Michael Jackson and his brothers, Jackie, Tito, Marlon and Jermaine – the Jackson Five, at Heathrow Airport. (Photo by George Stroud/Getty Images)
Mason starts at the very beginning: Gary, Indiana. Joe Jackson, a steel mill worker with a dream, saw something different on his TV — a show called The Monkees. The program followed a cheerful, made-for-TV band, and it sparked something serious in Joe.
“There was this factory worker in Indiana who would watch it diligently and tell his little babies — ‘Listen man, that’s going to be us!’”
Joe didn’t just encourage the dream — he enforced it. He transformed his home into a boot camp for music. Rehearsals weren’t optional. The boys practiced day and night, learning harmony, choreography, and stage presence. Joe took notes on performances, dissected The Temptations, and drilled his sons with precision.
He also knew image mattered. Joe dressed his sons alike, groomed them for the stage, and made sure they had polished routines that could compete with the best adult acts on the circuit. But he couldn’t get through Motown the traditional way.
“They got to Motown because of their live performance. Tommy Chong saw them in Chicago, told Gladys Knight, and she got them the audition.”
Tommy Chong, yes — of Cheech and Chong fame — was in a band at the time and saw the Jackson 5 tear up the stage. He tipped off Gladys Knight, who personally vouched for them. That call led to a Detroit audition where Michael stunned Motown’s top brass.
Joe Jackson didn’t invent the idea of a family band — but he invented his family band, molding them into an unstoppable force. Without the vision sparked by a TV sitcom and his relentless drive, the Jackson 5 might have never left Indiana.
“Joe Jackson wanted to prove his kids could be more than just cute. He wanted stars.”
And that’s exactly what he made.
