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“Things I Do For You”

Date range confirmed in Mike Smallcombe’s “Making Michael” (“In the summer of 1978, Michael was ready to enter the studio with Quincy. But his brothers wanted him to prioritise The Jacksons’ next album, Destiny, the first the group were to write and produce as a whole. After years of disappointing sales it was a make or break album for the brothers, and Michael reluctantly agreed to put family ahead of his own solo ambitions.”)

Michael Jackson, Moonwalk autobiography

The lyrical theme [in “Working Day and Night”] was similar to “The Things I Do for You” from Destiny, but since this was a refinement of something I’d said earlier, I wanted to keep it simple and let the music put the song over the top.

Marlon Jackson, co-writer, “The Sydney Morning Herald” (March 30, 1980) (archived)

A song about our Mum, because she always does a lot of things because she hates to say no. But no one ever returned the favors on her behalf. The message of the song is the things I do for you, in return do the same for me. If you want people to treat you in a certain way, you should treat them in the same way.

Ricky Lawson, drummer, “Rhythm” magazine (July 2010)

"My introduction to working for Michael was I did a song for him and his brothers called 'The Things I Do for You' on the 'Destiny' album", says Ricky Lawson. "A good friend of mine, Mr. Greg Phillinganes, who I grew up with in Detroit, Michigan, was producing the project. He called me in to play drums, so that was my first experience playing with Michael and the Jackson family.

"That was before Michael did his solo thing", explains Ricky. Describing his impression of the Jackson brothers in 1978, Ricky says, "They were good kids. The guys have always been very friendly, soft-spoken, but very talented people. They know what they want and they put talented people around them to help them get what they want."