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Tag: The Jacksons

  • Family blends

    Family blends

    Sometimes when families get together to sing, they make the most delightful “family blends”…

    Last week, I was on YouTube watching videos starring the Boone Sisters. For those who weren’t around in the 70s, the Boone Sisters are the four daughters of Pat and Shirley Boone. In the 70s, they were a successful singing group, especially among Christians. I’m not a particularly religious person, but I happened to read Cherry Boone O’Neill’s book, Starving For Attention, which is her account of struggling with anorexia nervosa. In that book, she writes about singing with her sisters and what it was like to grow up as Pat Boone’s eldest daughter.

    Many years later, I purchased Debby Boone’s 2005 album, Reflections of Rosemary, which was a tribute to her late mother-in-law, Rosemary Clooney. On that album, there is a single track that features Debby Boone singing with her sisters. In the liner notes, she writes about “family blends”, that is the interesting way singers from the same families can blend their voices. Debby Boone writes of how Rosemary Clooney used to sing with her sister and the two were able to harmonize beautifully. I am myself a singer, though I’ve never tried to sing with my sisters. I think it’s mainly because by the time I started singing, they were already long gone from the house and the opportunity never presented itself. Still, I’m kind of fascinated by musicians who are related and sing together.


    This is a 1977 recording of the Boone Sisters singing “Hasta Mañana”, a song made famous by ABBA.

    The Boone Sisters have obviously sung together since 1977, but this was the best produced example of their family blend I could find. Here’s a more updated version of them singing together.


    Covering “You Won’t, You Don’t”, a song originally performed by Billy Gilman.

    Another family with a great blend is the one formed by Carly Simon and James Taylor. Though they’ve been divorced for decades, they did produce Ben and Sally Taylor, who inherited their parents’ beautiful voices.


    Carly Simon, Ben Taylor, and Sally Taylor sing “You Can Close Your Eyes”, a song written by James Taylor.

    That family blend is especially apparent in this video from 1981 starring James Taylor and his siblings…


    James Taylor with Alex, Hugh, Livingston, and sister Kate!

    Sometimes siblings play together rather than blend their voices. Here’s a video of Stephanie Jordan with the Jordan family, singing “Here’s To Life” on the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. I can’t listen to this version of “Here’s To Life” without being profoundly moved. The Jordan Family was very personally affected by Hurricane Katrina and were still missing a family member when they performed a benefit days after the storm struck.


    Such a moving performance. Brings me to tears every time.

    Lawrence Welk’s show was great for showcasing singing siblings. The Lennon Sisters were just one sister act that performed on his show.


    Based on the comments on YouTube, this video apparently still excites certain male viewers.

    Of course, no blog post about family blends can be complete without at least a mention of the Jackson 5, which is one of the most successful family acts ever.


    The Jackson 5 sings “I Want You Back”…

    And here’s a video starring the Jacksons and little sister Janet!


    The intro to this was obviously very well rehearsed…

    As long as I’m looking at big families and family blends, I have to mention The Osmonds, whose family blends are legendary.


    Anybody else think it’s funny that young Donny Osmond sings about being a swinger?

    I make fun of The Osmonds a lot, but I actually do enjoy this particular rendition of “Love Me For A Reason”.


    It was actually YouTube that introduced me to The Osmonds, since they were popular when I was a wee one. This video is a good example of the way they blend their voices.

    And here’s one that features the entire humongous choir of siblings, including Marie, Tom, and Virl…


    Nice family blend on this video!

    There is something about hearing families sing together that touches my heart, even though I have read that singing families sometimes have their share of interpersonal problems. Of course, the same could be said about any family. I could add a number of groups to this post about family blends, but I want to save them for a future post when I need a good topic. For now, it’s time to get back to the process of moving!

  • Infatueighties: The Other Jacksons

    jermaine

    We’ve taken a short break from giving you some of the best & cheesiest from the 80s, but now we’re back, and cheesier than ever, thanks to the kids of Joe & Katherine.

    Those of you who were around in the Eighties are well aware that Michael and Janet weren’t the only Jackson family members that made music that decade. Matter of fact, every Jackson sibling with the exception of Tito recorded a solo album in the Eighties, and while most of them weren’t exactly what you would call successful, they’ve created plenty of unforgettable (and by unforgettable I mean painful to watch) Eighties moments.

    Let’s start with Jermaine. Michael’s most vocal critic, Jermaine was actually the second most successful Jackson until “Control” lifted Janet into the stratosphere. He stayed at Motown when the family group left in the mid-Seventies, and had a handful of hits before switching over to Arista Records in 1983 (Clive Davis apparently wanted some of that Jackson magic for himself). His first album for the label was a self-titled affair, which went Platinum on the strength of songs like “Do What You Do”, “Tell Me I’m Not Dreamin’” (a duet on which Michael blows his big brother out of the water), and “Dynamite”, which boasts one of the decade’s campiest videos-obviously a “Beat It”/”Thriller” ripoff, but then imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right? In later years, Jermaine would get notoriety for everything from doing duets with Pia Zadora (!) to being the first artist signed to LaFace Records to marrying the ex-wife of his brother Randy (!!!).

    Janet wasn’t the first Jackson sister to hit the charts. LaToya beat Janet by about two years by scoring minor hits with “If You Feel the Funk” and “Night Time Lover” (which Michael wrote and produced). Although she wouldn’t become really well-known until she showed her funbags to the world in a Playboy pictorial, ‘Toya recorded 4 or 5 albums over the course of the decade, including her 1988 album, which featured the Full Force-produced single “You’re Gonna Get Rocked”. Look at ‘Toya trying to be the bad-ass!! Nude Playboy pictorials? Full Force production? Who knew LaToya and Samantha Fox had so much in common?

    LaToya’s big sister Rebbie (who was actually the oldest of the Jackson siblings) was the last to get into music-making, not recording an album until Michael-mania was in full swing. Initially, she was the most successful of the sisters, scoring a Top 40 hit in 1984 with “Centipede”, which, if you can’t tell from the screeching falsetto in the chorus, was written and produced by Michael. Can anyone tell me what the hell this song is about? (as I’m watching this video, I’m listening to the lyrics and OK, I kinda get it now…)

    Eventually, the brothers (besides Jermaine) decided to get into the solo action themselves. Jermaine left The Jackson 5 in 1976, but the second brother to leave the group wasn’t Michael, but his older (by one year) brother Marlon. The (naturally) light-skinded Jackson brother scored a #2 R&B hit back in ’87 with “Don’t Go”. Marlon dances his natural ass off in this video. This song should have been a bigger hit, but there have been rumors floating around forever that Mike blackballed his brothers, preventing them from having any success that could potentially outshine his own. Insecurity, my friends. It’s a bad thing. Check out the Janet-esque backflip Marlon does in the video.

    Finally, Michael’s younger brother Randy (often described as the most musically talented of the brothers) formed a group called The Gypsys at the tail end of the Eighties and released one self-titled album (that I am the proud owner of…took me forever to find it too). Randy’s sound was a bit more on the funk/new jack swing side of things, and he had a couple of minor hits with “Perpetrators” and “Love You Honey”. Here’s the video for the latter. Dig the 1989-era fashions! Yes, young uns, we used to dress like that. I know I did.

    None of the “other” siblings has made much noise since the early Nineties, and although Tito’s kids have recorded several album as 3T (group member Taj Jackson has become a successful songwriter, working with the Stargate/Ne-Yo camp), it looks like we’re safe from an invasion of the 2nd generation Jacksons. After seeing these videos, are you sad about that or a little grateful?

  • “Destiny” and “Triumph”: The Maturation of Michael Jackson

    triumph

    When people talk about the career of Michael Jackson, a lot of them forget the period between the Jackson 5’s amazing original success and the time Michael went supernova with “Off the Wall”. The reasons for that are somewhat valid. The hits weren’t exactly plentiful during that period, and Michael and his brothers were struggling to find their artistic identity. However, one shouldn’t give The Jacksons (as they were named following their departure from Motown Records) short shrift. In competition with bands like Earth Wind & Fire and former opening act The Commodores in the late Seventies, they bloomed once they were allowed to write and produce their own material, resulting in 1978’s “Destiny” and 1980’s “Triumph”. Those two albums come on either side of Michael’s solo breakthrough with “Off the Wall”, and are among the most solid albums of their time period. Both albums recently got the reissue treatment from Legacy Recordings, and both are well worth the time it takes to listen (or re-listen, as the case may be) to them.

    “Destiny” proved not only to be the brothers’ (Michael, Marlon, Jackie, Tito and Randy) artistic breakthrough, but it was also their commercial breakthrough, becoming their first Platinum-certified album. It spawned two of disco’s most enduring tunes: the bubbly “Blame it on the Boogie” and the stone-cold “Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)”, but there’s plenty more to the album than the two hit singles. From a vocal standpoint, Michael’s rarely sounded better. At age 20, he was finally in full control of his voice, and had become an amazingly versatile singer, as evidenced by “Destiny”’s standout ballad, “Push Me Away”. Michael navigates the sumptuous maze of guitar and strings beautifully, floating from his regular voice into an effortless falsetto. Conversely, he stakes his claim as one of the best rhythmic singers of all time with the frantic “All Night Dancin’”. If anyone doubts that Michael is a true soul singer, they should try that song on for size.

    It’s very easy, with thirty years hindsight, to listen to the songs on “Destiny” and play armchair psychiatrist. Many of the songs on the album have lyrics that seem to come directly from Michael’s dissatisfaction with his celebrity. “Things I Do for You” bemoans users and demands reciprocity, while the folky title track (which could have easily become a James Taylor track!) contains lyrics that, in light of Michael’s well-known flair for the ostentatious, can now be seen as ironic. “If it’s the rich life, I don’t want it” he sings. “Happiness ain’t always material things”. “Destiny”’s closing track, “That’s What You Get (For Being Polite)”, is probably the  most interesting and weird. Michael sings about a boy named Jack, a horribly insecure person who has built his own world around him. Again, it’s very easy to read and hear lyrics like the ones to this song and see a direct parallel to the person Michael has become. Nevertheless, that doesn’t stop “Destiny” from being the brothers’ most exciting album. The reissue adds two bonus disco mixes, including the classic dance version of “Shake Your Body” that must have rocked clubs back in ‘79.

    After “Destiny”, Michael finally felt the confidence to go on his own, partnering with Quincy Jones and making musical history with “Off the Wall”. So The Jacksons’ 1980 effort, “Triumph”, is the aural equipment of a victory lap. The brothers’ chests are puffed out on this album, from the strtting save-the-world anthem “Can You Feel It” to Michael’s eerie, mysterious “Heartbreak Hotel”. In retrospect, it’s easy to see those two songs as precursors to songs like “Man in the Mirror” and “Billie Jean”, respectively, and they are two of “Triumph”’s strongest tracks. However, the rest of the album’s no slouch. Michael graciously allows his brothers to contribute more vocally than they had on past albums, resulting in the itchy funk of Jackie’s “Wondering Who” and the easygoing vibe and pretty harmonies of “Give it Up”, on which lead vocals are shared by Michael and Marlon. Of course, being that “Triumph” followed “Off the Wall”, there’s a bit of similarity between the two. The lonely ballad “Time Waits for No One” should rightfully be compared to “OTW”’s “She’s Out of My Life”, while “Everybody” is a note-for-note rip of “Get on the Floor”, down to repeating some of the same lyrics. However, The Jacksons were so bright eyed and eager to make good music that you can forgive the occasional spots of laziness. Speaking of lazy, the folks that compiled this reissue couldn’t come up with any old photos to put in the booklet or come with bonus tracks better than the single version of “Heartbreak Hotel” and the 12” remix of “Walk Right Now”? Come on guys!

    If you were listening back when these albums came out, “Thriller” shouldn’t have surprised you. Along with “Off the Wall”, “Destiny” and “Triumph” are audio equivalents to a slow burning stick of dynamite that exploded when “Thriller” was recorded and released. These albums may not have been as big as Michael’s best solo material, but they deserve your attention just the same. Combining disco, funk, soul and pop into an irrestible stew, these albums established The Jacksons as worthy competition to any of the era’s popular R&B bands and killed the image, once and for all, of them as a teenybopper/bubblegum group.

    If you already have these albums, buy them again. The remastered sound alone is worth the extra bucks you’ll be shelling out. If you don’t have these albums and you fancy yourself a Michael Jackson fan or a fan of disco-infused soul, you should grab these too. Not only are they worthy additions to your collection, but Tito probably needs the money.