Michael Jackson....The One....True....King of Pop....
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Michael Jackson, The Jackson Five, Janet Jackson, 3-T, Dealz, Motown Artists
Michael Jackson.....The One True King of Pop.....
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Michael Jackson.....The One True King of Pop.....
The Jackson Five and Motown...
Five of the Jackson brothers, Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon and Michael, formed the Jackson 5, an R&B musical act, in the mid 1960s. With Michael as the lead singer, the group built up a following and a buzz by playing at clubs and bars throughout the Midwest, and even winning an Amateur Night competition at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York. The Jackson 5 signed their first recording contract with the local Steeltown label in 1967, and had a regional hit with "Big Boy" in 1968. The Jackson 5 were discovered by both Gladys Knight & the Pips and Bobby Taylor & the Vancouvers, who brought them to Motown Records in 1968. Label head Berry Gordy bought out the Jackson 5's Steeltown contract and signed the group to Motown in March 1969. Gordy then moved the Jackson family to Los Angeles, California, and proceeded to turn them into international stars. In fall 1969, The Jackson 5 were presented to the public by Diana Ross and were officially launched as the next big Motown act. The group's first four singles, "I Want You Back" from 1969, and "ABC", "The Love You Save", and "I'll Be There" from 1970 all became #1 hits in the US. Later hits included "Mama's Pearl" & "Never Can Say Goodbye" (1971), "Lookin' Through the Windows" (1972), "Get It Together" (1973) and "Dancing Machine" (1974). Most of the Jackson 5 hits were produced by The Corporation,,, a collective of songwriters and record producers including Gordy, Freddie Perren, Alphonzo Mizell, and Deke Richards. With Motown Records, the Jackson 5 made 14 albums, and Michael also recorded four albums as a solo artist. Among Michael's early solo hits were "Got to Be There" (1971, his solo debut); and "Rockin' Robin", "I Wanna Be Where You Are", and the #1 hit "Ben" (all 1972).
The Jacksons and Epic Records In 1976, the Jackson brothers signed a deal with CBS Records, first joining the Philadelphia International division and later moving over to Epic Records. The new deal with CBS provided more creative freedom and larger royalties that they were not allowed at Motown. By leaving Motown behind, they lost the rights to use the "Jackson 5" name and logo. Additionally Jermaine, who had married Berry Gordy's daughter Hazel, opted to remain at Motown for a full-time solo career. Now known as The Jacksons, and featuring younger brother Randy in Jermaine's place, the brothers continued their successful career, touring internationally and releasing 6 albums between 1976 and 1984. Hits during this period included "Enjoy Yourself" & "Show You The Way To Go" (1976), "Find Me A Girl" (1977), "Blame It On The Boogie" (1978), "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)" (1979), "Can You Feel It" & "Heartbreak Hotel" (1980) and "Torture" & "State of Shock" (1984).
Jackson starred in the film The Wiz alongside mentor Diana Ross in 1978. It was here that he met Quincy Jones, the music producer for The Wiz, who would later produce Michael's three most acclaimed solo albums, Off the Wall, Thriller and Bad. Off the Wall, released in 1979, produced a record four Top 10 hits and sold seven million copies in the United States. Solo career Off The Wall to Thriller Michael Jackson's 1979 album Off the Wall was a worldwide hit and spawned the #1 hit singles and music videos "Rock With You" and "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough". A ballad, "She's Out Of My Life" reached the top 10 in 1980. In the 1980s, Jackson released a progression of solo albums of slickly-produced synthesizer-heavy pop. In what was perhaps the "Golden Age" of the video clip, some of Jackson's videos were virtually short films with considerable plots, impressive special effects, and featuring Jackson's distinctive dance style. His Thriller album was released in 1982, produced 7 Top 10 hit singles, broke records and quickly became the world's best selling album ever. The "Billie Jean" music video, released to promote Thriller, became the first video by a black artist to be aired on MTV, and the "Thriller" short film, included with The Making of Michael Jackson's Thriller, became the world's best selling home video at the time. "Billie Jean" and "Thriller", as well as "Beat It", were the three music videos released from the album, and have since become three of MTV's most significant videos in history, placing highly on several MTV and VH1 countdowns, and receiving substantial airplay on MTV2 to this day. The album's other singles were "Human Nature" and "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)", both of which were also hits, despite neither having music videos. While performing "Billie Jean" during the Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever special on television on May 16, 1983, Jackson publicly performed the moonwalk (later his signature dance move) for the first time, stunning TV audiences. In January 1984 at the American Music Awards, Jackson was nominated for 9 awards and won a record 8 awards (tied by Whitney Houston's The Bodyguard soundtrack in 1994). In February at the Grammy Awards Jackson was nominated for 12 awards and won a record-breaking 8 awards (now equaled by Carlos Santana's 1999 Supernatural) – 7 for Thriller and 1 for his narrative on The E.T. Storybook. In May, Thriller was certified by the Guinness Book of Records as the biggest selling popular music album of all time. In addition in 1984, he was also awarded the H. Claude Hodson Medal of Freedom at the NAACP Image Awards, feted at the White House by President Ronald Reagan with the Presidential Special Achievement Award and in November was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. As of 2005, Thriller is certified 27x Platinum. "We are the World" to Dangerous Inspired by Band Aid, he was instrumental in organizing the single "We Are the World" (co-written with Lionel Richie) in 1985. "We Are the World" was sung by 44 different singers including Harry Belafonte, Cyndi Lauper, Diana Ross, Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder and sold 7 million copies in the United States, becoming the best selling single of all time (eclipsed by Elton John's "Candle In The Wind" in 1997), to raise money for USA for Africa – a charity working to raise awareness about and help starving people in Africa. Jackson starred in the George Lucas/Francis Ford Coppola 3-D film Captain Eo in 1986, which was shown in Disney theme parks until 1998. Minute for minute it was the most expensive film ever produced at the time, costing an estimated US $17 million to make. The film contained the songs "We Are Here To Change The World" and "Another Part Of Me". In 1987, Jackson released Bad and began his first solo world tour. He performed to sold out audiences at each concert. The following year Jackson released a movie entitled "Moonwalker" and an autobiography entitled Moon Walk. Bad was another smash success for Jackson though not as big of a success as Thriller was. Its singles and music videos "I Just Can't Stop Loving You", "Bad", "The Way You Make Me Feel", "Man In The Mirror", "Dirty Diana", "Another Part Of Me", "Smooth Criminal" and "Leave Me Alone" provided Jackson with another string of hits. The album's only relatively unsuccessful single, "Liberian Girl", remains to this day as one of Jackson's least seen music videos and least heard singles. Nonetheless, he made history by becoming the first artist to generate 6 number one singles off of one album. Of the 7 singles released in the USA, the first 5 went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, "Another Part Of Me" peaked at #11 (#1 on Billboard's R&B charts) and "Smooth Criminal" went to #7. (Wickipedia)
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