Here are 4 larger bits of a most amusing genre that I have found on a Jackson 5 site:
The Motown Charm School- hired people to show artists how to talk, how to dress, how to move. The Jackson Five as well as other Motown acts, rehearsed interviews. This was especially important for the Jackson 5, for they needed the perfect image. The J5 also were kids, they teased one another, goofed off. If Berry Gordy wasn't paying attention, the brothers would tell the interviewers anything. And BG couldn't always pay attention. When asked on the joys of sharing rooms with his brothers, Michael responded.. "Tito keeps wetting the bed. It's a yellow mattress. Hey.. Yellow Mattress, that would make a good album title..". So much for charm school.
Gordy asked halting before an enourmous painting of Gordy dressed as Napoleon Bonaparte. It had been commissioned by his sister Ester.
"Jesus. What can I say?" Joe asked. "That's you? Man, it's too much to believe.
"Well do you like it?" Gordy pressed.
"I, uh..you uh.." All Joe could do was stammer. Just as that moment, his son Michael came running up to him. "Hey, who's that silly looking guy in that picture?" he asked.
Joe cringed and then shot his son a look. Gordy smiled benovently.
Michael and Jermaine both used to play around lot, trying to make each other laugh. You can see that in their TV appearances if you know to look for it. They used to change the lyrics slightly to try to crack each other up. For example, when they sing "I'll Be There " on the 1971 "Diana!" special, Jermaine sings the line that's supposed to be "Build my world of dreams around you" as "Build my world of strings around you" then he has a really hard time keeping a straight face and he almost loses it completely when he catches Michael's eye. Another time on the Flip Wilson Show when they were singing the last part of "Never Can Say Goodbye," Michael jumps up at Jermaine when he belts out one of his "OWs" and startles him. Then the two of them giggle through the rest of the song. It's really cute (and funny!). They were quite a pair back then.
"And just how old are you Michael?" she asked.
Michael looked up at Diana, who was standing proudly behind him, her hand on his shoulder. Berry Gordy stood nearby.
"Eight," Michael said quickly.
"But I thought you were older. Going on eleven, maybe," the suspicious jornalist pressed.
"Well, I'm not," Michael insisted. "I'm eight."
"But I heard-"
"Look, the kid's eight, all right?" Gordy broke in. "Next question."
"Next question please," Michael corrected. He smiled and winked at Pauline Dunn as if to say, This is how we play the game. Her story said he was eight.
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