| When Tito and Jermaine Jackson played those | | | | definitely stood out--tall and lanky, square-shouldered |
| trademark opening guitar riffs and little Michael Jackson | | | | and light-skinned with a huge Afro--he alternated |
| wailed: | | | | between playing the saxophone and singing the lead in |
| "Ooooh, yeahh, lemme tell you now...,"the opening lyrics | | | | a strong, edgy country and rhythm-and-blues |
| of their hit Motown song, "I Want You Back", my | | | | influenced tenor. |
| 13-year old next door neighbor, Traci and I, thought | | | | Though he seemed personable, all I remember is that |
| we'd lost our teenaged minds. It was 1971 at a huge | | | | in between their songs, Lionel was doing a heck of a |
| concert at Veteran's Memorial in Columbus, Ohio. | | | | lot of talking. Traci and I squirmed in our seats and |
| With backup from his handsome brothers, eerily | | | | after awhile all I heard was blah, blah,blah. Nice looking, |
| old-soul, 12-year old Michael Jackson crooned | | | | good music, but let's move on. |
| bubble-gum love songs, as if his heart had already | | | | "We want The Jackson Five!!" screamed one rude |
| been broken a thousand times. Traci and I spent the | | | | and impatient young girl. |
| rest of the entire concert, standing on our seats, | | | | "This won't be the last of The Commodores!" I heard |
| screaming like maniacs. | | | | Lionel call out after their last song. |
| I remember the warm-up group, too, though they were | | | | "Get off the stage!!" shouted a boisterous young man, |
| definitely grown men. I could never forget their name | | | | fist pumping the air. |
| because in stage patter, in between songs, Lionel | | | | "We love you, Columbus!" yelled a positively |
| Richie must have mentioned: | | | | unshakeable Lionel. |
| "We're The Commodores!" 25 times. He seemed | | | | "WE WANT MICHAEL JACKSON!!!" was the |
| anxious to leave an impression. | | | | explosive piercing cry of my friend Traci, who to my |
| They were good, played a lot of familiar tunes that | | | | astonishment, had scrambled to stand on her seat, |
| weren't their own, had yet to write original stuff that | | | | absolutely shrill. |
| became hits. This was pre-"Miss Brick House" and | | | | "Coming right up is The Jackson Five. You've been a |
| "Easy" and "Sail On" and way before everything that | | | | great audience--and WE"RE THE COMMODORES!!" |
| made Lionel Richie and The Commodores | | | | Lionel got in his final plug. |
| outrageously famous in the years to come. | | | | I remember laughing, he was so unflappable. And then |
| But back then they did a lot of what sounded like | | | | they were gone, and frankly I thought that was the last |
| danceable generic funk. I remember thinking, "Great | | | | I would ever see of them. |
| group", but I had never seen them before. Yet Lionel | | | | |