Free Michael Jackson by J. Randy Taraborrelli

arrangements, copying and accompaniment and
     all other costs related to each recording session, whether the song was released or not – but these expenses and others would
     have to be recouped by the company from the royalties generated by sales of the records that were released. This arrangement
     would lead to many complaints by Motown artists, and it would be a big problem for The Jackson 5. But Joseph never imagined
     that the group would record so many songs that would not be issued – and they did, perhaps as many as a hundred! Later, it would
     be virtually impossible for the group to make any money on the ones that
were
released, because the boys would still have to pay for all the ones that weren't.
    Also, if Michael or any of his brothers were to leave the group, he would have no right ever to say that he was a member of
     The Jackson 5, ‘and shall have no further right to use the group name for any purpose whatsoever’. Joseph may not have realized
     it, but this could be a big problem. For instance, when Florence Ballard was fired from The Supremes in 1967, she was not
     able to promote herself as having been a member of the group. Her press biography for ABC, when she signed to that label as
     a solo artist in 1968, could state only that she was ‘a member of a popular female singing group’.
    Also Motown could, at any time, replace any member of the group with any person the company chose. In other words, if Tito
     acted up, for instance, he could be bounced from the act and replaced by someone else selected by Motown, and not by Joseph.
    An even more limiting clause – number sixteen – stated that ‘Motown owns all rights, title and interest in the names Jackson 5
and
Jackson Five.’ In other words, they may have gone to the company as The Jackson Five, but they sure weren't going to be leaving
     that way. When The Supremes wanted to leave the label in 1972, they were welcome to go – but they'd have to change the group's
     name to something else. They stayed.
    The contract with Motown could have also stated that Joseph would be obligated to hand Randy and Janet over to the company
     to raise as Gordy saw fit, and he might have agreed to it. The important thing was that the boys were with Motown, on any
     terms.
    Thus, on 26 July 1968, in tiny, barely legible handwriting, Michael signed the deal: ‘Michael Joseph Jackson’. *

‘Hollywood Livin'’
    On 27 September 1968, Motown Records booked The Jackson 5 to appear in a benefit concert at Gilroy Stadium in Gary, Indiana,
     the purpose of which was to defray the costs of Richard Hatcher's mayoral campaign. On the bill that day were Motown recording
     artists Gladys Knight and the Pips, Shorty Long, and Bobby Taylor and the Vancouvers. The Jackson 5 opened the show. In years
     to come, the official Motown story would be that
this
was where Diana Ross saw the boys for the first time, ‘discovered’ them, and brought them to Gordy's attention. In truth,
     The Jackson 5 were already signed to the label. Moreover, Diana Ross was nowhere near Gary at the time. She was in Los Angeles,
     rehearsing with The Supremes.
    Around Christmastime, Berry Gordy hosted a party at the Detroit estate he had purchased in 1967 for a million dollars. (Though
     he had moved to the West Coast, he still maintained his Michigan residence.) The Jackson 5 were asked to perform at the party
     for the Motown artists and other friends of Gordy's.
This
was a big deal.
    Gordy's three-storey mansion boasted a ballroom with marble floors and columns, an Olympic-sized swimming pool, a billiard
     room, a two-lane bowling alley, a private theatre linked to the main house by a tunnel, and a pub whose furnishings were imported
     from England. All of the rooms were decorated with gold leaf, frescoed ceilings and elaborate crystal chandeliers. Expensive
     oil portraits of Gordy's friends and family decorated the entryway.
    If the Jacksons had ever seen a home like this before, it was