More than a decade before, in late-1969, the newly-minted Jackson 5 – 11-year old Michael, 12-year old Marlon, 15-year old Jermaine, 16-year old Tito, and 18-year old Jackie – ignited a string of hits at Motown with their historic first four consecutive 1 R&B and 1 pop hits. They became a core group at the label, staying inside the Top 10 for nearly five years. But as they grew older – into their teens for Michael and Marlon, and out of their teens for the others – they grew restless with the Motown song¬writers and assembly-line production, and began a campaign to change.
In 1976, they finally realized a long-term goal to part company with Motown and join the CBS Records Epic label, though they had to relinquish the name Jackson 5, thus becoming the Jacksons. Michael and Jermaine had both started recording as solo artists; Michael chose to stay with his brothers, while Jermaine remained at Motown, replaced by youngest member Randy.
All were experienced musicians by this time, and had observed the industry’s top producers at work for nearly a decade. The decision to take over full rein of their own production and songwriting (and rev-up their presence as musicians) was an ambitious one – but yielded immediate success with DESTINY, a level of success surpassed two years later by TRIUMPH.
In between, Michael resumed his solo career at Epic with 1979’s 7-times platinum block¬buster Off The Wall (169 weeks on the Billboard chart). After 1981’s Jacksons Live double-LP, Michael came back in 1982 with Thriller, making pop history that stands to this day. The Jacksons have reunited on occasion since then – the “Motown 25” NBC-TV special in 1983; their Epic albums Victory in 1984 (and the “Victory World Tour”), and 2300 Jackson Street in 1989; and as part of 1985’s “We Are the World” cast. Their Epic years were sampled on Epic/Legacy’s 2004 collection, The Essential Jacksons.
