Latest on MJJC

Rolling Stone: J5 is 1# on Greatest Boy Band Songs List, 4# on Readers' Best Boy Band Poll

Psychoniff

Proud Member
Joined
Apr 14, 2015
Messages
933
Points
0
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/l...4/the-jackson-5-i-want-you-back-1969-20150923

1. The Jackson 5, "I Want You Back" (1969)

Sure, the soaring strings on the Jackson 5's first Motown single skip along like carefree first-graders, and the thumping bassline is one of pop's closest appropriations of the heartbeat. But the real hero of "I Want You Back" is Michael Jackson, then still a preteen but blessed with a voice and interpretive skill that could turn a desperate attempt to rekindle romance (originally thought of as a Gladys Knight or Diana Ross vehicle) into something visceral and joyous. Jackson's octave-leaping tour de force established him as a star almost as soon as the song's first 45 was pressed


2. The Jackson 5, "I'll Be There" (1970)

"'I'll Be There' was our real breakthrough song," Michael Jackson, who didn't know what a harpsichord was until he heard the track's demo, wrote in his memoir. "It was the one that said, 'We're here to stay.'" On the ballad, the young singer gives the most astounding performance of his preteens, skating and yelping and handing things off to older brother Jermaine. Recorded in the summer of 1970, "I'll Be There" went to Number One by early fall, becoming not just the Jackson 5's fourth chart-topper of the year but Motown's then all-time best-seller.


7. The Jackson 5, "ABC" (1970)

The Jackson 5 finished recording their debut album, Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5, in August of 1969. Before the month was over they were already back in the studio: Lead single "I Want You Back" seemed like a sure thing and Berry Gordy needed a follow-up ready. Hence "ABC," the sound-alike single that would knock the Beatles' "Let It Be" off the top of the charts less than seven months later. For a preteen Michael Jackson, it was a thrill just to watch songwriting team the Corporation come up with parts of the tune — the old-school "shake it, shake it, baby" bit, for instance — on the spot. "I loved 'ABC' from the first moment I heard it,'" he said. "I had more enthusiasm for that than I did for 'I Want You Back.'"


20. The Jackson 5, "The Love You Save" (1970)

When Berry Gordy signed the Jackson 5 to Motown, his intention was for the group to open with three Number One singles. Following "I Want You Back" and "ABC," "The Love You Save" completed the feat in less than a year — and Gordy's songwriting team, the Corporation, didn't even have to change the formula. Said the Corporation's Deke Richards, "The only difference was we just had to come up with a new punch and groove for the beginning and a new, different structure for the verse." Explained his teammate Fred Perren, "There was a little play between Jermaine and Michael, we always tried to get that in there. We had a little list of things, a checklist."
 
Last edited:
Re: The Jackson Five is #4 On Rolling Stone Reader's Poll Best Boy Bands of All Time........

The J5 were probably the most influential "boy band" because they were the blue print in many ways. Although one can argue that it goes back to Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers. Or - in other aspects (ie. that boy bands often are artificially put together) - to the The Monkees. Heck, some even argue that the Beatles were a boy band. I guess it depends on what elements of a boy band we focus on.

Today when people say "boy band" I think of four or five guys, more often than not put together artificially by a manager who then gives them some bubble gum pop to sing. The members have to be OK singers and dancers and - maybe most importantly - look good, not be older than 25 and appeal to teenage girls. Often the selection of members is in a way that each type of guys is represented: the macho, the shy one, the funny clown, the blonde, the dark haired etc. They are rarely exceptional talents on their own, but as a group and for the targeted audience the formula works over and over again.

Ways in which the J5 was a boy band: They looked good, they appealed to a teenage audience (but not only to a teenage audience). However, they were not put together artificially, since they were a family. On the other hand Motown did market them as certain types in teenage magazines at the time: Jermaine the heartthrob, Jackie the serious one, Tito the handy man, Marlon the dancer (I always found that a bit odd, since as far as I am concerned MJ was the greatest dancer, but I guess Marlon needed a "character" attached to him too), Michael the shy genius. These "characters" were not far away from their real personalities but Motown made sure of emphasizing these characters as a way to market them to teen girls. It is in that way that Motown lead the way to the whole boy band formula, I think. Of course, the Jackson 5 wasn't quite yet the type of boy band like New Kids on the Block, Backstreet Boys or 'N Sync. That kind of even more calculated boy band type was a result of later development. Not to mention the fact that the J5 had something that all other boy bands did not: a Michael Jackson-level talent.

But even historically boy bands can be traced back to the J5. In the late 70s-early 80s New Edition was formed - their name was a direct reference to the fact that they were meant to be the new edition of the Jackson 5. Their manager was a guy called Maurice Starr. Who later, in the 80s, had the idea that he could make even more money if he did the same with five white guys. So he formed New Kids on the Block and there you have the boy band formula that we have until today. Take That, Boyzone, Westlife in Europe and Backstreet Boys, 'N Sync in the US followed the exact same formula with success. And now One Direction.

On the other hand, I think the J5 was more than a boy band. They are highly influential and revered artistically and for their talents (esp. Michael, of course), their songs are covered and sampled over and over again, which usually cannot be said of other boy bands.
 
Re: The Jackson Five is #1 on Rolling Stone's Greatest Boy Band Songs of All Time........

Why did the title change from #1 to #4?
 
Re: The Jackson Five is #1 on Rolling Stone's Greatest Boy Band Songs of All Time........

I think two threads were merged.

One was about the the J5 having the #1 song by a boy band acc. to Rolling Stone, the other about the J5 being the #4 boy band acc. to RS.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top