The buzz going around Motown after the Jackson 5 auditioned for Berry Gordy on July 23, 1968, was deafening.

Here was a seemingly rag-tag group of siblings — the oldest being Jackie at age 17 — from Gary, Ind., with a strict tyrant of a father and a devout Jehovah’s Witness of a mother, that danced up a storm and sang like angels. And they did it so professionally that they were about to outshine many of Motown’s biggest adult stars.
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