In 1980, The Jacksons must've been feeling a little concerned; Jermaine had left the group; Michael's new solo album Off The Wall had announced, loudly, he was on a different career trajectory all by himself; and, to make matters worse, disco was already on its way out. They were going to have to adapt to survive, or just call it a day. Against all odds, they pulled off a comeback. Save for early 90s act Take That's revival a couple of years ago, I'm not sure I know of another boy-band that has ever managed such a feat. Triumph helped the group reclaim their #1 status on the charts and guaranteed a musical rebirth that would carry them well into the late 80's. A wickedly short album, it still holds up under scrutiny some 29 years later.

Part of the album's success centres on This Place Hotel. It's a dark, adult, song penned by Michael. On many levels, it can be read as a pre-cursor to the Thriller album, in subject matter, production techniques and instrumentation. Listen to the bass line and consider the similarities it shares the funk of Billie Jean; check out lyrics like "Someone said, welcome to your doom / then they smiled with eyes that looked as if they knew me. / this is scaring me!" and then ask if they wouldn't seem out of place in the song Thriller; consider the keyboard and horn tracks, which are hinted at in the later cut, Baby Be Mine, etc. In the context of Michael's wider career, This Place Hotel seems like yet another step he had to climb before being able to unload his defining classic. There was never a proper music video, but if you wanna view a fan-made one and hear the song, I guess this one's your best bet.


I first heard it as I walked down Lambton Quay in 2004. It was a year into the second accused child-molestation debacle. If memory serves right, it was also the first time the news media began reporting on his financial problems. At this point, I had reason to believe that I'd never be able to play some of my favourite music in public again. Imagine my surprise then, walking down the street, to hear the freshest pop imaginable being blasted from The CD & DVD Store. I did a double-take; I thought I knew everything The Jacksons had ever done... could it be a new MJ single?! I rushed to the counter and demanded they explain what the tune was, where it had come from, how much it would cost me to buy it. The bemused clerk let me know it was the just-released, The Very Best of The Jacksons and his boss had told him to play it. I snatched up a copy for $35 and bought some fresh batteries for my DiscMan. A few presses of the 'skip track' button later, I found what it was I desperately wanted to hear again: This Place Hotel. I don't think I listened to anything else for the rest of the day. It got programmed into 'repeat' mode on the train home from University. I just had... no idea... that The Jacksons ever were cool. The rest of the Best Of album's Disc 2 taught me how much I still had to learn about their collective histories.

Michael must've loved the song too - it was the only song to make the cut in both legs of his Bad tour, many years later. Check out this particular video on Youtube, it's my all-time favourite of his live performances. I honestly don't think there's a better clip of him and the band working at 100% energy. It opens with a bizarre spoken-word performance (which happened every night on the tour) , then we get the backing vocals from Streetwalker as Michael's silhouette dances, then... all hell breaks loose. The band are actually playing their instruments! Michael's actually singing! The back-up vocalists are all in tune! It's very rare to see Jackson having fun on-stage, so this one's well worth the watch: