to confuse the name with the one sung by Elvis Presley. They even get into the disco moment one more time with the song 'Walk Right Now' which is also a great song. This was a great way to build momentum to what would be 'Thriller' and year and a half later.

‘Victory’ saw the return of Jermaine into the fold as all six brothers got together to make this release. Coming off of the television special ‘Motown 25’ where all six brothers performed for the first time in years, every fan out there wanted some more. So they blessed us all with this album and it didn’t disappoint. Michael was already in another stratosphere, but here was there once again performing with his brothers, which made the album more special. ‘Torture’ was great in the sense that it was lead by the vocals of Michael and Jermaine. It brought back that essence that they once had when they were in the Jackson Five. In the hit ‘Body’, Marlon showed that he could hold his own in the lead singer’s department. But the underrated hit on the album was ‘State of Shock’ which showcased the singing duo of Michael and guest singer Mick Jagger. That song was great in my mind. This was probably the peak of The Jackson’s career as far as this album was concerned. Great!

This marked the final release from The Jacksons. The album was different because the line up consisted of just Jermaine, Jackie, Tito and Randy. The title track did include Marlon, Michael and sisters Rebbie and Janet. But as for the rest of the songs, it was just the four brothers. It was not as good as the rest of the albums release. It was just as bad or worse than ‘Goin’ Places’. The single ‘Nothin’ (That Compares 2 U)’ was alright, but they’ve tried so hard to fit into the whole New Jack Swing. It’s good for some, but not for all. After this album, the brothers had decided to disband.

All in all, they are to not be overlooked for they were just as good as they were when they were tweens/teens. The quality of their music had greatly improved and I honestly think that without ‘The Jacksons’ the group, then there wouldn’t have been Michael – The Superstar.