Quentin Tarantino’s favourite songs by The Jacksons
Quentin Tarantino’s discerning taste in music is unmistakable. In every one of his films, the writer and director meticulously curates a playlist to encapsulate the mood of the cinematic universe he invites his audience into. Whether it’s the vibrant energy of 1960s Los Angeles or the gritty atmosphere of 1850s Tennessee, Tarantino consistently selects the perfect songs and artists to enhance the immersive experience. In a playlist he curated for Apple Podcasts, he showcases one of his favourite artists: the Jacksons.
Typically Tarantino, he quickly specifies his approach, stating, “I’ve been listening a lot to The Jacksons. Not so much The Jackson 5, not so much Michael Jackson. But The Jacksons albums, the albums that they did for CBS, Epic records”.
As a real music fanatic, Tarantino especially appears to be a veritable encyclopedia of all the left-field or forgotten cuts from all the various off-shoots of Jackson’s career. He compiled a playlist of his favourite tracks from The Jacksons on a mission to draw the world’s attention to some of his best work beyond his solo hits.
To explain the difference between The Jacksons and The Jackson 5, I’ll leave it up to Tarantino himself. “When they left Motown and The Jackson 5 to go over to CBS as The Jacksons, they couldn’t use The Jackson 5 name or the logo,” he explains. They also lost a member in the move as Jermaine Jackson stayed with Motown. “It’s a drag that Jermaine isn’t here,” the director added, “I’m a huge Jermaine fan.” With the history lesson done, let’s get into his song picks.
More so than making a playlist, Tarantino is here to try and influence his listeners into simply buying the complete albums. He first recommends The Jacksons’ Live, which he describes as “one of the best albums that Michael Jackson ever did”. From that record, the filmmaker picks a handful of tracks for his playlist but demands they must be listened to as one collective unit.
“You wanna get four tracks in a row because you wanna get their medley, which is fantastic,” he explains. “The medley is ‘I Want You Back’, ‘ABC’ and ‘Love You Save’. Then it goes right into ‘I’ll Be There’. That ends in a wild scat version of ‘I’ll Be There’, which without breaking stride at all, goes right into ‘Rock With You’. Those tracks together are amazing.” Another live pick he selected is ‘Going Back To Indiana’, specifically a version recorded live in Indiana.
Tarantino then goes back in time to their second album, Goin’ Places. He admitted, “I’m not really a big fan of the first two albums,” but added, “The title track for Goin’ Places is a lot of fun because it actually sounds like the theme to a movie.”
Considering how The Jacksons inevitably and obviously helped shape Michael Jackson’s solo career, Tarantino picked songs off Destiny, which he feels is a “prequel to Off The Wall“. From the record, he selected the hit ‘Blame It On The Boogie’ along with ‘Things I Do For You’, ‘Destiny’, ‘Shake Your Body (Down To The Ground)’ and ‘This Place Hotel’. Of the latter two, Tarantino notes that the sound and feel of the tracks feel prophetic for Michael Jackson, stating that they “lead the way for where he was going and what he was going to become”.
As his favourite member of the band, Tarantino takes a brief detour to celebrate Jermaine Jackson, adding ‘Let’s Get Serious’ and ‘Daddy’s Home’ to the playlist. He says: “Jermaine is very underrated for his vocals.” Another favoured band member of his is Marlon Jackson as he says, “The most unsung song is Marlon’s song, ‘Wait’.”
Always one to be contrary, Tarantino shrugs off one of the band’s biggest records as he says of Triumph, “I don’t love that album, even though it was their biggest album. The only track I really love on there is ‘Walk Right Now’”, adding “That is the cherry to be picked.”
Instead, the writer and director favours the band’s final album, Victory. “It’s kind of their Let It Be in a lot of ways cause not only is it their last album, but the brothers all kind of took turns producing and choosing cuts of their own.” From that final release, he selects ‘Torture’ and the Michael Jackson and Mick Jagger collab ‘State Of Shock’.
If you haven’t guessed from the length, depth, and breadth of his knowledge and this playlist, Tarantino wants you to know: “I’ve been in a big Michael Jackson mood.”
Quentin Tarantino’s favourite The Jacksons songs:
- Medley: ‘I Want You Back’, ‘ABC’ and ‘Love You Save’
- ‘I’ll Be There’
- ‘Rock With You’
- ‘Going Back To Indiana’
- ‘Goin’ Places’
- ‘Blame It On The Boogie’
- ‘Things I Do For You’
- ‘Destiny’
- ‘Shake Your Body (Down To The Ground)’
- ‘This Place Hotel’
- ‘Let’s Get Serious’
- ‘Daddy’s Home’
- ‘Wait’
- ‘Walk Right Now’
- ‘Torture’
- ‘State Of Shock’
Never Miss A Take
The Far Out Quentin Tarantino Newsletter
All the latest Quentin Tarantino content from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.