Collecting Vinyl Records: Hotel Living With Michael Jackson (1980)

After an almost two week stint out of town, I have finally returned. When you stay in a hotel for that long, something strange happens. That hotel room and the lobby pretty much become your new life and new world for a while. At least I had Michael Jackson coverage to keep me sane, or insane, depending on how you look at it.

So today's track is a Michael Jackson "hotel" themed song to coincide with my ongoing traveling adventures. The track is 'Heartbreak Hotel' from The Jackson's 1980 release "Triumph".

The Jackson brothers left Motown records in 1976, and it was not an amicable split. Motown claimed they owned the name "The Jackson 5" and therefore all subsequent releases by the group they were simply called "The Jacksons". Which was really a good idea considering the revolving door of Jackson brothers and sisters that seemed to be coming in and out of the group during this period.

Today's track was both written and primarily performed by Michael Jackson, as he was clearly more artistically confident after the success of his first real solo effort 'Off The Wall'. That album had been released mere months before creating this album with his brothers.

One interesting note about this track was that although my vinyl copy of "Triumph" lists this song clearly as 'Heartbreak Hotel', subsequent CD releases of this album and Jackson compilations call the same song 'This Place Hotel' most likely to not confuse the track with the famous Elvis Presley song of the same name.