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Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or, in the case of carols, may employ lyrics about the nativity of Jesus Christ, traditions such as gift-giving and merrymaking, cultural figures such as Santa Claus, or other topics. Many songs simply have a winter or seasonal theme, or have been adopted into the canon for other reasons.
"Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" is a Christmas song featuring Santa Claus, written by J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie and first recorded by Harry Reser and His Band. When it was covered by Eddie Cantor on his radio show in November 1934 it became a hit; within 24 hours, 500,000 copies of sheet music and more than 30,000 records were sold. The version for Bluebird Records by George Hall and His Orchestra was very popular in 1934 and reached the various charts of the day. The song has been recorded by over 200 artists including Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters, the Crystals, Neil Diamond, Fred Astaire, Bruce Springsteen, Frank Sinatra, Bill Evans, Chris Isaak, the Temptations, the Carpenters, Michael Bublé, Luis Miguel, and the Jackson 5.
"I Want You Back" is the first national single by the Jackson 5. It was released by Motown on October 6, 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 Diana Ross's The Hollywood Palace and on their milestone performance on December 14, 1969, on The Ed Sullivan Show.
"ABC" is a song by the Jackson 5. It was released as a single on February 24, 1970. The song knocked the Beatles' "Let It Be" off the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in 1970, and was No. 1 on the soul singles chart for four weeks. It is the title track to the group's second album.
"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. 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".
Diana Ross Presents The Jackson 5 is the debut studio album from Gary, Indiana-based soul family band the Jackson 5, released on the Motown label on December 12, 1969. The Jackson 5's lead singer, a preadolescent Michael Jackson and his four older brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, and Marlon, became pop successes within months of this album's release. Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5's only single, "I Want You Back", became a number-one hit on the US Billboard Hot 100 within weeks of the album's release. The album reached number 5 on the US Pop Albums chart, and spent nine weeks at No. 1 on the US R&B/Black Albums chart.
"Sugar Daddy" is a hit single by the Motown quintet The Jackson 5, released in late 1971.
Music & Me is the third studio album by American singer Michael Jackson, released on April 13, 1973 on the Motown label. The album was reissued in 2009 as part of the three-disc compilation Hello World: The Motown Solo Collection.
Forever, Michael is the fourth studio album by American singer Michael Jackson, released by Motown Records on January 16, 1975. The album is credited as having songs with funk and soul material. Eddie Holland, Brian Holland, Hal Davis, Freddie Perren, and Sam Brown III served as producers on Forever, Michael. It is the final album before Jackson's solo breakthrough with his next album, Off the Wall (1979).
Farewell My Summer Love is a compilation album of archived Michael Jackson songs recorded from January to October 1973. The album was released with updated musical production by Motown Records in the United States on May 8, 1984.
Jackson 5 Christmas Album is the first Christmas album, and fourth studio album, by Motown family quintet the Jackson 5, released on October 15, 1970. Included on the Christmas Album is the Jacksons' hit single version of "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town". The Jacksons' versions of "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" and "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" remain frequent radio requests during the Christmas season. The album spent four weeks at the number one position on Billboard magazine's special Christmas Albums chart that the magazine published in December 1970, making it the best-selling Christmas album of that year and also of the year 1972 in the United States. This album was a top seller and had the potential to chart high on the US Billboard Top LPs ranking, but from 1963 to 1973, holiday albums were not allowed to chart in it. The album has been praised by music critics.
Skywriter is the seventh studio album by The Jackson 5, released by Motown on March 29, 1973.
The Temptations Christmas Card is a 1970 Christmas album by The Temptations for the Gordy (Motown) label. The album was released on October 30, 1970. It's also the group's first holiday release, it features each Temptation leading on various popular Christmas standards and original Christmas songs.
"Love Is Here and Now You're Gone" is a 1967 song recorded by the Supremes for the Motown label.
"Winter Wonderland" is a song written in 1934 by Felix Bernard and lyricist Richard Bernhard Smith. Due to its seasonal theme, it is often regarded as a Christmas song in the Northern Hemisphere. Since its original recording by Richard Himber, it has been covered by over 200 different artists.
City of Angels is an album by the Motown soul group The Miracles, released on Motown Records' Tamla label in September 1975. The group's fourth album recorded after replacing lead singer Smokey Robinson with Billy Griffin in 1972, City of Angels is a concept album, depicting of a man from "Anytown, U.S.A." who follows his estranged girlfriend Charlotte to Los Angeles, where she has gone in hopes of becoming a star. All of the tracks on the album were written by Billy Griffin and Miracles bass singer Pete Moore. Freddie Perren and Moore served as the album's producers.
"Happy" is a song written by Michel Legrand and Smokey Robinson and first recorded by Bobby Darin. The song was first released as a single by Bobby Darin on November 23, 1972, peaking #67 on the Billboard Hot 100, it was his last single to hit the chart. The song was included on his posthumous Motown LP Darin: 1936–1973.
A Motown Christmas is a Christmas music compilation album, originally released as a 2-LP set by Motown Records on September 25, 1973. It contains various seasonal singles and album tracks recorded by some of the label's artists from the 1960s and early 1970s. Some of the music had previously been released on the 1968 compilation Merry Christmas from Motown.
Give Love at Christmas is a Christmas album by the Temptations, released in 1980 via Gordy Records. The group's second holiday release following 1970's The Temptations Christmas Card, it features each Temptation leading on various popular Christmas carols and original Christmas songs. The album includes versions of The Jackson 5's "Give Love on Christmas Day", "The Little Drummer Boy", "This Christmas", and "Silent Night", alongside originals written or co-written by Motown founder Berry Gordy, Jr. and Motown star and vice-president Smokey Robinson.
References
- Grant, Adrian (2009). Michael Jackson: The Visual Documentary. Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-1-84938-261-8.
- Halstead, Craig (2007). Michael Jackson: For the Record. Authors OnLine. ISBN 978-0-7552-0267-6.
| Singles on Steeltown Records |
|
|---|---|
| Diana Ross Presents The Jackson 5 (1969) | |
| ABC (1970) | |
| Third Album (1970) | |
| Jackson 5 Christmas Album (1970) | |
| Maybe Tomorrow (1971) | |
| Greatest Hits (1971) | |
| Lookin' Through the Windows (1972) | |
| Skywriter (1973) | |
| G.I.T.: Get It Together (1973) | |
| Dancing Machine (1974) | |
| Moving Violation (1975) | |
| The Jacksons (1976) | |
| Destiny (1978) | |
| Triumph (1980) | |
| Victory (1984) | |
| 2300 Jackson Street (1989) | |
| Notable collaborations and album tracks | |
