Diana Ross is an American entertainer and actress. She rose to fame as the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown's most successful act during the 1960s and one of the world's best-selling girl groups of all time. They remain the best-charting female group in history, with a total of twelve number-one hit singles on the US Billboard Hot 100, including "Where Did Our Love Go", "Baby Love", "Come See About Me", and "Love Child".
Diana Ross Presents The Jackson 5 is the debut studio album from Gary, Indiana-based soul family band the Jackson 5, released on the Motown label on December 12, 1969. The Jackson 5's lead singer, a preteenage boy named Michael, and his four older brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, and Marlon, became pop successes within months of this album's release. Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5's only single, "I Want You Back", became a number-one hit on the US Billboard Hot 100 within weeks of the album's release. The album reached number 5 on the US Pop Albums chart, and spent nine weeks at No. 1 on the US R&B/Black Albums chart.
The Originals, often called "Motown's best-kept secret", were a successful Motown R&B and soul group during the late 1960s and the 1970s, most notable for the hits "Baby, I'm For Real", "The Bells", and the disco classic "Down To Love Town." Formed in 1966, the group originally consisted of baritone singer Freddie Gorman, tenor/falsetto Walter Gaines, and tenors C. P. Spencer and Hank Dixon. Ty Hunter replaced Spencer when he left to go solo in the early 1970s. They had all previously sung in other Detroit groups, Spencer having been an original member of The (Detroit) Spinners and Hunter having sung with The Supremes member Scherrie Payne in the group Glass House. Spencer, Gaines, Hunter, and Dixon were also members of The Voice Masters. As a member of the Holland–Dozier–Gorman writing-production team, Gorman was one of the co-writers of Motown's first number 1 pop hit "Please Mr. Postman", recorded by The Marvelettes. In 1964 The Beatles released their version and in 1975 The Carpenters took it to number 1 again. This was the second time in pop history that a song had reached number 1 twice as "The Twist" by Chubby Checker, reached number 1 in both 1960 and 1961. In 2006, "Please Mr. Postman" was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Got to Be There is the debut solo studio album by American singer Michael Jackson, released by Motown on January 24, 1972, four weeks after the Jackson 5's Greatest Hits (1971). It includes the song of the same name, which was released on October 7, 1971, as Jackson's debut solo single.
Ben is the second studio album by American singer Michael Jackson, released by Motown Records on August 4, 1972, while Jackson was still a member of The Jackson 5. The album received mixed reviews from contemporary music critics. Ben, however, was more successful on the music charts than Jackson's previous studio album, peaking within the top 10 on the Billboard 200 in the United States. Internationally, the album was less successful, peaking at number 12 in Canada, while charting within the top 200 positions in Australia and France.
Music & Me is the third studio album by American singer Michael Jackson, released on April 13, 1973 on the Motown label. The album was reissued in 2009 as part of the three-disc compilation Hello World: The Motown Solo Collection.
Forever, Michael is the fourth studio album by American singer Michael Jackson, released by Motown Records on January 16, 1975. The album is credited as having songs with funk and soul material. Eddie Holland, Brian Holland, Hal Davis, Freddie Perren, and Sam Brown III served as producers on Forever, Michael. It is the final album before Jackson's solo breakthrough with his next album, Off the Wall (1979).
Farewell My Summer Love is a compilation of archived Michael Jackson recordings from January to October 1973. The album was released by Motown Records in the U.S. on May 15, 1984.
Lookin' Through the Windows is the sixth studio album by the Jackson 5, released on the Motown label in May 1972.
The Jacksons is the eleventh studio album by the Jacksons, the band's first album for Epic Records and under the name "the Jacksons," following their seven-year tenure at Motown as "the Jackson 5". Jackson 5 member Jermaine Jackson stayed with Motown when his brothers broke their contracts and left for Epic, and he was replaced by youngest Jackson brother Randy. The album was released in 1976 for Epic Records and Philadelphia International Records as a joint venture.
Anthology was originally released as a triple-album greatest hits set by legendary Motown family unit, The Jackson 5, in 1976. It was the group's second greatest hits compilation, after Greatest Hits (1971). It was at this point that most of the Jackson brothers had left the Motown label to join CBS Records. Motown president Berry Gordy once said that the Jackson 5 were "the last superstars to come off the Motown assembly line"; after the group left the label, Motown would not have another act to equal its success until Boyz II Men in the 1990s.
Soulsation! is a 4-CD box set of music recorded by The Jackson 5 during their tenure at Motown Records from 1969 to 1975, when they left Motown for CBS Records. The box set was released in 1995 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of The Jackson 5 becoming the first group to have its first four singles go straight to #1 on the US Billboard charts. Soulsation! included an introduction from the group's youngest sister Janet, liner notes from David Ritz and an essay from the brothers' first producer, Bobby Taylor. The fourth disc features 17 previously unreleased songs, most recorded from mid-1969 to early 1972. The set also includes solo numbers from brothers Michael, Jermaine, and Jackie.
"One Day in Your Life" is a song recorded by Michael Jackson for his 1975 album, Forever, Michael. Music written by Sam Brown III and Lyrics by Renée Armand, it was later released on March 25, 1981 as a single from the compilation album of the same name due to the commercial interest that generated from the sales of Jackson's hit 1979 album Off the Wall, despite the fact that Jackson had released that album on Epic Records instead of Motown.
Leon Ware was an American songwriter, producer, composer, and singer. Besides a solo career as a performer, Ware was best known for producing hits for other artists including Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, Maxwell, Minnie Riperton and Marvin Gaye, co-producing the latter's album, I Want You.
The Best of Michael Jackson is a compilation of American recording artist Michael Jackson's greatest hits and was released by his former record company Motown on August 28, 1975. It peaked at number 44 on the U.S. R&B albums chart.
"Happy" is a song written by Michel Legrand and Smokey Robinson and first recorded by Bobby Darin. The song was first released as a single by Bobby Darin on November 23, 1972, peaking #67 on the Billboard Hot 100, it was his last single to hit the chart. The song was included on his posthumous Motown LP Darin: 1936-1973.
Off the Wall is the fifth solo studio album by American singer Michael Jackson, released on August 10, 1979, by Epic Records. It was Jackson's first album released through Epic Records, the label he recorded under until his death in 2009, and the first produced by Quincy Jones, whom he met while working on the 1978 film The Wiz. Several critics observed that Off the Wall was crafted from disco, pop, funk, R&B, soft rock and Broadway ballads. Its lyrical themes include escapism, liberation, loneliness, hedonism and romance. The album features songwriting contributions from Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney, Rod Temperton, Tom Bahler, and David Foster, alongside three tracks penned by Jackson himself.
The Jackson 5 are an American pop band composed of members of the Jackson family. The group was founded in 1964 in Gary, Indiana, by Joe Jackson, as well as by brothers Jackie, Tito, and Jermaine, with younger brothers Marlon and Michael joining soon after.
20th Century Masters – The Millennium Collection: The Best of Michael Jackson is a compilation album by American recording artist Michael Jackson. It was released on November 21, 2000, by Motown Records. It was released as part of the 20th Century Masters – The Millennium Collection's series. It features Jackson's early solo recordings from 1971 until 1975, including the hit records "Got to Be There", "Ben", and "Rockin' Robin". The album was re-released on March 6, 2012 as Icon. Icon is the ninth album to be released by Sony and Motown/Universal since Jackson's death in June 2009.
