Cool cover song of the week...

Michael Jackson was so exceptionally talented, there have been (and continue to be) so many artists who have tried to emulate or imitate him. While some have been more successful than others in these attempts, it is a tribute to the breadth and depth of Jackson's talent that his music and his dancing continues to live on through others.

Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground) was released by The Jacksons in late 1978. It hit #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1979, and #3 on the R&B Singles chart. The first performance of the song was on the second leg of The Jacksons' Destiny Tour in 1979. In 1984 it was performed on the Victory Tour, and it would be the last song performed live by the Jacksons before the death of Michael Jackson in 2009.

Justin Timberlake has proven himself to be far more talented than people gave him credit for when he hit the scene with N'Sync in the late 1990s (after his stint as a Mouseketeer). He sings, he dances, he acts, and he's proven tremendously deft with comedy, as his many appearances on Saturday Night Live have proven. He recently took on a live performance (dancing and all) of Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground) for BBC Radio 1, and it's pretty impressive.

Give it a look:

And here's the original from the Jacksons:

Check out my previous Cool Cover Songs of the Week:

Borderline by The Counting Crows

How Deep Is Your Love by The Bird and The Bee

Life in a Northern Town by Sugarland, Little Big Town, and Jake Owen

I Don't Want to Talk About It by The Indigo Girls

Only You by Joshua Radin

Pure Imagination by Maroon 5

I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) by Blake Stratton

What a Fool Believes by Neri Per Caso

Poker Face by Daughtry

Back to Black by Ronnie Spector

I Will Survive by Cake

The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face by The Stereophonics

Rolling in the Deep by John Legend

Go Your Own Way by Lissie

Winner Takes it All by McFly

What a Wonderful World by Joey Ramone

Careless Whisper by Seether

I Walk the Line by Live

Dear Prudence by Siouxsie and The Banshees

Smooth Criminal by Alien Ant Farm

Who Wants to Live Forever by Breaking Benjamin

Redemption Song by Chris Cornell and Audioslave

Love Me Tender by Chris Isaak and Brandi Carlile

All You Need is Love by The Flaming Lips

Lovesong by Adele

I Love It by Robin Thicke

Billie Jean by The Civil Wars

Across the Universe by The Scorpions

Can't Hold Us by Pentatonix

Wicked Game by James Vincent McMorrow

Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now) by The Postal Service

Jolene by The White Stripes