1963 to 1976

In 1963, when Michael was in first grade, he attended, for the first time, a public gathering in a program arranged by the school (Garrett Elementary School in Gary). He wore black pants and a white T-shirt, and sang the song “Climb Every Mountain” from the film Sound Of Music [Sobs and smiles]. The audience’s reaction was extremely intense.

Michael says: ”When I finished the song, the crowd’s reaction was so overwhelming that I didn’t know what I was supposed to do. The sound of people cheering was very loud, and they were smiling. Some of them were standing. My teachers were crying, and I truly couldn’t believe it. I had made all of them happy. It was an incredible feeling. I was a little confused too, because I didn’t think I had done anything special. I had just sung the way I sang every night at home. When you perform, you don’t realize what you look like or what special effect you leave on the audience. You just open your mouth and sing.“

 Joseph would take the group to the cafés where he himself had performed with the Falcons. He prepared the group for competitions and paid close attention to their appearance. The boys, every day after returning from school, practiced under the harsh, watchful gaze of their strict father. They were instructed to return home immediately after finishing class, and thus they did not attend any of the school’s extracurricular activities. Because they had to focus all their energy on music. On weekends, they spent their time going to different clubs and performing there. Often, early on Monday morning, they would return home to get ready for that day’s classes. As a result of this discipline, the group members gradually became like professional showmen.

Michael says about it: ”We performed for him, and he would find fault with us. If you messed up, you’d get beaten. Sometimes with a belt, sometimes with a whip. My father really made it tough on us.“

At six years old, Michael and the Jackson Five won many awards for the various shows or programs they performed at night as amateurs, as a way to test themselves.

[Competitions]

Mr. Keith, the owner of Steel Tone, a local recording studio, gave the Jackson Five their first opportunity. The song “Big Boy” was released in 1968. The song was even played on the local Gary radio, and the Jackson Five became very famous in their neighborhood.

[The single “Big Boy”] In July 1968, after seeing the group perform in Chicago, Bobby Taylor called Seltzer, the head of Motown’s office, and told him how wonderful and talented the boys were. Seltzer instructed him to bring the boys with him to Detroit. Bobby Taylor brought them to Motown and put them in Susan De Passe’s hands so she could test them.

Bry Gentry, the owner of Motown, describes his first meeting with the Jackson Five in his autobiography titled “To Be Loved: The Music, The Magic, The Memories Of Motown” like this: ”When I look back at it today, I can still recall the power that all of us felt in the way we performed those five boys from Gary that July morning. We were standing there to test their performance. Michael, nine years old, Marlon, eleven, Jermaine, fourteen, Tito, fifteen, and Jackie, seventeen, had come to sign a contract with Motown. All of them danced, sang, and played music like conquerors. When the group leader (Michael) sang, I felt that he had been here before. He sang as if he understood the lyrics and grasped their meaning. It was as if he had lived with the song. It was truly amazing. I never said out loud that I was going to sign a contract with them because it was completely obvious. When one of the boys asked me: ”Well, Mr. Gentry, does that mean you’re signing a contract with us?“

 Michael smiled, as if to say ”Of course he’s signing a contract with us.“ They performed “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg” by The Temptations, and all of them danced like David Ruffins, but in their own unique way. They performed “I Wish It Would Rain” and “Tobacco Road” as if those songs had been written for them. In the end, little Michael performed “I Got The Feeling,” one of James Brown’s songs. Surely James Brown himself would have been proud of his dazzling footwork. This nine-year-old boy knew enough about James Brown that even caught my attention. He sang his song with such feeling, inspiration, and pain and suffering that it was as if he had experienced everything he was singing about. Between the songs, he kept staring at me the whole time, as if he were reading my thoughts. “ Two days later, in the winter of 1968, the Jackson brothers achieved something they had worked very hard for. Motown signed them to a contract. Berry Gentry promised them: ”Your first song will be number one. Your second and third songs will be the same. Three number-one songs lined up one after another. You’ll enter the best-seller charts. Just like Diana Ross and The Supremes did.“ When Berry Gentry moved from Detroit to California, all the big Motown stars followed him. The Jackson family did as well. Susan De Passe, who worked for Motown, had a huge influence on the life of the Jackson family. And it was Susan De Passe who, when the Jackson family moved to Los Angeles, gave the children religious instructions. She was also the executive manager of the Jackson Five.

[Susan — Michael — Berry] were the individuals who, along with Franky Preen, Bobby Taylor, and Dick Richards, together with Hal Davis and Fonce Mizell, were the team members who wrote and produced the Jackson Five’s first songs. This team was called The Corporation. When the song “I Want You Back” entered the market in November 1969, during six weeks, two million copies were sold and it became number one. Their next song, titled “ABC,” was released in March 1970 and sold two million copies in three weeks. When “The Love You Save,” the group’s third song, became number one in June 1970, the promise Berry Gentry had given the group came true. “HollyWood Palace” was the Jackson Five’s first major television show. The Saturday Night show was hosted by Diana Ross. They performed “I Want You Back” live. Although the Jackson Five’s first television appearance had happened in August 1969, on the Miss Black America Pageant program. On that show, they performed “It’s Yor Thing.” “I’ll Be There” was the song that cleared all obstacles in the way of the Jackson Five. Michael says: ”This song announced to everyone that the Jackson Five is here to stay and keep going.“ The song remained at the top of the charts for five weeks.

 The Jackson Five was the first group whose four songs became number one one after another. Regardless of the sweet sound and excitement in Michael’s behavior, his special childish charm made him beloved by people’s hearts who wanted to hug him. The busy touring days of the Jackson Five’s big tour began in the fall of 1970. In 1971, when the song “Never Can Say Goodbye” had become very popular among people, the group held concerts in forty-five cities during ninety days of summer. This means that Michael and his brothers, on average, performed in a concert every other day. In that same year, the number increased to ninety-five cities.

[Tour] During these trips, Rose Fine, their private teacher, also traveled with them to make sure they reached their lessons. Michael’s first solo single, titled “Got To Be There,” was released in the fall of 1971. That same year, the cartoon show “The Jackson 5’s Saturday Morning” aired on television networks.

[The Jackson Five cartoon show] When Michael was only thirteen years old, he received a Golden Globe award for his performances, and later, for the first time, he was nominated for an Academy Award. Michael was growing day by day. He said about it: ”When I turned fourteen, my appearance changed completely... Changing my skin was an experience that left effects in my subconscious without me even realizing it. I became very shy. I was embarrassed to meet people. Because my appearance had gotten so bad. It really seemed to me that the more I stared into the mirror, the more pimples appeared on my face. My appearance really upset me. But in the end, everything changed. I no longer felt different about myself. I had learned how to change the way I thought and feel better about myself. Most importantly, I changed my diet. And that was the key to solving the problem.“ In 1972, by reading the song from the film Ben, Michael entered the world of filmmaking seriously for the first time. The song became number one and is still one of Michael’s favorite songs. When “Ben” was released, the Jackson brothers knew they would travel all over the world. In 1972, they experienced their first overseas tour by traveling to England.

[Meeting the Queen of England] Michael: ”When we were on tour in Europe for the first time, we had already gone through three years of success. And to satisfy the kids who followed our music, as well as the Queen of England whom we met during a royal performance, we had gained enough experiences. England was a launching platform for us. It was different from anywhere else we had been. The farther we got from home, the more interesting and strange the world became. We saw the wonderful museums of Paris and the beautiful mountains of Switzerland. Traveling through Europe taught us lessons that introduced us to the roots of Western culture. And at the same time, it was a kind of preparation for seeing Asian countries that had more spirituality.“ Australia and New Zealand were the next stops for the Jackson brothers. People in those countries spoke English. But some of them still lived in tribal ways in areas far from the cities. Michael: ”They visited us like their own brothers and welcomed us, even though they didn’t understand our language. If until then I needed proof that all human beings are brothers, then I certainly got that proof during the tour in those regions.“ The Jackson Five released “Dancing Machine” following the songs of that era that were playing in discos. Michael: ”When this song was released in 1974, I was determined to choreograph a dance that would raise the value of the song and make its performance more exciting. And I hoped that watching my performance would be even more thrilling for others. So when we performed “Dancing Machine” at the Soul Train ceremony, which was broadcast on television; I did a street dance model called Robot. This performance taught me a lesson about the impact that television can have on public opinion. “Dancing Machine” climbed to the top of the charts overnight, and within a few days it seemed that all the children in the United States were doing the same Robot dance. I had never seen anything like it.“

[Late 70s] Their problems with Motown began around 1974. When the Jackson brothers told Motown that they wanted to write and produce their own songs, because they didn’t like the musical style Motown produced for them. Michael: ”It was 1972, when I was fourteen. They asked me to sing in a particular way, and I knew they were wrong. No matter how old you are, if you know you have something to say, people should listen to you.“ Motown not only didn’t fulfill their request, but also forbade the brothers from even making such a request. Michael: ”I was really discouraged and I came away fed up with everything Motown produced for us. When I feel that something isn’t right, I have to say it very clearly and openly to everyone. I know that many people don’t see me as a strong, determined person, and that’s only because they don’t know me. Eventually, a time came when my brothers and I felt very bad about Motown, but none of us said anything. My father also didn’t say anything. So the responsibility of arranging a meeting with Berry Gentry and talking to him was put on me. My mission was to tell Berry Gentry: ”We — the Jackson Five — have decided to leave Motown.“ I went to see him. We faced each other. And this was one of the most difficult things I had done up to that point. If I had been the only person in the group who felt dissatisfied, I might never have said anything about it. But everyone was dissatisfied, and we had talked about it at home so much that it made me go to him and tell him how we felt. I told him I was dissatisfied. I knew that the time to change things had come. We followed our instincts, and when we decided to start our work with another company, we succeeded.“ On May 28, 1975, the Jackson Five signed a contract with Epic (Epic _ CBS). The contract came to fruition in March 1976. Jermaine, who had become Berry Gentry’s son-in-law, decided to stay with Motown because his position was more complicated than the others. When Jermaine left the group, Marlon got the chance to fill his place in the group. Randy officially took Michael’s previous spot as the banjo player and became the youngest member of the group. When the group’s contract with Motown ended, Motown told them that the group name belonged to the company, and that if they left Motown, they couldn’t use that name. And that was a shock for them. So from then on, they changed the group name to the Jacksons.

[Randy’s first appearance in the Jacksons]