Randy Jackson on Questlove Supreme https://www.pandora.com/station/play/4150263011266158382
Randy talks about living in Central London. He says he splits his time in NY, Cali and London. He has been spending more time in Gary lately. He said they wanted to turn the house into a museum where people can visit inside but I guess they want to keep it private. Randy says the gangs didn’t mess with them because they were scared of Joe.
-Randy speaks about the sleeping arrangements. He says Jackie slept on the bottom, he, Mike and Marlon were in the middle and Tito and Jermaine were at the top. He says Michael and Marlon would pee on him(I’m assuming when they wet the bed). He talks about remembering the J5 start and the culture shock of moving to Cali
-Joe always wanted Randy apart of the J5 but Motown didn’t want him apart of the group so it wouldn’t confuse the public
-They briefly talk about Jermaines bass playing
-Randy speaks of touring in the late 60s/70s and post J5 fame
-Randy speaks of encountering racism. In SC, he got hit in the back of the head with a watermelon. They had KKK threats. During Victory your they had a threat where the FBI got involved. He had to wear a bulletproof vest on stage.
-Speak of visiting Bob Marley in Jamaica. He invited them to the house and there is a documentary they appeared in.
-The variety show and Vegas were successful but they didn’t want that to become their brand
-He shares that Stevie is a third cousin of theirs
-Stevie and Marvin inspired them creatively and they both used to come by the house all the time
-Randy says he was in the group before J5 left Motown but it wasn’t public
-CBS let them write 2 songs on the album ‘The Jacksons’ to test their abilities
-Randy speaks of the Jackson’s creative process. They talked/hang out for 2/3 days to reacquaint themselves. Then by the third day they started writing organically
-For Destiny they submitted demos and the label liked all of them
-Randy says the Encino Studio was full scale
-The creation of shake ya body. Randy says he had been playing that grove since he was 13/14. Randy says the bassline was influenced by Teddy Pendergrass song(I didn’t catch the name). He says it started with a grove and melody. Other musicians came in and added layers
-they ask who was the Tastemaker of the group. Randy says it was all of them, their house was just musical. It was their way of life. For Jackie everything was Al Green. Michael like Motown stuff, Seals and Croft and Bread. Michael controlled the radio in their shared room so he had to listen to what he liked. Randy says he later appreciated that music. They all like moody blues, America. Randy liked Joni Mitchell.
-They ask Randy his top 5 albums he’d take in a dessert island. Randy doesn’t really answer but says he like thelonious monk, Stevie’s albums
-There’s a Doobie Brothers/Jackson 5 onstage mashup(I forget which songs)
-Randy says he was the daredevil of the group that’s why he did all of the onstage stunts. Randy says he had a chemistry lab in his home
-Randy says they had issues at school due to jealousy and things like that. But that they went to school when they were off the road
-Randy says they did chores after fame. When Randy was around 10, the brothers did a few nights after the forum. When they got home Katherine said it was his turn to take out the trash. In defiance Randy says he has a ‘fan club’. Katherine gave him a look, Joe stopped eating(lol)
-Randy speaks of playing a keytar before they were even a thing. Randy says it was custom made for him. He never quite says what instrument it was unless I missed it.
-Randy likes writing/creating not really cameras.
-Greg Philliganes: They used to ‘track it’, I’m assuming that’s referring to the demos. Randy says Greg could play the songs better than him and he didn’t mind that.
-Shake Ya Body being risky. They always felt special about that song.
-Jupiter by EWF inspired one of their songs(I think Destiny). All Night Dancing was inspired by the Isley Brothers.
-Speaks of the camera production on some of their TV appearances. The brothers had to fight for production control.
-Can you feel it was inspired by Tragedy-Bee Gees
-He says at the time he wasn’t thinking of the songs it just came natural. Today when he looks back he can hear the influences
-Randy says the 5 of them produced together. He says Michael and he created the song but all of them collectively made it magic
-Randy is asked about their rehearsal schedule. He says they work all day. Randy says Michael made him dance, he just wanted to sing and play. He says their work ethic hasn’t changed. Janet still prepares like that today and it surprises her dancers.
-Speaks of meeting Jonathan moffett for the first time.
-Speaks of David Williams(guitar player).
-Randy speaks of his accident. He moved out when he was 17. He told his mom he was moving because he was going to do it anyway once he was 18. He was watching the super bowl, went to get something to eat, it was raining and he hit a pothole and the car started spinning. He crashed, the car caught on fire. He flatlined, stopped breathing and had to be revived. He was paralyzed, wasn’t supposed to walk again. He talks about preparing for the triumph show after the accident. He was in pain after each show to the point he had to take ice baths. He says there was no way he was going to let his brothers leave him behind
-His favorite tour was the tour before Destiny. He says Staci Lattisaw opened for them(but they may have been the triumph tour). It’s not clear which tour he was speaking of
-They tried to get Randy to say who the Jackson’s didn’t get along with or care for. Randy dances around the question and says they were friendly with everyone. Everyone used to come by and Katherine would cook.
-Labelle opened for them. Patti used to braid he and Michael’s Afros. Randy says she was a great cook as well.
-Randy says the period from Triumph to Victory was a fun time.
-He asks Randy if he was around during the preproduction of Thriller. He never really answers
-He says Jermaine was active in the group when he left. They would call him up and he would come by and play parts.
-They ask Randy what his contributions were to Off The Wall. He doesn’t really answer. He says Michael didn’t know chords so Michael would sing parts to him and I guess he would try to match that. They are basically inferring Randy was uncredited for work.
-In the studio they couldn’t recreate the sound of Randy hitting the bottles on DSTYGE so they had to call Randy in to do it.
-They ask who were the clicks in the family. Randy says he and Janet were always close. Used to fight like cats and dogs but were inseparable. Jermaine/Tito, Randy/Michael/Janet, Marlon and Jackie did their own thing.
-Randy didn’t know he was doing Motown 25 until the day of that show. He says he had a major dental surgery and was wasted off his mind/loopey(I’m assuming off of pain meds).
-Phil Collins jacked Randy’s One More Chance for One More Night. He bumped into Phil Collins at the pharmacy and he told him he had a song that was coming out that was influenced by that song. CBS wanted to sue. Randy didn’t want to sue.
-They asks why he didn’t save One More Chance for his solo work. Randy doesn’t really answer. They ask why wasn’t it a single. Randy says that was a good question(doesn’t answer). They ask why they didn’t perform any Victory songs on the Victory tour. Randy says that’s a good question but doesn’t really answer. He said something like he thought about that after the tour
-Prep for Victory Tour: During meetings in prep for the tour people were telling them it couldn’t be done. Black acts weren’t touring stadiums like that at the time and that people weren’t going to come out(to me this is an odd statement because this was during Thriller Era). Joe wasn’t having that and got Don King. Randy says it couldn’t have happened without Don King. Al Haymon got his start with Joe. Joe would always try to give the black promoters a chance.
-They asks did The Jackson’s ever take vacations. Randy says no.
-They ask about Prince(Austin told Quest to ask about Phil Collins and When Doves Cry. I guess there’s a story about Randy and Michael in a Rolls and When Doves Cry). We never get the story but Randy says that WDC wasn’t his favorite but he liked other his other stuff. They ask if Prince was a threat, Randy says to Michael. But I guess they are asking if Prince was seen as a threat preMTV. We never really get an answer. Randy wasn’t there when Prince visited but Prince used to always call for LaToya(he mimics his voice LOL) and he used to hang up on him(Apparently, when he called, Prince didn’t used to say hey or anything, when someone would answer he would say ‘La Toya’ in his deep voice lol) LaToya used to get mad at Randy for hanging up. Randy says he used to hang up on LaToyas boyfriends. He says he used to give Bobby DeBarge ‘the worst time’.
-John McClain signed Randy to A&M. Randy says his Randy & The Gypsies album was lost in the shuffle when the label was being sold to Universal.
-Quest asks for a unknown story between he and Michael or something people just don’t know. Randy says they liked music & martial arts. Bruce Lee’s brother was their teacher. I’m not quite sure if it was editing but it seems as if he never finished the question
-Speaks of he and Janet building the label. They aren’t going to sign lots of acts because they want to make sure they can give everyone attention. Rebecca James is an artist they recently signed. He speaks about discovering her, Janet loves her voice and says she needs to be heard. She sings background for Janet currently and they are working on her album
-Randy says he started playing drums(and prefers them) but since Johnny was playing drums at the time he then went to percussion and keyboards
-The origin of the white glove. Bill Whitten designed the glove for Jackie but he wasn’t feeling it. Jackie gave it to Michael and the rest is history.
ETA: I can’t remember where this goes but Randy kinda says he was the MD of the shows. He would sneak into the crowd during one of the brothers solo sets to make sure the sound was right |