Disc of the day
Heaven 17 - Penthouse And Pavement
From Sheffield, synth pop and funk to stick it to Thatcher. Currently being played live!
Features Disc of the day
The Jacksons
Destiny
(Epic, 1978)
Just when you think you've cracked it, the one with the talent makes a dash for it.
Will there be a professional life after Michael for the former Jackson 5, or are they destined to tour incessantly as a tribute band to their late brother before taking up a lengthy residency at the yet-to-be-built Neverland Theatre Complex in Las Vegas, a season which will stretch long into their dotage? Well, brother Jermaine, sister Janet, and even Rebbie have some track record of solo success, albeit decades ago, but the prognosis for Jackie, Tito, Marlon and Randy is problematic, and all the appurtenances of Pro-Tools are unlikely to make LaToya an in-any-way palatable singer. She has, apparently, recorded a tribute to Michael, and shelved her imminent album, which is very good news. The tribute I mean, of course.
But let us look back to the group's better days when they finally shrugged off the production shackles imposed by Motown and, after two LPs with Gamble & Huff, recorded their best work as a quintet. Their third for Epic, seven of Destiny's eight songs were written within the group, with first single and opening track Blame It On The Boogie coming, somewhat confusingly, from Mick Jackson, an English songwriter who also had a hit with the track. Michael's other dance tracks are meatier - a breathless Things I Do For You, the thunderous Shake You Body (Down To The Ground) and draining All Night Dancer. The ballads are just as successful. The narrator of That's What You Get (For Being Polite), MJ obviously, attempts to explain his inability to connect emotionally, a trait also echoed in Push Me Away, in which a dreamer cannot equate reality with the warmth and love he imagines in his sleep. Hmm.
The title track may raise your hackles if you've an innate resistance to rich folks telling us how hard it is to get off the merry-go-round and how much they yearn for the simple life away from the hustle and bustle, etc., etc. However, one of the least known, least assertive tracks is perhaps the most telling. Bless His Soul finds Michael in the role of one who spends his life trying to please others (brothers? Dad?), "I give myself at beck and call", but might end up satisfying absolutely no one, least of all himself.
At last, the brothers had recorded their most entertaining group album. But as if to dash their hopes at the cruellest possible moment, it was the signal for Michael to fly the Jackson coop. Next came Off The Wall and all bets were off.
Geoff Brown
Posted by Ross_Bennett at 6:00 AM GMT 23/07/2009
Further Listening
The Commodores – In The Pocket (Motown, 1981, Lionel Richie leaves right after)
Smokey Robinson And The Miracles – Flying High Together (Tamla, 1972, Smokey went solo right after)
Fleetwood Mac – Then Play On (Reprise, 1969, Peter Green left right after)
Previous Disc of the day
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Heaven 17 - Penthouse And Pavement
From Sheffield, synth pop and funk to stick it to Thatcher. Currently being played live!
6:00 AM GMT 18/03/2010
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Creedence Clearwater Revival - Green River
Essence De Choogle from John Fogerty and crew. Badass!
9:54 AM GMT 17/03/2010
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The The - Soul Mining
Matt Johnson's self-excoriating - but tunepacked! -classic.
6:00 AM GMT 16/03/2010
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Various Artists - Axe Attack Vol II
Metal Britannica inspires MOJO metal amnesty. Studded leather wristbands aloft!
2:32 AM GMT 12/03/2010
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The Pop Group - Y
For connoisseurs of pop-as-rupture-in-the-space/time-continuum
6:00 AM GMT 11/03/2010
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