Give Love on Christmas Day

"Give Love on Christmas Day" is a Christmas song first recorded by Motown Records' family quintet The Jackson 5. Written by the label's songwriting-producing team, The Corporation (Berry Gordy, Alphonzo Mizell, Christine Perren, Freddie Perren and Deke Richards),^[1] the song was recorded for the Jackson brothers' 1970 seasonal album, entitled The Jackson 5 Christmas Album. The song was well received critically upon release of the album. The festive track went on to be covered by groups such as The Temptations, New Edition, BlackGirl, and solo artists such as Faith Evans and Johnny Gill.

Production

"Give Love on Christmas Day" was written by the Motown Records' producing-writing team known as "The Corporation". Jackson 5 hit singles such as "I Want You Back", "ABC" and "The Love You Save" had been written by the Motown team months earlier, and had aided the five brothers in becoming the first black teen idols.^[2] The festive track was included on The Jackson 5 Christmas Album, released in 1970. Other songs on the album included "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas", "Up on the Housetop", "Frosty the Snowman", "The Christmas Song", "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and "Christmas Won't Be the Same This Year".^[3]

Release and reception

In 1986, the gained release as a CD single in the United States, in order to promote the release of the first CD version of The Jackson 5 Christmas Album.^[4]

In a review of the The Jackson 5 Christmas Album, Lynn Norment of the African American-orientated magazine Ebony described Michael Jackson's vocals on the track—along with the songs "The Little Drummer Boy", "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" and "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus"—as sounding "angelic".^[5] Billboard, also reviewing the quintet's seasonal album, stated that "Give Love On Christmas Day", as well as the song "Someday at Christmas", were both "potent numbers".^[6]

Cover versions

The song was covered by a number of artists including:

• The Temptations
• New Edition
• Johnny Gill
• Faith Evans
• BlackGirl
• SWV
• Solid HarmoniE
• Jaya Ramsey
• Rico J. Puno
• Ledisi
• Yolanda Adams

Notes

1. ASCAP entry for song ASCAP, accessed 28 May 2011
2. George, pp. 20–31
3. Grant, p. 15
4. Halstead, p. 123
5. Norment, Lynn. Sounding off. Ebony. Retrieved December 19, 2009.
6. Album reviews. Billboard. December 5, 1970. Retrieved December 19, 2009.

References

• Grant, Adrian (2009). Michael Jackson: The Visual Documentary. Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-1-84938-261-8.
• Halstead, Craig (2007). Michael Jackson: For the Record. Authors OnLine. ISBN 978-0-7552-0267-6.