LP Review: Dancing Machine
Previous LP: Get It Together (C+) Next LP: Moving Violation (B-)
Released: 1974
LP Charts: #16 pop
TINFOIL HAT DISCLAIMER: I have theorized the following backstory about Dancing Machine’s release based available public facts. I might be wrong, but I betcha the story holds up!
Here we go. Let’s start with the timeline.
The song “Dancing Machine” that gives this September 1974 album its name was initially recorded in the spring of 1973 and first included on the album Get It Together (C+) released in September 1973. Get It Together’s lead single—the title track—had been released in August 1973.
Then SIX FULL MONTHS passed by before the second single from the album— “Dancing Machine”—was released in February 1974.
Given that time lapse, it seems likely to me that Motown never saw “Dancing Machine” as a viable single until local radio DJs and/or disco clubs began playing the song unprompted. That underground popularity probably goaded Motown into finally making the track an official single to make some money and it was a blockbuster. As I previously wrote in the Get It Together review, “Dancing Machine” was the fifth biggest song of 1974 according to Billboard.
So as the song “Dancing Machine” (#1 R&B, #2 pop) was belatedly dominating radio and dance floors, Motown decided to cash in and cash in hard with an album titled Dancing Machine. Sure the song would be nearly 18 months old by the time of the album’s release, but it was still fresh in terms of popularity.
However, abruptly calling this audible meant that this Jackson 5 album was so last-minute that I’m fairly certain that three of the songs (“Whatever You Got, I Want”, “What You Don’t Know” and “If I Don't Love You This Way”) were intended for a Michael Jackson solo album. The other Jackson brothers are completely absent vocally from those songs. Even with the three imports to fill out the album, Dancing Machine still managed to be just a scant 32 minutes.
(Buttressing my theory, Michael did not have a solo album released between April 1973 and January 1975, when typically he had been having solo LPs pushed out every 6-8 months.)
Despite the shameless, delayed, and even haphazard ploy of this album, the end result was the Jackson 5’s best LP since ABC (B). And credit should be given to producer Hal Davis. He had first produced the Jackson 5 back in 1971 for the proto-disco hit “Never Can Say Goodbye”. He had been given full production control on Get It Together, which moved the boys further into dance music territory. Now he’s back again with an explicitly disco album.
AND NOW… THE MUSIC!
“I Am Love” (#5 R&B, #15 pop) is one of a kind in the Jackson 5 catalog. It’s easily the most ambitious song they’d ever record blending jazzy soul, prog rock, and funk.
The first part of the song is the soft, jazzy soul portion as Jermaine handles the lead vocal with an echoey electric keyboard, but the prog rock is already present with an electric guitar present as well. At around 2:30 the prog becomes stronger when video-game keyboards sparkle and then the tempo starts shifting. The brothers begin chanting for love to come back (the lyrics are simultaneously thoughtful and hokey) as a clavinet starts delivering the heavy funk. Around 3:30, the song breaks out fully into its prog-funk butterfly. The electric guitar, an acoustic piano, and the clavinet are fully unleashed as Michael and Jermaine spit vocals left and right. The other brothers continue chanting giving the song a rush of adrenaline over the final four minutes.
Even at 7:27, I think it could have been longer and not suffered at all. These boys and the band get into a righteous groove. And never ever ever ever listen to the single version. If the song is shortened whatsoever, it ruins the proscribed flow.
“Whatever You Got, I Want” (#3 R&B, #38 pop) is some nice bluesy soul and sequenced perfectly between the blistering “I Am Love” and the following songs that all serve the dance floor.
“She's a Rhythm Child” begins the boogie fest as a midtempo prelude to “Dancing Machine”. The version of “Dancing Machine” on this album is slightly remixed and truncated from the original on Get It Together. Therefore it is inferior. The original was grittier and 3:30 long versus this 2:49 version. Obviously still great, though.
Despite never getting released as a single in the USA, “The Life Of The Party” has become a beloved album cut routinely included on J5 compilations. It is a really fun disco-funk song and the Jacksons sound completely in their element.
These lyrics are representative of how fun and cerebral the song is:
There will be dancin', prancin'
With a little romancin'All you gotta do is dance, dance, dance
All you gotta do is clap your hands, hands, hands
You can boogie, you can boogie
You can boogie, you can boogie
You can move, move, move
You can boogie, you can boogie
You can boogie, you can boogie
You can move, move, move
Let's get down, down, down, down, down, down
Let's get down, down, down, down, down, down
The final club jam is “What You Don’t Know”. This is a great song showing how early disco was a mishmash of genres. This tune has elements of jazz-funk (particularly in how its horns play) while also having a prominent fuzz guitar. Plus some real busy percussion.
Okay, time to cool down.
“If I Don't Love You This Way” is a fine midtempo ballad. “It All Begins and Ends with Love” was the first song by the group where every group member had a proper turn at the mic. It’s perfectly fine filler. Nothing special or offensive.
“The Mirrors Of My Mind” is special. What a crazy psychedelic song and a great album closer. There’s more clavinet plus a flighty flute and some Latin percussion to to make your neurons ponder the strange musical landscape.
ALBUM GRADE: B+
A little bit too short for my liking at 32 minutes, but much better to understay your welcome with a great album than to overstay the welcome and bring things down a bit.
Song Scores
I Am Love: 8/10
Whatever You Got, I Want: 7.5/10
She's a Rhythm Child: 7.5/10
Dancing Machine: 8/10
The Life Of The Party: 8/10
What You Don’t Know: 7.5/10
If I Don't Love You This Way: 7/10
It All Begins and Ends with Love: 6/10
The Mirrors Of My Mind: 7.5/10
Previous LP: Get It Together (C+) Next LP: Moving Violation (B-)