Born Michael Joseph Jackson, 29 August 1958, Gary, Indiana, USA. Jackson has spent almost his entire life as a public performer. He was a founder member of the Jackson Five at the age of four, soon becoming the group's lead vocalist and frontman. Onstage, he modelled his dance moves and vocal styling on James Brown, and portrayed an absolute self-confidence on stage which belied his shy, private personality.
The Jackson Five were signed to Motown Records at the end of 1968; their early releases, including chart-toppers I Want You Back and I'll Be There, illustrated his remarkable maturity. Although Michael was too young to have experienced the romantic situations that were the subject of his songs, he performed with total sincerity, showing all the hallmarks of a great soul artist. Ironically, his pre-adolescent vocal work carried a conviction which he often failed to recapture later in his career.
When MGM Records launched the Osmonds as rivals to the Jackson Five in 1970, and singled out their lead singer, 13-year-old Donny Osmond, for a solo career, Motown felt duty bound to reply in kind. Michael Jackson's first release as a solo performer was the aching ballad, Got To Be There, a major US and UK hit. A revival of Bobby Day's rock 'n' roll novelty Rockin' Robin reached the top of the US charts in 1972, while the sentimental film theme, Ben, repeated that achievement later in the year. Motown capitalized on Jackson's popularity with a series of hurried albums, which mixed material angled towards the teenage market with a selection of the label's standards.
They also stockpiled scores of unissued tracks, which they were released in the '80s to cash in on the success of his Epic recordings. As the Jackson Five's sales slipped in the mid-'70s, Michael's solo career was put on hold, and he continued to reserve his talents for the group after they were reborn as the Jacksons in 1976. He regained the public eye with a starring role in the film musical The Wiz, collaborating on the soundtrack album with Quincy Jones.
Their partnership was renewed in 1979 when Jones produced OFF THE WALL, a startlingly successful collection of contemporary soul material which introduced the world to the adult Michael Jackson. In his new incarnation, Jackson retained the vocal flexibility of old, and added a sophistication and sensuality which celebrated his entry into manhood. The album topped the charts in the UK and USA, and contained two number 1 singles, Don't Stop Till You Get Enough (for which Michael won a Grammy Award) and Rock With You. Meanwhile, Motown capitalized on his commercial status by reissuing a recording from the mid-'70s, One Day In Your Life, which duly topped the UK charts.
Michael continued to tour and record with the Jacksons after this solo success, while media speculation grew about his private life. He was increasingly portrayed as a figure trapped in an eternal childhood, surrounded by toys and pet animals, and insulated from the traumas of the real world. This image was consolidated when he was chosen to narrate an album based on the 1982 fantasy film ET—The Extra Terrestrial.
The record was quickly withdrawn because of legal complications, but still won Jackson another Grammy Award. In 1982 THRILLER, Michael's second album with Quincy Jones, was released in purely, commercial terms, no other album has ever made such an impact on the record industry, it remains the most successful album of all time, having sold more than 42 million copies by the early '90s. It produced a run of enormous hit singles, each accompanied by a promotional video that widened the scope of the genre.
The Girl Is Mine, a duet with Paul McCartney, began the sequence in relatively subdued style; it reached number 1 in the US and UK, but merely set the scene for Billie Jean, an effortless mix of disco and pop which spawned a series of answer records from other artists. The record's promo video was equally spectacular, portraying Jackson as a master of dance, a magician who could transform lives, a shadowy figure who lived outside the everyday world. Its successor, Beat It, established another precedent, with its determinedly rock-flavoured guitar solo by Eddie Van Halen making it the first black record to receive rotation airplay on the MTV video station.
Its promo film involved Michael at the centre of a choreographed street battle, a conscious throwback to the set pieces of West Side Story. But even this was a modest effort compared to Thriller, a rather mannered piece of disco-funk accompanied by a stunning long-form video, which placed Jackson in a parade of Halloween horrors. This promo clip spawned a follow-up, The Making Of Thriller, which in turn sold more copies than any other home-video to date.
The THRILLER album and singles won Jackson a further seven Grammies; amidst this run of hits, Jackson slotted in Say Say Say, a second chart-topping duet with Paul McCartney. He accepted the largest individual sponsorship deal in history from Pepsi-Cola in 1983; the following year, his involvement in the Jacksons' VICTORY Tour sparked the greatest demand for concert tickets in the history of popular music. Michael had by now become an almost mythical figure, and like most myths he attracted hyperbole.
A group of Jehovah's Witnesses announced that he was the Messiah, he was said to be taking drugs to change his skin colour to white; it was claimed that he had undergone extensive plastic surgery to alter his appearance, and photographs were published which suggested that he slept in a special chamber to prevent himself ageing. More prosaically, Jackson began 1985 by co-writing and performing on the USA For Africa benefit single We Are The World, another international number 1. He then spent $47.5million in purchasing the ATV Music company which controlled the songs of John Lennon and Paul McCartney, effectively sabotaging his musical relationship with his erstwhile partner. Later that year he took part in Captain Eo, a short film laden with special ffects which was only shown at the Disneyworld amusement park; he also announced plans to write his autobiography.
The book was delayed while he recorded BAD, another collaboration with Quincy Jones which finally appeared in 1987. It produced seven Top 10 singles, among them the title track, which again set fresh standards with its promotional video. The album suffered by comparison with his previous work, however, and its multi-million sales were deemed disappointing after the phenomenal success of THRILLER. In musical terms, BAD certainly broke no fresh ground; appealing though its soft funk confections were, they lacked substance, and represented only a cosmetic advance over his two earlier albums with Jones.
Unabashed, Jackson continued to work in large scale. He undertook a lengthy world concert tour to promote BAD, utilizing stunning visual effects to capture the atmosphere of his videos. At the same time, he published his autobiography, Moonwalker, which offered little personal or artistic insight; neither did the alarmingly expensive feature film which accompanied it, and which buttressed his otherworldly image. The long-awaited new release DANGEROUS came in 1992 and it justifiably scaled the charts.
This lengthy album (76 minutes) is a tour-de-force of gutsy techno pop with Teddy Riley contributing to a number of tracks. The sweet pop is sharpened to a hard point, yet it still has the unmistakable Jackson sound. By maintaining a leisurely working schedule, Jackson has guaranteed that each new project is accompanied by frenzied public anticipation. Up until 1992 his refusal to undergo in-depth interviews has allowed the media to portray him as a fantasy figure, a hypochondriac who lives a twilight existence cut off from the rest of humanity, and who is terrified both by the outside world and by the prospect of growing old. He attempted, and succeeded to a degree, with a carefully rehearsed interview with Oprah Winfrey in 1992.
The televised programme was shown all over world, during which, viewers saw his personal Fun-Fair, in the back garden, and watched as Jackson spoke of his domineering father. It remains to be seen whether his work can transcend its limited subject matter and deal with the complexities of adult life. For the moment, millions of fans will continue to enjoy his music. The unthinkable happened in 1993, just as Jackson's clean image was at its peak. Allegations of sexual abuse were made by one of Jackson's young friends and the media had a riotous time. Jackson's home was raided by police while he was on tour in the Far East and the artist, clearly disturbed, cancelled a number of performances due to dehydration.
No charges were made, and things began to quieten down until November 1993, when Jackson left the USA and went into hiding. Additionally, he confessed to being addicted to painkillers and was seeking treatment. After this admission, Jackson's long-time sponsors Pepsi Cola decided to pull out of their deal with the now damaged career of the world's most popular superstar. Further nonsense prevailed when he married Lisa Marie Presley in an act to recover his favour with the world. The critics were given their pound of flesh the so called 'arranged' marriage faltered and collapsed a few months later.
Jackson must concentrate on the one thing that gives him credibility—writing, singing and performing music. Failure to do so will destroy an incredible musical career. Further reading: Moonwalk, Michael Jackson Further reading: Moonwalk, Jackson, Michael (1988), Sequins And Shades, Terry, Carol D. (1992), Michael Jackson: The King Of Pop, Campbell, Lisa D. (1993), Michael Jackson: In His Own Words, Jackson, Michael (1993), The Visual Documentary, Grant, Adrian (1994).
