Chart entered : 8 September 1973
Chart peak : 25
This is a somewhat artificial goodbye as they would return - and qualify again- under a slightly different guise a few years hence. At the time though they were the first band from the cast of my first charts to disappear. They were no longer in the pages of It's Here And Now and Pop Swap leaving me wondering where they'd gone.
After their initial opening blast of four Top 10 singles in 1970 their chart fortunes had been a bit variable with two singles in 1972 ( when Michael's solo career began ) failing to chart at all in the UK. They were more consistently popular in the US but were slipping enough to create some tension between their father and Motown.
"Skywriter" was the second single from the album of the same name ( which didn't chart in the UK ) , chosen in preference to "Corner of the Sky" which had been the lead single in America. It was written, produced and arranged by Mel Larson and Jerry Marcelino. It's a decent psychedelic pop soul effort with a still squeaky Michael invoking supernatural assistance in getting a message to his girl. The uptempo groove is decorated with harpsichord, Stevie Wonder-ish synth lines and tight harmonies although the phasing button is pressed a little too often.
For the next few years it was a case of their singles still being sizable hits in the US but not getting through here. "Get It Together " from November 1973 ( U.S : 28 ) has a great bassline and is solidly funky without having much of a tune. "The Boogie Man" ( unreleased in the States ) from April 1974 , is a great pop R & B number although it suffers from sharing the lead vocal duties around the group and didn't get much airplay due to the playfully sinister subject matter. "Dancing Machine " was a massive hit in the States helped by TV appearances where Michael ( and to a lesser extent Marlon and Jackie ) performed the "Robot" dance during the instrumental break . Stripped of the visuals it's a groove without much of a song on which Michael's rapidly maturing voice shines but not enough to make it a hit here. The next single in November 1974 had different A -sides in the UK and US . We had "Life Of The Party" which is a terrific funky number with some great squealy synth sounds while America took the lumpier "Whatever You Got I Want" to number 38. "I Am Love" , the last single from the "Dancing Machine" LP was an edited version of the album track which starts out as a rather dreary soul ballad sung by Jermaine before a final minute of loose funk led by Michael. It doesn't really work but still reached number 15 in the U.S.
In May 1975 they released their album "Moving Violation" by which time they were actively planning to leave Motown. The lead single was a Supremes cover "Forever Came Today" which is an over-busy disco number. It was their last single as The Jackson Five reaching number 60 in the US. The band's main gripe was the meagre amount of performance royalties they were getting from the records and Joe negotiated a lucrative new deal with Epic giving them 20%. Jermaine was in a difficult position having just married Berry Gordy's daughter Hazel and ultimately decided to stay with Motown. Younger brother Randy who had been playing percussion on stage with the group for the past couple of years was drafted in to replace him. Motown started to sue them for breach of contract but eventually settled for forcing them to change their name which is where another story begins.
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