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Michael Jackson · S2 E7
Breaking Motown
The fight with Berry Gordy and the road to Philadelphia
A conference room in Los Angeles, 1975. Joe Jackson tells Berry Gordy his sons are leaving Motown, and Gordy, stone-faced, tells him to read his contract.
Enjoy Yourself, The Jacksons (1976). Their first single on Epic Records, produced by Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff at Philadelphia International. After six years of being told what to sing and how to sing it, this is the sound of the other side.
Enjoy Yourself, The Jacksons (1976)
Written and produced by Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff, the architects of the Philadelphia soul sound. The arrangement opens with a bright horn fanfare over a driving disco beat, a world away from the Corporation's bubblegum pop. The bass line is deeper, the rhythm section is looser, and the vocals carry a sophistication that Motown's formula never allowed. "Enjoy Yourself" reached number six on the Billboard Hot 100 and number two on the R&B chart.
The Breaking Point
By 1975, the Jackson brothers have spent six years asking Berry Gordy for what Stevie Wonder already has: the right to write, produce, and choose their own material. Gordy refuses every time. The brothers are earning royalty rates that multiple sources describe as among the lowest in the industry, with no say in a single creative decision.
“We were told what to sing, how to sing it, what to wear. We wanted to write our own songs and produce our own music, and Motown said no.”
— Jackie Jackson, from interviews about leaving Motown
TAP TO REVEAL: One brother stayed behind when the family left Motown
All I Do Is Think of You, The Jackson 5
One of the final Jackson 5 singles on Motown, released in 1975 as the brothers were already negotiating their exit. A gentle, melancholy ballad that sounds like a goodbye even if it was not intended as one. Michael is sixteen, singing with the voice that survived puberty and deepened into something Motown never quite figured out how to use. The song barely charted, and within months, they were gone.
When the Jackson brothers left Motown for Epic Records, they had to change their group name. What were they forced to call themselves?
They lost a brother, lost their name, and walked away from the only label they had ever known. But for the first time in their lives, the music was theirs.
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