Today in MJJ HIStory

1970 - The Jackson 5's third album, imaginatively titled Third Album, was released, which featured the group's 4th consecutive #1 single on the US pop charts, I'll Be There.

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Third Album was released after the Jackson 5 know their heyday, two weeks after the release of their fourth single, I'll Be There, which would become their fourth-straight number one single on the Billboard Hot 100 in October-November; followed Mama's Pearl in early 1971. Two more singles will be released outside the USA: How Funky Is Your Chicken and Goin 'Back To Indiana. The album is full recovery of songs, pourrra include: a cover of Simon & Garfunkel (Bridge Over Troubled Water), a Smokey Robinson & The Miracles (The Love I Saw In You Was Just A Mirage) and adaptation of Oh How Happy as gospel.
The album peaked at #4 on the Billboard album charts and #1 on the R&B album charts and also #1 on Cashbox. This is considered one of their best efforts and is their most successful album to date. It sold over 6 million copies worldwide.

1979 - Michael's single Don't Stop 'Till You Get Enough hit #1 on US Hot 100 chart and stay there for 5 weeks. The single earned Michael his 2nd Platinum Award in RIAA Sales.

1984 - The Jacksons performs second concert of the Victory tour at Mile High Stadium Denver [Colorado, USA] attending 26,840.

1985 - Michael Jackson's single "Girl You're So Together" hit #33 in the U.K.

Michael Jackson appeared as the duet vocalist on Jermaine Jackson's "Tell Me I'm Not Dreaming."

1988 - In England, Michael sold out Wembley Stadium on the 14th, 15th, 16th, 22nd, 23rd July, 26th and 27th August – a stadium record 504,000 people.
An achievement recognised on 8th September by the Wembley Stadium Management with a special award, and later by another entry in The Guinness Book Of Records.

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1992 - Michael performs Dangerous tour at La Pontaise Stadium, Lausanne [Switzerland] attending 47,000.

1993 - Newsweek magazine(Japan) featured MJ on their cover.

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1994 - Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley attended what was their first public engagement together, when they opened the 11th annual MTV Video Music Awards.

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'I’m very happy to be here,’ said Michael, after welcoming everyone to the show. ‘And just think, nobody thought this would last!’ Referring, of course, to his marriage.

Their 120 second appearance stole everyone else the show when Michael, surprising everyone, swept Lisa Marie into his arms, and tenderly kissed her in public for the very first time. The long, sensual kiss drew gasps and whistles from the audience.

The next day, it's THE event in the media all over the world. Some refered to it as "The Kiss of the Century", others compared the kiss to the famous kissing-scene in "Gone With The Wind" between Scarlett O'Hara and Rett Buttler.

Bravo Magazine featured MJ on the cover.

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1997 - Michael returns to Neverland with Prince Michael Jr.

2001 - Read what New York Daily News' Sept. 8th edition had to say about the first show [Sept. 07]:

His U.S. concert return packs Garden

[By Isaac Guzman and Leo Standora]

Michael Jackson took the stage at Madison Square Garden last night to show the world he still counts himself the King of Pop.

Seeking to recapture the magic that put "Thriller" and "Bad" among the best-selling albums ever, he performed with a galaxy of stars in his first U.S. concert in 11 years.

Reuniting with his brothers for a medley of hits recorded when they were the Jackson 5, and heating up the auditorium with a steamy version of "They Way You Make Me Feel" with a miniskirted Britney Spears, Jackson once again rocked his fans' world.

When Jackson donned his trademark sequined jacket, single sequined glove and black fedora, then launched into an electric version of "Billie Jean", the crowd went ballistic.

"He's still to it", announced one fan, as Jackson danced up a storm with his moonwalk, pop and lock, the robot and a series of eye-popping spins.

2002 - Michael Jackson recorded a video message to the German people to express his concern and condolences following the devasting floods that have afflicted the country.

Michael's message was as follows: "To the people of Germany, I send my deepest concern, my deepest and most heart-felt condolences. You are NOT alone. I am here in spirit with you and you are in my prayers. Remember God is with you, and have faith in the fact that this too shall pass. All my love and caring, I love you forever. Thank you."
Michael invited one German family with four children to Las Vegas to meet him and spend the weekend with him. The family is one of the many victims that lost everything in the floods.

And even more, he donated some items, personally signed in Las Vegas, to be auctioned in support of the victims.

Filed under  //   1970   1979   1984   1985   1988   1992   1993   1994   1997   2001   2002  

Today in MJJ HIStory

1970 - Michael is on the cover of Soul magazine.

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In the early years, no publication covered the Jackson 5 like Soul, a weekly newspaper devoted to Black music that was published in Los Angeles, kind of the Black version of Rolling Stone.

In July and August of 1970, each Jackson brother had his own cover story in Soul. Later, all of the profiles and pictures were compiled in a special J5 Extra edition of Soul.

Michael's cover story appeared in the August 10 issue. It's filled with rare photos and interesting tidbits, including a mini photo-drama about finding and capturing a snake while on the ABC photoshoot, with the assistance of Motown singer, Chris Clark. It gives an interesting portrait of Michael as a child and as a performer. Here it is, in all its glory.
Source: j5collector

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1979 - Michael released Off The Wall, his first solo album on Epic and first co-produced with Quincy Jones, and it became a tremendous success. With hit singles like Don’t Stop (Til You Get Enough) and Rock With You, it became an instant smash on the pop and disco charts.

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It was his fifth overall solo album, but his first ever for Epic records. The album was recorded between December 4 1978 and July 7, 1979. Michael contributed three songs to Off The Wall: “Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough”, “Working Day and Night” and “Get on the Floor” (co-written with Louis Johnson). Michael and Quincy sought top writers and musicians for the album, with Rod Temperton who contributed three tracks: “Rock With You”, “Off The Wall” and “Burn This Disco Out”, Paul McCartney contributed the playful “Girlfriend”, Tom Bahler gave the emotional “She’s Out of My Life” and Stevie Wonder and Susaye Greene offered the quirky “I Can’t Help It”. There was one duet between Michael and Patti Austin called “It’s the Falling in Love”, which was written by Carole Bayer Sager and David Foster.

A flawless album of exuberant celebration, orchestrated with unforgettable summer sounds, Michael proved that he was more than just a mere performer or group leader, but a complete recording artist, with the skills to make the hottest music out of nothing but his own imagination. It was the album he had been trying to make all along.

The album was hailed as a major breakthrough for Michael, and received amazing reviews. The album went to number 3 in the US chart and number 1 on the US soul chart and stayed on the top 20 for a massive 48 weeks.

Michael Jackson is the first singer ever to spawn 4 Top Ten singles in the US from one album ["Off The Wall"], two of which became number one hits. In Britain, for the first time in music history, a record 5 hit singles were released, "Girlfriend" being one of them.

The album exceeded all expectations and was hugely successful on both the Pop and Black album charts. With the release of this album, the world got to see a new Michael Jackson.

With "Off The Wall" Michael becomes the Prince of Pop!

At the Grammy Awards for 1979, Michael got nominated for "Best R&B Vocal Performance" and also won in his category.

Michael: "Although 'Off The Wall' had been one of the most popular records of the year, it received only one nomination: 'Best R&B Vocal Performance'. I remember where I was when I got the news. I felt ignored by my peers and it hurt. People told me later that it surprised the industry too... I said to myself, 'Wait until next time - they won't be able to ignore the next album.' I watched the ceremony on television and it was nice to win in my category, but I still was upset by what I perceived as the rejection of my peers. I just kept thinking 'Next time, next time.'"

"I can be brutally objective about my work as I create it, and if something doesn't work, I can feel it, but when I turn in a finished album - or song - you can be sure that I've given it every ounce of energy and God-given talent that I have. 'Off The Wall' was well received by my fans and I think that's why the Grammy nominations hurt. That experience lit a fire in my soul. All I could think of was the next album and what I would do with it. I wanted it to be truly great."

The release of "Off The Wall" in August of 1979, the same month Michael turned 21 and took control of his own affairs, was definitely one of the major landmarks of Michael's life. It meant a great deal to him because the album's eventual success proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that a former "child star" could mature into a recording artist with contemporary appeal.

1981 - The Jacksons perform Triumph tour at Veterans Memorial Auditorium, Columbus, U.S.

1985 - In August of 1985 Michael Jackson purchased the "ATV Back Catalogue" for US$ 47.5 million. The catalogue [publishing rights], today worth 3 times as much, comprises over 4'000 compositions, including 251 songs by The Beatles as well as hits by Pat Benatar, Little Richard, The Pointer Sisters and The Pretenders. Michael already owns the publishing rights to the Sly Stone collection as well as a collection of 60's hits. Michael rewarded his attorney John Branca and then-manager Frank Dileo each with a Rolls Royce for their help in negotiating the "Beatles deal".

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Michael’s decade-old friendship with Paul McCartney was brought to an abrupt end, when he spent $47.5 million buying ATV Music, the company that owned the Lennon-McCartney songwriting catalog. Ironically, McCartney had been the one to suggest Michael invest in music publishing a few years earlier, not suspecting how that advice would affect him personally. Jackson stayed at the home of McCartney and his wife Linda during the recording sessions of #1 hit single "Say, Say, Say", becoming friendly with both. One evening whilst at the dining table, McCartney brought out a booklet displaying all the songs to which he owned the publishing rights. He explained that music publishing was a way to make big money. Jackson replied by telling McCartney that he would buy The Beatles' songs one day. "Great. Good joke", McCartney laughed.

McCartney, who along with Beatles partner John Lennon had lost ownership of their songs in 1969 due to bad business deals, had declined earlier opportunities to buy it back due to the high asking price, but was nonetheless incensed by Michael’s opportunism. Michael, who finalized the deal in Perth, Australia two months later, quickly put his new purchase to work, and soon sold the rights to Lennon’s song Revolution for a Nike shoe advertisement.

However, Yoko Ono (Jonh Lennon's widow) was pleased that Michael had acquired Northern Songs and called it a "blessing". In 1990, she stated, "Businessmen who aren't artists themselves wouldn't have the consideration Michael has. He loves the songs. He's very caring!"

  • In 1995 ATV Music Publishing was merged with Sony and renamed Sony/ATV Music Publishing, and become the 3rd largest music publisher in the world.
  • In 2001, Michael declares: "I want to clarify a silly rumour - the Beatles catalogue is not for sale, has not been for sale and will never be for sale."
  • Today, Sony/ATV Music Publishing owns & administers more than 500,000 song copyrights, valued at about $4-5 billion.

1992 - Michael performs Dangerous World tour at Volkspark Stadium, Hamburg, Germany attending 51,000.

1997 - Michael performs HIStory world tour at Hockenheimring stadium, Hockenheim, Germany.

Filed under  //   1970   1979   1981   1985   1992   1997  

Today in MJJ HIStory

1985 - Michael sprained his right hand during the filming of a dance sequence on the set of Captain EO, and was taken to Brotman Memorial Hospital in Culver City, the same place he had been rushed to eighteen months earlier when he was burned on the set of the Pepsi commercial.

Accompanying him was young Jonathan Spence, a boy (ten or eleven years old) who had been friends with Michael since about the fall of 1984.

1988 - Michael had his own TV special. Michael Jackson: Around the World was a 90min special featuring concert footage of the Bad tour, with Michael, as usual, having final appoval of the footage to be included. While the concert footage of the Bad tour was impressive, it still only gives a small taste of the excitement of seeing MJ perform live. Clips of Michael with his band, singers & dancers performing "Working Day & Night" gives only a small sense of the song's elaborate production. Footage is shown of Michael's concert performances of "I Just Can't Stop Loving You", "Human Nature", "Beat It", & the Jackson 5ive classics, "I want You Back" & "The Love You Save".

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Michael's band members speak of the excitement of playing London's Wembley Stadium. Frank Dileo adds, "Playing Wembley is one of the biggest honors any artist could have. It's a status symbol within artists themselves, whether or not they can sell out Wembley Stadium, and of course Michael set a new record. He sold it out 7 times. You can't get any bigger than that."

The program also featured the premiere of Michael's latest video, for "Another Part of Me". Filmed at London's Wembley Stadium on July 15, 1988, the video is of an actual performance of the song from the Bad tour. Too frequent cuts, however, detract from Michael's fancy footwork performed during the song.

MJ:Around the World was the highest rated summer special ever in its time slot, it aired at 11:30 p.m. It earned a 8.7 rating, which is equal to 27% of the tv audience. The program was later renamed MJ: Fans Around the World & rebroadcast on MTV several times. An edited, hour long, version was shown in April, 1989, on the BET network. BET presented Michael with an award in recognition of the tour's success while he was winding up the tour in LA.

Filed under  //   1985   1987  

Today in MJJ HIStory

1985 It was announced that Michael Jackson will star in a 3-D science-fiction musical film, "Captain EO", to be shown exclusively at Disneyland and Disney World.
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Michael:
"I'Captain EO' came about because the Disney Studios wanted me to come up with a new ride for the parks."
"I flew up to San Francisco a couple of times to visit George at his place, Skywalker Ranch, and gradually we came up with a scenario for a short film that would incorporate every recent advance in 3-D technology. 'Captain EO' would look and feel like the audience was in a space-ship, along for the ride."

More than a year after this first announcement, "Captain EO" ["EO" is Greek for "dawn"], Michael's 17 minute space fantasy 3-D movie, premièred on September 12, 1986 at Epcot Center in Disney World, Florida. The film, directed by Francis Ford Coppola ["Dracula"] and produced by George Lucas ["Star Wars"], becomes [and up to today still is] the most expensive film -"minute-for-minute" - ever made. [Estimated costs for the 17 minute film - US$ 30 million].
Michael stars in the title role alongside Anjelica Huston, and two new songs by Michael were featured: "Another Part Of Me" and "We Are Here To Change The World".
After its première at Disney World Florida, the 3-D movie was shown at all 4 Disney Theme Parks [Florida, California, Japan, France] with tremendous success and became one of the main attractions of the parks. "Working on 'Captain EO' reinforced all the positive feelings I've had about working in film and made me realize more than ever that movies are where my future path probably lies", Michael says later.
Only 4 months before the première of "Captain EO", Michael made history again. On March 12, 1986 a press conference announced the new Pepsi-Cola contract with Michael Jackson. Michael enters The Guinness Book Of World Records and is acknowledged by them as having the largest endorsement agreement in history between an individual and a major corporation [Pepsi-Cola]. A record of US$ 15 million were reported.
Filed under  //   1985  

Today in MJJ HIStory

1980 - Michael films a special at Disneyland for Disney's 25th anniversary. Disneyland celebrates its twenty-fifth anniversary with a 25 hour party starting at midnight and ending at 1 AM on the 20th.
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1982 - Michael attends a gala in honor of Quincy Jones at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
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1985 - The charity single We Are The World by the super group USA for Africa, quickly became an anthem for the 80s, and along with the Band-Aid single, inspired a wave of musical charity events, from Live Aid on July 17, 1985 (which, ironically, Michael did not participate in, due to being tied up in filming Captain EO) to Hands Across America on May 25, 1986.
The music-charity movement grew to become far greater than the sum of its parts, but Michael’s crucial contribution guaranteed him a special place in a mass movement that came to define the 1980s pop culture almost as much as Thriller had two years earlier.

1990 - Michael attends the wedding of Grace Eaton to Berry Gordy in Santa Barbara. Among the other wedding guests were Smokey Robinson and Diana Ross.

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1993 - Michael Jackson's single "Will You Be There" hit #9 in the U.K.

1997 - Michael Jackson's "Blood On The Dance Floor: History in the Mix" was certified gold by the RIAA.

Filed under  //   1980   1982   1985   1990   1993   1997  

Today in MJJ HIStory

1971 - At Paramount Studios in Los Angeles, Michael Jackson cuts the lead vocal for “Got To Be There,” his solo debut.

1985 - Michael Jackson's album "Off The Wall" was certified 5 times Platinum by the RIAA.

1995 - Michael Jackson's "HIStory: Past, Present And Future Book 1" debuted at #1 in the U.K.

2003 - Michael makes a surprise appearance at the 3rd Annual BET Awards & presents James Brown with the Lifetime Achievement Award.

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The BET Awards had a priceless moment when Michael appeared on stage, to honor his mentor, The Godfather of Soul, James Brown, with the Lifetime Achievement Award. Michael surprised him by throwing a cape over him (a classic James Brown move), presented him with the Award, saying that since he was 6 years old, James Brown was the greatest entertainment influence on his life. Michael also gave a spontaneous dance performance together with his idol & showed how our traditions are passed down (Kodak Theatre, Hollywood, Ca)
Filed under  //   1971   1985   1995   2003  

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