They were introduced by fellow Motown Records star Diana Ross, and her boss -- and, secretly, her boyfriend -- Berry Gordy Jr. falsely told the media that Diana had "discovered" them. Their 1st album, released on December 8, was titled Diana Ross Introduces the Jackson 5.
In fact, they had been relentlessly promoted by their father and manager, Joe Jackson. On August 13, 1967, they won the famous Amateur Night competition at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem. Singer Gladys Knight, signed to Motown, was there, and she told Gordy about them.
In descending order of age, they were Sigmund, a.k.a. Jackie, then 18 years old; Tariano, a.k.a. Tito, 16; Jermaine, about to turn 15; Marlon, 12; and the lead singer, Michael, just 11, but already the obvious star of the siblings.
Two months later, on December 14, 1969, the Jackson 5 appeared on Sullivan. They would dominate Billboard magazine's Hot 100 chart in 1970, as "I Want You Back," then, "ABC," then "The Love You Save," and "I'll Be There" all hit Number 1. Their 5th single, "Mama's Pearl," almost made it, hitting Number 2. The original version of "Never Can Say Goodbye" did the same in 1971. As solo singles for Michael, "Got to Be There" hit Number 4 in 1971, and the theme to the film "Ben" hit Number 1 in 1972.
Marlon had a twin brother, Brandon, who died shortly after birth. Their sister Maureen, or Rebbie, was 19, but did not perform live with her siblings until 1974, in Las Vegas. Another sister, La Toya, was 10. Another brother, Randy, was about to turn 8. Their sister Janet was just 3 years old.
In the 1971-72 TV season, ABC would run The Jackson 5ive, with Motown and Rankin/Bass combining to produce 23 episodes of animated adventures depicting the 5 brothers.
Janet would make her TV debut in 1974, shortly before turning 8, performing with her brothers on The Carol Burnett Show. That same year, the brothers sang backup on Stevie Wonder's Number 1 hit "You Haven't Done Nothin'": "Jackson 5, won't you sing along? Singin', doo-doo-wop!"
In 1975, Jermaine left the group, and was replaced by Randy. In 1976, CBS aired The Jacksons, a variety show, as a Summer replacement series, on which La Toya made her TV debut. From this point onward, the group was "The Jacksons," no longer "The Jackson 5."
Michael starred as the Scarecrow in the 1978 film version of The Wiz, with Diana as Dorothy. His 1979 album Off the Wall made him a bigger star than ever. In 1982, he released Thriller. In 1983, to support it, he and his brothers reunited on the Motown 25 TV special, and then, solo, he performed "Billie Jean," and became the biggest star on the planet, reaching the kind of heights that only Elvis Presley and The Beatles had done before.
The Jacksons were preparing for their worldwide Victory Tour in 1984, when, while rehearsing for a Pepsi commercial, a mishap led to Michael's hair catching on fire. While he still had many big hits, on a personal level, he would never be the same, and the era of "Wacko Jacko" began. At the same time, Janet's star rose to high levels, as she established "her own brand," showing that she didn't have to take a back seat to anyone, not even in her own family.
Michael died in 2009. Joe died in 2018. As of October 18, 2022, mother Katharine, Jackie, Tito, Jermaine and Marlon are still alive. Between the 9 Jackson children that survived infancy, they had 27 children.
UPDATE: Tito died in 2024.
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October 18, 1969 was a Saturday. This was also the day that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (then still using his birth name of Lew Alcindor), the greatest player in the history of college basketball, made his professional debut. I have a separate entry for this event.
Kareem led all players with 29 points and 12 rebounds, and he added 6 assists. The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Detroit Pistons, 119-110 at the Milwaukee Arena. In 1974, it was renamed the Milwaukee Exposition and Convention Center Arena. Because of its initials, and its status as a gathering place, the arena was nicknamed "The MECCA." Since 2014, it has been named the UW-Panther Arena.
These 6 other games were played in the NBA on that night:
* The New York Knicks beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 99-96 at the new Madison Square Garden. Willis Reed scored 25 points, Dick Barnett 21, and Walt Frazier 19. For the Lakers, Jerry West scored 42, Elgin Baylor 18, and Wilt Chamberlain was comparatively quiet with 12 points and 16 rebounds.
This 1st game of the season turned out to be a preview of the last, when the Knicks beat the Lakers at The Garden to win their 1st NBA Championship.
* The Atlanta Hawks beat the Phoenix Suns, 121-116 at the Alexander Memorial Coliseum (now the McCamish Pavilion) in Atlanta.
* The Baltimore Bullets beat the Boston Celtics, 124-117 at the Baltimore Civic Center (now the CFG Bank Arena). Earl "the Pearl" Monroe scored 34.
* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Cincinnati Royals, 134-123 at the Cincinnati Gardens. Billy Cunningham scored 40 points, and Archie Clark added 31. For the Royals, Luther Rackley scored 29, and Oscar Robertson 23.
* The Chicago Bulls beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 131-126 in overtime at the Chicago Stadium. Chet "The Jet" Walker scored 31.
* And the San Diego Rockets beat the San Francisco Warriors, 125-124 in overtime at the Cow Palace in the San Francisco suburb of Daly City, California. For the 1971-72 season, the Rockets moved to Houston, and the Warriors moved across San Francisco Bay to Oakland, taking the name "Golden State Warriors."
There were 4 games played in the American Basketball Association:
* The Washington Capitols beat the New Orleans Buccaneers, 110-104 at the Washington Coliseum.
* The Dallas Chaparrals beat the Carolina Cougars, 108-97 at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina.
* The Miami Floridians beat the Kentucky Colonels, 110-106 at the Louisville Convention Center.
* And the Los Angeles Stars beat the Indiana Pacers, 126-123 at the Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum (now the Corteva Coliseum) in Indianapolis.
There were 5 games in the NHL:
* The New York Rangers lost to the Montreal Canadiens, 7-3 at the Montreal Forum. Jean Béliveau and Ivan Cournoyer each scored 2 goals.
* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 4-1 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.
* The Boston Bruins and the Pittsburgh Penguins played to a tie, 3-3 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.
* The St. Louis Blues beat the Minnesota North Stars, 4-2 at the St. Louis Arena.
* And the Los Angeles Kings beat the Oakland Seals, 5-0 at The Forum, outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California. Former Toronto Maple Leafs star Eddie Shack lived up to his nickname, "Eddie the Entertainer," by scoring a hat trick. This built-in geographic rivalry did not last, as the Seals failed in 1976.
The baseball season had ended 2 days earlier, when the New York Mets beat the Baltimore Orioles in Game 5 to win the World Series. There was college football on this day, including the following games:
* Number 1 Ohio State beat Minnesota, 34-7 at Memorial Stadium in Minneapolis.
* Number 2 Texas were idle. They were supposed to play Arkansas on this date, but ABC convinced them to move it to the open date of December 6, making it the only game played that day and, as both a rivalry game and the game that could have decided the Southwest Conference title, it would get a huge national audience and be a great advertisement for both schools. Both went for it.
* Number 3 Southern California and Number 11 Notre Dame, played to a tie, 14-14 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana. This turned out to be the only blemish on USC's record, as they won the Pacific-Eight Conference title.
* Number 4 Arkansas rescheduled its game with Baylor for this date, and won, 21-7 at Baylor Stadium (later Floyd Casey Stadium) in Waco, Texas. And after USC's tie with Notre Dame, and Ohio State's upset loss to Michigan, Arkansas were ranked Number 2 when they took the field against Texas on December 6, and Texas were ranked Number 1. It became known as "The Game of the Century," and Texas came from 14-0 down to win, 15-14. Texas then beat Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl, and were awarded the National Championship.
* Number 5 Penn State beat Syracuse, 15-14 at Archbold Stadium in Syracuse, New York. Penn State had been offered a berth in the Cotton Bowl, to face the Texas-Arkansas winner, and set up a de facto National Championship Game. But they turned it down, since Ohio State were still undefeated and Number 1 at the time the bid was offered.
* Number 6 Missouri beat Oklahoma State, 31-21 at Faurot Field in Columbia, Missouri. Missouri won the Big Eight title, but lost the Orange Bowl to Penn State. As a result of this, Penn State finished undefeated, and ranked Number 2. Their fans still say they would have beaten Texas, given the chance. They were given the chance, and head coach Joe Paterno turned it down. For 40 years, that looked like the biggest mistake that "Saint Joseph" ever made in "Happy Valley." It was not.
* Number 7 Tennessee beat Number 20 Alabama, 41-24 at Legion Field in Birmingham. Tennessee would end up winning the Southeastern Conference title, but a loss to Mississippi caused the Sugar Bowl, which normally invited the SEC Champion, to invite "Ole Miss" instead.
* Number 8 UCLA beat the University of California, 32-0 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
* Number 9 Louisiana State beat Kentucky, 37-10 at McLean Stadium in Lexington, Kentucky.
* Number 10 Florida beat North Carolina, 52-2 at Florida Field in Gainesville. Florida went on to beat Tennessee in the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville.
* Number 13 Michigan were upset by Michigan State, 23-12 at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing. Michigan would rebound, winning the Big Ten title by upsetting Ohio State. But they lost the Rose Bowl to USC.
* Number 16 Wyoming beat Brigham Young, 40-7 at War Memorial Stadium in Laramie, Wyoming. They did this despite head coach Lloyd Eaton kicking 14 black players off the team, for wanting to wear black armbands on their sleeves, in protest of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, which runs BYU, discriminating against black people, including refusing to let black men be priests in their Church. (That policy was struck down in 1978.)
Without those black players, Wyoming won their next game, but lost their last 4 of the season, and went 1-10 the next season. Eaton was fired, not for being a bigot, but for being a loser. He got a front office job with the Green Bay Packers, but that would be the only subsequent job he would hold in football, at any level.
* Number 19 Mississippi beat Southern Mississippi, 69-7 at Hemingway Stadium (now Vaught-Hemingway Stadium) in Oxford. Despite finishing only 5th in the SEC, "Ole Miss" were invited to the Sugar Bowl, and beat former Number 2 Arkansas.
* Among the service academies, Air Force beat Oregon, 60-13 at Falcon Stadium in Colorado Springs, Colorado; but Army lost to Utah State, 23-7 at Michie Stadium in West Point, New York; and Navy...
* Among New Jersey teams, Rutgers beat Navy, 20-6 at Rutgers Stadium in Piscataway; and Princeton lost to Colgate, 35-28 at Palmer Stadium in Princeton.
* And in New York City, Columbia lost to Yale, 41-6 at Baker Field in Manhattan.
And in English soccer, North London team Arsenal went to the North-East, and played Sunderland to a 1-1 draw at Roker Park in Sunderland.
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