a-l-b's Full Review: La Toya Jackson * by La Toya Jackson
Yes, I'm serious...
What can I say about La Toya Jackson that hasn't already been said? The middle child of the ridiculously famous (and equally infamous) Jackson family, this woman has gotten much more attention for her...interesting behavior than she has for being musically talented. The same could be said about the attention paid to her late brother Michael during his later life, but the difference is that he actually had talent, and then some. But since this is not a Michael Jackson review, I don't think I need to go into a spiel about him. For once, the spotlight is on La Toya. This is a review of her 1980 self-titled debut album.
Years before her apparently abusive marriage to manager Jack Gordon, La Toya was still being managed by domineering Papa Joe. Another thing worthy of note is that La Toya was looking very good around this time. However many nose jobs she has had by now, she had gotten just enough at this point to be more or less a certified dime. And of course, this was over a decade before she made headlines by speaking out against uber-famous Michael for allegedly molesting young children – a crime that I to this day refuse to believe he committed, but that's neither here nor there. La Toya claimed over and over that her then husband, the aforementioned (and late) Jack Gordon forced her to say such things, and to be honest I tend to believe her.
But I digress, this review is supposed to be all about the music, right? So this is not about La Toya Jackson herself, but rather La Toya Jackson the album. Okay, I know what you're all thinking. "BUT DAYV, LATOIA CNAT SYNG!!!" Well, you're right, she can't. However, this album is actually very good despite this fact. While I can't exactly give it the "classic" designation, mostly due to La Toya's lack of singing ability, it still earns some serious props from me. I mean, the fact that someone with such limited range could even make an album this good is pretty impressive, although some credit does go to the producers for that. In my search for music by Jacksons not normally featured in the spotlight, this one has become easily one of my favorite albums out of the many. It is certainly better than Rebbie's Centipede, which is somewhat puzzling since Rebbie actually can sing. She's certainly no Michael, but then who is?
Anyway, this album is from 1980, and it is definitely a product of its time. While listening to the album, I couldn't help but be reminded of Michael's Off the Wall or the Jacksons album Triumph. Both of these albums blow La Toya Jackson out of the water, but there's still some pretty good stuff on here. Take the first single, which is also the first track on the album as well as La Toya's first single ever. "If You Feel the Funk" is, in typical Jackson family member fashion, a straight dance song. Pardon the cheesiness, but I certainly "feel the funk" when I listen to this track. It's a very upbeat and indeed funky track with a catchy groove and a nice guitar solo. Though at the time, this song was thought to be somewhat outdated, such things no longer matter in the present. Fact is it's a good song despite La Toya's vocal shortcomings. Her voice is constantly in falsetto mode due to the simple fact that she wouldn't be able to hit the high notes if she sang normally. Given that it’s the first single and first track on the album, not to mention the upbeat nature of the song, I can't help but think that it was intended to be a clone of Michael's "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough". La Toya’s song falls short of that dance floor classic, but this is still one that you should definitely check out.
Next we have "Save Your Love". Some of the instrumentation sort of reminds me of a cross between Luther Vandross's "Never Too Much" and Ray Parker Jr.'s "Ghostbusters". While La Toya's vocals are still nothing to scream about, the song is just mellow enough that they actually work here. The song is essentially La Toya's plea for her man to save his love only for her while she's off doing whatever Jacksons do.
Save your love, save your love Save your love, save your love (Lock it up, send me the key) (Save it, save it, save your love, save your love) I really do hate to leave town Cuz the minute my plane is off the ground My friends will come hanging around But baby, don't let them break you down Keep your love just for me Lock it up
The third track, "Love Has Passed You By", is a slower track with some pleasant strings and soft backup vocals. It kind of reminds me of something the Emotions would do, but of course any of those three sisters could sing circles around La Toya. Still, the mellow production makes it unnecessary for her to belt out the lyrics anyway, so her shortcomings are once again forgiven. There is some subtle guitar-playing in the background that sounds a bit like George Benson-style jazz guitar. But the best part about this song, bar none, is the harmonica solo by none other than STEVIE EFFING WONDER!!! That's right; America's favorite blind, yet multitalented instrumentalist makes an appearance on the track. Something tells me that Stevie didn't guest on this track just because he had nothing better to do that day. Methinks that Michael came through for La Toya by asking his boy Steve to play that mellow harmonica solo. I actually really like this song overall, and I can even commend the way La Toya's voice rides the mellow groove. Yes, I said it.
"Are You Ready" takes it back to the upbeat style, and it’s yet another track that sounds like an intended clone of the more upbeat tracks from Off the Wall, which is of course not really a bad thing. Despite La Toya having some hilarious attempts at a vocal workout on this track, it is actually pretty good. I must say that it’s not so much that she sings off key or anything, it’s just that her voice doesn’t really work for singing at all. It’s as if she tries to sound operatic, and that doesn’t really work so well on a disco-tinged R&B track like this. But really, I like this song. It has an extremely catchy groove and an infectious hook, which is helped by some really great background singers. I don’t know who they are, but I have a suspicion that at least some of them are a few members of the Jacksons.
Speaking of the Jacksons – the group, not the family as a whole – guess who finally makes an appearance on the album? That’s right, at the height of the success of his breakthrough solo album Off the Wall, the incomparable Michael Jackson still had enough time and compassion to help out his dear sister La Toya with her second single. Forget about the whole ostracism of La Toya that occurred when she was still off with Jack Gordon in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. This was a time period when rumors about the weirdness of the Jackson family were...well, much fewer than they’ve been within the past few years.
Anyway, the track is called "Night Time Lover", and it not only features Michael on backup vocals, it was also co-written by him. This is undoubtedly the highlight of the track, as I once again feel sorry for La Toya and her attempts to attain even half the talent – and success – as her superstar brother. Michael helps out his sister on the chorus in a similar way that he would help out sister Rebbie on her hit song "Centipede" from 1984. Though this song could be thought of as somewhat incestual, I’m sure it’s not the first time anyone accused Mike and La Toya of such things. Anyone who’s seen the video for "Say, Say, Say" knows exactly what I’m talking about.
I really like the catchy chorus, as well as the little bridge that comes in towards the end. The Spanish guitar and La Toya’s slightly more subdued vocals work very well. Surprisingly, that part does not feature MJ’s vocals at all, yet it really stuck out to me as being pretty cool:
Baby, this is the night time Honey, let’s make it our time Moonlight, have your sunshine Love me for a lifetime As long as you’re mine
After that, we have "A Taste of You (Is a Taste of Love)", another slower, yet still poppy and fun track in the post-disco vein. This song is a lot like the aforementioned "Love Has Passed You By", in that it’s the same type of cookie-cutter Emotions ripoff with inferior vocals. However, it doesn’t really pretend to be anything more, so I can’t hate it. Actually, some of the instrumentation reminds me of the Jacksons song "Give It Up" from their Triumph album. I don’t know if that’s the Jackson connection or just the fact that a lot of similar production was used for this type of music back then, but I definitely don’t think I’m imagining the similarity.
Guess what other Jackson had a hand in crafting this album? That’s right, the other future superstar, youngest child Janet helped co-write this next song. The song starts off with some instrumentation reminiscent of Stevie Wonder’s "Visions". Once again, this comparison may or may not be a product of my vivid imagination, but I stand by the statement. Anyway, it’s a little song called "Lovely Is She", and it’s essentially La Toya’s ode to a certain unnamed woman. I know what you’re thinking, but I don’t think La Toya swings that way at all. In fact, I feel like it’s an ode to herself. In any case, Janet was about 14 when this album came out, so I’m not sure exactly how much of the song she wrote, but I doubt they would’ve included her name to make it seem more credible. After all, at this time she was probably more known for her previous acting role as Penny on "Good Times" than for anything else, and her first solo album wouldn’t come out for another two years. In any case, La Toya once again strains her voice to hit high notes over a mellow music track, but this one really isn’t all that bad. A little cookie-cutter, perhaps, but then so are most of the songs on this album.
Finally, we get to the last track of the album, which is also possibly my favorite. "If I Ain’t Got It" features La Toya bigging herself up for some unnamed would-be lover. La Toya ends the album the same way she began it: with a seriously funky track that seems like a female version of any number of Jacksons or MJ solo hits. Her vocals are, as usual, not that great, but the lyrics make it very easy to purposely overlook this fact. La Toya asserts herself as a sexual being, which is funny once you realize that at this time she was an allegedly innocent young girl who was probably still one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. And they say religious folks don’t know how to get down…
If I ain’t got it You don’t need it If it’s not here It’s not for you If I ain’t got it Because it’s always better When I get through
So there you have it, folks. La Toya Jackson’s self titled debut album is…actually pretty decent. I can’t lie, I thought about giving this album 3 stars at first, since a lot of the songs are pretty standard and cookie-cutter disco-tinged R&B tracks. In truth, the album as a whole is pretty run-of-the-mill, and of course La Toya’s vocals didn’t really blow me away at any point during the 36 minute running time. However, I must confess that I really like this album. The first time I listened to it, I did so expecting to get some laughs, but I came away from it being surprised at how much I really enjoyed the thing. Due to the great instrumentation and La Toya’s enthusiasm to adapt her vocal style to each track, I can’t give it less than 4 stars despite her lack of range. Fact is this is a pretty damn good album, and any fan of Michael or the Jacksons – as well as any fan of late ‘70s and early ‘80s R&B in general – should definitely check it out.
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