It is not difficult to argue that the Jackson 5 were a novelty act. But it’s almost impossible to dismiss them as a such. Sure, the lead single’s target audience doesn’t seem to be much older than Michael’s own twelve years, and yeah, all of their originals (four of the twelve tracks) were written by a Motown Records production team dubbed The Corporation (not very punk rock) that was tailor made to write songs for the Jackson 5, but I defy anyone to tell me that they weren’t some of the best performers the world has ever seen.

As a unit, the Jacksons rock as tight as any funk band, and their harmonies are as smooth and soulful as any doo-wop group twice their age. And in the middle of it all, Michael Jackson gives a performance that most entertainers never top in their lifetime. They may be reinterpreting other people’s R&B hits, but nobody told Michael that he could sing them as passionately as they were his own. The violently performed (Come Round Here) I’m the One Who Loves You seems a bit beyond his (twelve) years, but his voice rises above his naivete and convinces you that he knows what heartbreak looks like. Don’t Know Why I Love You, a tune by another youthful prodigy named Stevie Wonder, is as gently beautiful as five young brothers from Gary, Indiana can superhumanly achieve. No one suffers from Michael’s performance more than big brother Jermaine, who sings on I Think I Found that Girl. It isn’t a bad performance by any means, but it doesn’t reach anywhere near the same stratospheric heights as any of the songs led by Michael, who after that track’s end sings the refrain, “you’d better make way for the young folks.” All in all, ABC (and the Jackson 5 in particular) is far more than an early look at Michael Jackson’s inhuman talent in its infancy. That talent was full grown far before he was, and would make this album by a kid band an enduring and refreshing listen even forty years on.