Marlon Jackson was born in Gary, Indiana, in March 1957, and he and his big brother Jackie are original members of the Jackson 5. Tomorrow night, Friday, the two original members walk onto the stage of the O2 Apollo in Manchester, England, to open the “Jackson 5 Live In Concert” tour.
It’s a short, tight run. After Manchester, the show moves to Utilita Arena Cardiff on Nov 8 and the Civic at the Halls in Wolverhampton on Nov 11. It wraps up at London’s Eventim Apollo on Nov 13.
The brothers won’t be up there alone. Mitchell Zhangazha, who recently played Michael in “MJ The Musical,” is part of the show. So is Haydon Eshun, who led the West End’s “Thriller” show for more than 10 years. Fans will also be thinking of their brother Tito, who was part of the 2012 reunion lineup and passed away in 2024.
But the part of the night almost nobody in those seats will know about happens before Marlon and Jackie even appear.
On every date of this tour, the opening act is Heatwave, the London funk and disco band behind “Boogie Nights.” That song climbed to No. 2 in both America and Britain in 1977. If you were anywhere near a dance floor that year, you heard it, and the man who wrote it is the reason this story matters.
The band’s official video for “Boogie Nights”
The band formed in London in 1975. An American serviceman named Johnnie Wilder Jr. was putting the group together, and his brother Keith Wilder became the lead singer. The keyboard player came from a newspaper ad. In 1974, a young Englishman from Cleethorpes named Rod Temperton had answered an ad in Melody Maker, and that’s how he ended up in the band.
Temperton played keys, and he also wrote the hits. “Boogie Nights” was his song. So were “Always and Forever,” which reached No. 18 on the Hot 100, and “The Groove Line,” which went to No. 7.
Those records reached the right ears. Quincy Jones, the famous producer, asked his engineer Bruce Swedien to listen to one of the band’s albums. Swedien later called Temperton, as quoted on Wikipedia, “the most disciplined pop music composer I’ve ever met.”
This look back at the band’s story features Rod Temperton and Quincy Jones among others, so you can put faces to the names.
A look back at the band, with Rod Temperton and Quincy Jones
In 1979, Jones brought Temperton in to write for “Off the Wall.” He wrote three songs on that album and three more on “Thriller,” including both title tracks. That means the man who wrote “Thriller” got his start in the band that’s opening for Michael’s brothers tomorrow.
Temperton passed away in 2016 at 66, so he won’t be on stage in Manchester. The band carries his legacy, though, and now it’s warming up the crowd for the Jacksons.
He also gave Michael this one, and it’s worth a fresh listen once you know where the writer came from.
Michael Jackson’s official video for “Rock with You”
Family is clearly on Marlon’s mind these days. His bio on the official tour site talks about a documentary he plans to make about his father, “about a guy who was one of the greatest managers and managed one of the greatest bands in the world” … “but never got the recognition.” … “And his name happens to be Joseph Jackson”
And if you can’t get to England this month, the brothers’ official site already lists “The Jacksons UK 2027.” No dates yet.