WIRRAL LIFE TALK TO THE JACKSONS BY SI HALL & MARIE FITZSIMMONS
W L INTERVIEW
WIRRAL LIFE TALK TO THE JACKSONS BY SI HALL & MARIE FITZSIMMONS
Si Hall - Editor ' s note : " Before we begin , I ' d like to thank my Aunty Jayne Baker - my funky music idol / teacher who introduced me to - let ' s face it - the ' American Beatles ' and made me realise that no matter what life throws at you , you can and must dance through life . Even through my pre-school years I was dazzled by the colourful cartoon afro funk costumes and super positive grooves ... She ' d say ' Hey kid , welcome to the 70 ' s !' It hit me with immediate , maximum , unavoidable and permanent effect ! Never underestimate the gift of the groove ."
' The Jackson 5 ', later ' The Jacksons ', are an American super pop band founded in 1964 , in Gary , Indiana , and originally consisted of brothers Jackie , Tito , Jermaine , Marlon and a very young Michael . They were managed by their father Joe Jackson . The group were among the first African American performers to attain a crossover following worldwide .
The Jackson 5 / The Jacksons have sold over 150 million records . In 1980 , the brothers were honoured with a star on the ' Hollywood Walk of Fame ' as The Jacksons and were inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997 . Three of the band ' s recordings (" ABC ", " I Want You Back " and " I ' ll Be There ") are among the ' Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ' s Top 100 Songs that shaped Rock and Roll and were also inducted into the official ' Grammy ' ( a music Oscar ) Hall of Fame .
A huge 50-year career for you all – how does that feel ? It ’ s been a great trip , but it ’ s just a number ! In the early days , as brothers we couldn ’ t have dreamed that we ' d be what we are today . To have such a longevity is a blessing – we can put ourselves in the same category as The Rolling Stones . Every turn of the way , there ’ s something new to be excited about which keeps our motivation going . We ’ re very proud of the 50 years we ’ ve done . We keep making the music and telling our story and being The Jacksons – that is who we are .
You are performing at various festivals around the UK ; do you enjoy travelling to the UK ? Yes , England has always been a love for the whole group – it was the first country we ever visited outside of America . When we got there in the early 1970s , we got such a reception – they chased us through the airport , gathered outside our hotel singing Jackson 5 songs , the streets blocked off and everything ! England ’ s history , beauty and the people , we love performing for you !
What can we expect from a Jackson show ? Well , it certainly will be exciting . We are going to take you all the way back , then all the way up to present day and we will have a good time . A full on show from the entire Jackson 5 catalogue of gigantic hits through to Michael ’ s music ; like a party on stage , a typical Jackson show that we have performed throughout our entire lifelong career . High energy , hey , we like to have fun ! Bring your dancing shoes because we ’ re going to have a seriously good time !
When it comes to performing the earlier hits such as ' ABC ', ' I ’ ll Be There ', ' I Want You Back '; are these songs still enjoyable today to sing as they were back in the day ? We always enjoy playing our earlier hits as those are the ones that landmarked The Jacksons , but some of the super lavish stuff is just as exciting , but we enjoy doing them all . Performing live and having a great time on stage , that ’ s mainly what we enjoy , its a bit daunting weirdly after all these years , but its different once you ’ re up there , we feel free once we hit the stage . Alive !
How did the band start ? In 1965 , Jackie , Tito , and Jermaine began performing around the Gary Indiana area with two neighbourhood children , Milford Hite ( on drums ) and Reynaud Jones ( on keyboards ), in a group called The Jackson Brothers . In 1966 Marlon and Michael joined . Michael used to take a Quaker cereal oatmeal ( porridge ) box and they were his bongos , he used to play it so well ( when he was 6 ). Then one day he got up and did his little James Brown thang , so we all decided ' hey let ' s put him up front '. You get a lot of people who can sing well , but not everybody is an entertainer . We were all entertainers as well , but Michael was the greatest entertainer of them all . From that point on we were known as The Jackson 5 .
How did you get signed to Motown ? We were invited to Detroit to audition for Berry Gordy ( founder of Motown ) at his mansion ( we ' d never seen or been to a mansion ). At that time Motown had the biggest songs on the radio ; The Supremes , The Four Tops , Gladys Knight , Marvin Gaye , Stevie Wonder , and we were just amateurs ; we had learned all their songs at the time , as we didn ’ t have any songs . So , we arrived at his house and all those stars were actually there and we had to sing their songs - in front of them ( gulp ). The younger brothers were running around having fun in his house , playing in his private bowling alley , etc , then we realised we had to rehearse to perform well . We clearly did a good job because next thing you know , we were signed and recording !
Your dad Joe had a reputation as ' the toughest father in the music business '. He was tough , he was real disciplined . The reason he was tough with us was because we had gangs in the neighbourhood and he
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