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Shelley Berger, Jackson 5 manager, Larry King/CNN interview (June 25, 2009)

SHELLEY BERGER, FORMER MANAGER OF JACKSON 5: Well, first, of course, was disbelief because I was in a meeting with Otis Williams, and Otis' phone rang. And he said, "I got a text message that Michael died."

And I said, it must be a mistake or something. So he called the lady who rang him. And he said, it's true. And then, of course, Otis just broke down. So that was the end of the meeting.

KING: What was he like to manage? BERGER: Well, I managed -- I was their first manager when they joined Motown. It's interesting, because I only managed people that Barry Gordy was personally interested in. So I managed Smokey. I managed the Supremes. I managed the Temptations.

And one night I was getting off the road with the Supremes, and I got a telephone call from Barry Gordy and he said, "We just signed this new group and you're going to manage them." He said, "You have to come down to the studio right now."

I said, "Why do I have to come down to the studio? You tell me I'm managing them, I'm managing them. I know what I have to do."

"No, no, no, no. You have to come down to the studio." OK. So I go down to the studio on Fairfax Avenue. There's five little kids. And he says, "This is Shelley Berger. He manages Diane Ross. He manages Smokey Robinson. He manages Temptations. Now he's your manager. Show them what you can do."

And Michael just went into this James Brown thing. And I almost fell on the floor and I said, "Sammy Davis has been reincarnated." You know? It was the same kind of electricity.

KING: Wow, how long were you with him?

BERGER: I was with him only for about a year and a half.

KING: Those were good times, then? Easy?

BERGER: Well, we just created something because Mr. Gordy, who, you know...

KING: Berry's a genius.

BERGER: He said to me, can we -- we were doing meetings and the agency, like, oh, we're going to get him on the Joey Bishop Show. We're going to get him.

After the meeting Mr. Gordy said to me, "What do you think?"

And I said, "Let me ask you a question. Do you think you can get three No. 1 records on the Jackson 5?"

Now, only Barry Gordy can say this. He says, "I already have it in the can." And I believed it.

So I said, "OK, if you can get three No. 1 records in a row, we will not put the Jacksons out until they're getting $25,000 a night." Now, understand this is 1968. So $25 -- I mean, that was top dollar. The Beatles got...

KING: You got it.

BERGER: No, we didn't get it. First record came out. It was $5,000, $5,000, $7,500. Second record came out. It was $10,000, $12,005. And you could do this, you see, because it was the driven snow. There was no price on the Jacksons.

KING: What was the third?

BERGER: The third record comes up. Now, it's up to $17,000, $17,500. Now my reputation is on the line, because I told Barry Gordy I'd get $25,000.

So I went to a good, corrupt general manager of the forum. Because that was the time...

KING: What did he do?

BERGER: I said, I will give you -- I will promote the concert. I will give you all the promoter's money for the concert, but you have to give me two contracts for $25,000: one for Oakland, one for L.A.

I said, "They're going to make more than $25,000. We'll sell the shows out."

And he said, "OK." He said, but let me ask you a question. Mr. Cooke owned the Lakers at the time. And he said, he's having a problem renegotiating Elgin Baylor's contract. Do you think Elgin Baylor can be listed as the promoter?

I said, "You've got it." I had the Jackson 5 do a thing with Elgin Baylor, and of course.