(The Hit Hammer is where I'm reviewing each #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100. Starting from when the chart started in 1958 and eventually working my way to the present. To see my inspiration and more information about this blog, please CLICK HERE)
The Jackson 5 - "The Love You Save"
Hit Number 1: June 27, 1970
Stay at Number 1: 2 Weeks
These guys could not be stopped. The Jackson 5 craze of 1970 continues with the group's third-straight #1 hit, "The Love You Save". They really came at a great time for Motown. With the Supremes' breakup in 1969, Motown was losing their, at the time, best-selling artist. And who would have thought that a group of five kids, led by an 11-year-old Michael Jackson, would come to be not only as successful as the Supremes, but perhaps even more so? Berry Gordy certainly didn't think so at first, and he didn't even consider letting them record at his famous Hitsville U.S.A studio in Detroit. Instead they had to record their material in Los Angeles. When "I Want You Back" hit #1, Gordy might have thought that it was a bright moment for the kids. When "ABC" hit the top spot, the wheels might have started to spin. Finally when "The Love You Save" hit #1, Gordy had to have thought to himself "These kids are something special."
"The Love You Save" is a hat tip to the Supremes' previous Motown chart-topper "Stop! In the Name of Love". It starts out with a "Stop!", before Michael sings "You better save it!" It's another bubble gummy, lighthearted song about young love, and Michael warns the girl about how if she keeps running around and chasing boys, she'll be "labeled a flirt" and they'll "ruin her reputation." I appreciate some of the creativity the Corporation (a group of songwriters that wrote the Jackson 5's songs) put into the song. There's a verse that goes: "Isaac said he kissed you beneath the apple tree/ When Benji held your hand he felt electricity/When Alexander called you he said he rang your chimes/Christopher discovered you're way ahead of your times." The different boys made up here are tied to famous people in history, and what those people accomplished. Isaac being Isaac Newton, Benji is Ben Franklin, Alexander is Alexander Graham Bell and Christopher is Christopher Columbus.
Admittedly, the song isn't as memorable as "I Want You Back" and "ABC". While those two songs are immortal bubble gum masterpieces, "The Love You Save" is just a pretty cute, but still pretty good song. I like the happy vibes the song gives off, and I like the ad-libs that Michael and Jermaine Jackson feed off each other towards the end of the song. I'm not sure what it is though, it's just not quite at the level of the Jackson 5's previous #1 hits. I can't put a finger on it. Even though the songs are similar in their format, it might come down to the fact that the other two songs are easier to sing a long with. At least in my opinion. So while "The Love You Save" hasn't aged as well as the group's first two #1 songs, it's still catchy, fun and continues the glorious reign of terror the Jackson 5 were enjoying.
GRADE: 7/10
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