May His Troubled Soul Finally Have Some Peace – Michael Jackson 1958 – 2009
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July 4th, 2009 at 10:12 am
Frankie Lymon & Michael Jackson:
Gone Too Soon
Pedro Baez
Having been born in 1950, I and a great many other ”baby boomers, ” as we were called since we were born after World War II, got an opportunity to enjoy a new kind of music, Rhythm & Blues, and Rock N’ Roll. In 1956, Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers came on the scene, and we were thrilled. Frankie was all of thirteen when the song “Why Do Fools Fall In Love” hit the charts. He wasn’t that much older than us. He was our big brother and we snapped our fingers and danced to that tune.
Record executives saw the potential in kid groups, signed and recorded a great many of them, The Schoolboys (“Please Say You Want Me”) The Students (“Everyday Of The Week”) Jackie & The Starlites (“Valerie”), Pearl McKinnon & The Kodaks (“Gee Oh Gosh”), to name a few.
They lasted to around 1960 and then quietly they were dropped and it was back to signing 18-19 year old musical acts. I will never forget February 27, 1968. It was on this day that Frankie Lymon made his transition (Thank you, Roland “The Good” Bynum). I remember being with my friend Alex Gonzalez and said “Man this is tough. Dead from H (as heroin was described back then), he was something else. Wow, a great talent.”
At the time, a kid group from Chicago was out there, however it had been two years since they had a hit. That group was The Five Stairsteps. Their first song “You’ve Waited Too Long” scored well on the R&B charts, had no pop success, and it didn’t spur record executives to scout and sign kid musical acts.
What we didn’t know that a kid group was signed, however it was to a small label called Steeltown. Steeltown was based in Gary, Indiana. Gary was famous for a group that burst on the scene in 1955, Pookie Hudson & The Spaniels whose debut was entitled “Baby It’s You” (not to be confused with the Shirelles song of the same title).
The first hit was “Big Boy,” this side was a regional hit and was popular in Gary and Chicago (where the label was distributed). The Jacksons continued to perform and were seen by Bobby Taylor of “Bobby Taylor & The Vancouvers” (“Does Your Mama Know About Me”). Contrary to popular belief, it was Bobby who contacted Berry Gordy, not Diana Ross. Bobby felt this group had potential, so did Mr. Gordy and the rest as they say is history.
Frankie while talented never achieved the success that Michael had. Poor management, exploiter promoters, and heroin contributed to his demise. Michael on the other had too much management and too much access to prescription medication. Had Michael been handled by Shelly Berger (The Temptations manager) things might have turned out different. We’ll never know.
What we do know is Michael was one of a kind. He could sing, dance, compose and produce music. Perhaps we should have left him alone, be allowed to live as ordinary people live, he just might have achieved the same level of success that he had without all the yes men that surrounded him.
July 4th, 2009 at 3:55 pm
He will be missed…I didn’t realize what an influence he was in the lives of so many. It’s such a tragedy that he could not accept and love himself aa well as realize his significance while he was alive.
Thank you for your comment, I learned a few things.