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Regal Theater Talent Show

Ben Brown, Steeltown Records co-owner, “The Times of Northwest Indiana” (June 14, 2003) (archived)

I got the Jacksons in to see James Brown backstage at the Regal in Chicago. James Brown promoted them.

“Michael Jackson Fan Club” (aka “MJFC”) interview (May 2009), from Chris Cadman’s “Michael Jackson the Maestro”

Some artists perform very well but in the case of Michael… and very few others… he would attack! What I mean is, he would go right to the edge of the stage and he would - and this is a kid now - he would develop a rapport with the audience. Particularly with the people who were sitting close to the stage. And then the others as well.

Don Cornelius, Soul Train host, Access Hollywood

I met Michael Jackson at the age of eight — when his father and my new friend, Joe Jackson, first began to bring the Jackson 5 to Chicago, from their home in Gary, Indiana, for concert appearances. As the word of the Jackson 5’s devastating abilities as concert artists had already begun to spread like an out-of-control forest fire-- to the, laser-like, attention of all Chicago area, R&B Music Stars!

The prevailing thought process, among local, R&B stars, with respect to this very young group of entertainers known as the Jackson 5, had become: “If Michael Jackson & his brothers were booked on an, upcoming, Chicagoland show — leave it alone! Don’t book it — Don’t go on that show and get completely blown away by young Michael and the Jackson 5!! Michael Jackson’s, personal, crescendo of amazing power, as an entertainer — was clear and unmistakable.

Gladys Knight, singer, “The Huffington Post” (July 27, 2009) (archived)

KNIGHT: Well, I met the Jacksons at the Regal Theater in Chicago.

They were just children, actually, and I heard them before I saw them.

And I jumped up, and I said, “Who is that?”. They were rehearsing to do a talent show. And I ran to the banister to try to see who it was, and their father brought them up after their rehearsal, and I got a chance to meet them.

Amazing family. Michael was shy, and I don’t know if we really recognized that in him all of his life. As he would accept awards, it wasn’t about him being coy, it was about him being shy. I am so blessed that I was able to know Michael in a different way, seeing him in a room alone sitting in the dark and saying, “What’s the matter, Michael?”. Or sitting in the middle of the floor.

We shared the same manager, Ron Wisener, at one time, and he was telling me the things that had happened or not happened in his life, like not going to a baseball game as a young boy. And asking me, “how do you do this? How do you do that?”. So many people that have called in this industry talk about Michael’s inquiries. “How do you do this? How do you go about making” — it wasn’t all about how you execute a note. It was about how do you live this life under the pressure and all of the things that we have to go through to make this happen.

Kennis Jones, “Flairs” musical group member, Chris Cadman’s “Michael Jackson the Maestro”

[Kennis Jones confirms that one of the songs “The Jackson 5” performed was “Steal Away”.] ‘We tied for first place with a group that was not known at the time, called the Jackson 5,’ confirmed Jones. ‘A week later we came back to the Regal to break the tie with the Jackson 5, but they didn’t show up for whatever reason.’