by Ann Moses, New Musical Express, 7 November 1970
OUTSIDE THEIR back window, the lights from the steel mill flashed as the molten metal poured into the waiting molds, while the incinerators belched out more black soot. It was snowing. The combination of soot and snow made the air a thick grey haze.
Inside, things were not grey, but bright and happy as five youngsters joyfully sang along to the Temptations’ latest song blasting out from the radio. These are the thoughts that the Jackson Five’s memories of their days growing up in Gary, Indiana. They are thankful for the music that took them out of the ghetto.
Music has always been a part of the Jackson family life. Their father, Joe Jackson, had been a guitar player in his youth and he often taught the boys songs on his guitar. The three older boys, Jackie, Tito and Jermaine were constantly singing along with the Supremes or the Temptations whenever their songs came on the radio.
But music then was merely a form of entertainment within the family. There was never a thought about music being a profession.
But Jackie, the oldest, remembers: “On our street in Gary — which was called Jackson Street, though it wasn’t named after us — most of the kids were starting to get groups together. So we did the same thing. We had always sung along with the radio, so we just took it a step further and started performing at our school’s talent shows.”
The trophy they won for their first talent show has a small place of honor in their new Beverly Hills Home. Just three years after their first public appearance in Gary, the family, consisting of Jackie, Toriano (Tito), Jermaine, Marlon, Michael, father Joe and mother Katherine, sisters Janet, Latoya and Maureen, youngest brother Randy and cousins Johnny Jackson and Ronnie Rancifer, now lives in a large house with big glass windows that look out on to tree-covered hills behind their Californian home.
Just around the corner are dirt trails made by Jackie and Tito, who love to ride their motorbikes in the soft earth. In the backyard is a basketball court where all the boys play their favorite sport. In fact, if Jackie could have two professions, he’d place professional basketful right after performing!
The hit-making Jackson Five actually lead two lives.
On stage they are the essence of enthusiasm, soulfulness and driving showmanship. The public often makes the mistake of expecting performers to be as flamboyant and wild offstage as they are on.
In this case, it is a mistake. All the brothers are down-to-earth young men, very much involved in just growing up. Their pleasures are simple and their taste reserved.
Jackie, 19, though on the quiet side, is not as shy as his brother Tito, 16. When you first meet him, he warmly extends his hand in a welcoming handshake. It takes a little while, but the more time you spend talking with Jackie, the more he opens up. His relaxed and smiling face puts you at ease quite quickly.
Steady
Jackie’s first interest outside of music is his steady girlfriend. With her, he spends his free hours swimming at Santa Monica beach, seeing the latest movie in Hollywood or picnicking in Griffith Park. So many of California’s recreational activities are new to this family and they seem to appreciate what so many Los Angeles people take for granted.
Tito, like Jackie, has a steady girl and likes to spend much of his free time with her. Tito is very interested in mechanics and can often be found tinkering with his motorcycle out in the family garage.
Tito is the shyest of all the brothers and finds fame sometimes hard to cope with.
“When you’re a star, you can’t do everything everyone else can. You can’t go everywhere you want,” he explains. It was just weeks ago that the Jackson Five flew to Detroit to headline the Joe Louis Benefit Concert and were met at the airport by 2,500 over-enthusiastic fans!
Their mercurial rise to fame is astounding and their huge fan following (which embraces all sections of the country) is even more amazing when you realize they have made only a handful of television appearances and just ten concert appearances — in Philadelphia, San Francisco and Los Angeles (where they set an attendance record at the LA Forum, drawing 18,675 people) and seven other major cities.
Like Tito explained: “When we went with Motown, we wanted our music to satisfy both the Blacks and White in the audiences, so we chose a sound between rock and pop. We call it Bubblegum Soul.”
Jermaine, who’s 15, is a favorite with the young ladies. His brothers say that all the girls at school have crushes on him and they don’t hesitate to tease him about it.
With the exception of Jackie, who has graduated, all attend public school in Los Angeles. Jermaine is the real student of the group, bringing home the best grades and seriously planning a college career.
Marlon, like Tito, is quiet. Because of his age of 12, his interests center round his music, sports and television. He and Michael are avid cartoon fans.
Michael, at 11, is the group’s lead singer and choreographer. As you talk to him, it’s all he can do to keep from dancing to the music being played in the background. He never keeps still! His favorite pastimes, outside of music, include “swimming, playing basketball, catching lizards and killing snakes in the hills behind our house”!
At home, the Jackson Five are not treated like stars. They rehearse after school three days a week and must have their homework done before there is any play.
“All the boys have chores,” their father, Joe, told me. “They have to clean their own rooms, wash dishes, mop and wax the floors. We want them to be good boys and to respect their mother and father.”
They’ve come a long way from their modest Gary home. All the youngsters admit their dreams are coming true. There was the dream of moving to California to live, and Jackie remembers: “I used to sit and watch the Ed Sullivan Show and I’d say, ‘You know, I’d like to be up there.’ Now we’ve been on his show twice and it’s hard to explain just how we felt when we did it. I just know it was a great, great feeling!”
© Ann Moses, 1970
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