Michael Jackson: The Life of an Icon Page #8

and Hazel was Berry Gordy's daughter.

KATHERINE:
When my boys left Jermaine

back at Motown,

it hurt, because Jermaine wouldn't come.

I don't know if it was upset or angry or

whatever or disappointment or whatever,

Tito Jackson MICHAEL'S BROTHER

it just was a sad time, that's all.

That's the word. It was sad.

Jermaine felt

that he owed his allegiance to Berry

'cause Berry was the one

that gave us our start.

And I felt the same way.

TARABORRELLI:
Berry Gordy

maintained the name Jackson 5

and they really thought that maybe

it wasn't fair that Berry got to keep

the name "Jackson 5,"

so they went to CBS as the Jacksons.

ALEXENBURG:
I was not prepared

for the rubbish that would come my way.

It was this fear, I guess,

that what the supposed "lily white" company

was gonna do to this black family.

I received phone calls, I received threats.

There was a lot of prejudice in the business.

Black records usually had to cross over

from being R&B to pop stations.

Very rarely did a pop station

just go on a black record.

It's the most ridiculous thing in the world

when you think of it now

because it's not like that any more.

But it sure was in the '60s and '70s.

Music business was segregated

and even though

the Jackson 5 had crossed over,

there was just always

this thing that was going on

that there was a difference

between R&B and pop.

Forget the colour, listen to the music.

Does the music excite your audience?

Yes. Play it.

Ron Alexenburg called us and asked us

if we would produce them.

ALEXENBURG:
I wanted to go

to proven winners

and that's why I picked up the phone

and called Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff

and it was only at that time that I found out

that they were also

trying to sign the Jacksons and I said,

"Well, pretend that you signed them

but they're gonna be on Epic Records

"and please produce them for me."

GAMBLE:
That transition

was a trying time, because

they had a lot of emotional things

going on with them

because this was the first time

that Jermaine was not recording with them.

GEST:
When Jermaine left,

Randy came into the group

and Joe had been preparing Randy,

for a long time, to become a member.

And he fit in like a glove.

This here gentleman is Randy Jackson,

The Jacksons

PHILADELPHIA INT. STUDIO 1977

and he happens to be the youngest

and the ugliest member of the Jackson 5.

Now what's the excuse for you, so ugly?

(PEOPLE LAUGH)

'Cause I take after my big brother; Tito.

As soon as we found a recording date

for an artist,

we would start writing for them

and not only would Gamble and Huff

write for them,

but we had McFadden and Whitehead

who wrote for them.

- All of our writers, all of our staff...

- Dexter, Cynthia Biggs...

They would know

that the Jacksons were coming in.

DEXTER WANSEL:
Kenny Gamble

and Leon Huff instructed me

to write a number one for them

to see if I could come up with any material

that they liked,

Dexter Wansel PRODUCER/ SONGWRITER

meaning the Jacksons,

and that Gamble and Huff could approve.

And so, we would have prepared for them

maybe 20 songs

when they walked in the door.

And then we'd take those 20 songs

and we'd cut 'em down to maybe, like, 12.

The Jacksons themselves were

interested in moving on with their career.

They wanted to write,

they wanted to produce.

So Huff and I, we helped them produce.

Tito was excellent,

'cause he's a great guitar player.

Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff

was very warm, nice people.

They had a lot of soul,

we had a lot in common with the music.

WANSEL:
When I cut their tracks,

I always included Tito

in the rhythm section.

And he told me Motown would not

let him play on their tracks,

but he played on every one of mine.

(LAUGHS)

GAMBLE:
Our studio was running

24 hours a day so it was like a machine.

H U F F:
Sometimes,

we might wanna work until the wee hours

of the morning.

Depends on how strong

your creative juices is flowing

at that moment.

And the Jacksons were used to curfews.

But that changed in Philly.

GAMBLE:
Well, they were olden

they were teenagers then.

But they were still trying

to induce that old system,

and Michael rebelled against it.

Because Michael wanted to hang out

into the wee hours of the morning, so...

And that's what he did.

Michael loved his time with Gamble and Huff.

He really appreciated working

with two geniuses

who wrote so many classic songs.

Can you tell us, what made you want

to sing in the first place?

- I don't know.

- You don't know?

Well, you know how that goes with children.

They just don't know, do they?

Michael, at that time, was always shy

and really reserved.

We would say l wanna go get something

to eat, or Let's do this..

And he would go, "Okay"

And he was very humble.

And I think he was pretty humble

through his life.

- What's your name?

- Christopher Wansel.

(PEOPLE LAUGH)

I was young when that video was made,

I was, like, one or two years old.

Christopher Wansel JACKSON FRIEND.

The relationship with the Jacksons

started there

and it continued throughout life.

Can you sing?

He can't dance? I wanna see his dance.

- JACKIE:
Come on, man!

- You don't have to.

CHRISTOPHER:
I remember a lot of just,

I guess, excitement and just joy

with those guys at that point, you Know,

'cause a lot of people that would record

would be serious,

you wouldn't get a smile or anything,

but these guys were constantly joking

left and right.

JACKIE:
What do you do, booger?

(LAUGHING)

Well, other than being "the Bishop of Soul"

I'm also "the Monk of Funk"

and "the High Priest of Rock"

and "the Bishop of Soul."

MAN 1:
All right!

MAN 2:
Who said that?

I met Michael Jackson

when he first came to Philly.

Billy Paul

ARTIST, PHILADELPHIA INT. RECORDS

back in, I think, it was 1974.

He was a very shy young kid, you know.

And he was very excited to meet me,

you know,

'cause he... Mrs Jones...

It was at the height of Mrs Jones.

I welcomed him to the studio and told him

he was gonna enjoy it

and I'd do a good job, you Know,

and he just laughed.

WANSEL:
Michael's voice had changed,

obviously

from the little boy

that could hit all those high, piercing,

I'll Be There notes

to a rawer sound.

But he was a great singer because

he studied the great singers,

he wanted to sing like them.

He knew what he wanted to do

with his voice,

like over-dubbing his voice

and doubling his voice

and speeding up one voice and this one...

These are things that he was telling me,

you know. We're the producers.

He would say,

"Gamble, can I try this? Can I try that?"

I said, "Yeah, try anything you want."

- We let him express himself.

- H U F F:
Yeah.

GAMBLE:
You know, he was in there

through the mixes,

he was around me and Huff all the time.

I remember when they were working

with Gamble and Huff in Philadelphia,

and I liked their sound and I liked what they

did and they helped them out a lot.

And that's when

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