The Jacksons’ Late-Seventies Disco Albums to Be Expanded

The Jacksons’ late-Seventies albums — recorded between the time they ditched the Jackson 5 moniker and Michael Jackson became solo superstar — will get a reappraisal in February in the form of expanded releases.

The group’s The Jacksons (1976), Goin’ Places (1977), and Destiny (1978) will arrive digitally on February 12th with the addition of bonus tracks. A double-LP edition of The Jacksons Live! (1981, recorded on the Triumph tour) will come out on March 25th.

The Jacksons was the group’s first album for Epic after splitting with Motown, and it was their first without Jermaine, who was married to Motown founder Berry Gordy’s daughter Hazel and opted to stay on that label. His younger brother Randy then stepped into the mix. Despite the switch, the album was a hit, later certified gold, thanks to the hits “Enjoy Yourself” and “Show Me the Way You Go.” One of the album’s deep cuts, “Blue Away,” was Michael Jackson’s first-ever solo songwriting credit. The expanded edition of the album adds 7-inch and 12-inch mixes of the big hits, as well as a Dimitri From Paris re-edit of “Living Together.”

Goin’ Places didn’t fare as well on the charts, although the title track reached the Top 10 on the R&B chart. The new edition features the 7-inch mix of that track, as well as “Find Me a Girl” and “Even Though You’re Gone.” Destiny, released a year later, was a bigger hit, later certified platinum. This was thanks to the disco hits “Blame It on the Boogie” and “Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground),” which presaged Michael Jackson’s disco reinvention a year later on his Off the Wall solo album. The expanded edition of Destiny contains more singles mixes of the hits, as well as DJ and remixer John Luongo’s disco mixes of the big hits.

In other news, Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch sold last month to one of Jackson’s advisors on business matters in the mid-2000s. He bought the 2,700-acre property for $22 million, less than a quarter of the $100 million initial asking price when it went on the market in 2015.

The Jacksons Bonus Tracks

“Enjoy Yourself” (7-inch Extended Version)
“Enjoy Yourself” (12-inch Version)
“Show You the Way to Go” (7-inch Version)
“Living Together” (Dimitri From Paris Disco Re-Edit)

Goin’ Places Bonus Tracks

“Goin’ Places” (7-inch Version)
“Find Me a Girl” (7-inch Version)
“Even Though You’re Gone” (7-inch Version)

Destiny Bonus Tracks

“Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground” (7-inch Version)
“Destiny” (7-inch Version)
“Blame It On the Boogie” (12-inch Version John Luongo Disco Mix)
“Shake Your Body (Down To the Ground)” (12-inch Version John Luongo Disco Mix)
“That’s What You Get (For Being Polite) (12-inch Version)
“That’s What You Get (For Being Polite)” (DJ Reverend P Edit)