2. From the Beginning
• In 1964, Michael and Marlon joined the Jackson Brothers—a band
formed by brothers Jackie, Tito, and Jermaine—as backup musicians
playing congas and tambourine. Jackson later began performing backup
vocals and dancing. When he was eight, Jackson began sharing the lead
vocals with his older brother Jermaine, and the group's name was
changed to The Jackson 5.
• The Jackson 5 recorded several songs, including "Big Boy", for the local
record label Steeltown in 1967, before signing with Motown Records in
1968.
• The Jackson 5 "became a cutting-edge example of black crossover
artists... five working-class black boys with afros and bell bottoms, and
they really didn't have to trade any of that stuff in order to become
mainstream stars."
3. King of pop
• Michael Jackson, hoped to make the world a better place. As a celebrity
he was more involved with charity work, then any other celebrity. Some
my say his goal to make the world a better place influenced his singing
career; for example, ‘black and white’, ‘Earth song’ etc. You could say
that, this was his ideology; to make kids and people happy around the
world with his songs, was what he wanted the most out of life.
• Not only was his song influential around the world, but also his fashion
and his dance moves. His signature moon walk that is still recognised
around the globe; everybody wanted to move like him, but if they
couldn’t, they wanted to dress like him and look like him. One of the
things that I recognised in Michael Jacksons fashion, which never
changed throughout his career, was the ‘White sock’, ‘black shiny, pointy
shoes’ and ‘Ankle swingers’. This, you could say, was his concept which
made him more popular.
4. Motown
• Jackson Brothers toured the Midwest extensively from 1966
to 1968, frequently performing at a string of black clubs
known as the "chitlin' circuit", where they often opened
stripteases and other adult acts. In 1966, they won a major
local talent show with renditions of Motown hits and James
Brown's "I Got You ( or I Feel Good)", led by Michael.
• After transforming in to the Jackson 5, the group's sales
began declining in 1973, and the band members chafed
under Motown's strict refusal to allow them creative control
or input. Although they scored several top 40 hits, including
the top 5 disco single "Dancing Machine" and the top 20 hit
"I Am Love", the Jackson 5 left Motown in 1975.
5. Epic
• In June 1975, the Jackson 5 signed with Epic Records, a subsidiary of CBS
Records and renamed themselves the Jacksons. They continued to tour
internationally, releasing six more albums between 1976 and 1984,
during which Michael was the lead songwriter, writing hits such as
"Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)", "This Place Hotel", and "Can
You Feel It".
• Jones and Jackson produced the Off the Wall album together.
Songwriters for the album included Jackson, Rod Temperton, Stevie
Wonder, and Paul McCartney. Released in 1979, it was the first solo
album to generate four U.S. top 10 hits, including the chart-topping
singles "Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough" and "Rock with You".
• The move to epic gained Jackson three awards in 1980 at the American
Music Awards for his solo efforts: Favorite Soul/R&B Album, Favorite
Soul/R&B Male Artist, and Favorite Soul/R&B Single for "Don't Stop 'Til
You Get Enough". That year, he also won Billboard Year-End for Top Black
Artist and Top Black Album and a Grammy Award for Best Male R&B
Vocal Performance, also for "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough".
6. Bad
• Concept: "'Bad' is a song about the street. It's about this kid from a bad
neighbourhood who gets to go away to a private school. He comes back to the
old neighbourhood when he's on a break from school and the kids from the
neighbourhood start giving him trouble. He sings, 'I'm bad, you're bad, who's
bad, who's the best?' He's saying when you're strong and good, then you're bad.“
• Jackson said that he had gotten the idea for the song from a true story that he
had read about in Time or Newsweek magazine. He stated that the story said
that a student that went to school in upstate New York, who was "from the
ghetto", had tried to make something of his life and planned to leave all of his
friends behind when he returned from Thanksgiving break. the student's friends'
jealousy resulted in them killing the student.
• Some critics noted that the song helped Jackson's image become more edgy
during the Bad-era. Erlewine (critic) also noted that the track's "authority and
boasting helped to humanize" Jackson and "changed his image", remarking that
it was "fun hearing him talking trash and being his own bigger booster".
http://youtu.be/dsUXAEzaC3Q
7. Thriller
• Michael Jackson's Thriller is a 13-minute-and-43-second music video for the song
of the same name released on December 2, 1983 and directed by John Landis,
who also co-wrote the screenplay with Michael Jackson.
• Voted as the most influential pop music video of all time, Thriller proved to have
a profound effect on popular culture and was named "a watershed moment for
the [music] industry” for its unprecedented merging of filmmaking and music.
"Thriller" was the third and final video for the Thriller album. The red jacket that
Jackson wore was designed by John Landis' wife Deborah Landis to make him
appear more "virile".
• Kaufman noted that the music video was the "mini-movie that revolutionized
music videos" and "cemented Jackson's status as one of the most ambitious,
innovative pop stars of all time".
• The Los Angeles Times commented that,"Thriller's" phenomenal success led to a
breaking down of traditional racial barriers on FM radio at the time. New York's
WPLJ, a "white" station, played Jackson's "Beat It" because of Eddie Van Halen's
appearance on it. The song caused a wave of protests from some listeners who
didn't want "black" music on their station. MTV also had a reputation for
favoring white performers at the time, and its heavy rotation of Jackson videos
helped alleviate the criticism.
http://youtu.be/sOnqjkJTMaA
8. Sexual abuse
• In the summer of 1993, Jackson was accused of child sexual abuse by a 13-year-
old boy named Jordan Chandler and his father, Dr. Evan Chandler, a dentist. The
Chandler family demanded payment from Jackson, and the singer initially
refused. Jordan Chandler eventually told the police that Jackson had sexually
abused him. Dr. Chandler was tape-recorded discussing his intention to pursue
charges, saying, "If I go through with this, I win big-time. There's no way I lose. I
will get everything I want and they will be destroyed forever ... Michael's career
will be over". Jordan's mother was, however, adamant that there had been no
wrongdoing on Jackson's part. Jackson later used the recording to argue that he
was the victim of a jealous father whose only goal was to extort money from the
singer.
• In 2003 Jackson was seen holding hands and discussing sleeping arrangements
with a young boy. As soon as the documentary aired, the Santa Barbara county
attorney's office began a criminal investigation. Jackson was arrested in
November 2003, and was charged with seven counts of child molestation and two
counts of administering an intoxicating agent in relation to the 13 year old boy
shown in the film. Jackson denied the allegations, saying the sleepovers were not
sexual in nature.
