JAN MOIR: The Jacksons playing the Proms? Now that's WACKO!

By Jan Moir for the Daily Mail

Published: 16:14 EST, 27 August 2015 | Updated: 18:40 EST, 27 August 2015

Phew, scream, what a week for boy bands. Around the time that One Direction announced that they were splitting up, the remaining members of the Jackson 5 revealed that they are saddling up — and coming to London.

The British band may have managed a scant five years together, but the American-born Jacksons have been a force in pop music for nearly 50. 

Can you feel it?, as they used to ask back then.

The group were little more than children when they had their first hit, I Want You Back, in 1969. 

Since then their lives have been a switchback of triumph and tragedy, of notoriety and rumour. The greatest heartbreak was the death of their brother Michael, in controversial circumstances in 2009.

JAN MOIR: Around the time that One Direction announced that they were splitting up, the remaining members of the Jackson 5 revealed that they are saddling up — and coming to London

Two years later, Michael’s doctor Conrad Murray was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter, after lethal amounts of prescription drugs were found in the singer’s body.

Today, however, the Jackson family still believe that questions remain unanswered about Michael’s death.

‘We do know a bit more about what happened but we can’t say what that is,’ Jermaine Jackson told me.

‘We don’t know 100 per cent what happened that night, but we have an idea in the back of our heads. In time, the truth will unfold.’

Since his death, the remaining Jackson 5 brothers — Jackie, Tito, Jermaine and Marlon — have reunited and gone back on the road. 

And now they are coming back to Britain, to headline at this year’s BBC Proms In The Park in Hyde Park on September 12.

‘We understand the Proms is a very prestigious event and that it happens every year,’ says Jackie. ‘That is really all we know about it. And that it is an old thing, right?’

Diana Ross presents the Jackson 5 at the Annual Ceremonies at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997

So what are The Jacksons, as they now style themselves, going to bring to this most British evening of the cultural year?

‘High level, high energy,’ promises Jackie. ‘And as it is an outdoor event, we are going to crank it up a lot louder. We are going to make it really exciting for our British fans.’

In the background, after a short time delay, the other brothers holler in agreement — a crackling of Yeahs! and Awlrights!

Via the miracle of modern communications, I am speaking to them on a conference call from London to California. It is like being patched into a rather lovely Jackson i-cloud, for the brothers all have beautiful speaking voices, rich and sibilant.

Still, the conversation is not without local difficulties. The four are in different locations, on phone lines of varying quality, sometimes all speaking at the same time.

Jackie, 64, is coming over loud and clear; Tito, 61, sounds as if he is broadcasting from the bottom of a well; Jermaine, 60, could be in the next room; while Marlon, 58, is in a car driving home from the airport.

While the other brothers admit today that their father Joe was a harsh taskmaster, they excuse his behaviour by arguing that all dads were like that back then. And that it was Joe and Katherine (pictured) between them they had ten children — who drove the group on to early success

But this I understand: they are enthusiastic about playing in the UK, where they feel their fans have a ‘great appreciation of our music’ and ‘always make us feel very welcome’.

‘I think the parents who loved the Jackson 5 music teach their children to appreciate it, too,’ says Tito.

What else do they look forward to in Britain?

‘The Wimpy burgers,’ cries Marlon, as his brothers guffaw. ‘Naw, I’m just kidding.’

The rigorously syncopated dance routines of the old days have been replaced with something a little gentler on the knees — even though they can all still spin like tops. With a combined age of 243 years, it might seem unfair to expect anything more outrageous.

‘The dancing gets easier,’ says Jermaine. ‘Because we know how to pace ourselves,’ says Tito. 

‘We just kind of gravitate towards whatever the song calls for,’ says Jackie. ‘We don’t have to rehearse or train.’

‘Actually,’ pipes up Marlon, ‘I do have a training routine. In my kitchen I have this large table. And I got a nice bowl of chicken on top of it and every time I run around the table ten times, I grab myself some chicken and eat it.’

He’s joking. I think.

Today,  the Jackson family still believe that questions remain unanswered about Michael’s (centre) death

One thing the Jackson family are very good at is battening down the hatches when any kind of scandal ensues. 

In his 1988 autobiography, Moonwalk, Michael Jackson accused his father of physically and mentally abusing him as a child.

While the other brothers admit today that their father Joe was a harsh taskmaster, they excuse his behaviour by arguing that all dads were like that back then. 

And that it was Joe and his wife Katherine — between them they had ten children — who drove the group on to early success.

The boys remain grateful to their parents, not critical, and laugh when asked to name the number one mummy’s boy in their group. Definitely Jermaine, is the cackling conclusion.

‘It’s only because I am considerate and ring her up now and again,’ he cries, sounding embarrassed.

To this day, Katherine still excuses torrid rumours and the occasional cold truth about her son Michael — and other members of the multi-generational family — as ‘something the media cooks up’.

The latest Jackson difficulty came two years ago, when Michael’s daughter Paris attempted suicide. 

Then aged 15, she was distraught to learn that she might not be Michael’s biological daughter, and reacted by slashing her wrists and taking an overdose.

One might imagine that her uncles would be fearful about her emotional state, but they all seem quite relaxed.

An undated photo of the Jackson 5 at Heathrow Airport. (left to right) Marlon, Jackie, Michael, Randy and Tito

‘I don’t worry about her,’ says Uncle Marlon. ‘She is just a normal kid, a normal teenager. She is trying to find her way and, like every kid, she has made mistakes.’

Her behaviour might seem more than just another bout of normal teenage angst, but the brothers seem happy to sweep it under the carpet, explaining away the incident as something that just happens when you are saddled with the pressures that being a Jackson brings.

‘That comes with the territory — and she understands that,’ says Marlon.

Clearly, just like their mother, the Jacksons are adept at smoothing down the icing on the rock cake of their extraordinary lives.

The extended family all live in and around the wealthy town of Calabasas in California — home to a huge number of stars, including the Kardashians, who appreciate the gated communities and heightened security.

And with the obvious exception of tragic Michael, the rest of the Jacksons seem to have made the tricky transition from child stars to adults with uncommon success.

‘We helped each other through it,’ says Jackie.

‘And we had a lot of guidance from our father,’ says Tito.

Jackson 5 brothers Tito, left, Jermaine, Jackie, and Marlon, right front, arrive at a funeral for Johnny Jackson

The brothers still talk of their father with something approaching reverence and were shocked when he fell ill. On July 27, while celebrating his 87th birthday in Brazil, Joe was rushed into hospital.

‘He actually had a stroke and three heart attacks,’ says Marlon, ‘but he’s doing much better now.’ He is recuperating at Jermaine’s home.

Like Joe, the brothers seem to have the fortitude to go on for ever. Jackie says it’s because they all enjoy it so much.

‘No one can take Michael’s place but we are doing our best,’ says Tito. ‘We all share his parts.’

‘Sometimes it is hard, singing these songs and seeing people crying,’ says Jermaine. ‘They cry every night.’

To generate such an audience response, 50 years down the line? Blame it on the boogie.

BBC Proms In The Park is at London’s Hyde Park on Saturday September 12. For more information and tickets, visit bbc.co.uk/ promsinthepark

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