Part 3 (1/2)

If the Jacksons had ever seen a home like this before, it was only in movies where the occupants usually were royalty white royalty. 'Black people actually live like this?' Joseph recalled asking himself as he wandered throughout the mansion, shaking his head. 'I just can't believe that this kind of thing is possible.' When Gordy happened to overhear the comment, he put his hand on Joseph's shoulder and whispered something in his ear that made Joseph smile. The two men shook hands in agreement and Gordy led Joseph into the living room.

'So tell me, man, what do you think about this?' Gordy asked, stopping before an enormous painting of Gordy dressed as Napoleon Bonaparte. It had been commissioned by his sister, Esther.

'Jesus. What can I say?' Joseph asked. 'That's you? you? Man, it's too much to believe.' Man, it's too much to believe.'

'Well, do you like it?' Gordy pressed.

'I, uh...You, uh...' All Joseph could do was stammer. Just at that moment, his son Michael came running up to him. 'Hey, who's that funny-lookin' guy in the picture?' he asked.

Joseph cringed and shot his son a look. Gordy smiled.

'I'll never forget that night,' Michael would say. 'There were maids and butlers, and everyone was real polite. There were Motown stars everywhere. Smokey Robinson was there. That's when I met him for the first time. The Temptations were there, and we were singing some of their songs, so we were real nervous. And I looked out into the audience, and there was Diana Ross. That's when I almost lost it.'

After the boys' performance, Berry introduced them to Diana for the first time. Diana looked regal in a white, draped silk gown and her hair pulled back in a chignon.

'I just want to tell you how much I enjoyed you guys,' she said as she shook their hands. 'Mr Gordy tells me that we're going to be working together.'

'We are?' Michael asked.

'Yes, we are,' Diana said. Her smile was almost as overwhelming as the diamonds she wore at her ears and around her neck. 'Whatever I can do to a.s.sist you,' she said, 'that's what I'm going to do.'

'Well, Miss Ross, we really appreciate it,' Joseph Jackson managed to say. Usually a smooth talker, Joseph was not having an easy time that night.

Diana's smile was warm and sincere. She turned to Michael. 'And you, you're just so cute.' When she pinched his cheek, Michael blushed.

Immediately after signing to the label, the Jacksons began to record at the Motown studios under the direction of producer Bobby Taylor, the man who had really discovered them in Chicago. For the next few months, they would spend their weeks in Gary attending school and their weekends and many of their weeks as well in Detroit, sleeping on the floor of Taylor's apartment. They recorded fifteen songs, most of which would surface later on their alb.u.ms. Taylor would say later that he was not paid for those sessions. 'Sure, I would have liked the recognition for having discovered The Jackson 5,' he said. 'But recognition don't pay the bills.'

(One day, Berry Gordy and Bobby Taylor were talking about the boys, and Bobby was saying how thrilled he was to be in on the ground floor of something as exciting as The Jackson 5. 'Taylor, let me tell you something,' Gordy said, according to Bobby's memory. 'As soon as they get rich, they're gonna forget who you are.') The next eight months would prove to be difficult. Berry did not feel The Jackson 5 were ready to have a single release yet; he wasn't satisfied with any of the songs they had thus far recorded. Everyone in the family was becoming impatient, especially since conditions in Gary were getting worse with street gangs terrorizing the neighbourhood. Joseph was mugged and, later, a punk pulled a knife on t.i.to. Every day, the family would wait for that call from someone anyone anyone at Motown, telling them what the next step in their lives would be. at Motown, telling them what the next step in their lives would be.

On 11 March 1969, the Motown contract was finally fully executed. The delay had been caused when Ralph Seltzer discovered The Jackson 5 were still committed to Steeltown Records, despite Richard Aron's previous efforts to extricate them from that deal. Motown had to make a settlement with Steeltown, much to Gordy's chagrin. By this time, according to Ralph Seltzer, Motown had spent in excess of thirty thousand dollars on The Jackson 5, and this sum did not include any settlement made to Steeltown. Gordy was anxious to begin recouping his investment.

In August 1969, more than a year since their audition, the call came from Motown: Gordy wanted Joseph, his five sons and Johnny Jackson and Ronny Rancifer to move to Los Angeles. They would attend school on the West Coast while recording at Motown's new Hollywood facilities. Though Gordy wasn't enthused by any of the Jacksons' songs, he was impressed with young Michael. 'Michael was a born star,' he would later say in an interview. 'He was a cla.s.sic example of understanding everything. I recognized that he had a depth that was so vast, it was just incredible. The first time I saw him, I saw this little kid as something real special.'

Joseph, t.i.to, Jack Richardson, drummer Johnny Jackson, and keyboardist Ronny Rancifer drove to Los Angeles in the family's new Dodge Maxivan. Motown paid for Jackie, Jermaine, Marlon and Michael to fly out a few days later. It was Joseph's decision not to move the entire family from Gary to Los Angeles until he was certain that their future there would be secure. It was possible, after all, that Berry could be wrong, that the group would be a failure, and that they would have to start all over again. So Janet, Randy and LaToya stayed behind with Katherine in Gary.

Berry registered the family at one of the seediest motels in Hollywood, the Tropicana, on Santa Monica Boulevard. Michael, Marlon and Jermaine shared one room while t.i.to and Jackie were in another. Joseph was down the hall. The family saw little of their rooms. Since it was still school vacation, they spent most of their waking hours at Motown's Hollywood studios rehearsing and recording.

Eventually, Gordy pulled the family out of the Tropicana and moved them to the Hollywood Motel, across the street from Hollywood High and closer to Motown headquarters. This was an even more dreadful residence for young boys; prost.i.tutes and pimps used it as a place to conduct business. However, none of that mattered to the Jacksons. Why would it? They were living in California. Even if they didn't see movie stars on every corner as they had dreamed, Los Angeles was heaven compared to Gary.

To the Jacksons' young eyes, everything seemed new. Michael had never seen a real palm tree before he got to California. 'And here were whole streets lined with them,' he once recalled. There were expensive, luxury automobiles everywhere they looked, and everyone driving them seemed to wear sungla.s.ses, even on those overcast mornings when the sun didn't emerge until noon. In fact, as the young Jacksons would soon learn, many people wore their sungla.s.ses at night too. 'Now that's that's Hollywood livin',' Joseph said. Hollywood livin',' Joseph said.

One afternoon, Berry called a meeting of the gang at Diana Ross's home. This was the first time the boys had seen her since the show they gave at Berry's home in Detroit the previous winter. Diana's house may not have been spectacular by Hollywood standards she was a single woman, at the time, living in a three-bedroom temporary residence in Hollywood Hills while in the process of purchasing a new, more opulent home in Beverly Hills but when the five Jackson boys and their father compared her digs to their garage-sized house in Gary, it was hard for them to act cool.

Michael has recalled that Gordy sat the boys down in Diana's living room and had a talk with them. 'I'm gonna make you kids the biggest thing in the world,' he told them. 'You're gonna have three number-one hits in a row. They're gonna write about you kids in history books. So get ready, 'cause it's coming.'

That was exactly what the Jacksons wanted to hear. Joseph had wanted nothing more for his sons than to be successful, and it seemed a sure-thing, now. He told them that they were to do whatever 'Mr Gordy' asked of them, with no questions. Simply put, Joseph was in awe of Berry. However, he was also intimidated by him. 'Here's a black man who has made millions of dollars in show business,' Joseph had said. 'If I can just learn a few things from this guy, then I'll have it made too.'

As the meeting was about to conclude, Diana swept into the room looking like... well, Diana Ross Diana Ross... in a black satin hot pants outfit, huge natural hairstyle and gold hoop earrings. 'She always looked like a G.o.ddess,' Jermaine recalled. 'I remember that when she walked into the living room that day, all of our mouths dropped open.' Although the boys had met her before, they were still awed. Joseph fell all over himself to make an impression.

'I just want to tell you boys once again that I'm here for you,' she said. 'If there's anything I can do for you, I hope you'll let me know.'

She seemed sincere, Jermaine would remember. 'It was hard to believe that she was saying those words to us,' he said. 'I mean, what did we do to deserve her a.s.sistance? Talk about luck.'

What Jermaine remembers most about the day is the telegram that Diana showed them. 'This is from me to lots and lots of people,' she explained. It read: 'Please join me in welcoming a brilliant musical group, The Jackson 5, on Monday, 11 August 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the Daisy, North Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills. The Jackson 5, featuring sensational eight-year-old Michael Jackson, will perform live at the party, [signed] Diana Ross.'

'I think you made a mistake,' Michael told her. 'I'm not eight. I'm ten.'

'Not any more you're not,' Berry said with a grin.

Berry explained that the discrepancy was a matter of public relations. What ensued was a brief discussion with Michael about the art of PR; he was reminded that, as far as the media were concerned, Diana Ross was the one who had brought him and his brothers to Motown. He should always remember that because, as Diana explained to him, 'It's all for your mage.'

'Got it,' Michael said. 'I'm eight. And we were discovered by the great Miss Diana Ross.'

'You got it, all right,' Diana said with a grin. She hugged him tightly. 'You are just so cute,' she said, again.

Michael would later recall, 'I figured out at an early age that if someone said something about me that wasn't true, it was a lie. But if someone said something about my image image that wasn't true, then it was okay. Because then it wasn't a lie, it was public relations.' that wasn't true, then it was okay. Because then it wasn't a lie, it was public relations.'

On 11 August 1968, Diana Ross introduced her new proteges, The Jackson 5, with the kind of pomp and pageantry usually accorded major Hollywood debuts. Three hundred of Gordy's and Diana's 'closest' friends and business a.s.sociates crammed into the chic Beverly Hills private club, the Daisy, all having been personally invited via Diana Ross's telegram. They stood and cheered as Michael Jackson and The Jackson 5 as they were introduced by Diana performed Motown songs such as Smokey Robinson's 'Who's Loving You' and even Disney cla.s.sics like 'Zip-a-dee-do-dah'. The boys wore identical lime green vest suits with gold s.h.i.+rts and matching green boots. Every move had been carefully ch.o.r.eographed for them, and rehea.r.s.ed in the professional Motown tradition. They were a hit. Afterwards, a Motown press release was distributed to everyone in attendance, with two years shaved off the age of each boy.

Beaming with pride at their reception, Berry announced that The Jackson 5 would next appear in concert with Diana Ross and The Supremes at the Forum five days later, and then later in October when Diana would play hostess on The Hollywood Palace The Hollywood Palace television show. television show.

Each Jackson boy met the press in a receiving line, with Diana Ross making the introductions: 'This one's Michael. Isn't he cute? cute? And that one's Jermaine. Isn't he And that one's Jermaine. Isn't he adorable? adorable? And over there's Jackie. Look how And over there's Jackie. Look how tall tall he is,' and so forth. he is,' and so forth.

Soul reporter Judy Spiegelman recalled, 'I remember being impressed with the courteous, outgoing att.i.tude of the youngsters. After all, they were just kids but yet not at all affected by the attention.' reporter Judy Spiegelman recalled, 'I remember being impressed with the courteous, outgoing att.i.tude of the youngsters. After all, they were just kids but yet not at all affected by the attention.'

Pauline Dunn, a reporter from the Sentinel, Sentinel, a Los Angeles black newspaper, approached Michael. a Los Angeles black newspaper, approached Michael.

'How's it feel to be a star, Michael?' she wanted to know.

'Well, to tell you the truth, I had just about given up hope,' Michael said with a grin. He was wearing a black bowler hat over his Afro-style hair. 'I thought I was gonna be an old man before being discovered.' Then, in a hushed, dramatic tone he concluded, 'But then along came Miss Diana Ross to save my career. She discovered discovered me.' me.'

'And just how old are you, Michael?' she asked.

Michael looked up at Diana, who was standing proudly behind him, her hand on his shoulder. Berry Gordy stood nearby.

'Eight,' Michael said.

'But I thought you were older. Going on eleven, maybe,' the suspicious journalist pressed.

'Well, I'm not,' Michael insisted. 'I'm eight.'

'But I heard '

'Look, the kid's eight, all right?' Berry broke in. 'Next question.'