The Jackson 5

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For the animated TV show, see The Jackson 5ive (TV series).
"The Jacksons" redirects here. For other uses, see The Jacksons (disambiguation).
The Jackson Five
Jackson 5 tv special 1972.JPG
The Jackson 5 in 1972, From left to right: Tito Jackson, Marlon Jackson, Michael Jackson, Jackie Jackson & Jermaine Jackson
Background information
OriginGary, Indiana, United States
Genres
Years active1964–1989, 2001, 2012–present
Labels
Websitethejacksons.live
Members
Past members

The Jackson 5 (later known as The Jacksons) are an American pop band comprising members of the Jackson family. The group was founded in 1964 in Gary, Indiana, by brothers Jackie, Tito and Jermaine with younger brothers Marlon and Michael joining soon after.

After performing in talent shows and clubs on the Chitlin' Circuit, in 1967 The Jackson 5 signed with Steeltown Records and released two singles.[1] In 1969, they left Steeltown Records and signed with Motown, where they achieved 16 top forty singles on the Hot 100. The group left Motown for Epic Records in 1975, with the exception of Jermaine, who was replaced by Randy. At Epic, they released five albums between 1976 and 1981, including the successful albums Destiny (1978) and Triumph (1980) and singles "Enjoy Yourself", "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)" and "Can You Feel It". The brothers also released solo albums, most successfully Michael, whose 1982 album Thriller became the best-selling album in history. In 1983, Jermaine reunited with the band to perform on the Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever TV special. They released the Victory album the following year, followed by an extensive tour, which also featured songs from Michael's solo albums. After the Victory tour, Michael and Marlon Jackson left the group. The remaining four released the poorly received 2300 Jackson Street album in 1989 before being dropped from their label. In 2001, the Jacksons reunited on Michael's 30th anniversary television special. Following the death of Michael Jackson in 2009, the four eldest of the brothers embarked on their Unity Tour in 2012, and planned several major performances for 2017.[2][3]

The Jackson 5 have sold more than 100 million records worldwide making them one of the best-selling bands of all time.[4] They were inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997 and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999. They were among the first black American performers to attain a crossover following, preceded by the Supremes, the Four Tops and the Temptations. The Jackson 5 were also the first group to debut with four consecutive number one hits on the Hot 100 with the songs "I Want You Back", "ABC", "The Love You Save", and "I'll Be There".[5]

History[edit]

Early years[edit]

The five Jackson brothers' interest in music began in Gary, Indiana, a part of the Chicago metropolitan area, bolstered by their father, Joe Jackson. In 1962, Joe caught Tito playing with his guitar after a string broke. Upon fixing the string, threatening punishment, Tito's father had him play and was impressed enough to buy him his own guitar. Along with their father, Tito, Jermaine and Jackie formed their own group, the Jackson Brothers, with a five-year-old Michael playing congas and childhood friends Reynaud Jones and Milford Hite playing keyboards and drums respectively. Marlon, then seven years old, joined on tambourine. In August 1965, before a show at Gary's Tiny Tots Jamboree held on Michael's seventh birthday, Evelyn LaHaie suggested the group rename themselves the Jackson Five Singing Group, later the Jackson Five.

In 1965, the group won a talent show at Gary's Theodore Roosevelt High School, where Jermaine performed several Motown numbers, including the Temptations' "My Girl" and Michael performed Robert Parker's "Barefootin'", winning the talent show. Johnny Jackson and Ronnie Rancifer eventually replaced Hite and Jones. After several more talent show wins, Joe Jackson booked his sons to perform at several respected music venues of the chitlin' circuit, including Chicago's Regal Theater and Harlem's Apollo Theater, winning the talent competitions on both shows in 1967. After they won the Apollo contest on August 13, 1967, singer Gladys Knight sent a tape of the boys' demo to Motown Records, hoping to get them to sign, only to have their tape rejected and sent back to Gary. In November 1967, Joe Jackson signed the group's first contract with Gordon Keith, an owner and producer of Steeltown Records, and the Jackson Five recorded and released two singles, "Big Boy" which was sung by Michael and "We Don't Have to Be Over 21".[1] During early 1968, the group also performed at strip clubs on Joe's behest to earn extra income.

While performing a week-long run of shows at the Regal Theater as the opening act for Bobby Taylor & the Vancouvers, an impressed Taylor sent the Jacksons to Detroit to help with their Motown audition, which was set for July 23 at Motown's headquarters on Woodward Avenue. Following the taped audition, which was sent to CEO Berry Gordy's office in Hollywood, Gordy originally turned them down again, since he had Stevie Wonder in his spotlight, but later changed his mind, and had requested the group to be signed, with final negotiations completed by early 1969, leading to the group to be signed on March 11. Following initial recordings at Detroit's Hitsville USA studio, Berry Gordy sent the Jacksons to Hollywood in July, hiring Suzanne de Passe to become a mentor of the brothers.

Starting in August, the Jackson Five performed as the opening act for the Supremes, whose lead singer Diana Ross was planning to leave for a solo career at the end of the year. After performing at the Daisy in Los Angeles and at the Miss Black America Pageant in New York, the group recorded their first single, "I Want You Back", written by a newly assembled Motown team called the Corporation, which consisted of three composers and songwriters Freddie Perren, Deke Richards and Alphonzo Mizell with Gordy as a fourth partner. In October, their first single for Motown was released and the group promoted it while performing at the Hollywood Palace with Ross hosting. In December, the brothers made their first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. Afterwards, their debut album, Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5, was released that same month.

Jacksonmania[edit]

In January 1970, "I Want You Back" topped the Billboard Hot 100. Led by the Corporation, the Jackson 5 released two more number-one singles, "ABC" and "The Love You Save". A fourth single, "I'll Be There", co-written and produced by Hal Davis, became the band's fourth number-one single, making them the first recording act to have their first four singles reach the top of the Hot 100. All four singles were almost as popular in other countries as they were in the United States. Releasing a succession of four albums in one year, the Jackson 5 replaced the Supremes as Motown's best-selling group. They continued their success with singles such as "Mama's Pearl", "Never Can Say Goodbye" and "Sugar Daddy", giving them a total of seven top ten singles within a two-year period.

As the Jackson Five became Motown's main marketing focus, the label capitalized on the group's youth appeal, licensing dozens of products, including the J5 heart logo located on Johnny Jackson's drum set, the group's album covers, stickers, posters and coloring books, as well as a board game and a Saturday morning cartoon series produced by Rankin/Bass. In view of their lack of covers on otherwise predominantly white teen-oriented magazines including Tiger Beat and Seventeen, a black publication, Right On!, began in 1971 and initially focused heavily on the Jackson 5, with at least one of the five members adorning a single cover between January 1972 and April 1974. In addition, the Jackson 5 appeared in several television specials including Diana Ross' 1971 special, Diana!. Later that September, they starred on their first of two Motown-oriented television specials, Goin' Back to Indiana; their second, The Jackson 5 Show, debuted in November of the following year. During the Vietnam War period, the group was often joined by Bob Hope on USO-benefited performances to support military troops.

In order to continue increasing sales, Motown launched Michael Jackson's solo career in 1971, with the single, "Got to Be There", released in November of that year. Following several top 40 follow-ups, Michael's 1972 song, "Ben", became his first to top the charts. Jermaine was the second to release a solo project; his most successful hit of the period was a cover of the doo-wop song, "Daddy's Home".

Decline[edit]

By 1972, despite Michael and Jermaine's solo successes, the Jackson 5's own records began plummeting on the charts. Partially credited to the changing musical landscape, the Corporation, which had produced most of their hit singles, split up in 1973. Focusing their attention on the emerging disco scene, the brothers recorded the charted song, "Get It Together", followed by their hit, "Dancing Machine", their first to crack the top ten since "Sugar Daddy" nearly three years before. Despite those successes, most of the Jackson 5's follow-ups were not as successful and by 1973, Joe Jackson had grown tired of Motown's uneasiness to continue producing hits for the brothers. Joe began producing a nightclub act around his sons and daughters, first starting in Las Vegas and spreading throughout the states.

By 1975, most of the Jacksons opted out of recording any more music for Motown desiring creative control and royalties. Learning that they were earning only 2.8% of royalties from Motown, Joe Jackson began negotiating to have his boys sign a lucrative contract with another company, settling for Epic Records, which had offered a royalty rate of 20% per record, signing with the company in June 1975. Absent from the deal was Jermaine Jackson, who decided to stay in Motown, followed by his marriage to Berry's daughter Hazel. Randy Jackson formally replaced him. After initially suing them for breach of contract, Motown allowed the group to record for Epic, as long as they changed their name, since the name Jackson 5 was owned by Motown. The brothers renamed themselves the Jacksons.

The Jacksons CBS/Epic Records[edit]

In November 1976, following the debut of the family's weekly variety series, the Jacksons released their self-titled CBS debut under the Philadelphia International subsidiary, produced by Gamble & Huff. Featuring "Enjoy Yourself" and "Show You the Way to Go", the album went gold but failed to generate the sales the brothers had enjoyed while at Motown. A follow-up, Goin' Places, fizzled. Renewing their contract with Epic, the Jacksons were allowed full creative control on their next recording, Destiny, released in December 1978. Featuring their best-selling Epic single to date, "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)", written by Michael and Randy, the album sold over a million copies. Its follow-up, 1980's Triumph, also sold a million copies, spawning hits such as "Lovely One" and "Can You Feel It". In 1981, they released their fifth album, a live album that eventually sold half a million copies. The live album was culled from recordings of performances on their Triumph Tour. In between the releases of Destiny and Triumph, Michael released the best-selling solo effort, Off the Wall. Its success led to rumors of Michael's alleged split from his brothers. After Triumph, Michael worked on his second Epic solo release, which was released in November 1982 as Thriller, which later went on to become the best-selling album of all time, winning eight Grammy Awards including Album of the Year, plus two number one hit singles "Billie Jean", and "Beat It", and three breakthrough MTV music videos "Billie Jean", "Beat It", and 14 minute zombie-themed music video "Thriller".

In March 1983, with Jermaine, the Jacksons performed on Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever, the same show where Michael debuted the moonwalk during a solo performance of "Billie Jean". Following the success of the reunion, all six brothers agreed to record a sixth album for Epic, later released as Victory in 1984. Their biggest-selling album to date, it included their final top ten single, "State of Shock". The song was actually a duet between Michael and Mick Jagger and didn't feature participation from any other Jackson besides Marlon and Jackie who were credited as background vocalists. Most of the album was produced in this way, with each brother essentially recording solo songs. Another hit was the top 20 single "Torture", a duet between Michael and Jermaine, with Jackie singing several parts. In the same year, the brothers participated in a Pepsi Commercial where Michael suffered burns to his scalp due to a pyrotechnic fault, followed by his recovery, he continued filming the commercial. In July 1984, the Jacksons launched their Victory Tour, which was overshadowed by Jackie's leg injury, ticket issues, friction between the brothers, and a shakeup in the promotion and marketing team, initially headed by Don King, who was later fired. Michael announced he was leaving the group after their final performance at Dodger Stadium that December to continue his solo career. The following January, Marlon Jackson also announced he was leaving the group to pursue a solo career. In 1989, five years after their last album, the remaining quartet of Jackie, Tito, Jermaine and Randy released 2300 Jackson Street, which performed badly on the charts. After a brief promotional tour, the band went into hiatus and never recorded another album together.

Later years[edit]

In September 2001, nearly 17 years after their last performance together, all six Jackson brothers reunited for two performances at Madison Square Garden for a 30th anniversary special commemorating Michael's solo career, which aired in November. In early 2009, the four elder brothers began filming a reality show to make their attempt on reuniting the band, later debuting in December 2009 as The Jacksons: A Family Dynasty.[6] During the middle of the project, Michael had announced his concert comeback in London was scheduled on July 13, 2009. Michael died that same year on June 25, putting efforts on halt.

Later in 2009, following the death of brother Michael, the surviving Jacksons recorded background vocals for a previously unreleased song, "This Is It" (the theme for the movie of the same name), which had originally been a demo.[7] The radio-only single was released in October of that same year. The song did not chart on the Billboard Hot 100, but charted at number nineteen on Billboards Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks.[8] "This Is It" returned the Jacksons to the chart. The surviving members of the Jacksons were in talks of planning a reunion concert tour (which was to serve as a tribute to Michael) for 2010, and were in talks in working on their first new studio album in over 20 years.[6][9] However, neither plan was put into action.

The Jacksons: Unity Tour[edit]

In September 2010, Jermaine Jackson held his own "tribute" concert to Michael in Las Vegas. In 2011, Jackie Jackson released a solo single to iTunes, while Jermaine released his first solo album in 21 years, I Wish U Love. Following the release of one solo album, Marlon quit the music business in 1989 and invested in real estate. Randy has not been active in the industry since he disbanded the group Randy & the Gypsys in 1991.

In August 2011, there appeared to be a discord between the brothers concerning a tribute concert dedicated to Michael. While Jackie, Tito and Marlon were present alongside mother Katherine and sister La Toya for a tribute concert in Cardiff at the Millennium Stadium for a press conference concerning the tour, a couple of days after the press conference, both Randy and Jermaine issued a statement denouncing the tribute tour as the date of it occurred around the time of Conrad Murray's manslaughter trial in relation to Michael's death. The show carried on with Jackie, Tito and Marlon performing without Jermaine. In April 2012, Jackie, Tito, Jermaine and Marlon announced that they would reunite for several United States concerts for their Unity Tour. Thirty-eight dates were announced, however, eleven shows in the U.S. were canceled. The tour started at Casino Rama in Orillia, Ontario, Canada on June 20, 2012.[10] Thirty-two additional dates were eventually added, and the tour ended on July 27, 2013 in Atlantic City, United States.

Legacy[edit]

In 1980 the brothers were honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame as the Jacksons. As the Jackson 5, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997 and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999.[11][12] Two of the band's recordings ("ABC" and "I Want You Back") are among the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll, while the latter track also included in the Grammy Hall of Fame.[11][13] On September 8, 2008, the Jacksons were honored as BMI Icons at the annual BMI Urban Awards.[14]

In 1992, Suzanne de Passe, Jermaine Jackson, and Jermaine's then common-law wife Margaret Maldonado, worked with Motown to produce The Jacksons: An American Dream, a five-hour television miniseries broadcast based on the history of the Jackson family in a two-part special on ABC.

Influenced by the Temptations, the Supremes, James Brown, Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers and Sly & the Family Stone, the group eventually served as the inspiration for several generations of boy bands, including New Edition, Menudo, New Kids on the Block, N*SYNC, the Jonas Brothers, Backstreet Boys, One Direction, and many more.

The rise of the Jackson 5 in the 1960s and 1970s coincided with the rise of a very similar musical family, the Osmonds. The Osmonds had risen to fame as regular performers on The Andy Williams Show; Jay Osmond would later note: "Michael had a unique sense of humor about him, and told us he was so tired of watching the Osmonds on The Andy Williams Show. He explained this was something their father had them do, and Michael joked he became really tired of it!"[15] The song "One Bad Apple", written by George Jackson, who had the Jackson Five in mind when he wrote it, was originally presented to Motown Record's Chairman of the Board Berry Gordy for the group to record, but he turned it down.[16] It was then presented to MGM Records for the Osmonds. "One Bad Apple", which the Osmonds recorded in a similar style to the songs of the Jackson 5 at the time, reached number one and began a string of several hits for the Osmonds.[17] Both bands followed a similar career trajectory: a string of several hits as a group, which eventually led to a breakout star (Michael for the Jacksons, Donny for the Osmonds) becoming a solo artist, a little sister not originally part of the group also rising to fame (Janet Jackson and Marie Osmond respectively), and eventual decline as a smaller group in the 1980s. The two groups' members eventually became friends, despite public perception of a rivalry between the two and allegations that the Osmonds, white Mormon brothers from Utah, were an imitation of the black Jackson 5.

Band members[edit]

Main article: List of The Jackson 5 band members
Current members
Former members

Timeline[edit]

Discography[edit]

Main article: The Jackson 5 discography

Tours[edit]

Main article: List of concert tours by Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Steeltown Records - Indiana Local Labels". 45rpmrecords.com. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
  2. ^ Gordy, Berry (July 19, 2009). Eulogy for Michael Jackson (Speech). Los Angeles, California.
  3. ^ Huey, Steve. "The Jackson 5". Macrovision Corp. Retrieved 2008-05-08.
  4. ^ Weiss, Jeff (June 18, 2010). "The Jacksons Hollywood Star Walk". LA Times. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
  5. ^ "The Jackson 5 | Biography & History | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 2017-05-02.
  6. ^ a b Mike Hale (2009-12-11). "No Longer One for All, but Still All From One". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-03-06.
  7. ^ "New Michael Jackson song, 'This Is It', premieres online". Rolling Stones. October 12, 2009. Retrieved March 6, 2010.
  8. ^ Gary Trust (2009-10-15). "Chart Beat Thursday: Michael Buble, Michael Jackson, Kiss". Billboard. Retrieved 2010-03-06.
  9. ^ Bill Zwecker (2010-02-24). "J-Lo spins record discord". Chicago Sun-Times. Sun-Times Media, LLC. Archived from the original on 2010-02-28. Retrieved 2010-03-06.
  10. ^ Stevenson, Jane (June 21, 2012). "Casino Rama, Rama Ont. June 20, 2012". Archived from the original on January 15, 2013. Retrieved July 2, 2012.
  11. ^ a b George, p. 50–51
  12. ^ "Music muse". Erie Times-News. May 6, 1999. Retrieved August 25, 2009.
  13. ^ "500 songs that shaped rock". The Denver Post. September 3, 1995. Retrieved August 25, 2009.
  14. ^ "BMI Honors The Jacksons, T-Pain and Many More at Urban Awards in Los Angeles". bmi.com. Retrieved 2010-10-15.
  15. ^ "Jay Osmond Official Website". Jayosmond.com. Archived from the original on 2010-11-24. Retrieved 2010-06-25.
  16. ^ "One Bad Apple by The Osmonds". Songfacts.com. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
  17. ^ "The Osmonds - Hot 100 History". Billboard.com. Billboard. March 1, 2018. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
  18. ^ Grant, p. 37
  19. ^ Grant, p. 40
  20. ^ Grant, p. 42
  21. ^ Grant, p. 55
  22. ^ Grant, p. 83

References[edit]

External links[edit]

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