Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground) - Immortal Version

In this disco-funk groove, The Jacksons have their eyes on a girl who's playing hard to get and try to get her to loosen up on the dance floor. It was released as the second single from their 13th studio album, Destiny, following their cover of "Blame It On The Boogie." The album was truly a family affair, with the brothers writing and producing all of the music for the first time. "Shake Your Body" was written by Michael Jackson and younger brother Randy Jackson, with Michael on lead vocals.

The chorus was possibly inspired by Marvin Gaye's ad-lib in his 1977 single "Got To Give It Up," although The Jacksons never said for sure. Let's compare lyrics. The Jacksons: Let's dance, let's shout (shout) Shake your body down to the ground Gaye: Let's dance, let's shout (shout) Gettin' funky's what it's all about

The eight-minute track originally started at 20 minutes and was cut down to 3:47 for radio. Bobby Colomby, an executive producer on the album, told Fred Bronson, author of The Jacksons: Legacy, how the song came together: "Greg [Phillinganes, rhythm arranger] worked with Randy and Michael on 'Shake Your Body (Down To The Ground)' and cut a 20-minute track of one chord. I couldn't see doing 20 minutes of one chord, so I started adding stuff to make it less boring. I called [horn arranger] Tom Tom 84 because I was a big Earth, Wind & Fire fan. He filled in the holes. We added percussion and really put in the entire kitchen sink. Michael sang the verse, which was dissonant, but when the chorus hit, it was so pleasant. There's so much tension in the melody. It was a nice simple chorus. I knew I had to edit it down because it was long at over 20 minutes. We got it down to eight minutes for the album." When it came time to edit the track for radio, Colomby sensed 3:47 was the sweet spot for a hit. "I took the album version and at 3:15 I started fading," he explained. "We listened to it and suddenly I was hearing it as a 3:47 record. I looked at the promotion guy and said, 'This is a hit!' The energy of them singing, that's what got people. The fun of it."