Dancing Machine (album)

Dancing Machine is the ninth studio album released by the Motown quintet the Jackson 5, on September 5, 1974. The album's title track was a No. 2 pop hit and a No. 1 R&B hit in the United States. The group released two additional singles from the album: the funky "Whatever You Got, I Want" and the group's last US Top 20 hit for Motown, "I Am Love".[6]

Dancing Machine
Studio album by
the Jackson 5
ReleasedSeptember 5, 1974 (1974-09-05)
Recorded1973–1974
StudioMotown Recording Studios, Hollywood, California, USA
Genre
Length32:32
LabelMotown
ProducerHal Davis
The Jackson 5 chronology
The Jackson 5 in Japan
(1973)		 Dancing Machine
(1974)		 Moving Violation
(1975)
Singles from Dancing Machine
  1. "Dancing Machine"
    Released: February 19, 1974
  2. "Whatever You Got, I Want"
    Released: October 1, 1974[2]
  3. "The Life of the Party"
    Released: November 29, 1974 (UK only)
  4. "I Am Love"
    Released: December 23, 1974
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Christgau's Record GuideB+[4]
Rolling Stone[5]

Album information

Although the Jacksons were back on the charts, the brothers, most notably Michael, still complained about their artistic direction. Nonetheless, the album became another disco concept album for the group, and showcased lead singers Michael and Jermaine Jackson. This album was the first on which all the brothers sang in their natural voices on the same song, entitled "It All Begins and Ends with Love". The order is Tito, Jackie, Michael, Marlon and Jermaine, who closes the song. Around this time, the Jacksons were performing in Las Vegas with the rest of the family, leaving this album with low promotion. According to an interview with Don Cornelius on the R&B TV show Soul Train, Michael said that "If I Don't Love You This Way" and "What You Don't Know" were his favorite songs.[7]

The album was arranged by Arthur G. Wright, Jerry Marcellino, Mel Larson, John Bahler, James Anthony Carmichael and Sam Brown III.

Songs

Record World said of the single "Whatever You Got, I Want" that "J5 put their rhythm into more blues-infused motion" and "they boogie down Soul Alley in style."[8]

Track listing

Side one

  1. "I Am Love" (Don Fenceton, Jerry Marcellino, Mel Larson, Ronnie Rancifer) – 7:29
  2. "Whatever You Got, I Want" (Gene Marcellino, Jerry Marcellino, Mel Larson) – 2:58
  3. "She's a Rhythm Child" (Clarence Drayton, Hal Davis, Ruth Talmage) – 2:39
  4. "Dancing Machine" (Donald Fletcher, Hal Davis, Weldon Dean Parks) – 2:43

Side two

  1. "The Life of the Party" (Clarence Drayton, Hal Davis, Tamy Smith) – 2:35
  2. "What You Don't Know" (Gene Marcellino, Jerry Marcellino, Mel Larson) – 4:25
  3. "If I Don't Love You This Way" (Leon Ware, Pam Sawyer) – 3:28
  4. "It All Begins and Ends with Love" (Don Fenceton, Jerry Marcellino, Mel Larson) – 3:07
  5. "The Mirrors of My Mind" (Charlotte O'Hara, Donald Fletcher, Nita Garfield) – 3:08

A longer version of the title track had previously been included on the group's 1973 album G.I.T.: Get It Together.

Re-release

In 2001, Motown Records remastered all Jackson 5 albums in a "Two Classic Albums/One CD" series (much like they did in the late 1980s). This album was paired with Moving Violation. The bonus tracks were the outtakes "Through Thick and Thin" and the Disc-o-Tech #3 Remix of "Forever Came Today".

Charts
Chart (1974) Peak
position
Canadian Albums (RPM)[9] 12
US Billboard Top LPs & Tape[10] 16

Notes
  1. Coleman, Mark; Edmonds, Ben (2004). "The Jackson 5". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 409–411. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  2. Soulsation! (1995), liner notes
  3. AllMusic review
  4. Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: J". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved February 27, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
  5. Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian David (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9780743201698.
  6. Brown, Geoff (1996). The Complete Guide To The Music of Michael Jackson & The Jackson Family. New York City, New York: Omnibus Press. pp. 29, 30. ISBN 0-7119-5303-1.
  7. "- YouTube". YouTube.
  8. "Hits of the Week" (PDF). Record World. October 26, 1974. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-03-14.
  9. "The Jackson 5 (albums)". RPM. Archived from the original on October 14, 2017. Retrieved April 12, 2017.
  10. "The Jackson 5 US Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved April 12, 2017.


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