“Blame It On The Boogie” by The Jacksons

"Blame It on the Boogie", the Jacksons' 1978 single and the first one pulled from their thirteenth album Destiny, comes with a pop-history quirk worth savoring: it was written by a different Jackson altogether. English singer-songwriter Mick Jackson wrote it with Elmar Krohn and others, originally hoping to sell it to Stevie Wonder, and recorded it himself that same year.

By Mick's account, the American group's manager heard his track showcased at Midem, took a tape of it back to the States, and the Jacksons hurried out a version of their own so it would land before his. His original still came out on Atlantic in August 1978 and reached 15 in the UK. But theirs is the one everybody knows, a springy, loose-limbed funk strut that treats the dance floor as the perfect alibi.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.