Most people know that the Jackson brothers were raised in Gary, Indiana. The Jackson’s had nine children, all of them are involved in the music business in some way. Jackie was the oldest, born in 1951, Tito came next in 1953, then Jermaine in 1954. La Toya, the first girl was born in 1956, then Marlon in 1957, Michael in 1958, Randy in 1961 and, finally, a second girl, Janet in 1966. When father Joe discovered they could sing, he moved heaven and earth to get them introduced to Berry Gordy at Motown Records. Motown was in Detroit at the time and Joe and the kids travelled back and forth several times until they got an audience and was able to perform for Gordy. Gordy immediately liked them and signed them to a contract.

The problem was, that just as Motown signed the Jacksons, the company moved to Los Angeles, California and the Jacksons had no choice but to follow along. So, the entire family moved west.

They were given a Premier Party on August 11, 1969 at a famous nightclub in Hollywood called The Daisy where they were introduced to everyone who worked for Motown. This was the beginning of real stardom for the boys. Michael, at this time, was eleven and the oldest brother, Jackie, had not yet graduated from high school.

Gordy started looking for the perfect first song for the Jackson Five.

He found it one day when he met with producer Deke Richards. Richards had a song he was preparing for Gladys Knight. The song was called “I Want You Back” and was written by three people who were known at Motown as The Corporation. This group consisted of Freddie Perren, Deke Richards, and Alphonso Mizell. Berry Gordy also joined in and helped The Corporation on some songs. The original name of the song was “I Want to Be Free” and was first intended for Gladys Knight and the Pips and then later offered to Diana Ross.

It debuted in the Billboard Top 40 on November 6, but it took it’s time moving up the chart. It was almost three months later on January 31, 1970 when it finally reached number one. It sold two million copies in six weeks and has sold six million copies worldwide over the course of the years. It has been featured in every tour the Jacksons have ever done, and Michael sang it on tour after he left the group.

“I Want You Back” stayed at the top spot just one week, but it was the first of four consecutive number ones for the group. No other musical act in the rock era had ever done that and I’m not sure if it has ever been done since. No even the Beatles put their first four singles to number one. It was the start of a monumental career for the Jackson Five and especially for Michael Jackson.