LP Review: Destiny
Previous LP: Goin' Places (C) Next LP: Triumph (A)
Released: 1978
LP Charts: #3 R&B, #11 pop
After making albums since late 1969, the Jacksons finally did it!
On Destiny they got to write and produce their own music as CBS Records moved them from the Philadelphia International Records (PIR) subsidiary over to Epic Records. That shift took the Jacksons from the machine-like PIR to the more open-minded Epic.
Eight of the nine songs on Destiny were written by the Jacksons and all of the songs were produced by the brothers. I think the title of this album tellingly reveals their excitement at this development as their musical ideas finally get released upon the world.
SIDE 1
Destiny opens with its most famous song and initial single, “Blame It On The Boogie” (#3 R&B, #54 pop, #8 UK). And the song itself opens with (perhaps) Michael Jackson’s most famous vocal mannerism: hee-hee. Shockingly, that little vocal trick had never appeared on record till now.
Fuck you, Motown. And fuck you, PIR. The Jacksons are doing things 100% their way!
Well, almost 100%.
“Blame It On The Boogie” just happens to be the one song not written by the Jacksons. “Blame It On The Boogie” was written by Mick Jackson, David Jackson, and Elmar Krohn. Yes, Destiny is so steeped in Jackson musical ideas that even the one song not written by the Jackson brothers still had two unrelated Jacksons penning the track.
And this is a goooood track. There’s a raunchy, crunchy bass sound in the song’s intro. The horns and rhythm guitar are funky. Michael’s lead vocals sound like pure freedom. The brothers backing vocals are simple and fun… as is the music video.
Just joyful on all levels.
After that dance fest, the brothers provide a superb ballad in “Push Me Away”. Just listening to this makes me mad at the ballads Gamble and Huff had the Jacksons recording at PIR. “Push Me Away” is extremely lush with tons of strings, slowly swaying horns, and a lazy guitar. But it sounds a million times better than all the Gamble-Huff ballads… except for “Show You The Way To Go”. I will entertain no critiques of that song.
“Things I Do For You” is perhaps the slightest song on this album, but it’s still plenty fun as all the brothers get to pop in and out with vocal asides on how they’re doing their best to keep a relationship alive. Hints of Michael Jackson’s future solo jam “Working Day And Night”.
The best purpose of “Things I Do For You”, however, is as an intro to the boogie-thon that is “Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)”.
In some ways, “Shake Your Body” is a heavily derivative song and would inspire further derivations of its own. Written by Michael and Randy Jackson, the song is inspired by Marvin Gaye’s “Got To Give It Up”. Not the single version of that track most folks are familiar with, but the full-length 12-minute edition.
At around the seven-minute mark, the song’s groove changes to a fluid, liquidy funk. Then at the nine-minute mark Gaye’s starts singing, “let’s dance, let’s shout, gettin’ funky’s what it’s all about”. The music and the lyrics at this point of “Got To Give It Up” are unmistakeably the template for “Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)”.
The Jacksons’ eight-minute disco jam is filled with liquid funk and the chorus of the song?
Let’s dance, let’s shout, SHOUT
Shake your body down to the ground
Released as Destiny’s second single in January 1979, “Shake Your Body” reached #3 R&B, #7 pop, and #4 in the UK.
The crazy thing? The Jacksons weren’t close to done milking this formula!
Michael Jackson’s solo album Off The Wall came out in August 1979 and its lead single was “Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough”, which continued refining the “Got To Give It Up” and “Shake Your Body” formula.
Want proof?
Well first off just listen to the songs back-to-back-to-back. The melody for the choruses from “Shake Your Body” and “Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough” are extremely similar, folks. Secondly, Michael lets out a whoop to start “Shake Your Body” after a brief, quiet intro just like he does on “Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough”. It’s more dramatic on the latter, but it’s there on both.
As we’ll see on their next album, Triumph, the Jacksons once more went back to the well on this formula with “Lovely One”.
With all that said: “Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)” is a great song. Personally, I love that as it builds and builds, the non-Michael Jacksons throw in more and more ad libs and gruff quasi-coughs that add to the song’s dance fever.
SIDE 2
Okay, so Side 1 was some great stuff and the Jacksons sounded amazing, but it was typical, if really fun, musical situations.
They open Side 2 with what sounds like their declaration of independence with “Destiny” and “Bless His Soul”. The title track’s message is buried somewhat underneath a “tired of the city life” scenario. Unsurprisingly, the song has some country-rock influences. However, one can nonetheless tease out the Jacksons’ place in these lyrics after years of fighting for creative control:
I want destiny
It's the place for me
Give me the simple life
I'm getting away from here
Let me be me
C'mon let me feel free, let me be me
“Bless His Soul” is more of direct a send up of those who would control (and had controlled) the Jacksons:
I try to do what's right for me
But no one sees the way I see
And then I try to please them so
But, how far can this pleasing go?
Something's soon to come over you
You just can't please the world and yourself
You gotta start doing what's right for you
'Cause life is being happy yourself
Then you should bless his soul
It's hard to find a person like you, you're one of a kind
If I were you, I'd change my mind
And start living for me in these changing times
Okay, I take back what I said about “Things I Do For You” being the slightest song on this album. I forgot about “All Night Dancin’”. It’s definitely the slightest song. That doesn’t mean it’s bad, it’s just a straight-forward dance song.
Closing out the album is the fantastic “That's What You Get (For Being Polite)”. A mid-tempo ballad that has yet more clever lyrics about a protagonist named Jack who has a lackluster love life. Frankly, it’s astonishing that these brothers wrote some really great lyrics that aren’t ever hackneyed. Maybe that’s why the record bosses hesitated on giving the leeway until now? Their lyrics were too creative?
ALBUM GRADE: A-
Artistically, this is easily the best album the Jacksons had thus far made. Commercially, it was their first platinum-certified album, so can’t complain on that front either.
Destiny’s success not only ensured more self-produced albums by the Jacksons, but also solo albums for Michael. It’s hard to fathom in retrospect, but Michael had only released solo albums as a kid on Motown and the last of those came in 1975. By 1979, it wasn’t a sure thing for him to go back out on his own as an adult on Epic Records.
Destiny changed that and provided the runway for Off The Wall.
Next time we see the Jacksons, Michael would be a solo superstar, not just the leader of a family musical act.
Song Scores
Blame It On The Boogie: 9/10
Push Me Away: 8/10
Things I Do For You: 7.5/10
Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground): 8/10
Destiny: 7/10
Bless His Soul: 8/10
All Night Dancin’: 6.5/10
That’s What You Get (For Being Polite): 8/10
Previous LP: Goin' Places (C) Next LP: Triumph (A)