Artist:The Jackson 5
Song:ABC
Album:Crooklyn
Of course we all know the story of how Joe Jackson managed to turn his sons into the hottest pop group of the early 70s. It took some time but Motown owner Berry Gordy did eventually sign the Jackson 5 in 1968. But I wanted to talk about the producers behind the music. At the time, his top production team Holland/Dozier/Holland was suing Motown so he was looking for new blood to work with the Jackson 5. Washington, DC schoolmates Freddie Perren (piano) & Fonce Mizell (bass) moved to Los Angeles and got together with guitarist Deke Richards. Richards had worked on The Supremes hit Love Child. They wrote some songs and pitched Berry Gordy. He thought that one song would be good for the five brothers from Gary, IN. that he was planning to turn into an updated version of Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers. That song became I Want You Back, the Jackson 5's first #1 hit. The three were called The Corporation. ABC was the follow up and knocked The Beatles' Let It Be out of the #1 slot on the charts. If you think the songs are similar, that's not a coincidence. ABC uses the same chorus as I Want You Back. Perren was a former schoolteacher and came up with the lyrics. At the time, the Jackson 5 were categorized as bubblegum music because they're kids. But Michael Jackson doesn't sing like a kid and that's why the Jackson 5 music holds up well today. This soundtrack to the Spike Lee film Crooklyn has several R & B classics. It's a good comp. The Corporation were supposed to record as a group but never did. Freddie Perren went on to a long career as a producer of groups like The Miracles & The Sylvers and Fonce Mizell produced L.T.D. Here's The Jackson 5 performing I Want You Back, ABC & The Love You Save on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1970.
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