Music Rewind: The Jackson’s Triumph Album
Forty years to this day, The Jackson’s Triumph album debuted on October of 1980. During this time, Michael Jackson was still riding high from his solo success with Off The Wall (1979) and would be putting a reset on pop culture a few years later with Thriller.
The entire decade of the 80’s was debatably the most prominent time for Michael’s career, and it started with this album in particular. The Jackson’s, previously known as The Jackson 5, had left Motown records in 1976 and signed with Epic/CBS records to rebrand and display a more mature, sophisticated sound.
Although Michael and Jermaine were venturing off with their own solo projects, Michael rejoined his brothers to create an album with classic hits, while Jermaine remained at Motown. The album sold 10 million copies in its original run and became certified platinum in the U.S., peaking at number 10 on the Billboard charts.
The music represents an eclectic mix of r&b, funk, soul, and pop, with Michael right at the helm of it all — this includes the writing, producing, editing, and every technical detail that goes into creating a memorable show. The album surprisingly only has nine tracks but each one brings its own flavor and contributes to who the Jackson’s were at this time, also emphasizing their growth from child stars to grown men.
“Can You Feel It” is the first song on the album and was the third single; it was written by Jackie and Michael, with Randy as a lead vocal. Not only is the song most notably remembered for the disco dance vibe, but it also had an alluring music video that was pretty ahead of its time. The special effects were created by Robert Abel and associates and featured scenes of the brothers standing over a city, sprinkling gold dust.
Apparently, Michael came up with the concept himself and some have said the sounds used throughout were a nod to The Star Wars series. The video goes on for almost 10 minutes, a sort of foreshadowing into Michael’s innovative use of short films. Back in 2018, Amazon used the song for a Christmas commercial and it became one of the most popular and featured commercials for that year.
In a 2006 review by Sputnik music, this was said about the song: “A perfect opener and probably ‘Triumph’s most famous hit (the tune would later be famously used by Mya and The Tamperer in the late 90s). A really upbeat and very original tune, the song instantly draws you in with its insanely catchy rhythm, add to that some socially concerned lyrics and you get one of the best R’n’B/Funk pop songs of the era and certainly the only The Jacksons song to rank alongside Destiny’s ‘Blame It On The Boogie’ and ‘Shake Your Body (Down To The Ground)’. It was also a hugely influential song; its echoes can certainly be heard on recent hits such as Madonna’s ‘Hung Up’ for example.”
The Triumph Tour ran from July 8th to September 26th, 1981 and would garner a whopping $5.5 million in revenue, as well as breaking records with four nights of sold out shows in Los Angeles. As we all know, Michael is known as the greatest entertainer — time and time he proved that in his later solo tours and live performances. Some say Triumph Tour was a fantastic show simply because Michael was performing with his brothers again, but there was a little more to it than that, even down to the costumes. Each brother had their own look, in some ways similar to one another, but yet very different. The shirts and bottoms were plastered in crystals and sequins, they wore vests, satin trousers, and matching sets — and to think, these were just a few of the pieces that made it in the spotlight.
In an old concert review written for Tribune, it reads: “As the bank of lights descended again, the theatrically of the show was heightened by the brothers standing frozen like statues under the flashing colored lights and the intense sound of the jet engines. Spinning back to action, with a burst of fireworks overheard, they sang “Shake Your Body” backed by the four-man horn section for the greater emphasis. Tossing their coats and a tambourine into the audience as tokens, they received in return a gift in a Liberty House bag from a dancer in the front.”
Triumph, coming off the back of Off The Wall and later being overshadowed by Victory album, is an underrated gem that deserves its merits. As Andy Healy so eloquently put in his album review, “Whilst The Jacksons would go on to record several more albums with decreasing involvement by Michael and a return to the fold by Jermaine, it’s this Destiny-Triumph era that is their strongest. And when you place it in the context of an artistic run for Michael from Destiny (1978) Off The Wall (1979) Triumph (1980) Thriller (1982) and Victory (1984) with its groundbreaking tour, it is without doubt his most prolific and critically rewarding span.”
*Originally written December 2020*
