Jackson 5, You're on the Air

There's a wonderful radio interview on YouTube now, recorded in 1973 when the Jackson 5 were in New York City for a concert appearance. The interview was long and free-ranging, more spontaneous than J5 interviews usually were, and the personalities of the six brothers really emerge. It was first broadcast live on WWRL on July 22, 1973.

In Part One they talk about their recent tours in Australia and New Zealand, their early years in Gary, the copy-cat groups, their recent LPs, why Tito's wife doesn't tour with them, and Janet's desire to join the Jackson 5.

In Part Two the talk about their upcoming tour to Africa, the role of their parents in their success, rehearsals, their musical influences, their hobbies, show business advice, and bubblegum vs funk.

Part 3 opens with a radio concert ad, and then the interview continues with questions about concerts, a solo song they have written and produced for Randy, fans,and their upcoming concerts.

In Part 4 they talk about what they do in their off-time on tour, favorite foods, Jermaine's cooking, what Randy likes best about show business, Jackie's upcoming solo LP, their J5 cartoon series, and the Sylvers.

Part 5 begins with the DJ opening the interview to others in the studio so they can ask questions. They talk quite a bit about how they work in the recording studio, what sorts of songs they like to record, their "cousins" Ronnie and Johnny, Steve Manning and the Jackson 5 fan club, favorite television shows, and Jackie's girl friend Debraca Foxx.

In Part 6, they talk about Jackie's recent car accident, Jermaine and Tito's cars, auto insurance (?), Isaac Hayes' cover version of "Never Can Say Goodbye," the Sylvers (again), security, the J5's worldwide image, "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" as a million-seller in New Zealand, the J5 as role models for Black kids, and financial matters. The interview closes by playing "Never Can Say Goodbye" in its entirety, and the J5 return at the every end to say goodbye. Tito ends with the surprising revelation that this was the first time they had ever been invited by a DJ to come to the studio for an on-air interview. "I think that you guys are groovy disc jockeys, outta sight."

Later that day, the Jackson 5 posed backstage with some young fans prior to their concert.

Life of the Party

The only way I'd ever pay $300 for this eBay item would be if it came with a time machine that would take me back to the party itself. No one really wants a snapshot of Joe Jackson in a plaid leisure suit posing with a bunch of strangers. The real prize here is the actual invitation to the press party the Jackson family threw back in 1973.



On the J5's 1973 Soul Train appearance, Don Cornelius ran some footage from the party that included Randy hobbling around on crutches and Tito showing off his first-born son. A magic moment came when Don asked Joe the baby's name and Joe couldn't remember his own grandson's name, clumsily covering by saying "We call him... uh, Jackson. Little Jackson, that's what we call him." (For the record, it was Toriano Adaryll Jackson Jr, a.k.a. Taj. I could almost see Joe not remembering IF HE HADN'T NAMED HIS OWN SON THE SAME THING!)

Other fun involved the J5 playing basketball against the Temptations and Marvin Gaye. Here's Jermaine going up the Temptations on defense (good luck with that, Jermaine!).

And here's the whole group posing around the pool. I love looking at the awestruck faces on all of the kids on the left side of the photo, contrasted with the little boy on the right who is more interested in playing ball. But the best is the tiny interloper who sneaked into the group photo, standing right next to Michael like he was a member of the Jackson 5. Maybe he thought since Randy was on the disabled list, they'd be looking for a replacement.

The Jackson 5 in Australia

Sometimes the backs of press photos are just as interesting at the fronts. Take these two photos, for example.



I bought these two together years ago from an Australian record dealer who identified them as being from the Jackson 5's 1973 tour to Australia. They are a nice pair of live concert shots, but if they hadn't been press photos, I would have missed all this information that was recorded on the back. It identifies the concert as being the June 26 concert at Festival Hall in Melbourne.

But read on... there's more.


An Australian TV special? With live concert footage? We can learn from the news caption that it aired a month later (July 21) on ATN-7 at 6:30 pm. And the back of Michael's photo tells us that he was singing "Ben."


Any Australian fans out there who remember seeing The Jackson Five in Australia?

What Color Is Your Parachute?

I've always loved the sepia-toned photos on the cover of the Jackson 5's 1973 LP, Skywriter. The photos on the front and the back were made to look like old photos, and the clothes the boys wore also went with the vintage look of the bi-plane they are posing around.



So it came as a surprise to me the first time I saw this shot from the Skywriter photo session in living color. I had never imaged they were all wearing colorful scarves, or that the plane itself was red.


And it came as an even bigger surprise to me the first time I came across photos from this session that included Randy.


Okay, so here's what I wonder... were there plans to include Randy on the LP sleeve? This album would have been released shortly after Randy started making regular television appearances and touring with his brothers. And it's not as if Randy would have just wandered into a photo shoot, as it sometimes appeared at around this time. Here he is, for example, looking like he horned his way into the Lookin' through the Windows photo session.


But, no, the Skywriter photo session involved obvious costuming. It's not as if Randy would have been wandering around Southern California in a bomber jacket, aviator cap and goggles.


To add to the mystery, Randy was also included in a brief filmed Motown promo that showed all the brothers in their Skywriter gear, jumping into the screen with parachutes, each one saying his name as he jumped into view. At the end, Randy comes in with "Me, too, I'm Randy!"

So what gives? Do these photos -- and the promo -- provide evidence that Motown was on the fence about whether to give Randy his due as a full member of the Jackson 5? Were they holding him in reserve, in case Michael should decide to leave the group for his solo career, as was the pattern with other lead singers of Motown groups? Or were they just humoring a little kid who wanted to do what his big brothers were doing? I don't suppose we'll ever know for sure, but these photos sure are intriguing.

Most Wanted: Jackie's Motown Single

Yes, you read that right. You knew that Jackie had a solo album on the Motown label that was released in 1973, but there weren't any singles pulled for it. I have a DJ copy of the album that shows what singles might have been considered for release, as they suggest three album tracks for radio airplay: "Love Don't Want to Leave," "Do I Owe," and "You're the Only One." But in spite of the suggestions, the songs didn't get much, if any, airplay, and Jackie didn't have any Motown solo single releases.



So imagine my surprise when I got a photocopy of a label from a collector in Spain for a single that was issued in Brazil. It was released on the Motown Tapecar label, catalogue number CS-872. The A-side is "Thanks to You" and the B-side is "You're the Only One." I've been looking for this single for more than 20 years now, with not even a hint that there is a second copy in existence somewhere. At least I have the photocopied evidence that it exists!

And, you know, whenever I listen to Jacki's LP, I think the Brazilians may have had it right. "Thanks to You" is one of the strongest songs on the album, and it was a good choice for Jackie's naturally high-pitched voice, unlike his ghastly cover of the Delfonics hit, "Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time?)," which pales in comparison to the original. The best song on the album, however, is "Do I Owe," which has such strong backing vocals by the brothers that it could have easily been included on a Jackson 5 LP. And it might have helped Jackie launch his solo career if fans had had a chance to hear an occasional lead from him on the group albums. But I suppose when you're competing against Michael and Jermaine for lead vocals it would be hard to get any air time.

Jackson 5 at the 1973 Grammys

The Jackson 5 put in an appearance on the 1973 Grammy Awards, presenting the award for Best Rhythm and Blues Vocal Performance By a Duo or Group. They actually sang a small selection of each of the nominated songs, which gives us a tantalizing taste of what a cover version of each song would have been like.



It was not a perfect performance -- poor Randy dropped the microphone at the dramatic moment when the winner was to have been revealed, and for some reason Jermaine wasn't with them. But it's fun to watch in any case.

Japanese Tour Programs 1973

When it comes to quality, no one surpasses the Japanese. The program from their 1973 tour of Japan is a ting of beauty. It measures 14 x 10" and has a brilliant full-color cover.


Inside it's filled with rare photos, and enough text to make me wish I could read Japanese to see what it says.







My friend Annalisa (an amazing collector from Italy) had sent me a color scan of the cover and a photocopy of the interior many years ago and for a long time I sought out my own copy in vain. Finally I found an ad for a Jackson 5 1973 Japanese tour program in a record collectors' magazine. I sent away for it, but when it arrived in the mail, it was something else:



It was an elegant program printed in brown tone, also 14 x 10" in size. It had more white space inside overall, but still lots of lovely photos and mysterious (to me) text. Since they used Arabic numerals on the front cover, however, I can at least ascertain that this program was printed specifically for the concert the Jackson 5 gave in Tokyo on April 27, 1973, at the Imperial Theater.




This second program is definitely the rarer of the two, which makes sense since it would have had a more limited distribution. I don't know if the Tokyo venue was unusual in this regard, or if any of the other Japanese venues printed their own programs, too. I suspect the former is true, but I'll keep an eye out, just in case. And if there are any Japanese fans out there who would be willing to translate the text, please let me know.

Michael Monday: First American Music Awards Presentation

Michael appeared on the first American Music Awards in February of 1973, not as an honoree but as a presenter, along with fellow teen heart-throb Donny Osmond, and child stars, Rodney Allen Rippy and Ricky Segall, who were apparently intended to be the pint-sized versions of Michael and Donny. (There is a whole strange subliminal black and white message going on with the costuming.) The script is terrible and Michael looks like he knows it. Donny, bless him, is either more experienced at delivering sappy dialogue, or was so thrilled to be presenting next to Michael Jackson that he looks genuinely excited to be there.



Of course, Donny and Michael together on the same stage was a teen magazine editor's dream come true and warranted a three-page spread in 16 magazine detailing the rehearsals (apparently a dress rehearsal for Michael and Rodney only) and the after party, where Michael was too shy to approach his crush, Maureen McCormick, and left early with Donny to take in a 10:30 p.m. showing of The Sting. Ah, the exciting life of a teen idol. Michael would go on to win 26 American Music Awards of his own over the span of his career, more than any other artist.