Sources : My personal research, Wikipedia, Michael Jackson: For The Record by Chris Cadman & Craig Halstead, Twitter account of Damien Shields and the amazing archives of the MJCast.
ERA
G.I.T.: Get It Together (1973)
Dancing Machine (1974)
RECORDING DATE
Recorded with The Jackson 5 in November 1972 – July 1973.
STUDIO(S)
Hitsville West, Los Angeles, California
SONGWRITER(S)
Hal Davis
Don Fletcher
Dean Parks
PRODUCER(S)
Hal Davis
RELEASE DATE :
September 12, 1973 (album version Get It Together)
February 19, 1974 (single version)
September 5, 1974 (album version Dancing Machine)
LABEL
Motown
LENGTH
3:30 (Get It Together version)
2:43 (Dancing Machine version)
3:50 (1987 Remix)
4:25 (alternate version)
ALTERNATE VERSIONS RECORDED BY MJ (covers and remixes by other artists are not included)
Dancing Machine (1974 version) : New mix of the song recorded with The Jackson 5 in November 1972 – July 1973. Released on September 15, 1974 (Dancing Machine).
Dancing Machine (alternate version from the Get It Together recording sessions in 1973) : Recorded in 1969 and released posthumously on November 10, 2009 (I Want You Back, Unreleased Masters).
MUSICIANS
Lead vocals by Michael Jackson and Jermaine Jackson
Background vocals by Michael Jackson, Jermaine Jackson, Tito Jackson, Jackie Jackson and Marlon Jackson
Instrumentation by Los Angeles area session musicians
Bass by William Salter
Guitars by Dean Parks, David T. Walker and Arthur Wright
Drums by James Gadson
Percussion by Bobbye Hall
Keyboards by Joe Sample
Produced by Hal Davis
Arranged by Arthur Wright
PEAK ON HOT 100 BILLBOARD :
2
SHORT FILM
No short film
LIVE PERFORMANCES ON TV SHOWS
September 26, 1973 : The Jackson 5 perform Get It Together & Dancing Machine at the Bob Hope Special.
November 17, 1973 : The Jackson 5 are special guests at the Soul Train Show where they perform Get It Together, Dancing Machine, You’re in Good Hands (by Jermaine), With A child’s Heart (by Michael) & Don’t Say Goodbye Again.
January 19, 1974 : The Jackson 5 perform “Dancing Machine” at the 7th Annual Image Awards at Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles.
January 30, 1974 : The Jackson 5 perform Dancing Machine at the Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour.
March 16, 1974 : The Jackson 5 perform Dancing Machine & This Old Man/ABC at the Carol Burnett Show. Janet makes her TV debut and performs with Randy a Sonny & Cher skit.
April 3, 1974 : The Jackson 5 perform It’s Too Late To Change the Time & Dancing Machine at the Mike Douglas Show.
April 4, 1974 : The Jackson 5 perform Let It Be, Never Can Say Goodbye & Dancing Machine at the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.
April 9, 1974 : The Jackson 5 perform It’s Too Late To Change The Time & Dancing Machine at the Merv Griffin Show.
August 19, 1974 : The Jackson 5 perform Dancing Machine & a medley of Killing Me Softly with his song/By The Time I Get To Phoenix/Danny Boy at the Tonight Show with Bill Cosby.
September 1, 1974 : The Jackson 5 perform Dancing Machine at the Jerry Lewis Telethon.
September 3, 1974 : The Jackson 5 perform Dancing Machine at the Merv Griffin Show. Janet & Randy perform their Vegas skit.
March 16, 1975 : The Jackson 5 appear on the Cher TV show.They are introduced by Janet and they perform I Am Love + a skit called The World Is a Mess and finally Cher joins the group to perform a medley of I Want You Back/I’ll Be There/Never Can Say Goodbye/The Love You Save/Dancing Machine.
June 28, 1975 : The Jackson 5 perform Dancing Machine, Moving Violation & Just A Little Bit Of You (by Michael) at American Bandstand.
June 16, 1976 : CBS airs the first episode of The Jacksons Variety Show. The show based on their Las Vegas set features The Jacksons + The Jackson Sisters (Rebbie, LaToya & Janet). Special guest star : Sonny Bono. Songs performed :”Forever Came Today”, “Love Will Keep Us Together”, “More Than You Know”/”Am I Blue?”/”For Once in My Life”/ “Try a Little Tenderness”, “Steppin’ Out with My Baby”, “Dancing Machine”.
March 9, 1977 : CBS airs the 12th episode of The Jacksons Variety Show. Special guest stars : Tim Conway/David Letterman. Songs performed : “Dancing Machine”, “On the Wall” “Behind Closed Doors”, “Yes Sir, That’s My Baby”, “I’m Going To Jackson”, “Flat Foot Floogie”,”World of Sunshine”,”Body Language.
November 13, 2001 : Michael Jackson 30th Anniversary Special in September 2001
LIVE PERFORMANCES ON CONCERTS
The Jackson 5 World Tour (March 2, 1973 – Late December 1975)
The Jackson 5 Final Tour (February 2–14, 1976)
The Jacksons Tour (May 19 – 24, 1977)
Goin’ Places Tour (January 22 – May 13, 1978)
Destiny World Tour (January 22, 1979 – January 13, 1980)
Michael Jackson 30th Anniversary Special (September 7+ 10, 2001)
Jackson Dynasty 