Authors: Steve Knopper
“We’re from Gary”
: Susan Jackson and Danchik interview.
Hippodrome, Hollywood sign, San Francisco, Disneyland, cannonballs, Gordy’s home, “all white and bright,” and Motown hype
: Jermaine Jackson,
You Are Not Alone
, pp. 100–2.
“I Want You Back” at No. 90 and building to No. 1 in January 1970
: Adrian Grant,
Michael Jackson: A Visual Documentary 1958–2009: The Tribute Edition
(London: Omnibus Press, 1994/2009), p. 11.
“People responded viscerally”
: Touré, “Black Super Hero: African-American artists and intellectuals, from Jay-Z to Henry Louis Gates, weigh in on Jackson’s legacy,”
Michael by the Editors of Rolling Stone
(New York: HarperCollins, 2009), p. 152.
“Every host was a giant star”
: Author interview with William O. Harbach.
“1-2-3,” Richards’s arguments with Gordy, and “Sit down, girl!”
: Richards interview.
469 tracks and 174 released
:
Jackson vs. Motown
. Ikeda confirmed details of tracks, including lack of vocals and Lulu, Supremes, and Sly Stone covers.
“God, Deke”
: Richards interview.
Jackie playing tambourine
: Ikeda interview. (Sandra Crouch, who played tambourine on most Jackson 5 sessions, diplomatically begs to differ: “I did, but if it helps, it’s okay.”)
Elgin Baylor, attendance figures, and $105,000 gross
: “The Jackson 5 Break Concert Attendance Records in Two Cities,”
Soul,
July 27, 1970, p. 16.
Hollywood Bowl attendance
: Leroy Robinson, “Jackson Five Performs at the Hollywood Bowl,”
Los Angeles Times,
August 24, 1971, p. E10.
Offers jumping from $2,000 to $25,000
: Gordy,
To Be Loved
, p. 287.
March 1971 and eight thousand square feet
: Grant deed for 4641 Hayvenhurst Avenue, Encino, California, County of Los Angeles, March 1, 1971.
$250,000
: George,
Michael Jackson Story
, p. 74.
Earle Hagen, house description, and dogs
: Jermaine Jackson,
You Are Not Alone
, pp. 141–43.
Birds and pets
: Walter Burrell, “Michael Jackson: Now 17, quietest J-5 plots his future,”
Soul,
May 10, 1976, pp. 2–3.
Johnny Jackson and Rancifer drifting away and Sunset Strip
: Author interview with Roderick Rancifer.
“I came home one night”
: Ibid.
“Anybody see my boa constrictor?”
: Pello interview.
Walton School and “liberal attitude”
: Jermaine Jackson,
You Are Not Alone
, p. 143.
Chevy Malibu, wax museum, skipping classes,
“It was like we had a groupie,” Schwab’s Pharmacy, “All Michael did,” and other Merkow quotes and vignettes
: Author interview with Mike Merkow.
New van and Datsun 240Z
: Jermaine Jackson,
You Are Not Alone
, p. 142. (Jermaine refers to a “Ford Kombi,” but the iconic Kombi vans were actually Volkswagens.)
“I don’t know” and “When you had a falling-out”
: Merkow interview.
“As they got bigger”
: Susan Jackson interview.
“And this one had to have”
: Danchik interview.
Rehearsal rooms and “make it fat”
: Rancifer interview.
Tom Jones and Jermaine as best singer
: “What’s Jackie’s Secret Ambition?,”
Soul,
June 15, 1970, p. 1.
Tito likes Ernie Banks
: “Toriano Jackson: His Many Moods,”
Soul,
June 29, 1970, p. 1.
“Sometimes he doesn’t know”
: “Marlon Jackson: To Know Him Is to Love Him,”
Soul,
July 27, 1970, pp. 1–3.
“Good group” and “See, it’s not copying”
: “Keeping Up with Michael Jackson,”
Right On!,
November 1972, p. 23.
Boston Garden, Pinto, and Blanket
: Rancifer interview.
“When we got to the venue”
: Bill Dahl,
Motown: The Golden Years
(Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2001), p. 89.
Jermaine lost hair, MJ lost a shoe, rooftop concert, scarf, and “They were pulling”
: Rhetta Nickerson, “Hair-pulling, choking and knives: Europe greets the Jackson 5,”
Soul,
January 15, 1973, p. 2.
Roses in Japan
: “Japanese audience is thrilled with Jackson 5,”
Chicago Defender,
June 23, 1973, p. 23; Judy Spiegelman, “Jackson family journeys to Japan,”
Soul,
June 25, 1973, pp. 2–3.
“We got a few nicks and cuts”
: Author interview with Walter “Clyde” Orange.
Description of Jackson 5 show
: The Jackson 5,
Live at the Forum
(Motown/Hip-O Select, 2010) documents the band’s June 20, 1970, concert; Robert Hilburn, “Jackson Five in Concert,”
Los Angeles Times,
June 22, 1970, p. D19, describes the dance moves.
“It’s just like rock ’n’ roll”
: Rancifer interview.
“Man, why don’t you go”
: Weldon McDougal interview,
Michael Jackson: The Life of an Icon
.
“She’s not here for
you”: Author interview with Samm Brown.
Playboy
Playmate story and “Suffice it to say”
: Ibid.
“Feelin’ Alright,” “forgot,” and “Nobody really liked Joe Jackson”
: Orange interview.
“Stand still” and Suzee Ikeda’s MJ memories
: Ikeda interview.
“Berry wasn’t even listening”
: Posner,
Motown
, p. 255.
Jack Davis, “Bring him over here,” Gordy meeting details, and “very much in control”
: Author interview with Arthur Rankin.
Corporation songwriting royalties and “After ‘I Want You Back’ ” got done
: Richards interview.
“Bounced and kicked” and “I’ll Be There” details
: Bill Dahl and Keith Hughes, liner notes,
The Complete Motown Singles, Vol. 10: 1970
(Motown/Hip-O Select, 2008), pp. 87–90.
“I thought [Marlon] was a little bit
‘under’ ”
: Richards interview.
Marcellino-Larson background and “Berry Gordy was actually kind of pissed”
: Author interview with Mel Larson.
$80,000 to $200,000 ceremony and details
: “Hazel and Jermaine say ‘I do,’ ”
Soul,
February 4, 1974, pp. 1–5, 12, 15.
Katherine Jackson divorce, reaction, and rescindment
: Taraborrelli,
Michael Jackson
, pp. 101–3.
“They had really greasy skin” and dermatologist
: Author interview with Nancy Leiviska.
“Mishmash of material”
: Richards interview.
“Dancing Machine” story
: Author interview with James Gadson.
“The music nurtured”
: Vince Aletti, “Discotheque Rock ’72: Paaaaarty!,”
Rolling Stone,
September 13, 1973, p. 60.
“What was disco?”
: Gadson interview.
“Without reading them
”:
Toriano Jackson vs. Motown
, March 5, 1976.
“Sign it,”
“No,” and “I was open to talk to them”
: Dennis Hunt, “Jackson 1 After the Feud,”
Los Angeles Times,
July 6, 1980, p. O80.
Jacksons seeking $1 million
: Ron Alexenburg interview,
Michael Jackson: The Life of an Icon.
In
Rhythm and the Blues
(New York: Knopf, 1993), Atlantic Records’ Jerry Wexler says a Jackson contract was “awaiting signature, a done deal for $1 million,” but label execs rejected it as “too expensive,” leading the Jacksons to accept the CBS offer instead.
One man talked him into it
: Former CBS A&R executive Sam Lederman says, “I think if you’re going to give anybody the most credit for it, it’s Ron Alexenburg.”
Alexenburg background, Warwick Hotel, and “What’s going on here?”
: Author interview with Ron Alexenburg; Jim Melanson, “Alexenburg turns Epic to gold,”
Billboard,
April 27, 1974, p. 14.
Nanuet Star Theatre
: Walter Yetnikoff,
Howling at the Moon
(New York: Broadway Books, 2004), p. 89, places this show at the Westbury Music Fair. Alexenburg disagrees.
“He was in a state”
: Author interview with Rob Cohen.
“It was a Vegas crowd”
: Author interview with Ronnie Rancifer.
Description of Vegas shows and “a little of everything”
: Vince Aletti, “In Love with the Jackson Five,”
Village Voice,
February 17, 1975, p. 109.
“The brothers were older”
: Author interview with Damita Jo Freeman.
The Robot and Robert Shields
: Author interview with Robert Shields.
Importance of Clinkers
: Author interview with Rick Marcelli (Shields’s manager).
“I trained him”
: Shields interview.
Davis and Keys backstage at
Soul Train: Stephen McMillan, “Diary of an Ex–
Soul Train
Dancer: Q&A with Former
Soul Train
Dancer Patricia Davis,”
soultrain.com
, May 26, 2011.
“It was a playtime”
: Freeman interview.
“Michael, you don’t need me”
: Stephen McMillan, “Diary of an Ex–
Soul Train
Dancer: Freddie Maxie,”
soultrain.com
, November 1, 2011.
Alexenburg show observations
: Alexenburg interview.
“Less than spectacular”
: Yetnikoff,
Howling at the Moon
, pp. 89–90.
“ ‘Ben’ was a smash”
: Ibid.
Motown contract details and $750,000 advance
:
Toriano Jackson, et al., vs. Motown Record Corp., et al.,
Superior Court of the State of California, March 5, 1976.
$500,000 recording fund, $350,000 guarantee, royalty details, and Yetnikoff agreeing to three songs per album
: J. Randy Taraborrelli,
Michael Jackson: The Magic, The Madness, The Whole Story 1958–2009
(New York: Grand Central Publishing, 2009), pp. 129–30.
“One thing I’ll tell you,”
“Michael, you haven’t said,” and “I want to write and produce”:
Author interview with Sam Lederman.
“Ron basically had a lot”
: Ibid.
Gamble and Huff background
: John A. Jackson,
A House on Fire: The Rise and Fall
of Philadelphia Soul
(New York: Oxford University Press, 2004), pp. 10, 14–20, 28–29.
“Gamble and Huff were really adult oriented”
: Author interview with Charles Collins.
“CBS offered them movies”
: Kenny Gamble interview,
Michael Jackson: The Life of an Icon
(David Gest Productions, 2011).
8 to 10 percent
: Lederman interview. (Gamble and Huff turned down interview requests.)
“It was
the Jacksons”: Collins interview.
Entourage of ten
and “associated people”
: Author interview with Joe Tarsia.
Preparing twenty songs for a twelve-song album
:
Michael Jackson: The Life of an Icon
.
“Lemme try”
: Tarsia interview.
“Just watching Huff”
: Michael Jackson,
Moonwalk
(New York: Harmony Books, 1988), p. 123.
Muhammad Ali
: Tarsia interview.
Jermaine, Ali, and “what it took”
: Jermaine Jackson,
You Are Not Alone: Michael Through a Brother’s Eyes
(New York: Touchstone/Simon & Schuster, 2011), pp. 187–88.
“[Michael] had that breathy voice”
: Tarsia interview.
Jackie Wilson encounter
: Author interview with Joyce McRae (Wilson’s friend and nursing home companion).
Jackie Wilson hospital details
: Tony Douglas,
Jackie Wilson: Lonely Teardrops
(New York: Routledge, 2013), pp. 234–35.
“My staff was less than enthusiastic”
: Yetnikoff,
Howling at the Moon
, p. 100.
“It didn’t sell real well”
: Author interview with Pete Humphreys.
“I just told Joseph”
: Rancifer interview.
“I hated every minute”
: Michael Jackson,
Moonwalk
, pp. 118, 121.
“Aw, he loved it,” MJ commands, “That isn’t a western saloon!,” and
“Michael hasn’t wanted that series to surface”
: Author interview with Bill Davis.
“Huge influence”
: Queen Latifah interview,
The Late Show with David Letterman
(CBS, July 2009).
$2 million of Gordy’s money, $500,000 for a black film, “This is not a
black film
,” and Ross slapping Gord
y: Gerald Posner,
Motown: Music, Money, Sex, and Power
(New York: Random House, 2002), pp. 257, 261, 278.