"The Love You Save" is a song recorded by

the Jackson 5 The Jackson 5, later known as the Jacksons, are an American pop band composed of members of the Jackson family. The group was formed in Gary, Indiana in 1964, and originally consisted of brothers Jackie, Ti ...

for

Motown Records Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

. It was released as a single on May 13, 1970, and held the number-one spot on the soul singles chart in the US for six weeks and the number-one position on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 singles chart for two weeks, from June 27 to July 4, 1970 and sold over 2 million copies in the United States. In the UK top 40 chart, it peaked at number 7 in August 1970. The song is the third of the four-in-a-row Jackson 5 number-ones released (the others were " I Want You Back", " ABC" and " I'll Be There"). ''Billboard'' ranked the record as the No. 16 song of 1970, one place behind the Jackson 5's "ABC".

Description

"The Love You Save" features side vocals of

Jermaine Jackson Jermaine LaJuane Jacksun (né Jackson; born December 11, 1954) is an American singer, songwriter and bassist. He is known for being a member of the Jackson family. From 1964 to 1975, Jermaine was second vocalist after his brother Michael of the ...

singing alongside

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * he He ..., a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name * Michael (bishop elect)">Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given nam ...

in the final "Stop! The love you save may be your own", beside Marlon, Tito and Jackie. The song's lyrics feature Michael and Jermaine warning a "fast" girl to slow down and "stop!", because "the love you save may be your own!" The lyrics are also unusual because of the historical references--according to the song, the girl in question was under the apple tree with "Isaac" (a reference to

Isaac Newton Sir Isaac Newton () was an English polymath active as a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author. Newton was a key figure in the Scientific Revolution and the Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment that followed ...

); felt electricity with "Benjie" (a reference to

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...

); "Alexander" (a reference to

Alexander Graham Bell Alexander Graham Bell (; born Alexander Bell; March 3, 1847 – August 2, 1922) was a Scottish-born Canadian Americans, Canadian-American inventor, scientist, and engineer who is credited with patenting the first practical telephone. He als ...

) called her and "rang her chimes"; and "Christopher" (a reference to

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus (; between 25 August and 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italians, Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed Voyages of Christopher Columbus, four Spanish-based voyages across the At ...

) "discovered" that she was "way ahead of her time". The opening exclamation, "Stop!", and the foot stomps that complement the rhythm during the latter part of the song are allusions to the 1965 number-one Motown single by

the Supremes The Supremes were an American girl group formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959 as the Primettes. A premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and the most successful Amer ...

, "

Stop! In the Name of Love "Stop! In the Name of Love" is a 1965 song recorded by the Supremes for the Motown label. Written and produced by Motown's main production team Holland–Dozier–Holland, "Stop! In the Name of Love" held the number 1 position on the Billboard ...

". Others claim that Bobby Taylor, who produced the Jackson 5's first album at Motown and was lead singer of

Bobby Taylor & the Vancouvers Bobby Taylor & the Vancouvers were a Canadian soul band from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The group recorded for the Gordy Records division of Motown Records in 1968, where they had a top 30 hit single, "Does Your Mama Know About Me". As ...

, discovered the Jackson 5 and brought them to

Berry Gordy Berry Gordy III (born November 28, 1929), also known as Berry Gordy Jr., is an American retired record executive, record producer, songwriter, film producer and television producer. He is best known as the founder of the Motown record label and i ...

's attention. Taylor had shepherded them through their first couple of hits in L.A., but Gordy (according to Taylor) felt the material was too adult given the age of the performers, and like the remainder of the early Jackson 5 hits, "The Love You Save" was

written Writing is the act of creating a persistent representation of language. A writing system includes a particular set of symbols called a ''script'', as well as the rules by which they encode a particular spoken language. Every written language ...

and produced back in Detroit by the Corporation, a team comprising Motown chief

, Freddie Perren, Alphonzo Mizell, and Deke Richards, and recorded in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, away from the old Motown studio at Hitsville USA in

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

. "The Love You Save" was the second single from the second Jackson 5 album, '' ABC''. ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of three major weekly music industry trade magazines in the United States, with ''Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 as ''Music Vendor''. In 1964, it was changed to ''Record World'' under the ...

'' called it "another big one." The song was covered by 90s American pop rock band Hanson on their demo album,

Boomerang A boomerang () is a thrown tool typically constructed with airfoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight, designed to return to the thrower. The origin of the word is from Australian Aborigin ...

. The song was remixed by

DJ Cassidy Cassidy Durango Milton Willy Podell (born 1981), known as DJ Cassidy, is an American DJ, record producer and MC. With his trademark boaters, cricket sweaters, bow ties, color-blocked tuxedos, and 24-carat-gold microphone, Cassidy became known fo ...

for the 2009 release '' The Remix Suite''.

Personnel

*Lead vocals by

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

and

*Background vocals by Michael Jackson, Jermaine Jackson,

Marlon Jackson Marlon David Jackson (born March 12, 1957) is an American singer and dancer best known as a member of the Jackson 5. He is the sixth child of the Jackson family. Marlon now runs Study Peace Foundation to promote peace and unity worldwide. Earl ...

Tito Jackson Toriano Adaryll "Tito" Jackson (October 15, 1953 – September 15, 2024) was an American musician. He was a founding member of the Jackson 5 (later known as the Jacksons), a group who rose to fame in the late 1960s and 1970s with the Motown la ...

and

Jackie Jackson Sigmund Esco "Jackie" Jackson (born May 4, 1951) is an American singer and songwriter best known as a founding member of the Jackson 5, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. Jackson is the second child of the Jac ...

*Instrumentation by Los Angeles area session musicians ** Freddie Perren – keyboards ** David T. Walker – guitar ** Louis Shelton – guitar **Don Peake – guitar ** Wilton Felder – bass guitar **Gene Pello – drums

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

Lyrics of this song
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Love You Save, The 1970 songs 1970 singles The Jackson 5 songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles Songs written by Berry Gordy Songs written by Freddie Perren Songs written by Deke Richards Motown singles Songs written by Alphonzo Mizell