The Jacksons have been called the first family of pop music and their remarkable success justifies the unofficial designation although, of course, the subject is still open to debate.
In any event, now that nearly all of the media and public frenzy has subsided following the still hard to believe passing of Michael Jackson, a flood of thoughts began to go through my mind.
For example, I recall interviewing Jermaine Jackson in the late summer of 1989. At the time he had a No. 1 hit with “Don’t Take It Personal.” (And even then it appeared that he was using shellac in his hair.)
The interview, which took place at The Whitney restaurant on Woodward Ave., was interesting and Jermaine was very much into it. He was calm and, like all of the Jackson brothers, soft-spoken.
However, he went to another place when the subject of La Toya Jackson and her then-husband, Jack Gordon, came up. In fact, he asked me to turn off the tape recorder so that he could express himself freely and off the record.
CLEARLY, he despised Gordon and used whatever words were necessary to make that dislike clear. He also believed that La Toya, largely at odds with her family at the time, was heavily influenced by Gordon, who was also her manager.
Plus, Jermaine thought it was strange that La Toya would pose nude for Playboy magazine with a boa constrictor used suggestively when, in fact, she had always been afraid of snakes.
And speaking of LaToya Jackson, who can be a real drama queen, when her marriage to Jack Gordon went sour, she publicly claimed that he beat her and left her “in a pool of blood.” (Yeah, right.)
LaToya wrote a successful book titled “Growing Up in the Jackson Family,” in which she came down pretty hard on Michael and much of the rest of the family. However, when Michael got into major trouble, accused of child molestation, there she was at his side, speaking out on his behalf. True, “blood is thicker than conflict,” but to me it still seemed hypocritical.
WHEN THE Jackson 5 first became a sensation in 1969-1970, they were adored by teenaged girls everywhere. They dreamed of being with a Jackson brother, especially Michael or Jermaine, but, of course, they couldn’t get anywhere near them. But girls in the Gordy family could.
Before you could say “A-B-C,” Patrice Gordy was going with Jackie Jackson and Hazel Gordy was going with Jermaine. (Jermaine and Hazel later married.) At the time I was friendly with Patrice, to whom I had became acquainted through a mutual friend.
Patrice invited me to have holiday season dinner with her family in late 1970, at her grandparents’ home on West Outer Drive. (I don’t recall how I got there; I certainly wasn’t driving then.) Hazel proudly showed me Jermaine’s ring, which she was wearing around her neck. I was quite excited to be amongst the Gordys.
Berry Gordy Jr. was there and he kept staring at me, no doubt wondering who I was and why I was there. (Bertha Gordy, his mother, was very nice to me.)
LATER ON in the evening, when the drinks had kicked in, various family members were really cutting loose and getting loud. I remember the conga line that went all through the house, up and down the stairs, etc.
It obviously made Mr. Gordy uncomfortable that yours truly was witnessing all that. (Hey, they were just having a good time!)
Patrice had gotten into the habit of calling me, mostly to talk about Jackie. Many years later, in 1989 to be exact, I interviewed Jackie Jackson who had a solo album that had just been released.
In the course of the conversation (it was a phone interview), I mentioned that Patrice used to call me a lot. Surprisingly, that really piqued his interest, even 20 years earlier.
“To say what?” he asked, genuinely curious. After I responded that it was nothing important, he said of his relationship with Patrice, “It was a puppy love thing.”
I have interviewed several members of the Jackson family (never Michael) and although they were all okay, the nicest one, and the interview I enjoyed most, was Marlon. I had to move the tape recorder closer to him and ask him to talk a little louder (there it was again — that soft-spoken Jackson thing).
THIS WAS IN 1987 when Marlon had a national No. 2 solo hit with “Don’t Go,” featured on his album, “Baby Tonight.” Interestingly, at one point, Marlon said bluntly, “I am no longer a member of the Jacksons.”
However, that changed once his solo endeavor had run its course.
A less pleasant experience occurred when I wrote in my column (“Reflections”) that I thought Michael Jackson was being greedy buying up the publishing rights to so many songs. My focus was on the Beatles catalog that Michael had just purchased.
Michael had maneuvered around Paul McCartney to get the rights to the vast and lucrative Lennon-McCartney catalog. McCartney, who had shown Michael the ropes with regard to buying copyrights, was trying to make the purchase himself, a fact Michael was aware of.
Michael going behind Paul’s back ended the Michael Jackson-Paul McCartney friendship. (As you will remember, they had hits as a duo: “The Girl Is Mine,” “Say Say Say.”)
What I had written came to the attention of Bob Jones, Michael Jackson’s longtime publicist and friend, who received the word from syndicated columnist Bill Lane. Jones called me and was quite angry.
“WOULD YOU rather somebody White got the Beatles catalog?” he asked, accusingly.
I told him it wasn’t a matter of race, and that I felt that if anyone should have that catalog, it should be one of the Beatles.
The conversation ended less than amicably.
However, not long after that, David Ruffin died and, having squandered his money on drugs, had left no money to cover the cost of a decent funeral. Michael Jackson, admirably, stepped up to foot the bill. (The service took place at New Bethel Baptist Church in June 1991.)
Much to my surprise, the next day I received a phone call from Bob Jones, and you would never know that the previous altercation had taken place. He was calling to get all the details on the David Ruffin funeral since his client, Michael, had paid for it.
“You’re the only one in Detroit we know who would’ve been there,” he said. (He used the word “we” even though I didn’t know Michael Jackson.) He passed the information on to Michael.
IT IS INTERESTING to note that a number of years later, Jones and Jackson had a falling out and Jones was let go. Shocked and offended, he then wrote a book that did not show his former boss in a positive light.
Remember when Janet Jackson, who by then had become a superstar, received the key to the City of Detroit? City government had not planned on such a presentation, but from reliable sources, we learned that Janet called and asked to receive the key to the city.
Coleman Young, who was mayor at the t
ime, said he was happy to oblige.
We are going to end this story with something that is…uh…interesting.
At one point, Randy Jackson was going with a woman named Alejandra Oaziaza, with whom he had two children, a girl and a boy. A year after they broke up, Alejandra married Jermaine Jackson and they had two sons, one of whom is Jermajesty.
So those kids are cousins and at the same time half-sister and half-brother.
That’s too deep for me.