Timmy84 said:

Unlike any of the brothers, Janet had a name in her own right, as an actress. I think it'a fair to say that much of Janet's initial success came as a singer because she had fans as an actress. Janet had been on Good Times, Diff'rent Strokes, and Fame by the time she made her 1st album. That's quite alot of exposure in her own right.

I think Motown mishandled Jermaine and I don't know why Randy didn't continue
He's so talented! Possibly the most talented Jackson!

brooksie said:

Good points also, lol. I almost forgot she first became a star on TV in the '70s.

Timmy84 said:

Both Janet and Kim Fields (LOL...see her "Mr Gable" song for MJ) both were quite big. I'll say that Janet had almost a Miley Cyrus/Vanessa Whatshername/Lindsay Lohan status w/ kids in that era cuz there were only 3 networks and very few kid stars (esp Black ones) for kids to latch on to.
That was an era before kid stars were the norm, so they were hugely popular.

brooksie said:

True.

I think Motown mishandled Jermaine and I don't know why Randy didn't continue
He's so talented! Possibly the most talented Jackson!

BoOTyLiCioUs said:

Randy is.
Multi-instrumentalist, producer, arranger, writer, singer and dancer
He's very underrated.

trueiopian said:

Randy can NOT do the moonwalk, the robot, or grab his testicles like Michael can.

trueiopian said:

So did Arista...
[Edited 7/4/09 17:58pm]

trueiopian said:

Randy can NOT do the moonwalk, the robot, or grab his testicles like Michael can.

Jackie is another loss, IMHO. Listen to J5 records closely. It's Jackie w/ the beautiful falsetto. Motown did put out a solo album on Jackie (which I have), but as usual, it was done crappily.

Any of the best falsettos you've heard, Jackie could compete w/ them easily, IMHO. It's a damned shame his voice was not highlighted more and that nobody thought of seriously working w/ him solo.

Motown wasted tons of talent and so have other record companies, but I was always puzzled why Randy w/ his multi instrumentals (could have been a Prince type?!) and why Jackie's beautiful falsetto (disco era/DeBarge/Swtich anyone?) were so over looked.

It's a shame that the 6 brothers didn't perform together much after the Victory tour. Three more of them, w/ the right material, could have easily blown up. This is a huge part of why Jermaine wanted so desparately to perform as a family again, in addition to his estrangement issues, he wanted his other brothers to get a chance to. Too bad it didn't happen.
[Edited 7/4/09 20:44pm]

Timmy84 said:

Oh tell me about it! Doing business with Clive Davis wasn't great for Jermaine's career at all.

Randy is.
Multi-instrumentalist, producer, arranger, writer, singer and dancer
He's very underrated.

But he was far more talented then the rest of his siblings

Jackie is another loss, IMHO. Listen to J5 records closely. It's Jackie w/ the beautiful falsetto. Motown did put out a solo album on Jackie (which I have), but as usual, it was done crappily.

Any of the best falsettos you've heard, Jackie could compete w/ them easily, IMHO. It's a damned shame his voice was not highlighted more and that nobody thought of seriously working w/ him solo.

Motown wasted tons of talent and so have other record companies, but I was always puzzled why Randy w/ his multi instrumentals (could have been a Prince type?!) and why Jackie's beautiful falsetto (disco era/DeBarge/Swtich anyone?) were so over looked.

It's a shame that the 6 brothers didn't perform together much after the Victory tour. Three more of them, w/ the right material, could have easily blown up. This is a huge part of why Jermaine wanted so desparately to perform as a family again, in addition to his estrangement issues, he wanted his other brothers to get a chance to. Too bad it didn't happen.
[Edited 7/4/09 20:44pm]

TonyVanDam said:

So is Jermaine, minus the dancing maybe, because i haven't seen him doing that much besides some moves during the Victory Tour.
I can imagine one favors an artist, but to state that Randy's recordings outdo Jermaine's complete catalogue talentwise, i simply can't hear and see that

Shango said:

Me either. Yeah Jermaine was of the Marvin Gaye/Ron Isley quality but Clive Davis didn't wanna sell that.

brooksie said:

I so agree with!
Jackie's voice is so heavenly *sigh*
and I can't find his album!
It's so hard to find the other Jacksons albums!

trueiopian said:

trueiopian said:

So is Jermaine, minus the dancing maybe, because i haven't seen him doing that much besides some moves during the Victory Tour.
I can imagine one favors an artist, but to state that Randy's recordings outdo Jermaine's complete catalogue talentwise, i simply can't hear and see that
[Edited 7/4/09 21:05pm]

TonyVanDam said:

Using Whitney as evidence (Jermaine did help to break her out, BTW) Clive was far more interested in MoR or "adult contemporary" than he was pure rnb. Jermaine was pure rnb/soul and wasn't interested in going very middle of the road w/ his sound. Jermaine was one of the last non New Jack/hip hop beats rnb singer to really be big. Clive seems kind of lost on true rnb, IMHO.

If anyone wants to know or get a hint about Randy's talent, check a J5 album vs a Jackson's one or even just compare a few cuts from each era. Randy was a percussion dude and he brought in the hard slamming dance grooves during the Jacksons era. While I like J5 era stuff, the hard dance grooves really start happening when Randy comes into the pic (Dancing Machine being the main J5 exception, of course). Jacksons Live (extremely rare, sadly) shows their real power, but all their studio albums have major merit, IMHO.

Ironically, bringing the youngest brother into the group (in addition to being forced to drop the J5 name) helped them bring their sounds into adulthood. If they'd kept the J5 sound over at CBS, I don't know if they'd have made it past 78!

trueiopian said:

trueiopian said:

So is Jermaine, minus the dancing maybe, because i haven't seen him doing that much besides some moves during the Victory Tour.
I can imagine one favors an artist, but to state that Randy's recordings outdo Jermaine's complete catalogue talentwise, i simply can't hear and see that
[Edited 7/4/09 21:05pm]

brooksie said:

It's also no accident that Aretha Franklin became more of a crossover-pop artist under Clive's watch as well. And Aretha was (still is) true r&b vocalist!

TonyVanDam said:

Randy had a horrible car accident in the early 80s where he almost died. He was nearly paralyized. The fans back then knew this didn't expect him to do fancy steps. If you ever notice on Victory tour costumes and at M25, Randy's wearing these high boots. They were braces made into a boot. They looked cool, but he needed them.