One minor musical motif we follow involves talented people who announce that they intend to “leave Motown,” the Detroit record company that superintended the most popular black music of the sixties. So far, The Spinners have left Motown and have had a great success; Gladys Knight and The Pips have left Motown and have had a great success; Martha Reeves has left Motown and has granted interviews. Motown producers like Lamont Dozier have left Motown; the management of Motown has left Motown (that is, Detroit); and there is no longer any trace in popular music of Motown’s regional idiosyncrasy or much evidence of the company’s former musical hegemony. Diana Ross, The Temptations, and The Miracles (all of whom remain on the label) have for the record-buying public an interest that is at least partly reminiscent; only Stevie Wonder and The Jackson Five, the last classic Motown act to develop, have continued with undiminished vitality, and last week, in an atmosphere that was—well, businesslike, the Jackson family announced that they had signed a contract with Epic Records (a subsidiary of CBS) and would leave Motown.
The Jackson family announced their decision to leave Motown at a press conference in the Rainbow Grill. For the conference, ten high-backed black chairs were arranged behind a long, narrow table on a dais; dozens of other high-backed black chairs were arranged to face the dais. Taken one by one, the black chairs resembled the chairs found in medium-priced dinette sets; massed together, they lent the room a sober quality such as one might find at the United Nations—at meetings of, say, the Trusteeship Council. Susan Blond, who works for Epic, selected the music that played while the press assembled. “I put on three Jackson Five, three LaBelle, three Jackson Five, three Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes—like that,” she told us as we sat in one of the high-backed black chairs. “I can tell this is a Jackson Five song playing now, because I know it isn’t LaBelle.”
Eleven members of the Jackson family entered the Rainbow Grill and mounted the dais. Ten members of the Jackson family sat in the black highbacked chairs. One member of the Jackson family, Stacy, sat in the lap of her mother, Maureen, the oldest Jackson daughter. At the end of the dais, stage right, sat Joe Jackson, father of the family and manager of the group. He was dressed in a slick black suit. Ranged down the table were Jackie (green jacket, twenty-four years old), Tito (brown jacket, twenty-one years old), Marlon (white leisure jacket, seventeen years old), and Michael (black velvet jacket, plaid vest, sixteen years old). Not present was Jermaine Jackson (twenty years old), who is married to Hazel Joy Gordy (daughter of Berry Gordy, chairman of the board of Motown Records), and who has not yet decided to leave Motown.
“There are a lot of little ones,” Susan Blond remarked to us.
“But do they make up for Jermaine?” asked a young woman behind us.
A reporter asked the Jackson family why they had decided to leave Motown.
“We left Motown because we look forward to selling a lot of albums,” Tito Jackson answered.
“Motown sells a lot of singles. Epic sells a lot of albums,” Mr. Jackson added.
A reporter asked Michael Jackson, who is really the star of the group, how he thought the move would affect him.
I’m sure the promotion will be stronger,” Michael Jackson said. A reporter asked Mr. Jackson how the move would affect the Jacksons’ relationship with Berry Gordy.
Mr. Jackson smiled. “You take it as it comes,” he sald.
Tito and Jackie Jackson looked as self-confident as their father, although they didn’t manage to be quite as elusive. Michael looked very shy. Stacy, in her mother’s lap, put her face in a glass of ice water. Mr. Jackson said he was very happy to be at CBS, because “everything is possible” at CBS. Michael Jackson said he thought the family would be going after an older audience and might, in their Las Vegas show, do some nostalgia, “so the older people can remember their younger days.” Mr. Jackson said he was confident that Jermaine would rejoin the group. “Under his conditions, it’ll take a while,” Mr. Jackson said. No Jackson said anything sentimental. No Jackson said anything to indicate that there had been anything in the Motown ethic which couldn’t be reproduced at will at CBS. No Jackson really explained why their contract with CBS is being announced now, even though they remain under contract to Motown until March, 1976.
A reporter did ask if the Jacksons had tried to renegotiate their contract with Motown.
“Sure we tried to renegotiate with Motown,” Jackie said, “but the figures were just Mickey Mouse.”
“Do you know that show ‘The Jeffersons’?” the young woman behind us said. “About the upperwardly mobile black man who owns some dry-cleaning store? Well, Mr. Jackson is Mr. Jefferson, and the children are his dry-cleaning stores.
We have a report from our correspondent Jamaica Kincaid about Michael Jackson:
Here is my favorite fan letter to Michael Jackson, from the March, 1975, issue of Right On!:
Michael Jackson is my favorite teenage idol, because he is so pretty. True, he is not the little ebony cutie he used to be, and his Afro hairdo often shows some split ends, but nevertheless he is just plain old pretty, and as far as I am concerned, if you’re pretty, you’re cool. Some people think Donny Osmond is cool, some people think David Cassidy is cool, some people think Foster Sylvers is cool, but I think Michael Jackson is coolest. Michael Jackson is so cool that he was discovered by Diana Ross. How many people are ever discovered by Diana Ross? Not many, I bet. Oh, I know, she really discovered The Jackson Five, but I say she discovered Michael. The Jackson Five is just his backup band. I read everything I can get my hands on about Michael Jackson, so I know a lot of things about him. I don’t mean that I know his mother’s name is Katherine; his father’s name is Joe; he comes from Gary, Indiana; or the song “Ben” was his biggest solo venture. I mean I know things like Michael Jackson is a Virgo; he had his first date on a TV show called “The Dating Game; “ his favorite drink is Kool-Aid; he likes cameras and likes to take pictures of people when they are not looking; he keeps white mice for pets; Tito and Jackie call him Big Nose as a pet name; some of his favorite entertainers are Jim Nabors, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Diana Ross; he believes “you gotta give love to get love;” he likes being treated like the guy next door; his eyes are brown; he likes paintings and likes to paint in oils. I get most of this information from Right On!, a fan publication for black teen-agers. It’s just the greatest. In every issue, there are at least two articles on The Jackson Five and almost always an article on Michael. Recently, I came across a quiz in one issue that said, “Can You Pass Michael’s Love test?” The quiz said that Michael doesn’t like a girl who keeps her thoughts to herself; that he delights in being around a lot of people, even when he is on a date; that he likes comics, and his favorite characters are Spider-Man, Green Arrow, and The Incredible Hulk; that he thinks personality is more important than looks; and that he doesn’t like jealous types. Do you know what? I failed the test pathetically. ♦
