MTV Buzzworthy Blog › Jackson 5

It's easy to forget, after all these years of hysteria and unparalleled strangeness, how a guy as odd and troubled as Michael Jackson got to be one of the world's biggest celebrities.

Believe it or not, it wasn't just by virtue of being strange. It wasn't by writing Thriller either, or for the way the floor lights up when he dances, although both certainly helped (just ask Justin Timberlake).

What first established Michael Jackson as a full-blown phenomenon was the fact that, at the age of 11, homeboy could match pipes with Aretha Franklin. Lil Michael Jackson could sing a whole gospel choir under the table. Back then, when they called him a freak of nature, it was a major compliment, which is really hard to imagine today.

Well, you don't have to imagine. The good folks who guard the MTV Archive have squeezed off another dose of vintage brilliance, this time in the form of The Jackson 5. The video below obviously came long after the 1969 song, "Who's Lovin' You," which was the B-side to first Jackson jam, "I Want You Back." But, updated as it may be, the video is still your front row ticket to see a star being born.

Tags Jackson 5, Justin Timberlake, Michael Jackson, vintage-video

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Tags Beyonce, Christina Aguilera, David Hasselhoff, Jackson 5, Jessica Simpson, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Led Zeppelin, Lil Wayne, Michael Jackson, Michael Phelps