Michael Jackson Plotted to End Brother Jermaine’s Career

[skooldem1]

Clive Davis Confirms: Michael Jackson Plotted to End Brother Jermaine’s Career

ROGER FRIEDMAN

In his wonderfully juicy new book, “Soundtrack of My Life,” Clive Davis — “the Man with the 45 RPM Ears” –confirms what has always been out there: Michael Jackson purposely tried to kill off brother Jermaine’s career. In the mid 80s, Davis signed Jermaine Jackson and had a couple of hits that still stand up: “Do What You Do” and “Tell Me I’m Not Dreaming.” Michael didn’t like this.
When Clive hired Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds and LA Reid in the late 1980s to produce Jermaine’s fourth album at Arista Records, Michael had enough, Davis says. The King of Pop tied up Babyface for his own projects, ripping him away from Jermaine. Clive writes: “Jermaine couldn’t believe that Michael, his close brother, would hijack his producers’ material this way.”At a dinner in Paris, Clive recalls, Jermaine was “crying, indeed sobbing at times, so deeply hurt that his brother would do this to him.”

The older brother was so angry that he wrote his infamous song, “Word to the Badd,” which denounced Michael as shallow and selfish. Michael responded by calling Davis and demanding he take the song off of Jermaine’s new album.

Davis was between a rock and a hard place, as they say. Jermaine leaked the track so the world could hear his bitterness. Clive “I felt it would be wrong for me to tell an artist to take a song off an album. This was a family and personal matter that they would need to resolve themselves.” Eventually a watered down version of the song was officially released. Davis’s story lines up with the one told by Michael’s longtime pr man, the late Bob Jones, in his book with Stacy Brown.

I’m sorry: this is the petty side of Michael Jackson that his fans don’t like to hear about. But now we have the same story from two people who never knew each other–Bob Jones, and Clive Davis. Bob Jones wrote that Michael systematically destroyed the careers of Rebbe and Jermaine, and even LaToya, but wasn’t fast enough to stop Janet.

http://www.showbiz411.com/2013/02/19/clive-davis-confirms-michael-jackson-plotted-to-end-brother-jermaines-career

[R. Mark Desjardins]

As Syl stone so sagely put it, "It's A Family Affair."

[jobeterob]

Generally in the lawyer world, when you have two independant sources confirming the same information, you take that as corroboration and it is accepted as the truth.

There also seems to be continual confirmation of a bunch of very dysfunctional people in the same family; but I guess it you get physically and verbally abused coming up, that is the behaviour you are accustomed to and that is how you act. It takes a lot to break the cycle.

It will be interesting to see how Michael's children grow up. Was it Prince Michael on ET doing an actual job?

[thomas96]

I'm not a huge MJ fan, I think he's a great artist and dancer/performer and I like many of his songs [[both early 70's and 80's) but that's all. That being said, how can you be sure that Clive Davis and Bob Jones were being 100% truthful. It's possible they are lying to sell more, because people buy drama like this, and we know of many cases of people lying in instances such as this. I don't know, and I don't necessarily think they are lying in this case, but I haven't seen any hard evidence that Michael tried to end his families' careers other than the word of two people. I bet there are people who were a part of this situation as well who deny this. I don't think we'll ever know for sure, and honestly I don't really care. I like the music and look up to these artists as musicians, songwriters, singers, etc. but I don't worship them [[like a lot of MJ fans). Just my thoughts on this matter though.

[marv2]

I'm not a huge MJ fan, I think he's a great artist and dancer/performer and I like many of his songs [[both early 70's and 80's) but that's all. That being said, how can you be sure that Clive Davis and Bob Jones were being 100% truthful. It's possible they are lying to sell more, because people buy drama like this, and we know of many cases of people lying in instances such as this. I don't know, and I don't necessarily think they are lying in this case, but I haven't seen any hard evidence that Michael tried to end his families' careers other than the word of two people. I bet there are people who were a part of this situation as well who deny this. I don't think we'll ever know for sure, and honestly I don't really care. I like the music and look up to these artists as musicians, songwriters, singers, etc. but I don't worship them [[like a lot of MJ fans). Just my thoughts on this matter though.

I believe it. Bob Jones is dead. Still I don't believe he wrote that in his book to sell more books because I for one did not even know he had written a book!

Looking at the results; all of Michaels' World famous siblings careers seem to just evaporate with the exception of Janet's. They were all talented in varying degrees and were widely known around the World. Why wasn't it possible for any of them to sustain careers beyond say the mid-80's? Ahemmmmmm.........

[marv2]

I am a bit curious as to where Michael may have learned all of this alleged devious behavior? hmmmmmmmmm..................

[calvin]

But Michael wrote and produced Rebbie's biggest hit, Centipede. He also did a duet with Jermaine on the Dynamite LP [[Tell Me I'm Not Dreaming). And at that time, Michael was SO big that his appearance certainly helped sales of Jermaine's LP.

Maybe things are not so simple?

[soulster]

I'm surprised that Davis and/or Jermaine didn't sue“Babyface”and LA Reid for breech of contract. Maybe they did. Notice Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis stuck with Janet? Wouldn't it have been smarter for Michael to have snagged them and tried to screw over Janet? I mean, Jermaine has talent, and his music is really good, for the most part, but why would MJ see him as the main competition, when Janet was kicking his butt all over the charts?

I believe the basic story, although Davis may have embellished it a bit. He wasn't totally truthful about Kelly Clarkson, either.

[jobeterob]

I'm surprised that Davis and/or Jermaine didn't sue“Babyface”and LA Reid for breech of contract. Maybe they did. Notice Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis stuck with Janet? Wouldn't it have been smarter for Michael to have snagged them and tried to screw over Janet? I mean, Jermaine has talent, and his music is really good, for the most part, but why would MJ see him as the main competition, when Janet was kicking his butt all over the charts?

I believe the basic story, although Davis may have embellished it a bit. He wasn't totally truthful about Kelly Clarkson, either.

It is a little more than ironic that two independant people tell the same story. But Soulster's point is strong: why not screw over Janet? Jermaine was never anywhere near the competition that Janet was.

And everyone has their slant to their story.

Another question I always have when Clive Davis' name arises: so who accomplished more ~ Berry Gordy or Clive Davis? The flip side of that question is "who screwed more people, Berry Gordy or Clive Davis?"

Berry accomplished more. I don't know if either of them really screwed anyone over.

[marv2]

I don't know if either of them really screwed anyone over.


You are kidding right?

[skooldem1]

I saw Clive give a recent interview and the interviewer asked him about Kelly Clarkson's claims. Clive said that everything claimed in his book was verified/fact checked by 5 people.

[skooldem1]

"But now we have the same story from two people who never knew each other–Bob Jones, and Clive Davis. Bob Jones wrote that Michael systematically destroyed the careers of Rebbe and Jermaine, and even LaToya, but wasn’t fast enough to stop Janet."

[nomis]

then why did MJ personally phone CBS boss Walter Yetnikoff and personally plead for extra promotion of the Jacksons "2300 Jackson st" LP that he only added a couple of lines of singing to ? he also wrote and produced La Toya's single [[which was dreadful) "Night time lover" ? he may have had corporate beef with Jermaine [[CBS blocking the release of MJ and Jermaines 1984 duet on his Arista LP)..but as for the rest of the family I think Mike didnt do anything he was upset Janets "Rythmn Nation" 'only' sold 6 million in the US...

[nomis]

Skool dem - i find it amusing you dont believe Gordy would pull a deal with ABC president to stall Flo Ballards career at golf - and yet you believe Mike would sabotage his own familys careers...

[skooldem1]

I just posted the article about Clive for discussion. I didn't give my opinion.

[soulster]

I saw Clive give a recent interview and the interviewer asked him about Kelly Clarkson's claims. Clive said that everything claimed in his book was verified/fact checked by 5 people.
Who? His relatives? Employees? Are these people so credible that he can't name them?

[jobeterob]

I dont know if Berry or Clive think at this late stage in their life, think that they screwed anyone over.

I doubt Berry Gordy cared one bit, one way or the other about Florence Ballard after he fired her; I think he probably was glad to be rid of trouble. Why on earth would he be concerned about Florence Ballard, if she was a drunk? All he ever needed to do was listen to the album on ABC; you don't need to be a music industry insider to know that album was going nowhere.

Berry and Clive made business decisions; rejecting an artist doesn't mean you screwed them over. Kicking an alcoholic out of the Supremes or Temptations doesn't mean you screwed them over. Deciding somebody did not have a commercial voice is not screwing them over, be they Brenda Holloway, Kim Weston, Barbara McNair or Mary Wilson. It sounds like Clive Davis did what he could to save Whitney Houston? What else was he to do for her? Kidnap her and tie her down?

[soulster]

Skool dem - i find it amusing you dont believe Gordy would pull a deal with ABC president to stall Flo Ballards career at golf - and yet you believe Mike would sabotage his own familys careers...
It sounds very plausible that Gordy sabotaged Flo Ballard's career on ABC, and I also understand he had a hand in hurting Mary Wells after she left Motown, too. It's all about ego.

Jermaine and Michael did have some sort of falling out towards the end of the 80s.

[nomis]

Right..Gordy didnt care if Flo made it as a solo star..I mean just look how hard Motown worked to promote The Supremes when Jean joined...I mean lets face it Berry was so impartial when it came to promoting Diana Ross..wake up - Gordy wasnt a very nice man and MJ had a very dark streak as well..to quote Lisa Marie presley [[ and she should know) .."when Micheal used his power for good it was wonderful..but when he used it for bad..it was very bad.."

[smark21]

I saw Clive give a recent interview and the interviewer asked him about Kelly Clarkson's claims. Clive said that everything claimed in his book was verified/fact checked by 5 people.

Ever hear of such terms as “lackeys”, “suck ups”, “yes people” and “brown nosers”?

[smark21]

When it comes to Clive Davis vs. Berry Gordy—both men hurt people in the name of business. Sometimes justifiably so [[from a business standpoint), sometimes not. But on the larger picture, I prefer Berry because he played a major role in putting some great music out there. Clive Davis had great commercial instincts as well, but they were skewed to commercial in the most mediocre and uninspired sense. A great voice like Whitney Houston’s was saddled with a lot of dreck. Popular dreck, but dreck nevertheless.

[marv2]

It sounds very plausible that Gordy sabotaged Flo Ballard's career on ABC, and I also understand he had a hand in hurting Mary Wells after she left Motown, too. It's all about ego.

Jermaine and Michael did have some sort of falling out towards the end of the 80s.

You can also surmise that Diana Ross never had another number one hit once she left Berry Gordy and Motown. Michael was of the few Ex Motown Artist [[ with the exception of Gladys Knight & the Pips, The Spinners and the Four Tops for a while, and Marvin Gaye much later on...) to have even more success elsewhere.

[midnightman]

Y'all know better than to post something from Roger Friedman. Jermaine's greasy behind ended his own career.

[skooldem1]

You can also surmise that Diana Ross never had another number one hit once she left Berry Gordy and Motown. Michael was of the few Ex Motown Artist [[ with the exception of Gladys Knight & the Pips, The Spinners and the Four Tops for a while, and Marvin Gaye much later on...) to have even more success elsewhere.

Missing You went to #1 on the R&B Chart and she had several top 10 and top 20 songs on the Pop Charts. Whatever lack of success you feel that she had, had nothing to do with Berry. It had everything to do with her song selection.

She also had platinum and gold albums.

[skooldem1]

Y'all know better than to post something from Roger Friedman. Jermaine's greasy behind ended his own career.

Roger was reporting on Clives book.

[soulster]

You can also surmise that Diana Ross never had another number one hit once she left Berry Gordy and Motown.
Not true.

She never had another #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 once she left Motown, but she still managed to hit the Billboard Hot 100 Top 10 at least three times with "Mirror Mirror", "Why Do Fools Fall In Love", "Missing You", and "Muscles". On the Billboard Soul Hot 100, she got to #1 with "Missing You", and, again, at least the Top 10 with the same songs, including "Swept Away", "Eaten Alive", and "Workin' Overtime".

Thank God for my Joel Whitburn chart books! :)

[soulster]

Missing You went to #1 on the R&B Chart and she had several top 10 and top 20 songs on the Pop Charts. Whatever lack of success you feel that she had, had nothing to do with Berry. It had everything to do with her song selection.

She also had platinum and gold albums.

Thank you. sir! I pointed this out before I saw your post. I have no idea why people here like to dismiss her work on RCA/Ross Records.

[jaybs]

Just find Clive a sad old man, his PR machine is pushing the story of soul singer Ocean being bi like him! does he need money so badly!

[marv2]

Not true.

She never had another #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 once she left Motown, but she still managed to hit the Billboard Hot 100 Top 10 at least three times with "Mirror Mirror", "Why Do Fools Fall In Love", "Missing You", and "Muscles". On the Billboard Soul Hot 100, she got to #1 with "Missing You", and, again, at least the Top 10 with the same songs, including "Swept Away", "Eaten Alive", and "Workin' Overtime".

Thank God for my Joel Whitburn chart books! :)

It is true. When folks refer to Ross having had 6 solo number one hits ,that is the ONLY chart they are referring to! The same goes for the Supremes. They only mention that their last Top 40 hit came in 1976. The do not count any "hits" they may have had on other charts like disco/dance charts!

[marv2]

Thank you. sir! I pointed this out before I saw your post. I have no idea why people here like to dismiss her work on RCA/Ross Records.

Because it was garbage and didn't sell.

[marv2]

It sounds very plausible that Gordy sabotaged Flo Ballard's career on ABC, and I also understand he had a hand in hurting Mary Wells after she left Motown, too. It's all about ego.

Jermaine and Michael did have some sort of falling out towards the end of the 80s.

How did Berry Gordy have a hand in hurting Mary Wells after she left Motown. Why would he hurt her?

[soulster]

Because it was garbage and didn't sell.

You are clearly wrong that her music on RCA did not sell! The chart history mentioned above is some proof that a lot of it was popular. It also says you have a short or selective memory. The assertion that it was garbage is nothing but your opinion.



How did Berry Gordy have a hand in hurting Mary Wells after she left Motown. Why would he hurt her?
I said I understood it to be, not that I have any inside details. However, not only did I read something to that effect years ago, but he was reportedly pissed that his brightest star at the time decided to leave the label after he helped her achieve fame.

[mellow_q]

Someone posted this “Clive Davis says Michael destroyed Jermaine’s career” on Facebook a few days ago and I jumped all over it.

Jermaine left the Jackson Five in 75-76. Where was his career between then and the early 1980s when Michael didn’t have enough clout to destroy anyone’s career? You can’t say that Motown ignored him. He was married to the chairman’s daughter. With the exception of “Let’s Get Serious,” most of his Motown solo recordings flat-out sucked.

And let’s get to Jermaine’s Arista career. Clive Davis knows pop music. He does not know R&B music and several R&B artists who came through Arista in the 80s & 90s [[Jeffrey Osborne and Kashif, among them) have personally confirmed this to me on the record. After an uneven career at Motown, Jermaine signed with Arista in 1984 during the second coming of Jackson-mania; resulting from Michael’s Thriller. Clive Davis tried to make a pop star out of Jermaine. Jermaine is not a pop artist. That summer, R&B radio started playing “Tell Me I’m Not Dreaming,” a duet between him and Michael. For whatever political / contractual b.s. between Epic and Arista, the song was not issued as a single. However, everyone knew that it was on Jermaine’s album. If Michael wanted to sabotage Jermaine’s career, why would he agree to appear on the song when he was at the zenith of his career? And why would Michael perform it with him during the Victory Tour; exposing it to countless thousands of people? Clive, only looking at the “pop” picture, pushed “Dynamite,” which was reasonably successful. But, let’s face it; the song sucks. If he or someone else at Arista had their ear on the pulse of urban music, they would have pushed “Come to Me” to the R&B audience. That song was burning up the clubs at the time.
Two years later, Arista pushed Jackson’s “I Think It’s Love,” another song that flat-out sucks. Jermaine continuously put out crappy material [[“Closest Thing to Perfect,” “When the Rain Is About to Fall”) in Arista’s attempts for him to capture the pop audience. This was around 1986. Jermaine was virtually silent until 1989 when I started hearing “Don’t Take It Personal” on the radio. This was written / produced by the guys from Surface [[“Shower Me with Your Love”) and was initially intended for Milli Vanilli. I went to several record stores looking for Jermaine’s new album, but it was not out yet. “Don’t Take It Personal” eventually went to Number One on the R&B charts, but by the time the album dropped, the song had run its course. That’s Arista’s fault; not Michael Jackson’s.
By the time Jermaine hooked up with LA & Babyface in 1991, he was nearly 40 years old. That’s a death sentence for all but a few R&B artists. Even Janet stopped selling big numbers once she approached 40. Nevertheless, from the album Jermaine did with LA-Face, Arista pushed “You Said,” something of a techno-funk/rock song that flat-out sucked. Nobody boycotted Jermaine because of “Word to the Badd.” Also, unlike Michael and Janet, Jermaine could not capitalize on the MTV and BET video revolution because he is not a dancer.

Word on the street was that Jermaine was too lazy to tour in support of any of his albums. This was the case at Motown and also Arista. Michael and Janet inherited their father’s work ethic; Jermaine did not.

And let’s get to Rebbie. She was off to a good start with “Centipede.” If Michael didn’t want her to have any success, why would he have written and produced the song for her? Part of Rebbie’s success was timing; it was issued during the height of the Victory Tour, and also there was the novelty factor of big sister releasing a solo album. The lead single from Rebbie’s next album was “R.E.A.C.T.I.O.N.” which simply was not as good.

Marlon went to # 2 on the R&B charts in the fall of ’87 with “Don’t Go,” which was an okay song, but I think it was a case of Capitol Records being smart enough to piggy-back on all of the hoopla surrounding Michael’s Bad album. I didn’t hear the rest of Marlon’s Baby Tonight album, so I cannot speak to the quality of it. As far as the solo efforts of Jackie and Randy [[& the Gypsies) later in the decade … C’mon, people; the music wasn’t that good, nor did it fit into any kind of format of what was being played on the radio.

Janet lucked up by hooking up with Jam and Lewis. Also, given the relatively newfound video craze, she was smart enough to hook up with Paula Abdul, who taught her how to dance. She shed the weight and the baby sister image, developed a video darling / sexy persona, and the songs were quite strong; definitely worthy of their Number One status. In addition, Janet is a tireless worker, and it paid off.

Michael Jackson didn’t ruin Jermaine’s career at Arista; Clive Davis and Jermaine did. Clive Davis is just trying to sell some books.

Marc T.

[soulster]

Someone posted this “Clive Davis says Michael destroyed Jermaine’s career” on Facebook a few days ago and I jumped all over it.

Jermaine left the Jackson Five in 75-76. Where was his career between then and the early 1980s when Michael didn’t have enough clout to destroy anyone’s career? You can’t say that Motown ignored him. He was married to the chairman’s daughter. With the exception of “Let’s Get Serious,” most of his Motown solo recordings flat-out sucked.

And let’s get to Jermaine’s Arista career. Clive Davis knows pop music. He does not know R&B music and several R&B artists who came through Arista in the 80s & 90s [[Jeffrey Osborne and Kashif, among them) have personally confirmed this to me on the record. After an uneven career at Motown, Jermaine signed with Arista in 1984 during the second coming of Jackson-mania; resulting from Michael’s Thriller. Clive Davis tried to make a pop star out of Jermaine. Jermaine is not a pop artist. That summer, R&B radio started playing “Tell Me I’m Not Dreaming,” a duet between him and Michael. For whatever political / contractual b.s. between Epic and Arista, the song was not issued as a single. However, everyone knew that it was on Jermaine’s album. If Michael wanted to sabotage Jermaine’s career, why would he agree to appear on the song when he was at the zenith of his career? And why would Michael perform it with him during the Victory Tour; exposing it to countless thousands of people? Clive, only looking at the “pop” picture, pushed “Dynamite,” which was reasonably successful. But, let’s face it; the song sucks. If he or someone else at Arista had their ear on the pulse of urban music, they would have pushed “Come to Me” to the R&B audience. That song was burning up the clubs at the time.
Two years later, Arista pushed Jackson’s “I Think It’s Love,” another song that flat-out sucks. Jermaine continuously put out crappy material [[“Closest Thing to Perfect,” “When the Rain Is About to Fall”) in Arista’s attempts for him to capture the pop audience. This was around 1986. Jermaine was virtually silent until 1989 when I started hearing “Don’t Take It Personal” on the radio. This was written / produced by the guys from Surface [[“Shower Me with Your Love”) and was initially intended for Milli Vanilli. I went to several record stores looking for Jermaine’s new album, but it was not out yet. “Don’t Take It Personal” eventually went to Number One on the R&B charts, but by the time the album dropped, the song had run its course. That’s Arista’s fault; not Michael Jackson’s.
By the time Jermaine hooked up with LA & Babyface in 1991, he was nearly 40 years old. That’s a death sentence for all but a few R&B artists. Even Janet stopped selling big numbers once she approached 40. Nevertheless, from the album Jermaine did with LA-Face, Arista pushed “You Said,” something of a techno-funk/rock song that flat-out sucked. Nobody boycotted Jermaine because of “Word to the Badd.” Also, unlike Michael and Janet, Jermaine could not capitalize on the MTV and BET video revolution because he is not a dancer.

Word on the street was that Jermaine was too lazy to tour in support of any of his albums. This was the case at Motown and also Arista. Michael and Janet inherited their father’s work ethic; Jermaine did not.

And let’s get to Rebbie. She was off to a good start with “Centipede.” If Michael didn’t want her to have any success, why would he have written and produced the song for her? Part of Rebbie’s success was timing; it was issued during the height of the Victory Tour, and also there was the novelty factor of big sister releasing a solo album. The lead single from Rebbie’s next album was “R.E.A.C.T.I.O.N.” which simply was not as good.

Marlon went to # 2 on the R&B charts in the fall of ’87 with “Don’t Go,” which was an okay song, but I think it was a case of Capitol Records being smart enough to piggy-back on all of the hoopla surrounding Michael’s Bad album. I didn’t hear the rest of Marlon’s Baby Tonight album, so I cannot speak to the quality of it. As far as the solo efforts of Jackie and Randy [[& the Gypsies) later in the decade … C’mon, people; the music wasn’t that good, nor did it fit into any kind of format of what was being played on the radio.

Janet lucked up by hooking up with Jam and Lewis. Also, given the relatively newfound video craze, she was smart enough to hook up with Paula Abdul, who taught her how to dance. She shed the weight and the baby sister image, developed a video darling / sexy persona, and the songs were quite strong; definitely worthy of their Number One status. In addition, Janet is a tireless worker, and it paid off.

Michael Jackson didn’t ruin Jermaine’s career at Arista; Clive Davis and Jermaine did. Clive Davis is just trying to sell some books.

Marc T.
Hey, Marc, it is only your opinion that Jermaine's music sucked. Many people would tell you different. In fact, he had great success with "I Think It's Love", and the album that spawned it, and his previous album. His success on Arista, even if it was shorter than his time on Motown as a solo artist, had artistic merit. I kind of wonder if you have actually listened to his Motown albums besides one or two.

Jermaine was always a pop artist. Clive Davis never had to do a thing! The Jackson 5/Jacksons have always been pop artists. Michael has always been a pop artist. Jermaine's first solo hit was a pop hit "Daddy's Home" back in 1973. The problem is that for a time, only the R&B crowd bought his music, and that was mainly during the disco era. The only one of the bunch that embraced disco was Michael.

You are, however, correct that Arista did not issue "Tell Me I'm Not Dreaming". The reason is because Walter Yetnikoff blocked it from release. Arista certainly wanted it out, as did Michael.

If Michael wanted to sabotage Jermaine, it likely happened during the time after he did "Bad". It was also around that time we started hearing reports of Michael's drug abuse, wild spending habits, strained family relations, and unhealthy relationships with underage boys, among others. It is very plausible that this happened. If you remember back in that time, Janet was far removed from the Jackson dynasty as anyone, except LaToya, could ever have been.

[no_place_like_motown]

From Soulster:

The only one of the bunch that embraced disco was Michael.
>
Michael wasn't the only one who embraced disco. Jermaine did record some disco songs and I thought they rocked!

Let's Be Young Tonight:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_TiQHk424g

She's The Ideal Girl

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AuuipeRj-Y

Erucu: [[instrumental track pulled from the Mahogany soundtrack and played in N.Y. dance clubs)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hl7yuQX_mBQ

[midnightman]

Just find Clive a sad old man, his PR machine is pushing the story of soul singer Ocean being bi like him! does he need money so badly!

You think he already is a billionaire. I mean, this is the man that nearly sabotaged Phyllis Hyman's career so he's one to talk about someone trying to end someone's career.

[captainjames]

Let me just say this id Jermaine recorded a song "Word To The Badd" then there must have been a riff. Sibling problems in the ranks maybe ??? Who knows what may have caused it but Jermaine has always been a little different too. Didn't Michael write Centipede for Rebe ? I don't see why there would have been any bad blood with her. She was probably going to just be a one hit Jackson because she was always more geared toward family. Latoya I think was Michael favorite sister [[in my opinion) until she left home. However, and I mean this is the kindest way she was just better to look at than hear sing.

[midnightman]

^ Both Latoya and Rebbie weren't really good singers. Martha Wash sung in the final minutes of "Centipede" [[the voice that you hear soulfully wailing in the background). I'm guessing Michael [[or Epic) didn't credit Martha because they wanted to believe Rebbie had a "powerful" voice. Compared to them, Janet was obviously the better of the Jackson sisters as far as singing goes [[especially considering Janet's multi-layered background vocals) and Janet sounded like she put more effort in her singing than they did.

"Word to the Badd" was originally written as a diss to Michael, that can't be disputed. So if anything Michael was trying to save Jermaine from himself when he called Clive, which as far as I can see, is really what Clive was saying, not the stupid interpretation by Roger. We have to also remember, by 1991, except for some R&B fans, no one really cared about Jermaine as much and Jermaine himself didn't really have a plan on how to find his own success because he was obsessed with Michael's.