It could be argued that everyone has a black sheep in the family.
If you don't think yours does, then it's probably you.
And this is still the case,
even if you are the most famous family dynasty in the world of popular music.
For a time period at least,
if one name was uttered to any member of the Jackson family, the words what now?
Would evidently follow.
That name being La Toya.
The middle sister got herself branded a troublemaker by the Jackson clan,
making what seemed like every attempt to tarnish her family's wholesome public
image and damage her other siblings skyrocketing music careers.
However, this wasn't a natural title for La Toya.
Characterized as quiet,
polite and obedient, La Toya grew up always being the one others could trust.
Michael's own family were not privy
to many of his inner private thoughts and feelings, although there was always
someone he felt able to turn to when he needed it the most.
For a time, La Toya was arguably not just
as close as sibling, but also the megastar's most treasured confidante.
However, outside of the Jackson bubble,
La Toya would find it hard to carve her own identity and place
within the entertainment landscape. Constant comparisons,
lackluster chart positions and ballooning tabloid controversies,
this is the story of the Jackson's wayward child. Her turbulent relationship with his
superstar brother Michael, as well as her extensive showbiz family.
In this multipart documentary series,
we'll explore La Toya's attempts to break away from her family's control, to echo her
brother's success and gain her own independence.
A journey several decades in the making, taking her down many regretful,
often bizarre and misguided paths in the process.
Here's the detail.
The middle child.
Born in 1956 on 2300 Jackson Street in Gary, Indiana, La Toya enjoyed something
akin to a normal childhood for the first part of her life.
Growing up, La Toya would receive frequent
comparisons to her mother Katherine, with whom she always felt a close bond
with. Sharing many qualities with the Jackson matriarch,
including her gentle manner, love for home life and commitment to her faith.
However, that bond wasn't as strong with her father Joseph,
with the Jackson patriarch taking a similarly destructive approach towards
his daughters as has been well-documented with his sons. La Toya recounting
at the tender age of six, she presented Joseph with her first grade report card.
A straight A student and a keen studier,
she was expecting some rare praise from her father.
However, what she received was the opposite.
Despite strong grades,
her teacher commented, quote she rarely speaks up in class,
and so I feel it might be best to hold her back a grade.
Upon reading this, Joseph smacked his daughter with an open
palm before reaching for his belt and switch, striking his daughter
repeatedly, quote you will never shame me like this again!
Never!
He reportedly bellowed.
Leaving a battered and bruised La Toya, vowing that she would not give any cause
or reason for Joseph to treat her like that again.
Part of an everincreasing family,
Michael would follow two years after
La Toya, and even in his youngest days, La Toya would cite her little brother as
a natural leader that other children were drawn to.
Quote the neighborhood kids congregated around our tiny front porch waiting
for Michael to emerge and declare which game they would all play that day.
In his own little world, he was already famous.
Once Michael and his four eldest brothers had signed to Motown as the Jackson Five,
life for the family would never be the same again.
Skyrocketing to superstardom with four
number one singles and three top five albums
within their first year. Each member of the ensemble became
household names, accompanied by a legion of crazed young fans.
Due to the brother's unprecedented
success, the whole family were thrown into the spotlight.
After moving to California, she would keep quiet about her famous
siblings despite Michael and Marlon attending the very same school.
After suffering relentless taunts
from classmates after they discovered she was one of those Jacksons,
combined with the ever rising popularity
of the Jackson Five, a decision was made to transfer the middle
sister to a private institution to continue her schooling.
With increased attention on her brothers and their family as a whole,
much like brother Michael, La Toya found herself becoming increasingly
withdrawn as she progressed through her teenage years.
A factor into La Toya's shy and withdrawn
personality could have been born out of fear.
She often debated whether to invite classmates to her home after school,
but would constantly think quote what if Joseph comes home while we're there?
What if he starts yelling and screaming?
What if he hits one of us?
What will they think of me?
But just like in Gary,
she had her siblings for company, even though in her eyes they were just
a bunch of pesky teenagers rather than the untouchable megastars that many saw
the Jackson Five.
While she was proud of her brothers' many accomplishments,
La Toya's own life aspirations were quite the opposite of theirs
in the fast lane. Preferring a quieter home-centered
existence, quote I didn't want any part of the music business at that time.
I didn't like it.
I didn't like what they were doing.
I didn't like seeing them rehearse every
single day and going out on the road and staying half a year.
I didn't like that. I missed them.
However, as La Toya began to develop her own ambitions away from the family
business, she would soon realize that her father had other ideas.
La Toya Live.
By 1972, the initial wave of Jackson mania was on the decline.
The group's singles and albums were slipping further down the charts
and tensions were mounting between the Jackson clan and their record label.
In order to build upon the group's success as a live act,
Joseph decided that the Jackson Five brothers together with other siblings,
Randy, La Toya and their youngest Janet, would form an all-around family act,
with plans to perform on the Las Vegas Strip for considerable profit.
La Toya, now 16, wasn't particularly interested
in the world of showbiz, but as she later admitted,
quote I was scared to death of Joseph when he told me I would be singing and dancing.
I knew from his stern tone of voice that I had no choice.
However, not long into the engagement, La Toya would come to enjoy performing
alongside her brothers and sisters. Particularly with Michael, who
already close as teenagers, would perform a tap dancing routine together.
Throughout this time, La Toya would remain close to her brother,
with the pair often being dubbed as 'the twins' by various family members.
Such was their bond that La Toya noticed a profound change in her brother's self
esteem when he was stricken with severe acne.
Once the most social and effervescent of my brothers, he was now painfully shy,
something I don't think he'll ever overcome.
After eventually breaking away from Motown
in 1975, Joseph signed the group to CBS Records.
One avenue, it was believed, could help the brothers,
now renamed simply the Jacksons, regain their former popularity was
to develop a variety act with all the family, but this time for television.
However, after graduating in 1974, La Toya was looking forward to a radically
different career path to that of show business.
With aspirations to become an attorney specializing in business law,
she attended college for a short time before her father insisted that LaToya
pursue a career in entertainment like the rest of the family.
Performing to an audience in Vegas is one thing, but now, for the first time,
La Toya would be exposed to an audience of millions.
Broadcast throughout 1976 and 1977,
La Toya showcased her talents in singing, dancing and performing skits with her
various siblings, making history as part of what was the first variety show on US
television to completely star
an African American family. Acclaimed by reviewers and audiences alike,
its success gave La Toya a taste of what real fame felt like and wouldn't be her
last brush with the world of entertainment and its spotlight.
New York City Girl.
In the summer of 1977,
La Toya and Michael took off for the bright lights of New York City after Michael had
been cast as the Scarecrow in Motown's production of the Broadway hit 'The Wiz'.
Excited to star in his first feature film,
Michael and La Toya, aged 19 and 21, would immerse themselves in the New York
scene. The first time living away from home unaccompanied by their parents,
when not at the film set, the pair would enjoy exploring the city as
well as going out to the most popular night spot of the era, Studio 54.
There they would encounter the famous and elite, including Andy Warhol,
Bianca Jagger and Liza Minelli, to name just a few.
But it was perhaps the culture of these
clubs that shocked the Jackson siblings the most.
As sheltered and devout Jehovah's Witnesses,
Michael and La Toya stayed away from alcohol, and the idea of doing any
kind of drugs was simply out of the question.
Quote It's hard to believe, but we didn't even
know what cocaine was, what it looked like or how you used it.
But we both sensed something was wrong and it made us uncomfortable.
Aside from experiencing some of the darker aspects of the disco scene,
La Toya and Michael would both cite this as a happy and enlightening adventure.
How their temporary independence away from their parents would not only give
them a new degree of freedom, but also strengthen the connection they held.
Quote we were always best friends and when
we lived together, it just made the bond so much closer,
La Toya reminisced.
Feelin' the Funk.
With the Jacksons now at CBS and gaining
more creative control with each album, the brothers also grew more distant
from their father and his oppressive influence on their careers.
Joe over the years had gained quite a reputation within the music business,
somewhat difficult at best and beyond unworkable at his worst.
Sensing that the influence he had over his
sons was slipping, Joseph turned his attention towards his three daughters.
Based on the relative success of their Vegas act and the CBS TV show,
the Jackson patriarch hoped to form a trio of the three sisters. Aiming to perhaps
recapture some of the magic the Jackson Five had when they first hit the scene.
However, the project soon folded
with the trio never performing live and no music ever being recorded.
Joseph instead decided to fix his
attention firmly on his middle daughter La Toya prompting her to seek out,
much like Michael, her own success as a solo artist,
but under her father's management of course.
La Toya started recording and after much pressure, Michael himself would become
involved, co-writing and producing songs for the LP.
However, right before the album's release,
La Toya took immense issue with the lead single 'If You Feel the Funk'.
As a devout Jehovah's witness, the lyrical content of the song caused her
to worry that she was committing a sin. Pleading with her father,
quote I just don't feel comfortable seeing things like that.
I can't do it.
However, despite her pleas,
'If You Feel the Funk' was released as the records lead single.
The dance track just missed
the Billboard Hot 100 peaking at number 101. But it was a considerable hit over
on the dance charts, reaching number 17 on the disco top 100.
The second single would be a Michael produced track, 'Night Time Lover',
for which he also featured on the backing vocals.
La Toya felt much more enthusiastic
for this single, admiring the way in which her brother worked in the studio.
However, the single failed to chart
on the Billboard Hot 100 and when her accompanying album was eventually
released, it peaked at a dismal number 116.
The rising star also expressed
dissatisfaction with the record being self titled, La Toya Jackson, as she repeatedly
requested to drop the Jackson name so to help prove she could stand out on her
own without the backing and clout of her famous family name.
The following year, La Toya would release her sophomore effort,
My Special Love, with its lead single, a cover of Billy Ocean's 'Stay the Night',
failing to set the charts on fire. La Toya expressed even more frustrations
with the project than her debut, quote because it was another of Joseph's
projects I had no control and wasn't satisfied with.
I vowed I wouldn't let that happen again.
Having yet to achieve a successful pop
career, La Toya was still able to support her brothers, particularly Michael,
who by 1982 was gearing up to release what was to become the most successful and most
groundbreaking of records, 'Thriller'. Sister
La Toya made several contributions to its
creation, including backing vocals on 'PYT', as well as being the inspiration
for the album's opener 'Wanna to Be Startin' Somethin'',
after La toya's constant run ins with her
various sisters in laws. All of whom supposedly took issue with her
husbands, comparing them to the Jackson sisters, but particularly with La Toya.
After the release of Thriller,
Michael's celebrity saw an unprecedented explosion, soon becoming recognized as
the most popular and soughtafter artist in the world.
Ever supportive and attracted
to the glamor of such show business events, La Toya would accompany Michael
to various award ceremonies for which he would often be one of the big recipients.
This included his record shattering night at the Grammy Awards in 1984.
Upon his 7th award win, Michael chose to share the spotlight,
inviting La Toya and his other two sisters, Rebbie and Janet, to join him on stage.
She held him in a strong embrace
with an unprecedented audience of 50 million viewers watching.
Perhaps the electric appeal Michael
embodied at this time would rub off on her, signalling the breakthrough success
La Toya was seeking upon the release of her next record.
Michael Jackson's Sister.
Not long after the Thriller star's historic night at the Grammys,
La Toya would release her first musical output in over three years with the single
'Heart Don't Lie'. Now under Private I Records,
a subsidiary of Epic, this was to be La Toya's most ambitious project yet.
The title track would be the first song
in which the Jackson star would shoot an accompanying music video.
Thanks to airplay on MTV, alongside several promotional appearances on TV and radio,
'Heart Don't Lie' would become La Toya's most heavily marketed and, as a result,
most successful single to date, peaking at number 56 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Throughout the promotion for her new album and its lead single, La Toya was constantly
introduced or publicly referred to as Michael Jackson's sister,
with her megastar younger brother often being the focus in any press interview.
Nevertheless, her links to Michael and the famous Jackson name had its benefits,
by attracting much needed media attention to her fledgling music career.
It was clear that the Jackson name had an incredible draw around the world.
When asked about interrupting its
continuous music format just so that they could get a live interview with La Toya,
the manager of the radio station, Hot Hits 106 stated, quote when a Jackson comes
through town, we'll stop everything to talk to them.
Throughout the era of Michael mania,
La Toya would make cameo appearances in various projects.
One was in the video for her brother's
musical collaboration with ex Beatle, Paul McCartney, 'Say Say Say'.
The following year she would pop up in the music video for 'LA Is My Lady',
the lead single from Frank Sinatra's latest LP with Quincy Jones.
Also similarly to Michael, La Toya began to put her name on different
products in order to build her profile and profit from her slow rising popularity.
She starred in several print and TV
commercials for Nikon in Japan, and also became a spokesmodel for cosmetics firm
Mahogany Image, with their own fragrance simply titled La Toya.
Another Avenue was a fashion line, David Laurenz for La Toya.
Amongst the apparel in the collection was the leather headbands the star had become
recognized for in interviews, performances and music videos.
A unique style was something La Toya
recognized as being crucial to achieving success as a modern pop star.
Acknowledging her brother's success
in the field. Quote, Michael has done something I'd like to do.
He has created a style, a look for himself and a lot of people are
patterning themselves after him and I have to create that too.
Although La Toya was successful in marketing her music career,
managing to get herself on radio airwaves as much as possible, reviews of her latest
output as well as her live performances were far less complimentary.
The Courier News claiming that,
quote La Toya is obviously not the most talented Jackson.
Aside from a couple of tracks, this album is not recommended.
A review of her live show by Brett Milano
of the Globe was even more scathing. Claiming that La Toya quote, tarnished
the family name with a three song, 15 minutes show, for which her most
successful single, 'Heart Don't Lie', wasn't even part of its limited set list.
Despite these criticisms, La Toya was hopeful of getting another
chance to prove herself as a live solo act, as the Jackson sister was originally
lined up alongside Janet to perform as openers for her brother's Victory tour.
However, this idea was quickly shut down
by Michael, who claimed, quote I don't want this to turn
into an Osmond's thing. Referring to the family style showcases
both family dynasties would previously perform in Las Vegas.
Joseph tried to get Michael to compromise, suggesting maybe some of La Toya's tracks
could at least be played during the intermission.
But Michael, alongside his other brothers, refused.
Much like Michael before her, La Toya was becoming increasingly desperate
to break away from the authority and lacking management of her father.
Nearing her thirties and perpetually frustrated, La Toya's anxieties grew.
Noting that at this point she had made repeated attempts to move out
of the Jackson Encino home, only to be stopped by her parents.
Her avid pursuit for a career in the spotlight required the sister
to dance a delicate balance between leveraging her Jackson name so
to springboard an independent stardom of her own.
But this pursuit that continuously failed to launch. With their star attraction,
Michael, becoming increasingly distant from the rest of the family,
and sister Janet soon preaching her need for control, drastic action was needed.
Action that would come in the form of businessman, turned entertainment
manager, turned convicted criminal, Jack Gordon.
What he had on offer La Toya
was more than willing to pay.
But at what cost?
She'd only find out once it was too late.
Join us for part two as we explore
La Toya's public reinvention under the management of Jack Gordon.
Just how far was she willing to go to break away from the Jackson family
image and how it ultimately almost broke her and them in the process?
Thanks for watching the detail. We'll see you next time.