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Jackson 5 music biography continued...

1960s made the five brothers Jackson the last great act to be pumped out of the Motown Records' machine. Comprised of the 11-year-old Michael Jackson and his brothers Jermaine, Tito, Marlon and Jackie, the group found a home in Detroit after playing much of the 60s around their native Gary, Indiana. Young, fresh and full of energy, the group made music-business history when their first four singles shot to #1 in 1970. That record-breaking string of 45s-"I Want You Back," "ABC," "The Love You Save" and "I'll Be There"-endeared the hard-working Jackson's to a public that found their soulful singing and tight choreography an entertaining diversion during a time of political and social upheaval. By the summer of 1970, the Jackson 5 were headlining 20,000-seat venues, and were hits on radio and television as well, appearing regularly on The Ed Sullivan Show in the early 70s and on their own CBS summer variety show in 1976. An animated Saturday-morning cartoon show based on the musical adventures of the Jackson 5 also enhanced their appeal with youngsters.
The group's tenure at Motown continued until the mid-Seventies, by which time they'd begun to turn their attention to the emerging disco movement with hits like "Dancing Machine" (#2, 1974). Moving to Epic, the Jackson 5 shortened their name to the Jackson's. Their first two albums for the new label, The Jackson's and Goin' Places, were produced by Philadelphia R&B masters Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. The Jackson's entered another successful phase in their career with a trio of contemporary dance-oriented R&B albums-Destiny (1978), Triumph (1980) and Victory (1984)-which were produced and largely written by the increasingly independent group. Their highly publicized 1984 Victory tour turned out to be the last Jacksons project to include brother Michael, who had by then achieved solo superstardom. In 1989, the Jackson's (sans Michael) released their seventh Epic album, 2300 Jackson Street, whose title referred to the street address in Gary, Indiana, where the family's incredible musical saga began.