taught me to draw, but being a cartoon character pushed me over the brink into a full-time love of the movies and the
kind of animated motion pictures pioneered by Walt Disney. I have such admiration for Mr. Disney and what he
accomplished with the help of so many talented artists. When I think about the joy he and his company have brought
to millions of children - and adults - the world over, I am in awe.
I loved being a cartoon. It was so much fun to get up on Saturday mornings to watch cartoons and look forward to
seeing ourselves on the screen. It was like a fantasy come true for all of us.
My first real involvement with films came when I sang the title song for the movie Ben in 1972.
Ben meant a lot to me. Nothing had ever excited me as much as going to the studio to put my voice on film. I had a
great time. Later, when the movie came out, I'd go to the theater and wait until the end when the credits would flash
on, and it would say, "'Ben' sung by Michael Jackson." I was really impressed by that. I loved the song and loved the story. Actually, the story was a lot like E.T. It was about a boy who befriended a rat. People didn't understand the
boy's love for this little creature. He was dying of some disease and his only true friend was Ben, the leader of the
rats in the city where they lived. A lot of people thought the movie was a bit odd, but I was not one of them. The song
went to number one and is still a favorite of mine. I have always loved animals and I enjoy reading about them and
seeing movies in which they're featured.
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Chapter Three
Dancing Machine
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The media write weird stuff about me all the time. The distortion of the truth bothers me. I usually don't read a lot of
what is printed, although I often hear about it.
I don't understand why they feel the need to make up things about me. I suppose if there's nothing scandalous to
report, it's necessary to make things interesting. I take some small pride in thinking that I've come out pretty well, all things considered. A lot of children in the entertainment business ended up doing drugs and destroying themselves:
Frankie Lymon, Bobbie Driscoll, any of a number of child stars. And I can understand their turning to drugs,
considering the enormous stresses put upon them at a young age. It's a difficult life. Very few manage to maintain
any semblance of a normal childhood.
I myself have never tried drugs - no marijuana, no cocaine, nothing. I mean, I haven't even tried these things.
Forget it.
This isn't to say we were never tempted. We were musicians doing business during an era when drug use was
common. I don't mean to be judgmental - it's not even a moral issue for me - but I've seen drugs destroy too many
lives to think they're anything to fool with. I'm certainly no angel, and I may have my own bad habits, but drugs
aren't among them.
By the time Ben came out, we knew that we were going to go around the world. American soul music had become as
popular in other countries as blue jeans and hamburgers. We were invited to become part of that big world, and in
1972 we began our first overseas tour with a visit to England. Though we'd never been there before or appeared on
British television, people knew all the words to our songs. They even had wide scarves with our pictures on them and
"Jackson 5" written in big broad letters. The theaters were smaller than the ones we were used to playing in the United States, but the enthusiasm from the crowds was very gratifying as we'd finish each song. They didn't scream
during the songs the way crowds did back home, so people over there could actually tell how good Tito was getting
on the guitar, because they could hear him.
We took Randy along because we wanted to give him the experience and allow him to see what was going on. He
wasn't officially part of our act, but stayed in the background with bongos. He had his own Jackson 5 outfit, so when
we introduced him, people cheered. The next time we came back, Randy would be a part of the group. I had been the
bongo player before Randy, and Marlon had played them before me, so it had become almost a tradition to break the
new guy in on those crazy little drums.
We had three years of hits behind us when we toured Europe that first time, so there was enough to please both the
kids who followed our music and the Queen of England, whom we met at a Royal Command Performance. That was
very exciting for us. I had seen photographs of other groups, like the Beatles, meeting the Queen after command
performances, but I never dreamed we'd get the chance to play for her.
England was our jumping-off point, and it was different from any place we'd been before, but the farther we traveled,
the more exotic the world looked. We saw the great museums of Paris and the beautiful mountains of Switzerland.
Europe was an education in the roots of Western culture and, in a way, a preparation for visiting Eastern countries
that were more spiritual. I was very impressed that the people there didn't value material things as much as they did
animals and nature. For instance, China and Japan were places that helped me grow because these countries made me
understand there was more to life than the things you could hold in your hand or see with you eyes. And in all of
these countries, the people had heard of us and liked our music.
Australia and New Zealand, our next stops, were English-speaking, but we met people who were still living in tribes
in the outback. They greeted us as brothers even though they didn't speak our language. If I'd ever needed proof that
all men could be brothers, I certainly had it during that tour.
And then there was Africa. We had read up on Africa because our tutor, Miss Fine, had prepared special lessons on
the customs and history of each country we visited. We didn't get to see the prettier parts of Africa, but the ocean and
23
the shore and the people were unbelievably beautiful near the coast where we were. We went to a game reserve one
day and observed animals roaming wild. The music was eye-opening too. The rhythms were phenomenal. When we
first came off the plane, it was dawn and there was a long line of Africans dancing in their native costumes, with
drums and shakers. They were dancing all around, welcoming us. They were really into it. Boy, it was something.
What a perfect way to welcome us to Africa. I'll never forget that.
And the craftspeople in the marketplace were incredible. People were making things as we watched and selling other
things. I remember one man who made beautiful wood carvings. He'd ask you what you wanted and you'd say, "A
man's face," and he'd take a piece from a tree trunk, slice it, and create this remarkable face. You could watch him do it right before your eyes. I'd just sit there and watch people step up to ask him to make something for them and he'd
do this whole thing over and over.
It was a visit to Senegal that made us realize how fortunate we were and how our African heritage had helped to
make us what we were. We visited an old, abandoned slave camp at Gore Island and we were so moved. The African
people had given us gifts of courage and endurance that we couldn't hope to repay.
I guess if Motown could have had us age the way they wanted us to, they would have wanted Jackie to stay the age
he was when we became a headline act and have each of us catch up with him - although I think they'd have wanted
to keep me a year or so younger, so I could still be a child star. That may sound nonsensical, but it really wasn't much
more farfetched than the way they were continuing to mold us, keeping is from being a real group with its own
internal direction and ideas. We were growing up and we were expanding creatively. We had so many ideas we