Info on Jacksons tours/concerts in 1977 and 1978?

[filmandmusic]

This is an enigma on Michael’s touring history. We know all or most dates and places of the J5 tours and we know similar info from the Destiny tour onwards but there is hardly anything known of the years 77 and 78.

There is as far as I know no talk of a tour for the 1976 The Jacksons album, though apparently they played at least a couple of tunes live for the Queen in England and dates in Germany, Holland and France. Why did they not tour the USA?
There was supposedly a tour in 1978 for Goin Places but only 5 dates are known. 4 dates are from February 78 and a fifth date in 13th of May the same year. What happened in March and April?

Either way it seems both albums did not get big promotion in terms of touring which would be surprising considering they just joined a new label.
On top of that they scored a big hit at both sides of the Atlantic in 76 and 77 so I don’t get it.

This was the supposed setlist for the 1978 concerts of which only 5 dates are known. It is an awesome setlist but it only features 2 songs from the goin places album which is highly unusual. The trio of NCSG, GTBT and sugar daddy sung by adult Michael in his Off the wall voice? Too good to be true, I don’t believe it.

1. Think Happy
2. Get It Together
3. Forever Came Today
4. I Am Love
5. Keep On Dancing
6. Ben
7. Show You the Way to Go
8. Goin' Places
9. Never Can Say Goodbye
10. Got to Be There
11. Sugar Daddy
12. I Wanna Be Where You Are
13. I'll Be There
14. I Want You Back
15. ABC
16. The Love You Save
17. Find Me a Girl
18. Dancing Machine
19. Enjoy Yourself

So yes to conclude, what’s the story here, why is there no info, no footage, no audio, no dates, no nothing?

 

[DuranDuran]

So yes to conclude, what’s the story here, why is there no info, no footage, no audio, no dates, no nothing?

Well it's not like you can find much concert footage of any 1970s R&B singer/band, or the other acts Gamble & Huff produced. Popular rock bands like Pink Floyd & KISS were more likely to have their concerts filmed and/or recorded for a live album, because they had the funds to hire a film crew to carry around. Same with a big Barry Manilow or Elton John type AC singer. The labels would also spend more to promote rock acts & that's how they generally tended to sell more than other genres. Even if they didn't get a lot of Top 40 airplay. The popular rock bands sold more in albums and Top 40 acts often sold more in singles. So there's a lot of "one hit wonders" whose albums didn't sell much.

I think you're looking at this as because of Mike's really blowing up into huge superstar status with Thriller, that before that he was like The Beatles and that there would be any random old thing being filmed. When The Jacksons signed with Epic, they were coming from the later years of Motown which they didn't have the same amount of crossover success and were on the way to be an oldies group. The family were also doing a Las Vegas show and Vegas at the time was considered to be for old washed up singers like Wayne Newton and uncool. That's partly how the family TV variety show came into being. The main reason there's Jacksons footage out there because they appeared on a lot of TV programs. It's not like Led Zeppelin would have been booked on the Johnny Carson, Sony & Cher, or Carol Burnett shows. That isn't the audience Zeppelin is trying to reach, which is more middle of the road.

 

[filmandmusic]

@DuranDuran

All good and well but it does not answer my questions.
I think we will all be very surprised with what can be found in tv stations‘ archives

 

[DuranDuran]

@DuranDuran

All good and well but it does not answer my questions.
I think we will all be very surprised with what can be found in tv stations‘ archives

TV stations did not generally film entire music concerts, unless you count the PBS show Austin City Limits. But those were filmed especially for the show and only lasted 30 minutes to an hour. They weren't a regular concert. TV stations would either do variety show music specials or a regular series. There would have been no reason for a network to film a concert by anybody. That wasn't what they would show during prime time. There was no cable TV in the 1970s, or very few people had it. It was just VHF/UHF. TV went off at night too, no 24 hour televison like now. VCR's didn't become popular until the 1980s. So there was no home video market. When TV did occasionally show a concert in prime time like Barry Manilow, the TV network didn't film it, it was filmed by the act themselves and leased to the station. If the networks would have shot it, it would have likely been on videotape (like the variety shows, Soul Train, American Bandstand, etc) instead of film.

 

[zinniabooklover]

This is an enigma on Michael’s touring history. We know all or most dates and places of the J5 tours and we know similar info from the Destiny tour onwards but there is hardly anything known of the years 77 and 78.
There is as far as I know no talk of a tour for the 1976 The Jacksons album, though apparently they played at least a couple of tunes live for the Queen in England

The show was up in Scotland. Glasgow. It was a 1977 Silver Jubilee thing.

"May 17 : The Jacksons perform “Forever Came Today”, “Show You The Way To Go” and a Motown medley medley at Kings’s Theatre in Glasgow as part of the Royal Command Performance celebrating the Queen Elizabeth’s Silver Jubilee celebrations."
(jacksondynasty.net)

"May 1977 - The Jacksons play a two-and-a-half week tour in Europe." (thejacksons.com)

This page doesn't have the 1977 setlist but does have this tiny bit of info:

The Jacksons Gig Timeline​

• The Jacksons Queen Theatre, Glasgow - May 16, 1977
• The Jacksons Unknown Venue, Glasgow - May 17, 1977
• The Jacksons Top of the Pops, London - May 19, 1977
• The Jacksons Unknown Venue, Glasgow - May 19, 1977
• The Jacksons Musikladen, Bremen - May 21, 1977
• The Jacksons Hammersmith Odeon, London - May 24, 1977

The Jacksons Setlist at Unknown Venue, Glasgow

Get the The Jacksons Setlist of the concert at Unknown Venue, Glasgow, Scotland on May 17, 1977 and other The Jacksons Setlists for free on setlist.fm!

www.setlist.fm

thejacksons.com is weirdly light on info. Mentions this - "January 22nd 1978: The Jacksons begin a world concert tour, including US and Europe."

... but then doesn't give any info re dates, venues or anything. It's a basic timeline, which is fair enough, but it still seems weird not to provide a bit more detail.

So yes to conclude, what’s the story here, why is there no info, no footage, no audio, no dates, no nothing?

Who knows? Very, very frustrating.

I think you're looking at this as because of Mike's really blowing up into huge superstar status with Thriller, that before that he was like The Beatles and that there would be any random old thing being filmed.

For me, that's not the reason. It's more about looking at various things that are available online and just wishing that there was more Michael stuff. Knowing the history of tv or film recordings or whatever is fine. I lived through this era so I understand the limitations of what was (or was not) filmed or what was retained for the archives. Lots of stuff was never filmed and a lot of what was filmed got dumped.

The Tamla Motown 'Motortown Revue Live at The Apollo' from 1963 is available online. So is the Soul to Soul 1971 Ghananian Independence Day concert featuring Wilson Pickett and Ike & Tina Turner. There is the Stax Volt tour from 1967 - a film of the European tour done by Sam & Dave, Otis Redding and Booker T & The MG's. For me, it's not about specific reasons why those specific shows / tours were filmed. But you see stuff like that online and it's natural to want to see stuff from the earlier part of Michael's career.

When The Jacksons signed with Epic, they were coming from the later years of Motown which they didn't have the same amount of crossover success

True but, otoh, it was a fresh start, a new phase. They got their first UK No.1 in 1977 and they were busy. They set up their first production company. Michael releases his first song, Blues Away. Yes, it's a B-side but it's a significant moment.

From the official website ...
"The brothers spend the majority of 1977 & 1978 on the road touring Europe and the US, as well as filming their variety series. In 1978, Billboard Magazine dedicates a 10-page anniversary special to The Jacksons and ‘Destiny’ (LP), is released."

and were on the way to be an oldies group.

Were they? SYTWTG gets to No.1 in the UK. Jan 1977 - they performed at the AMA's. Feb 1977 they guest on Mike Douglas' show. Also Feb '77 - they present an award at the Grammys. May '77 they do that Royal Command Performance - which, OK, is not exactly cutting edge, lol, but I bet The Jacksons were on the bill to provide the 'youth' edge. Whether anyone agrees isn't the point. I'm just saying, I bet that was the reason they were on the bill, not bc they were regarded as MOR 'oldies'.

The family were also doing a Las Vegas show and Vegas at the time was considered to be for old washed up singers like Wayne Newton and uncool.

Maybe but I still think it's weird. Americans document everything. Way more than the British do. That's how we get photos of Bill Clinton as a student shaking hands with JF Kennedy. Americans always seem to be looking ahead to when some film footage or a photo might form part of a future documentary. It's something they are really good at, imo. So, yeah, The Jacksons weren't flying high the way J5 did in the first few years. But I can still see why someone might have filmed them at this point if only bc they had in mind some sort of future 'rise / fall / rise' type of film or documentary. I mean, this is just wild guess work on my part. I'm not comparing The Jacksons, at this point in their career, with Tamla in 1963, for example.

Slightly off-topic. When J5 recorded stuff the employees at Tamla would flock into the control room to watch them doing their thing. Did anyone photograph that or film it? It's a rhetorical question but I'd love to know. It would have been fairly unusual for that to happen. At least, I assume so. Random people - artists - dropping in on a recording session was normal. But this was different, the control room was apparently full of these people.

 

[Agonum]

[…]
"May 17 : The Jacksons perform “Forever Came Today”, “Show You The Way To Go” and a Motown medley medley at Kings’s Theatre in Glasgow as part of the Royal Command Performance celebrating the Queen Elizabeth’s Silver Jubilee celebrations."
(jacksondynasty.net)

[…]

A medley of medleys!

 

[Bogdan]

A medley of medleys!

I want the love you be there abc

 

[zinniabooklover]

A medley of medleys!

oh no! I wonder if that was my mistake? I'm too tired to go and check. We're having a bit of hot weather over here, the humidity is frazzling my brain, lol.

A 'medley of medleys'! Love it.

 

[Agonum]

oh no! I wonder if that was my mistake? I'm too tired to go and check. We're having a bit of hot weather over here, the humidity is frazzling my brain, lol.

A 'medley of medleys'! Love it.

Hot here, too! And tropical nights! It’s driving me insane!

 

[zinniabooklover]

Hot here, too! And tropical nights! It’s driving me insane!

It's gross. Although today is marginally better. I feel like I can breathe. Plus I managed about 4 hours of sleep. Result!

Just checked the 'medley medley' thing. Pleased to note it was not my mistake.

 

[Victorious]

@DuranDuran

All good and well but it does not answer my questions.
I think we will all be very surprised with what can be found in tv stations‘ archives

Yeah I believe so too, like they found this concert of Aretha Franklin not too long ago:

Aretha Franklin The Legendary Concertgebouw Concert Amsterdam 1968 - Pop music and rock

Aretha Franklin The Legendary Concertgebouw Concert Amsterdam 1968. Blog over het enige legendarische optreden van Aretha in Amsterdam.

www.popmusicandrock.com

 

[DuranDuran]

Lots of stuff was never filmed and a lot of what was filmed got dumped.

A lot of the earlier American Bandstand episodes were taped over because the networks didn't see much value in music programs. They had low budgets in the first place.

The Tamla Motown 'Motortown Revue Live at The Apollo' from 1963 is available online. So is the Soul to Soul 1971 Ghananian Independence Day concert featuring Wilson Pickett and Ike & Tina Turner. There is the Stax Volt tour from 1967 - a film of the European tour done by Sam & Dave, Otis Redding and Booker T & The MG's. For me, it's not about specific reasons why those specific shows / tours were filmed. But you see stuff like that online and it's natural to want to see stuff from the earlier part of Michael's career.

Notice these things are primarily outside of the USA, That's why jazz artists would go over to France & Japan to perform and in some cases move there to live. They were more appreciated more in those places than in their home country, which was more racist, They didn't have to stay in a non-whites hotel or house, find a restaurant to serve them, play before segregated audiences, or have rednecks in the southern USA shoot at them. Nat King Cole was beat up by some racists while he was performing in a club. Miles Davis was beat up by a racist police officer.

Were they? SYTWTG gets to No.1 in the UK. Jan 1977 - they performed at the AMA's. Feb 1977 they guest on Mike Douglas' show. Also Feb '77 - they present an award at the Grammys. May '77 they do that Royal Command Performance - which, OK, is not exactly cutting edge, lol, but I bet The Jacksons were on the bill to provide the 'youth' edge. Whether anyone agrees isn't the point. I'm just saying, I bet that was the reason they were on the bill, not bc they were regarded as MOR 'oldies'.

I didn't say they were an oldies act. I said they were on the way to becoming one, Which likely would have happened if they remained on Motown. They didn't do much with Jermaine's records and he was Gordy's son-in-law. Beryr Gordy even cancelled an album Jermaine recorded with the MFSB guys, which is still unreleased except for one song put out on a non-Motown compilation. Even he eventually left and signed with Clive Davis. The only one of the main acts from the 1960s who never left Motown was Stevie Wonder, and I don't think he's with a label now. The Tempatations, Diana Ross, & Smokey Robinson left & came back. Gladys Knight & The Pips & The Spinners had more success after leaving Motown than they did with it, especially The Spinners.

Maybe but I still think it's weird. Americans document everything.

Sure if it involved white people, with the mainstream media in the USA. The majority of the magazine coverage the Jackson 5 got was in Ebony, Jet, Black Stars, & Right On!. Not in People, Creem, Life, Time, or Rolling Stone. The reason these magazines and TV shows like Soul Train & later the Arsenio Hall Show & BET network existed in the first place to give coverage to people who were mostly ignored by the mainly white mainstream media. I guess if these things were started today they would be called "woke" by people who don't like it. I'm sure you could find a lot of coverage of Frank Sinatra or Peggy Lee or Elvis Presley or The Beatles. But what about all of those Black Chitlin' Circuit performers or even fairly well known singers like Sam Cooke, Little Richard, Jackie Wilson, & Al Green? You can find stuff about The Osmonds, but what about The Sylvers & Pointer Sisters? Where is the footage of all of those Black blues artists Eric Clapton & Rolling Stones were influenced by? The primary reason those British Invasion artists became aware of that music wasn't because they were played on British radio. It was because of Black military guys stationed in European countries brought their records over there. Many of the records got played on pirate radio stations, not the official BBC stations. With actresses, there's a whole lot out there about Marilyn Monroe & Jane Fonda, but that isn't the case with Dorothy Dandrige.

 

[Victorious]

The reason these magazines and TV shows like Soul Train & later the Arsenio Hall Show & BET network existed in the first place to give coverage to people who were mostly ignored by the mainly white mainstream media.

These magazines and TV shows were created by certain people who had certain interests for people wth the same interests. Everyone else, white or black was 'ignored' in that sense. You could say BET network is the racist one since they are acually about.. race and deliberately ignore people based on the color of their skin, all that while complaing about 'white' media

 

[zinniabooklover]

Notice these things are primarily outside of the USA, That's why jazz artists would go over to France & Japan to perform and in some cases move there to live. They were more appreciated more in those places than in their home country, which was more racist, They didn't have to stay in a non-whites hotel or house, find a restaurant to serve them, play before segregated audiences, or have rednecks in the southern USA shoot at them. Nat King Cole was beat up by some racists while he was performing in a club. Miles Davis was beat up by a racist police officer.

Yes, I'm aware of all of this. And the Cotton Club in Harlem was segregated. Black people could work there but couldn't be a part of the audience. There's a million examples out there, sadly.

I didn't say they were an oldies act. I said they were on the way to becoming one, Which likely would have happened if they remained on Motown.

That wasn't my point. My point was, new record label, new phase in their career.

Sure if it involved white people, with the mainstream media in the USA. The majority of the magazine coverage the Jackson 5 got was in Ebony, Jet, Black Stars, & Right On!. Not in People, Creem, Life, Time, or Rolling Stone. The reason these magazines and TV shows like Soul Train & later the Arsenio Hall Show & BET network existed in the first place to give coverage to people who were mostly ignored by the mainly white mainstream media.

Yes, I know.

We don't have much film footage of Sister Rosetta Tharpe or Big Mama Thornton, for example, and what we do have often comes from Europe. But not all of it. Some of it is from America.

Where is the footage of all of those Black blues artists Eric Clapton & Rolling Stones were influenced by? The primary reason those British Invasion artists became aware of that music wasn't because they were played on British radio.

It's no secret that British radio back then was full of MOR stuff and chart singles. Even the pirate stations stuck mostly to pop and rock.

It was because of Black military guys stationed in European countries brought their records over there.

The American GI's definitely played a role and they did pass out records to the locals, in some instances. It doesn't seem to have been widespread, afaik. The musicians who got hold of those records had much more to do with the music becoming popular than the GI's themselves. The GI's in our neighbourhood were part of our community. They weren't assimilated into the wider community that's for sure!

Many of the records got played on pirate radio stations,

I mostly remember just lots of 'alternative' pop and rock. Not so much blues or jazz.

With actresses, there's a whole lot out there about Marilyn Monroe & Jane Fonda, but that isn't the case with Dorothy Dandrige.

Dorothy's story is a sad one but I'm not sure how much equivalency there is between her story and The Jacksons.

This is an enigma on Michael’s touring history. We know all or most dates and places of the J5 tours and we know similar info from the Destiny tour onwards but there is hardly anything known of the years 77 and 78. [...] So yes to conclude, what’s the story here, why is there no info, no footage, no audio, no dates, no nothing?

This is f&m's basic point. I agree with him, it's really weird.

 

[DuranDuran]

These magazines and TV shows were created by certain people who had certain interests for people wth the same interests. Everyone else, white or black was 'ignored' in that sense. You could say BET network is the racist one since they are acually about.. race and deliberately ignore people based on the color of their skin, all that while complaing about 'white' media

 

[DuranDuran]

Also BET didn't ignore non-Black performers. I watched BET and they would show music videos by Wham!/George Michael, Hall & Oates, Culture Club, Madonna, Teena Marie, Lisa Lisa (who is Puerto Rican), Lisa Stansfield, etc. Soul Train had non-Black artists too, even Don Henley & Pet Shop Boys.

 

[Victorious]

Also BET didn't ignore non-Black performers. I watched BET and they would show music videos by Wham!/George Michael, Hall & Oates, Culture Club, Madonna, Teena Marie, Lisa Lisa (who is Puerto Rican), Lisa Stansfield, etc. Soul Train had non-Black artists too, even Don Henley & Pet Shop Boys.

MTV also didn't 'ignore' black performers because of race but because of musical interest/their own bubble/money. One of their first veejays was black. You know that BET stands for 'Black Entertainment Television': it's racist by definition (regardless of their intentions)

 

[DuranDuran]

This is f&m's basic point. I agree with him, it's really weird.

In what way. Other than maybe rock magazines, other types of media didn't generally print information about the tour dates of anybody. Rock bands also often sold t-shirts or a tour book with the tour dates on them. That wasn't usually the case with R&B acts. Some might have had sold t-shirts, but I don't think most did and they didn't usually have the dates. Tour dates might be mentioned in Billboard, which would post the highest grossing concerts for that week. That didn't include everybody touring, just the top 10 to 20 concerts that made the most money. Also it was common at the time for package tours with other artists. So a tour and/or concert might not be under an artist's name, but the "Budweiser Superfest" or "California Jam".

Dorothy's story is a sad one but I'm not sure how much equivalency there is between her story and The Jacksons.

Marilyn's story is sad. The point is that she is more documented than Dorothy was also more famous then and today. Look at all of the Marilyn merchandising. Same for Elvis.

 

[DuranDuran]

MTV also didn't 'ignore' black performers because of race but because of musical interest/their own bubble/money. One of their first veejays was black. You know that BET stands for 'Black Entertainment Television': it's racist by definition (regardless of their intentions)

Alrighty then, you're one of those "I'm not racist, I have a Black friend" people. This is a waste of time responding to you. Goodbye.

 

[Victorious]

Alrighty then, you're one of those "I'm not racist, I have a Black friend" people. This is a waste of time responding to you. Goodbye.

I am one of those 'black people myselves' lol, not buying this woke crap for a second though and never did
Anyway, is naming you tv station Black Entertainment Television racist or not?

 

[zinniabooklover]

In what way. Other than maybe rock magazines, other types of media didn't generally print information about the tour dates of anybody [...]

The 1978 Jackson's tour dates are not on their official website. Just seems odd to me.

 

[flight85]

If nothing else can't they atleast release the soundboard recordings they have and a booklet with pictures? Maybe add in some trivia from the different concerts they did? Would be better than the nothing we have now .

 

[Agonum]

[…] Beryr Gordy […]

 

[Agonum]

[…]
This is f&m's basic point. I agree with him, it's really weird.

Yes, it is weird that you would agree with @filmandmusic!

 

[Agonum]

A lot of the earlier American Bandstand episodes were taped over because the networks didn't see much value in music programs. They had low budgets in the first place.

Notice these things are primarily outside of the USA, That's why jazz artists would go over to France & Japan to perform and in some cases move there to live. They were more appreciated more in those places than in their home country, which was more racist, They didn't have to stay in a non-whites hotel or house, find a restaurant to serve them, play before segregated audiences, or have rednecks in the southern USA shoot at them. Nat King Cole was beat up by some racists while he was performing in a club. Miles Davis was beat up by a racist police officer.

I didn't say they were an oldies act. I said they were on the way to becoming one, Which likely would have happened if they remained on Motown. They didn't do much with Jermaine's records and he was Gordy's son-in-law. Beryr Gordy even cancelled an album Jermaine recorded with the MFSB guys, which is still unreleased except for one song put out on a non-Motown compilation. Even he eventually left and signed with Clive Davis. The only one of the main acts from the 1960s who never left Motown was Stevie Wonder, and I don't think he's with a label now. The Tempatations, Diana Ross, & Smokey Robinson left & came back. Gladys Knight & The Pips & The Spinners had more success after leaving Motown than they did with it, especially The Spinners.

Sure if it involved white people, with the mainstream media in the USA. The majority of the magazine coverage the Jackson 5 got was in Ebony, Jet, Black Stars, & Right On!. Not in People, Creem, Life, Time, or Rolling Stone. The reason these magazines and TV shows like Soul Train & later the Arsenio Hall Show & BET network existed in the first place to give coverage to people who were mostly ignored by the mainly white mainstream media. I guess if these things were started today they would be called "woke" by people who don't like it. I'm sure you could find a lot of coverage of Frank Sinatra or Peggy Lee or Elvis Presley or The Beatles. But what about all of those Black Chitlin' Circuit performers or even fairly well known singers like Sam Cooke, Little Richard, Jackie Wilson, & Al Green? You can find stuff about The Osmonds, but what about The Sylvers & Pointer Sisters? Where is the footage of all of those Black blues artists Eric Clapton & Rolling Stones were influenced by? The primary reason those British Invasion artists became aware of that music wasn't because they were played on British radio. It was because of Black military guys stationed in European countries brought their records over there. Many of the records got played on pirate radio stations, not the official BBC stations. With actresses, there's a whole lot out there about Marilyn Monroe & Jane Fonda, but that isn't the case with Dorothy Dandrige.

Lord knows you’re well educated on the topic of popular culture. I encourage you to write a book on its history! Your posts are always filled to the brim with interesting facts and anecdotes, so you might as well consolidate it into a book.

 

[mjprince1976]

I agree it was Michael Jackson and Prince that banged down the doors at MTV in 1983, along with David Bowie slagging them off about it in that year too. But Black music was big in the 1970s as well. Stevie Wonder's albums sold millions, along with Marvin Gaye and the mass appeal of disco, soul, funk and other Black genres in 1970s music culture. It was the damn disco sux movement of 1979 and the played out over commercialised disco songs mainly made by WHITE artists (Rod Stewart, Ethel Merman, Stones etc) that ruined disco's momentum. The best disco music in my opinion is that music from like 1975 to 1977 and some 1978 and early 79 tracks, again mostly the Black and Gay artists with the best music and white artists with the worst (Except Cerrone and some Euro disco acts).

Also I think the Jacksons hit a low point in 1977/78, lets face it The Jacksons and Goin Places were patchy records. They were growing out of their kiddie phase and into the adult one. Yes those albums gave us the magnificient Enjoy yourself and Show you the way to go (Michael's voice is just - wowowwwoooww! on that track), but there was a lot of filler (I don't even like the song Goin Places). Destiny was much better, but its impact was not nearly felt until 1979, Blame it on the Boogie was a great song that should have done better and then finally they got the big hit with Shake your body down to the ground, but further momentum was stalled by "Off the wall" which went on to be the most successful Jackson related thing so far (Its sales along with DSTYGE and Rock with you, blitzed any Jackson 5 or Jacksons thing out of the water ... and Jermaine's efforts to date!). Off the Wall also no doubt propped up the later part of Destiny Tour sales as Michael became a star in his own right.

I definitely think too, that the Jacksons was sidled off as a "Black Act" by Epic in the early days and this limited exposure for many artists in the 70s, Motown had lost its spot as the premiere black label, due to its restrictive and limiting contracts (Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder being glittering exceptions). Prince (Yes I know), summed it up as not wanting to sign with the majors, if they only promoted him as a Black act, yet they pretty much did until the early 1980s, Dirty Mind was made to prove that Prince could make music for white people. Sadly nothing the Jacksons were doing would be labelled white then, but that is good as they were being natural and knew their music was good enough to cross over to everyone, just the raciss record companies could not be bothered promoting it that way.

Finally 1977 was the year they did that corny TV show and the Wiz was being filmed, so Michael was unavailable to tour anyway and any Jacksons tour without Michael, even then would not do anywhere near as well, had he been there. Michael was the star attraction and even Joe knew it.

 

[filmandmusic]

Going places might be patchy but the jacksons is a stellar album, especially the B side

 

[Mister_Jay_Tee]

Going places might be patchy but the jacksons is a stellar album, especially the B side

Goin Places has some of the best tracks. 3-9 is so smooth. The first two are spotty but, eh.