Fifty years ago tomorrow, Michael Jackson and his brothers started a whole new chapter. It came with a new record label, a new name on the cover and a new face in the lineup.
That new face was family. Randy Jackson, the youngest of the brothers, stepped into the spot that had always belonged to Jermaine.
Here’s how the switch happened. Jermaine had married Hazel Gordy, the daughter of Motown boss Berry Gordy, and he stayed with Motown. Michael, Jackie, Tito and Marlon moved over to Epic Records, and they brought Randy along. On Nov. 5, 1976, they released “The Jacksons.” It was the first album under that name and the first with Randy in Jermaine’s place.
It’s easy to forget how big a step that was. The Australian music site Noise11 looked back on the album in a new anniversary feature, and it put things simply: “The Jacksons did not have to start again from nothing. They had already conquered the world once.”
But they still had something to show people.
“In 1976, they set about proving they could do it on their own terms,” Noise11 wrote.
The brothers didn’t even wait for release day to show off the new lineup. On Oct. 10, 1976, a few weeks before the album came out, they sang “Enjoy Yourself” on “The Sonny and Cher Show.” Keep your eye on Randy, the newest Jackson in the group, as the brothers perform the song that would become the album’s first hit.
The brothers sing “Enjoy Yourself” on TV, weeks before the album arrived
To make the record, the family teamed up with Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff, the famous hitmakers from Philadelphia. They recorded at Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia and at Paragon Studios in Chicago.
It paid off fast. “Enjoy Yourself” climbed to No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 2 on the R&B chart, their first US Top 10 hit since “Dancing Machine.” Over in Britain, “Show You the Way to Go” did even better in 1977 and became The Jacksons’ first No. 1 single in the UK. This BBC clip lets you see the brothers perform that UK chart topper on the famous music show “Top of the Pops.”
The Jacksons perform their first UK No. 1 on “Top of the Pops”
So what was the first?
The album reached No. 36 on the Billboard album chart and No. 6 on the R&B album chart. And it became the first Jacksons album certified gold by the RIAA, the official US record industry group, for 500,000 copies shipped.
That sounds odd for a family that sold so many records at Motown. According to Noise11, their Motown sales had not been audited for RIAA awards. So those earlier hits never got the official gold award, and the brothers’ very first Epic album finally brought them one.
There’s a sweet family touch on the record too. Michael co-wrote one of the songs with his brother Tito, the group’s guitarist. It’s called “Style of Life,” and if you’ve only ever heard the big hits, this one shows the two brothers working side by side as songwriters.
Listen to “Style of Life,” the song Michael wrote with Tito
The whole album has 10 songs and runs about 39 minutes. That makes it an easy one to play from start to finish tomorrow, right on its 50th birthday.