Jackson 5
In the words of Motown founder Berry Gordy, the Jackson 5 were “the last big stars to come rolling off my assembly line.” After performing for much of the decade in and around their native Indiana, the Jackson 5 found their way to Detroit’s hitmaking Motown Records at the tail end of the Sixties. Led by a pre-teen Michael Jackson — who was joined by brothers Jermaine, Tito, Marlon and Jackie — the Jackson 5 were young, fresh and full of energy. As Billboard magazine noted, “The five young brothers were the symbol of a new era at Motown.”
The group made music-business history when their first four Motown singles shot to Number One in 1970. Released over a nine-month period, that string of 45s – "I Want You Back,” “ABC,” “The Love You Save” and “I’ll Be There" – endeared the hard-working Jacksons to a public that found their soulful singing and tight choreography an entertaining diversion from all the social and political cataclysms weighing upon the country. Like all of Motown’s acts, the Jackson 5’s popularity transcended race. Everyone loved the Jackson 5, and the cherubic, charismatic Michael was especially captivating. The reasons for their out-of-the-box success boiled down to a simple truth: “The singing and the songs make us happy,” wrote soul-music biographer David Ritz. “They are moments of incandescent beauty – young, wildly optimistic.”
Source: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
In the words of Motown founder Berry Gordy, the Jackson 5 were “the last big stars to come rolling off my assembly line.” After performing for much of the decade in and around their native Indiana, the Jackson 5 found their way to Detroit’s hitmaking Motown Records at the tail end of the Sixties. Led by a pre-teen Michael Jackson — who was joined by brothers Jermaine, Tito, Marlon and Jackie — the Jackson 5 were young, fresh and full of energy. As Billboard magazine noted, “The five young brothers were the symbol of a new era at Motown.”
The group made music-business history when their first four Motown singles shot to Number One in 1970. Released over a nine-month period, that string of 45s – "I Want You Back,” “ABC,” “The Love You Save” and “I’ll Be There" – endeared the hard-working Jacksons to a public that found their soulful singing and tight choreography an entertaining diversion from all the social and political cataclysms weighing upon the country. Like all of Motown’s acts, the Jackson 5’s popularity transcended race. Everyone loved the Jackson 5, and the cherubic, charismatic Michael was especially captivating. The reasons for their out-of-the-box success boiled down to a simple truth: “The singing and the songs make us happy,” wrote soul-music biographer David Ritz. “They are moments of incandescent beauty – young, wildly optimistic.”
Source: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame