"ABC" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by The Jackson 5 | ||||
from the album ABC | ||||
B-side | "The Young Folks" | |||
Released | February 24, 1970 (U.S) | |||
Recorded | December 1969 [1] | |||
Genre | ||||
Length |
| |||
Label | Motown M 1163 | |||
Songwriter(s) | The Corporation (Berry Gordy, Freddie Perren, Alphonzo Mizell and Deke Richards) [3] | |||
Producer(s) | The Corporation | |||
The Jackson 5 singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Audio | ||||
"ABC" by the Jackson 5 on YouTube |
"ABC" is a song by American pop band the Jackson 5. It was released as a single in 1970. The song replaced the Beatles' "Let It Be" on the number-one spot of the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1970, and was number one on the soul singles chart for four weeks. It is the title track to the group's second album and sold 2 million copies within the first week of its release in the US and more than 4 million copies worldwide. [4] [5] [6]
Cash Box said: "Having whetted the world's appetite with 'I Want You Back' the Jackson 5 makes it back with another dynamite side cast in the image of its million seller. Searing vocals and the familiar drive of the Motown supporting cast assure another giant here." [7] Billboard said: "This pulsating swinger has all the sales and chart potential of the initial entry ['I Want You Back']." [8] Record World said the song proved that "the Jackson 5 are Motown's newest supergroup". [9]
"ABC" was performed on television on American Bandstand (February 21, 1970), The Ed Sullivan Show (May 10, 1970), and The Flip Wilson Show (November 4, 1971), among many other broadcasts. [10] The upbeat lyrics compare learning to love to learning the alphabet.
"ABC" was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals in 1971. 50 Cent told NME that the song was the first he remembered hearing: "I've always loved MJ, so I guess it was probably a good place to start music: right here, with the ABCs." [11] On November 7, 2016, the Grammy Hall of Fame announced the song's induction, along with that of another 24 songs. [12]
"ABC" is featured as an interpolation in Sigala's 2015 debut single "Easy Love".
Musicians on the song's session were uncredited, in line with Motown policy. Motown did not list session musician credits on their releases until 1971. The musicians who performed on "ABC" are believed to be as follows: [13]
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Japan (RIAJ) [19] | Gold | 100,000* |
United Kingdom (BPI) [20] | Platinum | 600,000‡ |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
"Stop! In the Name of Love" is a 1965 song recorded by the Supremes for the Motown label.
"Reflections" is a 1967 song recorded by American soul music group The Supremes for the Motown label. The single release was the first Supremes record credited to "Diana Ross and the Supremes", and the song was one of the last Motown hits to be written and produced by Holland–Dozier–Holland before they left the label.
"Baby Love" is a song by the American music group the Supremes from their second studio album, Where Did Our Love Go. It was written and produced by Motown's main production team Holland–Dozier–Holland and was released on September 17, 1964.
"Stoned Love" is a 1970 hit single recorded by The Supremes for the Motown label. It was the last Billboard Pop Top Ten hit for the group, peaking at number seven, and their last Billboard number-one R&B hit as well, although the trio continued to score top ten hits in the UK into 1972. In the UK, it was the post-Ross Supremes' biggest hit, reaching number 3 in the singles chart. The single spent six weeks in the UK top ten and five weeks in the US top ten. The BBC ranked "Stoned Love" at number 99 on The Top 100 Digital Motown Chart, which ranks Motown releases solely on their all time UK downloads and streams.
"You Can't Hurry Love" is a song originally recorded by the Supremes on the Motown label. It was released on July 25, 1966 as the second single from their studio album The Supremes A' Go-Go.
"You Keep Me Hangin' On" is a song written and composed by Holland–Dozier–Holland. It was first recorded in 1966 by American Motown group the Supremes, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100.
"Somebody's Watching Me" is a song recorded and written by American singer Rockwell, released by the Motown label in December 1983, as the lead single from his debut studio album of the same name. It features guest vocals by Michael Jackson and Jermaine Jackson. The song became a major commercial success internationally, topping the charts in Belgium, France, and Spain, and reaching the top 5 in Canada, West Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States. In the UK, it reached No. 6 and is Rockwell's only top 40 hit on the UK Singles Chart. Rolling Stone magazine called the song "an international and enduring smash hit that, more than 30 years later, remains the perennial paranoia-rock anthem and Halloween mix go-to song."
"Reach Out I'll Be There" (also formatted as "Reach Out (I'll Be There)") is a song recorded by the American vocal quartet Four Tops from their fourth studio album, Reach Out (1967). Written and produced by Motown's main production team, Holland–Dozier–Holland, the song is one of the most widely-known Motown hits of the 1960s and is today considered the Four Tops' signature song.
"I'll Be There" is the first single released from Third Album by The Jackson 5. It was written by Berry Gordy, Hal Davis, Bob West, and Willie Hutch.
"Who's Lovin' You" is a Motown soul song, written in 1960 by William "Smokey" Robinson. The song has been recorded by many different artists including The Miracles, who recorded the 1960 original version, The Temptations, The Supremes, Terence Trent D'arby, Brenda and The Tabulations, John Farnham, Human Nature, En Vogue, Michael Bublé and Giorgia Todrani and Jessica Mauboy. The most famous version is attributed to The Jackson 5. Shaheen Jafargholi, then twelve years old, performed the song at Michael Jackson's public memorial service in July 2009.
"I Want You Back" is the first national single by the Jackson 5. It was released by Motown in October 1969, and became the first number-one hit for the band on January 31, 1970. It was performed on the band's first television appearances, on October 18, 1969, on The Hollywood Palace and on their milestone performance on December 14, 1969, on The Ed Sullivan Show. "I Want You Back" has sold over 6 million copies worldwide.
"The Love You Save" is a song recorded by the Jackson 5 for Motown Records. It was released as a single on May 13, 1970, and held the number-one spot on the soul singles chart in the US for six weeks and the number-one position on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for two weeks, from June 27 to July 4, 1970 and sold over 2 million copies in the United States. In the UK top 40 chart, it peaked at number 7 in August 1970. The song is the third of the four-in-a-row Jackson 5 number-ones released. Billboard ranked the record as the No. 16 song of 1970, one place behind the Jackson 5's "ABC".
"Never Can Say Goodbye" is a song written by Clifton Davis and originally recorded by the Jackson 5. The song was originally written and intended for the Supremes; however, Motown decided it would be better for the Jackson 5. It was the first single released from the group's 1971 album Maybe Tomorrow, and was one of the group's most successful records. It has been covered numerous times, most notably in 1974 by Gloria Gaynor and in 1987 by British pop group the Communards.
"Dancing Machine" is a song recorded by American R&B group the Jackson 5; it was the title track of their ninth studio album. The song was originally recorded for the group's 1973 album G.I.T.: Get It Together and was released as a remix.
"The Tears of a Clown" is a song written by Hank Cosby, Smokey Robinson, and Stevie Wonder and originally recorded by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles for the Tamla Records label subsidiary of Motown, first appearing on the 1967 album Make It Happen. The track was re-released in the United Kingdom as a single in July 1970, and it became a number-one hit on the UK Singles Chart for the week ending September 12, 1970. Subsequently, Motown released a partially re-recorded and completely remixed version as a single in the United States as well, where it quickly became a number-one hit on both the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B Singles charts.
Got to Be There is the debut solo studio album by American singer Michael Jackson, released by Motown on January 24, 1972, four weeks after the Jackson 5's Greatest Hits (1971). It includes the song of the same name, which was released on October 7, 1971, as Jackson's debut solo single.
"Love Is Here and Now You're Gone" is a 1967 song recorded by the Supremes for the Motown label.
"Heat Wave" is a 1963 song written by the Holland–Dozier–Holland songwriting team. It was first made popular by the Motown vocal group Martha and the Vandellas, who issued it as a single on July 10, 1963, on the Motown subsidiary Gordy label. The single reached number one on the Billboard Hot R&B chart—where it stayed for four weeks—and peaking at number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100.
"Got to Be There" is the debut solo single by the American singer Michael Jackson, written by Elliot Willensky and released as a single on October 7, 1971, on Motown Records. The song was produced by Hal Davis and recorded at Motown's Hitsville West studios in Hollywood.
"Where Did Our Love Go" is a 1964 song recorded by American music group the Supremes for the Motown label.
I Want You Back sold 1 million copies in the first nine days and ABC sold 2 million in the first two weeks.