Caption: Berry Gordy with The Supremes, a female singing group, and Holland-Dozier-Holland, a songwriting and production team for Motown Records (Hann, 2019).
There have been multiple critiques about Motown and whether or not the record label was a “sell-out.” While it was the first black-owned label and reached new heights of success, it appeared to have spent most of its years accommodating and releasing songs that would please a greater white audience. During its later years, artists, like the Jackson 5, began to gain and utilize musical freedom to impact their audiences in ways that were not seen prior to the 1970s.
The Jackson 5’s “ABC” hit song reached exceptional success and continued the Motown vision by exercising a new type of musical liberation the label didn’t implement in the past. Perhaps it was a combination of the political climate and being one of Motown’s last musical groups that generated this new musical liberation. However, despite all of the changes the Jackson 5 participated in, they were still part of the Motown legacy, bringing nothing but fame to the record label. The personalities and skills of each member of the family group were displayed as they sang and played instruments, helping Motown reach new heights of success.
The success that the Jackson 5 group was able to produce came with much appreciation and fame. Their audience and fan base continued to grow exponentially and this allowed them to have an influence on topics such as love and manhood. As their popularity increased, more and more people paid attention to the lyrical meaning of their hits, and not just their adorable faces, trendy outfits, and spectacular moves. Their hit “ABC,” served the social responsibility of simply explaining how love can and should be. Love will only be as complicated as you make it. The surprising element of this entire piece is that we being taught this by a group of brothers, with the eleven-year-old leading us through. The message of this piece was to learn how to relax and to let situations be what they will be. The Civil Rights Act had been signed about 5 years prior to the release of “ABC” and this is a song that offered a bit of relief when it involved loving yourself, a peer, or your circumstances. The piece was not solely about romantic, or even platonic, love but, it can be inclusive of who or what the listener wanted it to be. The youthful Michael Jackson made this point convincing as he danced around the idea of singing to a woman and comforting her through love and other challenging emotions. Following Jackson 5’s example, we could now be more attentive about the people we interact with and how we influence their thoughts or feelings.
“ABC” by the Jackson 5 was able to make accomplishments that were not even expected. Through the colorful clothing and unmatched dance moves, the lesson that they wanted to teach, has been received. It is indeed as simple as A-B-C!