Pop has never known a greater prodigy than Michael Jackson.

By age 9, he already served as the commanding focal point of his talented group of brothers, three of them his senior.

While barely out of toddlerhood, Jackson bore the confident gait, vocal range and unfailing charisma of a star. Before he even reached puberty, he would achieve that status - in the extreme.

The first recordings Jackson made with his family were cut in 1967 for the local label, Steeltown, located close to their hometown: gritty, working-class Gary, Ind. Within one year, those raw songs, and a brief tryout for Motown's Suzanne de Passe, would be enough to convince label czar Berry Gordy he'd found a group capable of bringing to his enormously successful business a whole new level of creativity and excitement.

The first single released by Motown of the Jackson 5 - 1969's "I Want You Back" - put the label's trademark catchy soul sound into italics. A hyperbolic blast of pop, the song pumps along at a dizzying speed, marked by a manic stop-start rhythm, topped by Jackson's quickly escalating cries. The song wasn't just a pop marvel. It begged a nagging question: How could a boy of 11 know a need this deep? The wonderment of it all drew older fans to the child, as surely as his character and charm entranced those closer to his own age.

The string of singles that followed in dizzying succession - "ABC," "The Love You Save" and "I'll Be There" - rank among the most catchy and exciting recordings in the last half-century of pop. Yet none would have jumped out of the speakers with as much verve were it not for the spark of Jackson's voice.

He used it to great effect, not only blended with those of his brothers' but in solo works, including the yearning single "Got to Be There" and a pitched remake of Bobby Day's "Rockin' Robin."

Though still a boy, his voice nailed a great range of feelings. The wisdom and implicit experience in his singing rivaled that of adult pop-soul icons, from Sam Cooke to Marvin Gaye.

Jackson also served as an ideal teen idol with his adorable looks, easy demeanor and eager fashion sense. From the moment the group began, he and his brothers held the imagination of all young listeners - yet none more than African-Americans, who saw in Jackson a role model of success, grace and talent that they could carry their entire lives.



source : http://www.nydailynews.com

What was supposed to be a yearlong celebration of Motown Records’ 50th anniversary, turned into a major tragedy with the death on Thursday of one of its biggest stars, Michael Jackson.

The 50-year-old self-proclaimed “King of Pop” died of suspected cardiac arrest as he was about to launch a major comeback with a string of 50 concerts in London.

It comes 25 years after the death of another Motown alumnus, Marvin Gaye, who was also on the comeback trail. Gaye was shot to death by his father in a domestic dispute.

Jackson rose to fame as the youngest member of the Jackson 5, a group that Motown founder Berry Gordy was initially reluctant to sign. “He didn’t want any more kid acts because Stevie Wonder was more than a handful,” said former Motown executive Suzanne de Passe, who lobbied Gordy to sign them.

De Passe toured extensively with the Jackson 5, taking charge of their costumes, schooling, choreography and concert production. “Michael was very mischievous back in those days,” de Passe said, recalling that he loved to hide in closets and behind doors to scare unsuspecting targets. She dubbed him “Casper,” and when she saw him decades later mobbed by fans, she yelled out “Casper!” and Jackson immediately rushed over to give her a hug.

Jackson left Motown for the greener pastures of Epic Records in 1979, and de Passe said she last spoke to him about three years ago. She was on a retreat when she heard of Jackson’s death, and described the news as “the shock of my life.”

Until Thursday, Gaye was probably Motown’s highest-profile casualty. The tortured soul’s career was marked by drugs, divorce, label disputes and bankruptcy. Drugs, poverty, suicide and murder claimed many other Motown figures. A year before Gaye was killed, virtuoso bass player James Jamerson died in obscurity. A raging alcoholic who played on Gaye’s landmark 1971 album “What’s Going On,” Jamerson has since been deified by aficionados.

Other ill-fated stars include:

– Roger Penzabene, the co-writer of the Temptations’ mournful masterpiece “I Wish It Would Rain,” committed suicide in 1967.

– Hard-partying drummer Benny Benjamin, the backbeat of the Motown sound, was silenced by a stroke in 1969 after battling drugs and alcohol.

– Temptations co-founder Paul Williams, the heart of the group and lead singer on “Don’t Look Back,” turned to alcohol and was eventually unable to perform. Two years after quitting, he shot himself dead in 1973, while sitting in a car parked two blocks from Motown.

– Another troubled former Temptation David Ruffin, who sang lead on “My Girl,” died of a drug overdose in 1991.

– Early Motown star Mary Wells of “My Guy” fame died in 1992 of throat cancer. She endured poverty in her dying days, as did former Supreme Florence Ballard, who succumbed to a coronary thrombosis in 1976.



source : http://blogs.reuters.com