" 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 and was released as a remix.
Background
The song, which reportedly sold over three million copies,
[ Sales statistics for Jackson 5 singles. Retrieved March 17, 2008] popularized the physically complicated robot dance technique, devised by Charles Washington in the late 1960s.
Michael Jackson first performed the dance on television while singing "Dancing Machine" with the Jackson 5 on an episode of
Soul Train on November 3, 1973.
It was the group's first US top ten hit since 1971's "Sugar Daddy". "Dancing Machine" brought the Jackson 5 their second
Grammy Award nomination in 1975 for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals, losing to Rufus and
Chaka Khan's "Tell Me Something Good".
Personnel
Charts
In
Canada, "Dancing Machine" went to No. 2 on the
RPM 100. In the United States, it hit No. 1 on
Cash Box and reached No. 2 on the
Billboard Hot 100, behind "The Streak" by
Ray Stevens.
In addition, it hit No. 1 on the R&B charts.
ranked it as the No. 5 song for 1974.
[Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1974]
|
Canada RPM | 2 |
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 2 |
U.S. Billboard Hot Soul Singles | 1 |
|
All-time charts
Samples and cover versions
"Dancing Machine" was most notably sampled by
MC Hammer, on his 1990 album
Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em, for "Dancin' Machine". It was also sampled again in 1990 by
Vanilla Ice on the album
To the Extreme, later by
Too Short (featuring
Bun B) on the song "Shout It Out" and by Q-Tip on the 2008 album
The Renaissance for "Move".
Yung Wun sampled it for "Tear It Up" on his album
The Dirtiest Thirstiest, in which the sample was uncredited and is taken directly from the film Drumline, when the marching band performed it in medley.
Additionally, the song was cover version by Roni Griffith in 1984. Another alternate remix version was released on The Original Soul of Michael Jackson in 1987. It was remixed with extra vocals and many overdubbed instruments, giving it an 80's pop feel rather than a mid 70's disco feel. Paula Abdul covered the song in 1997 as an unreleased demo. It was also covered by Suburban Legends on their Japan-only EP, . A longer alternate version (4:25) appears on the I Want You Back! Unreleased Masters compilation released in 2009. A remix by Polow da Don was featured in a commercial for Svedka. This version was later released on the 2009 album The Remix Suite, along with three other versions of the song, by Dave Audé, Paul Oakenfold and Steve Aoki. In D-TV, it was set to the Dance of the Hours segment from Fantasia. Justin Timberlake interpolated part of the song ( watch her get down, watch her get down) for the song "Murder" on his 2013 album The 20/20 Experience – 2 of 2. The song was reworked and covered by English singer Laura Mvula in 2017, with the song produced by Naughty Boy.
