Jackson Five Surprise! 273 New Tracks Discovered

staxwaxstaxwax 1,474 Posts
edited June 2010 in Strut Central


Howard Mann, the Toronto entrepreneur who bought a warehouse full of Jackson family paraphernalia, has a surprise for Michael Jackson fans and the singer???s estate.

He has the masters to 273 unreleased Jackson tracks. Some are Michael alone, some are duets with superstars like Tina Turner, and some are with the Jackson family.

A good chunk of them come from the 1975 CBS variety series featuring the whole family.

According to Mann, who seems to know his stuff, the Jacksons were between the end of their Motown contract that summer and the beginning of one with Epic Records.

???The recordings belonged to the Jacksons. I bought them with the contents of the warehouse,??? Mann says.

Mann feels the recordings therefore do not belong to the Jackson estate, and he can release them any way he sees fit.

Meanwhile, Mann has gone into business???he tells me???with Katherine Jackson only, and not with Joseph Jackson. ???My arrangements have nothing at all to do with Joe Jackson,??? he says.

Mann also says he did not pay Katherine Jackson an advance for her book, ???Never Can Say Goodbye.??? Rather, they are business partners. It does seem that Mann has become The Man in the Jacksons??? life. But he also maintains his largesse is not responsible for the Jackson brothers reportedly all driving new cars.

???You???ll have to look elsewhere for that answer.??? he says.

200+ tracks done in one summer? Will this stuff be any good? Or is there a reason it was left to rot for that long?
Can't imagine Mann will be able to release this without legal entanglements.

  Comments


  • CosmoCosmo 9,768 Posts
    staxwax said:
    Will this stuff NOT be any good?

  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
    I would not mind getting remasteered /cleaned up versions of all the music from the TV show.

    Please take out the fake screaming audience pleez!!

    '75 era J5 is my shit..... Moving Violation outtakes?????

  • DocMcCoyDocMcCoy "Go and laugh in your own country!" 5,917 Posts
    According to the ever-reliable Wikipedia, the show was produced by the Carefree Video Company and Jackson Television Productions, so it looks as if the rights are Mann's. If he and Katherine Jackson have a shred of sense between them, they'll license that shit to someone who can do a proper job on it. It'd be a fascinating thing to have out there.

  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
    DocMcCoy said:
    According to the ever-reliable Wikipedia, the show was produced by the Carefree Video Company and Jackson Television Productions, so it looks as if the rights are Mann's. If he and Katherine Jackson have a shred of sense between them, they'll license that shit to someone who can do a proper job on it. It'd be a fascinating thing to have out there.

    I agree.



    if the vocals were live then the annoying crowd noise will be there. If its live i dont want it tampered w/.

    I cant tell if the studio audience has an added tv studio audience track.

  • spelunkspelunk 3,400 Posts
    there are going to be :tensemoments: between a LOT of legal teams before these ever see the light of day. Especially if dude thinks he can re-release stuff just on the strength of owning a physical tape, or even the rights to the TV show.

  • OkemOkem 4,617 Posts
    Are these likely to be actual new tracks? Or made up mainly of live performances / alt takes of previously released work?

  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
    Okem said:
    Are these likely to be actual new tracks tracks? Or made up mainly of live performances / alt takes of previously released work?

    i bet all of the above.

    The last UNREALEASED album was alternatives and unreleased.

  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
    Okem said:
    Are these likely to be actual new tracks tracks? Or made up mainly of live performances / alt takes of previously released work?

    i bet all of the above.

    The last UNREALEASED album was alternatives and unreleased.

  • willie_fugalwillie_fugal 1,862 Posts
    even if it's just b-grade Jackson 5, that'll probably still be better than 1/2 the reissues that come out this year...

  • DocMcCoyDocMcCoy "Go and laugh in your own country!" 5,917 Posts
    spelunk said:
    there are going to be :tensemoments: between a LOT of legal teams before these ever see the light of day. Especially if dude thinks he can re-release stuff just on the strength of owning a physical tape, or even the rights to the TV show.

    Yeah, I imagine there'll be one or two legal challenges to his ownership claims. However, if Wikipedia is to be trusted (ha!), and the show was a co-production between Carefree and JTC, then it's very possible that the rights reside with one or both of those companies. On the other hand, it's unlikely that any deal CBS had with the producers would have been limited to broadcast rights alone, so it'll depend on what those rights were, and whether or not they involved any ownership. Given the interest in all things Michael, one assumes CBS would have put the shows out on video or DVD before now, so perhaps they don't own them after all.
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