Michael Joseph Jackson is born in Gary, Ind., the seventh child of Joe and Katherine Jackson. Joe, who performs in a band called the Falcons, encourages his sons to form a group themselves. From an early age it is clear that Michael is the most talented sibling. At four, he becomes lead singer of the band, which initially plays shows under the name the Ripple and the Waves plus Michael.
Jackson and his brothers sign with Berry Gordy's Motown and are taken under the wing of the company's star Diana Ross (the newly rechristened act's first album will be called Diana Ross Presents The Jackson 5). Gordy informs journalists that Jackson is 8 years old (he's actually two years older) to make him appear even more precociously talented. ''Berry Gordy called and said, 'We signed this new act,''' says Shelley Berger, who managed the young group. ''So I go to the studio, and there's these five kids. Michael just started, and I almost fell down. I said to myself, 'Oh my God, this is Sammy Davis.' It was electric. A 9-year-old kid. I mean, he wasn't a kid. This was an adult at 9 years old.''
The band's first Motown single, ''I Want You Back,'' is a No. 1 hit and shifts more than two million copies. Their next song, ''ABC,'' sells even more and also tops the charts, as does their third 45, ''The Love You Save.'' ''Michael was something special even then,'' says Otis Williams, a singer with Motown legends the Temptations. ''I listened to their version of the Miracles' 'Who's Loving You' and Michael did a riff at the end, the little minor notes, and all that. I said, 'Now, wait a minute. You would expect that from Sam Cooke or Jackie Wilson. But not a little kid.''' Says Berger, ''A star was born out of the first three singles — not a star, a superstar.''
Jackson releases the single ''Ben.'' The song is from the film of the same name about the friendship between a boy and a rat. While the subject matter may be strange — though not for Jackson, who had kept rodents as pets — ''Ben'' is the singer's first solo No. 1. ''I went to New York, out to the Westbury Music Fair, and I saw them perform,'' says Ron Alexenburg, a record-company executive who would later sign the Jacksons to CBS. ''They were still on Motown at the time. I was just terribly impressed. When Michael sang 'Ben,' which was about a rat, I said, 'Anybody who can have a song like that and have it go No. 1, I believe has a big career.' And I was right.''
The brothers leave Gordy's label and sign with CBS. In part, the split with Motown is caused by poor sales of Jackson's fourth solo album, Forever Michael, which peaks at a lowly 101. ''This was a chance for Joe Jackson to gain control back of the group, which he had lost,'' says Berger. ''When their contract was finally up, Joe had his chance to get control of the group. The last place he was going to stay was at Motown.'' Says Alexenburg, ''It was everyone but Jermaine. Jermaine was at the time I believe married to Berry Gordy's daughter, and he didn't want any part of it. Or he was told not to have any part of it.'' [laughs]
The singer stars as the Scarecrow in The Wiz, a reworking of The Wizard of Oz that also features Diana Ross as Dorothy. The film is not a commercial success, but it introduces Jackson to producer Quincy Jones, who is the film's musical director. Jones will produce Jackson's next three albums.
Jackson's fifth album is released the same month he turns 21 and is easily the most successful solo collection of his career up to that point. The Quincy Jones-produced record yields no fewer than four top ten singles: ''Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough,'' ''Rock With You,'' ''Off the Wall,'' and ''She's Out of My Life.'' ''We went back a long time,'' says songwriter Carole Bayer Sager, a longtime friend of Jackson who wrote Off The Wall track ''It's the Falling in Love.'' ''I think it began when he helped me with an album I was doing with Burt Bacharach. We had so many mutual friends. We would spend time together through the years with Elizabeth Taylor and other friends. I called her yesterday, she was so devastated she couldn't even speak. She just sobbed, sobbed, sobbed.''
The singer's Off The Wall follow-up is again overseen by Quincy Jones, who, prior to the album's release, cautions Jackson that it is unlikely to match the commercial success of its predecessor. Lead single ''The Girl Is Mine'' — a collaboration with Paul McCartney — doesn't top the charts. But ''Beat It'' and ''Billie Jean'' are both No. 1s. And the singles keep coming: ''Wanna Be Startin' Somethin','' ''Human Nature,'' ''PYT''... ''I put the camera on my shoulder, and as I tracked back along that street he did those twists and turns and up on his toes,'' says Steve Barron, who directed the ''Beat It'' clip. ''You just knew in that moment this was going to be a whole different level of extraordinary, beyond anything we'd seen before.''
Jackson performs a very special dance step during his performance of ''Billie Jean'' on a TV special to commemorate Motown's 25th anniversary. ''The Four Tops and the Temps did our little segment and everyone was going crazy,'' says the Temptations' Otis Williams. ''But when Michael went into 'Billie Jean' and that moonwalk, he stole the show.'' '''Billie Jean,' was a hit for CBS, not Motown,'' recalls Rick Ludwin, the NBC executive responsible for the Motown 25 special. ''Nonetheless, you throw out all those rules. That moment was just — I wish I could think of a better word than electrifying. It was magical. And the crowd went nuts. He was a giant star, but that put him in the stratosphere.''
DECEMBER 1983: MTV debuts the Thriller video
Director John Landis spends an outlandish-for-the-times $600,000 making the horror-themed clip for the title track from Thriller, the seventh single to be released off the album. That proves a wise investment when sales of Thriller triple after MTV screens the video. ''I was lucky enough to know and work with Michael Jackson in his prime,'' Landis said in a statement issued after Jackson's death. ''Michael was an extraordinary talent and a truly great international star. He had a troubled and complicated life and despite his gifts, remains a tragic figure.''
In the course of shooting a Pepsi ad with this brothers, Jackson suffers second-degree burns on his head when a flash bomb sets his hair on fire.
Jackson reunites with his brothers for the Victory album, and they then embark on an extremely lucrative Victory tour, which is put together by boxing promoter Don King.
A small army of music stars, including Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, Bob Dylan, Bette Midler, Huey Lewis, Lionel Richie, and Jackson, gather at A&M studios in Los Angeles to record the charity single ''We Are The World,'' written by Richie and Jackson. ''I stood right next to him, because I had the line right after he did,'' says Lewis. ''We had to share a position there for a couple hours. And we chatted. He said lots of nice things about my songs, and he knew our stuff, and he was just sweet, sweet, sweet.''
Jackson purchases the U.K. company ATV music, which controls the publishing of a vast number of songs, including the Beatles' back catalog. The move angers Jackson's former collaborator Paul McCartney, who had lectured the younger star on the lucrative nature of the song-publishing industry.
Jackson gets a new friend: a chimp called Bubbles, which he acquires from a cancer laboratory.
The Jackson-starring 3-D fantasy movie Captain EO debuts at the Epcot Center and Disneyland. The film is directed by Godfather auteur Francis Ford Coppola. ''There was this one big move at the beginning where we'd bring our arms out; it looked like a karate kind of move,'' says dancer/choreographer Marlene Lang Clayman, who appeared in Captain EO. ''I literally nailed Michael in the head and he fell to the ground. I was like, 'Oh God, I'm fired.' He just said, 'You're strong' and laughed. It was electrifying, the energy you felt off of him. He gave 100 percent, every time.''
Although Bad sells less than Thriller, it still shifts around 30 million units worldwide and is the first album ever to feature five No. 1 hits: ''I Just Can't Stop Loving You,'' ''Bad,'' ''The Way You Make Me Feel,'' ''Man in the Mirror,'' and ''Dirty Diana.'' The video for the title track is directed by Martin Scorsese. ''Michael Jackson was extraordinary,'' Scorsese said in a statement after Jackson's death. ''When we worked together on 'Bad,' I was in awe of his absolute mastery of movement on the one hand, and of the music on the other. He was wonderful to work with, an absolute professional at all times, and — it really goes without saying — a true artist. It will be a while before I can get used to the idea that he's no longer with us.''
4.4 million people see Jackson on his record-breaking, 123-date worldwide trek in support of Bad. The tour eventually grosses more than $100 million and concludes in Los Angeles with a show attended by Jane Fonda, Elizabeth Taylor, Phil Collins, and Tiffany. ''I'm sure it's what it must have been like when the Beatles were on stage,'' says Sheryl Crow, who was a back-up singer on the tour. ''Tens of thousands of people screaming. All ages. People in their 40s and 50s, and young kids, and teenagers. Screaming and crying the whole time. And outside his hotel room, people waiting for him to come out, waiting to get a glimpse of his glove. Just crazy rabid fans. And he delivered. He delivered every night.''
Jackson buys an estate called Sycamore Ranch in the Santa Ynez Valley, which he renames Neverland. The singer transforms his new 2,7000-acre home into a fantastical fiefdom complete with a zoo, a Ferris wheel, and bumper cars.
In his autobiography, Jackson claims that when he was a child his father beat him with a belt when he messed up a song. The tome is dedicated to dance legend Fred Astaire.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment