"Give Love on Christmas Day" is a Christmas

Christmas

Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...

 song first recorded by Motown Records

Motown Records

Motown is a record label originally founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation in Detroit, Michigan, United States, on April 14, 1960. The name, a portmanteau of motor and town, is also a nickname for Detroit...

' family quintet The Jackson 5

The Jackson 5

The Jackson 5 , later known as The Jacksons, were an American popular music family group from Gary, Indiana...

. Written by the label's songwriting-producing team, The Corporation (Berry Gordy

Berry Gordy

Berry Gordy, Jr. is an American record producer, and the founder of the Motown record label, as well as its many subsidiaries.-Early years:...

, Freddie Perren

Freddie Perren

Frederick "Freddie" Perren was an American songwriter, record producer, arranger, and orchestra conductor best known for as a co-songwriter and co-producer of such mega-hits as "Boogie Fever" by the Sylvers, "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor, and "Shake Your Groove Thing" by Peaches &...

, Christine Perren, Alphonzo Mizell and Deke Richards

Deke Richards

Deke Richards, also known as Dennis Lussier and Deke Lussier, is a songwriter and record producer, one of many white musicians/songwriters who were affiliated with Motown...

) , the song was recorded for the Jackson brothers' 1970 seasonal album, entitled The Jackson 5 Christmas Album

The Jackson 5 Christmas Album

Jackson 5 Christmas Album was the only holiday album released by Motown family quintet The Jackson 5. Released in October 1970, the album showcased the brothers' harmonies and vocals. Lead singer Michael Jackson is prominently featured on the album tracks. Included on the Christmas Album is the...

. The song was well received critically upon release of the album. The festive track went on to be covered by groups such as The Temptations

The Temptations

The Temptations is an American vocal group having achieved fame as one of the most successful acts to record for Motown Records. The group's repertoire has included, at various times during its five-decade career, R&B, doo-wop, funk, disco, soul, and adult contemporary music.Formed in Detroit,...

, New Edition

New Edition

New Edition is an R&B group formed in Boston in 1978. The group reached its height of popularity during the 1980s. They were the progenitors of the boy band movement of the 1980s and 1990s and led the way for groups like New Kids on the Block, Boyz II Men, Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync...

, BlackGirl

BlackGirl

BlackGirl was a R&B/dance vocal trio consisting of Pam Copeland, Nycolia "Tye-V" Turman, and Rochelle Stuart from Atlanta, that formed in 1992 on the Kaper/RCA/BMG label.-Biography:...

, and solo artists such as Faith Evans

Faith Evans

Faith Renée Evans is an American singer-songwriter, recording artist, record producer, actress and author. Born in Florida and raised in New Jersey, Evans relocated to Los Angeles during 1993 for a career with the music business. After working as a backing vocalist for Al B...

 and Johnny Gill

Johnny Gill

Johnny Gill is an American R&B singer-songwriter. He is the sixth and final member of the R&B supergroup New Edition, and was also a member of another supergroup called LSG; with Gerald Levert and Keith Sweat. His signature song "My, My, My" has been included on numerous romantic...

.

Production

"Give Love on Christmas Day" was written by the Motown Records' producing-writing team known as "The Corporation". Jackson 5 hit singles such as "I Want You Back

I Want You Back

"I Want You Back" was released in 1969 and in early 1970s became a number-one hit single recorded by The Jackson 5 for the Motown label. The song, along with a b-side cover of Smokey Robinson & the Miracles' "Who's Lovin' You", was the only single from the first Jackson 5 album, Diana Ross Presents...

", "ABC

ABC (song)

"ABC" is a 1970 number-one hit song by The Jackson 5. "ABC" was written with the same design as "I Want You Back", and was first heard on American Bandstand in February 1970. "ABC" knocked The Beatles song "Let It Be" out of the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1970...

" and "The Love You Save

The Love You Save

"The Love You Save" is a 1970 number-one hit single recorded by The Jackson 5 for the Motown label. It held the number-one spot on the soul singles chart for six weeks. It held the number-one position on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for two weeks, from June 27 to July 4, 1970...

" had been written by the Motown team months earlier, and had aided the five brothers in becoming the first black teen idols. The festive track was included on The Jackson 5 Christmas Album, released in 1970. Other songs on the album included "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" is a song introduced by Judy Garland in the 1944 MGM musical Meet Me in St. Louis. Frank Sinatra later recorded a version with modified lyrics, which has become more common than the original. The song was written by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane...

", "Up on the Housetop", "Frosty the Snowman

Frosty the Snowman

"Frosty the Snowman" is a popular song written by Walter "Jack" Rollins and Steve Nelson, and first recorded by Gene Autry and the Cass County Boys in 1950. It was written after the success of Autry's recording of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" the previous year; Rollins and Nelson shipped the...

", "The Christmas Song

The Christmas Song

"The Christmas Song" is a classic Christmas song written in 1944 by musician, composer, and vocalist Mel Tormé and Bob Wells. According to Tormé, the song was written during a blistering hot summer...

", "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer is a fictional reindeer with a glowing red nose. He is popularly known as "Santa's 9th Reindeer" and, when depicted, is the lead reindeer pulling Santa's sleigh on Christmas Eve. The luminosity of his nose is so great that it illuminates the team's path through...

" and "Christmas Won't Be the Same This Year".

Release and reception

"Give Love on Christmas Day" was first released as a single in the Philippines. In 1986, the gained release as a CD single in the United States, in order to promote the release of the first CD version of The Jackson 5 Christmas Album.

In a review of the The Jackson 5 Christmas Album, Lynn Norment of the African American

African American

African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

-orientated magazine Ebony

Ebony (magazine)

Ebony, a monthly magazine for the African-American market, was founded by John H. Johnson and has published continuously since the autumn of 1945...

described Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson

Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...

's vocals on the track—along with the songs "The Little Drummer Boy", "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town

Santa Claus Is Coming to Town

"Santa Claus is Coming to Town" is a Christmas song. It was written by John Frederick Coots and Haven Gillespie, and was first sung on Eddie Cantor's radio show in November 1934....

" and "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus

I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus

"I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" is an American Christmas song with music and lyrics by Tommie Connor.The original recording by Jimmy Boyd on 15 July 1952 when he was 13 reached #1 on the Billboard charts in December 1952, and on the Cash Box chart at the beginning of the following year...

"—as sounding "angelic". Billboard

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

, also reviewing the quintet's seasonal album, stated that "Give Love On Christmas Day", as well as the song "Someday at Christmas", were both "potent numbers".

Cover versions

The song was covered by a number of artists including:

• The Temptations
  The Temptations
  The Temptations is an American vocal group having achieved fame as one of the most successful acts to record for Motown Records. The group's repertoire has included, at various times during its five-decade career, R&B, doo-wop, funk, disco, soul, and adult contemporary music.Formed in Detroit,...
  
  
• New Edition
  New Edition
  New Edition is an R&B group formed in Boston in 1978. The group reached its height of popularity during the 1980s. They were the progenitors of the boy band movement of the 1980s and 1990s and led the way for groups like New Kids on the Block, Boyz II Men, Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync...
  
  
• Johnny Gill
  Johnny Gill
  Johnny Gill is an American R&B singer-songwriter. He is the sixth and final member of the R&B supergroup New Edition, and was also a member of another supergroup called LSG; with Gerald Levert and Keith Sweat. His signature song "My, My, My" has been included on numerous romantic...
  
  
• Faith Evans
  Faith Evans
  Faith Renée Evans is an American singer-songwriter, recording artist, record producer, actress and author. Born in Florida and raised in New Jersey, Evans relocated to Los Angeles during 1993 for a career with the music business. After working as a backing vocalist for Al B...
  
  
• BlackGirl
  BlackGirl
  BlackGirl was a R&B/dance vocal trio consisting of Pam Copeland, Nycolia "Tye-V" Turman, and Rochelle Stuart from Atlanta, that formed in 1992 on the Kaper/RCA/BMG label.-Biography:...