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| Sing-Along to the Jackson 5's Biggest Hits The Jackson 5 were fun to listen to and they were also a family. It is no surprise, then, that singing along with them to "ABC" or "I Want You Back" has brought other families together for decades and continues to do so today. Universal Music Family's J Is For Jackson 5 (Motown/UMe), released today, collects a dozen of the group's most mom-, dad- and kid-friendly greatest hits and fan favorites on one album - and adds karaoke versions of "I Want You Back, " "The Love You Save, " "I'll Be There" and "Mama's Pearl." Those four original master recordings were converted to split tracks - vocals on one channel and instrumentals on the other. When the balance control is turned one way, the vocals disappear; when turned the other way, the instrumentals fade away. So everyone can sing-along to the instrumental track without a karaoke machine or to the vocal track a cappella. The lyrics are provided in the album booklet. For the other selections, fans can sing-along to the full original recordings. Until they emerged from Gary, Indiana, there had never been a singing group or a family quite like The Jackson 5. With Michael first hitting the big time when he was just 11 years old with teenage brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine and Marlon, the Jackson 5 became one of the biggest pop music phenomena in history, scoring No. 1 Pop hits with their first four singles. From their first album, 1969's Diana Ross Presents The Jackson 5, J Is For Jackson 5 includes their No. 1 debut smash "I Want You Back" and the album-only "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah" (a cover of the track from the Disney film Song Of The South). Their follow-up single, "ABC, " from the 1970 album of the same name, then supplanted The Beatles' "Let It Be" at No. 1. The album's "The Love You Save" was next to go No. 1. J Is For Jackson 5 also adds ABC's "2-4-6-8." Later that year, the Third Album spun off their biggest hit, and their first ballad, the gentle "I'll Be There." One of Motown's most successful singles, "I'll Be There" was No. 1 for five weeks. "Mama's Pearl" followed at No. 2. Culled from 1971's Maybe Tomorrow is "My Little Baby." With 1972's Lookin' Through The Windows, new teen Michael began to move from boy soprano to tenor, heard on J Is For Jackson 5 with a Top 20 Pop cover of the classic '50s rock 'n' roll hit "Little Bitty Pretty One" and "E-Ne-Me-Ne-Mi-Ne-Moe (The Choice Is Yours To Pull)." Skywriter from 1973 yielded another Pop Top 20 with "Corner Of The Sky" from the Broadway musical "Pippin." J Is For Jackson 5 also features the No. 2 Pop title-track hit of the 1974 album Dancing Machine. J Is For Jackson 5 makes family musical fun as easy as "ABC." From Stevie Wonder to Marvin Gaye, Ella Fitzgerald to the Jackson 5, the Universal Music Family collection includes 9 genre-spanning CDs featuring many of music's greatest iconic songs that will entertain children without driving parents crazy! Parents can relive the music they love and introduce a whole new generation of today's kids to favorite songs and performers. Each CD is age-graded to help quickly determine the best collection of songs for children. With only hits to play, parents and children of all ages can jitterbug to big band classics (Ella Fitzgerald: Miss Ella's Playhouse, Jazz Lullaby, Jazz for Kids), groove to disco, rock, and reggae (Motown, Totally 80's for Kids, B is for Bob, Reggae for Kids), celebrate carols and car songs (A Holly Jolly Kids Christmas, Songs for the Car), and belt with Broadway stars (Future Idols). write your comments about the article :: © 2010 Jazz News :: home page |