Michael Jackson was only 9 years old when he began what was to become a remarkable career.
‘Big Boy’ was the first single released by The Jackson 5 in January, 1968. Only 10,000 units of the single were released through indie label Steeltown Records.The group were paid 3 cents for every single sold and spilt the money evenly. Father, Joe Jackson had his boys performing the song live at strip clubs to get promotion and publicity.
They released just one more song for Steeltown Records. It was ‘We Don’t Have To Be Over 21 (To Fall in Love). An album featuring both singles was recorded but not released until discovered in 1995.
The Jackson 5 moved to Motown and the rest was history. The first Motown single, ‘I Want You Back’ sold more than 2 million singles in 1969 and started a run of number one hits. Next came ‘ABC’, ‘The Love You Save’, ‘I’ll Be There’. At this stage, Michael was 11 years old.
Michael became his own star while all of this was happening. ‘Got To Be There’ was his first solo hit. It reached number 4 in 1971. ‘Rockin’ Robin’ was the follow-up in the following year. It reached number 2. Then later in 1971, Jackson had his first solo number one with ‘Ben’, a song about his pet rat.
The Jackson Five left Motown and moved to CBS Records (now Sony). The self titled album ‘The Jacksons’ in 1976 failed to have a hit song. Neither did ‘Goin’ Places’ in 1977. However, ‘Destiny’, released in 1979 brought them back to platinum with thanks to the hits ‘Blame In On The Boogie’ and ‘Shake Your Body (Down To The Ground).
While it was all happening again for the brothers, something incredible was brewing for Michael. While working on the film ‘The Wiz’, Michael met Quincy Jones. Q. was brought on board to record Jackson’s next solo album. ‘Off The Wall’ was recorded between December 1978 and June 1979. It featured ‘Don’t Stop ‘til You Get Enough’, ‘Rock With You’ and the title track ‘Off The Wall’. It sold more than 20 million units and made Jackson a superstar.
At that point, one would think it could not get any bigger for Michael. But it got bigger than anyone had ever been before. The album that did it was ‘Thriller’.
‘Thriller’ was released on November 30, 1982. It break every rule in the book and became the biggest selling album of all-time.
‘Thriller’ featured an amazing title track featuring horror movie actor Vincent price. There was ‘The Girl Is Mine’, a duet with Paul McCartney, ‘Beat It’ with Eddie Van Halen and then there was ‘Billie Jean’, one of the greatest dance tunes ever written.
Jackson’s life changed forever at that moment.
Michael became a caricature of himself. He was often more famous for his bizarre antics than his music, mainly because there were more bizarre antics than music.
After ‘Thriller’, Jackson only released four more albums.
‘Bad’ came in 1987. It featured the hits ‘Bad’, ‘The Way You Make Me Feel’, ‘I Can’t Stop Loving You’, ‘Dirty Diana’ and ‘Man In The Mirror’.
‘Dangerous’ was another creative success. It gave us ‘Black or White’, ‘Remember The Time’, ‘Jam’, ‘Heal The World’ and ‘In The Closet’.
‘HIStory’ in 1995 was equal parts new record and greatest hits. It featured ‘Scream’, his first ever duet with his sister Janet.
The final album ‘Invincible’ was released in 2001. Although considered by many to be a flop, it still sold a respectable 2 million plus units in the USA alone.
Last year, Sony released ‘Thriller 25’ to mark the 25th anniversary of the ‘Thriller’ album. It featured new remixes of ‘The Girl Is Mine’ and ‘P.Y.T.’ with will.i.am, ‘Wanna Be Starting Something’ with Akon, ‘Beat It’ with Fergie and ‘Billie Jean’ with Kanye West.
We do know Jackson had been working on new material but how far advanced that was along we currently do not know.
Michael Jackson died at 2.26pm June 25, 2009 at this home in the Hollywood Hills. He was 50.
