Hello, one and all.
The late King of Pop was on a white-hot streak with his third consecutive number one smash off his comeback album: "Bad". "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" with Siedah Garrett and the title track both reached the pole position. It was only a matter of time that the third single would reach the summit.
Born on August 29, 1958; the Gary, Indiana native would come to major prominence as the lead singer for the family act, The Jackson 5 at the seasoned age of 11 years old. Born with talent, charisma and intense charm to spare, this wunderkind would score a total of four number one smashes in 1970 with his lead-off singles; "I Want You Back", "ABC", "The Love You Save" and "I'll Be There" along with his four brothers, Marlon, Jackie, Jermaine and Tito. His superstar on the rise, he would score his first solo smash hit with "Got To Be There"; a very adult-oriented hit song that peaked at number four. His first trip to the top was in 1972 (my birth year) with a love ode to a rodent named "Ben"; a theme to a popular horror film. Years after performing solo, he would reunite with his brothers, but drop the "5" and be simply, The Jacksons. Then, in 1979; his first solo album with Epic Records (he and his brothers were initially a Motown act), called "Off The Wall" would signal what was yet to come. "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" peaked at number one in 1979 and "Rock With You" would go to the top in 1980. Two more hits would score top ten and then, two years later; the juggernaut called "Thriller" would change the game in pop music and signal a superstar reborn.
Seven top ten hits off that mega-selling album; which is still in the record books as the all-time bestselling album of all time (believed to be over 66 million copies sold since 1982 and the number steadily increasing since Jackson's death in 2009). In between albums, he and his then-producer Quincy Jones and singer/superstar Lionel Richie spearheaded the USA for Africa movement and score with the 1985 charity single: "We Are The World". Then, in August of 1987, he would return to the scene with his smash album: "Bad". While sales of the album were near-excellent, it would never top the sales of his previous achievement of nearly 50-million sales of "Thriller". Still, five straight number ones off the album and two more hits and mega-smash music videos in heavy rotation on MTV are nothing to sneer at. "Bad" is still considered one of the biggest bestselling albums in his music career.
As rumors of overt-bizarreness and even child molestation were perisistent and dogged him even as he prepared for a series of concerts in 2009 at the O2 Theather in London. On June 25, 2009, it would surface that the beleaguered King of Pop would become a legend after succumbing to a propofal overdose that morning. His records and music were everywhere that very day and like his one-time idol, Elvis Presley (whose daughter Lisa-Marie, he was briefly married to), he would die under bizarre circumstances and have the world lose a powerful creative force in music and entertainment. He was only 50 years old. He was survived by his two sons: Prince, Prince II and his daughter, Paris.
Rounding out the Billboard Top Five: January 23, 1988:
2.) The Australian band INXS, led by the hyper-hot-and-sexy Michael Hutchence, made a play for the King of Pop's throne with the rock/funk ballad, "Need You Tonight". The song seems to allude to the late music icon, Prince Rogers Nelson (known simply as Prince), who we lost in 2016. Sadly, Hutchence would also die under bizarre circumstances in 1997 (accidental suicide via asphyxiation).
3.) Pop-mall princess Tiffany Darwish from Norwalk, CA, would eventually score her second consecutive number one with the Lois Blaisch composition: "Could've Been". It was the followup to her 1987 cover smash of the Tommy James & the Shondells pop standard: "I Think We're Alone Now". She would be in deep competition with another teen pop-princess, Debbie Gibson, for our eternal love and undying devotion. Moooooving on--
4.) The late, great ex-Beatle George Harrison dropped out of the top spot with his comeback smash, "Got My Mind Set On You". It was produced by Jeff Lynne, one of the founding members of the 1970's UK band Electric Light Orchestra or ELO for short. His followup hit would be a top 20 hit: "When We Was Fab" which was a clever wink-and-a-nod tribute to his days with the Fab Four. Sadly, he would be the second Beatle to leave us. It was 2001 and believed to be cancer after years of smoking.
5.) The L.A. all-female band, Bangles, who already had the distinction of being the first (and still only) 'band' to score a number one smash, "Walk Like an Egyptian" in 1986, would attempt the feat again with their cover of Simon & Garfunkel's 1966 hit: "Hazy Shade of Winter", which dropped the "A" from their title. It was a soundtrack cut from the 1987 Brat-Pack drama, "Less Than Zero" with Andrew McCarthy, Jami Gertz and Robert Downey Jr. Oddest fact, it was off the CBS label, Def Jam Recordings which would move to Universal years later.
Who peaks next? Stay tuned, dear readers!
