Tag: 1980’s R&B

Rebbie Jackson Self titled debut Album centipede release date October 1984

Let me see. There’s  Michael, Tito, Randy, Jermaine and Marlon. And little sister Janet Jackson. These family members. All started young with their singing careers. And then there’s Rebbie Jackson Here’s her Bio….

Rebbie began her singing career in 1974, performing with her siblings in Las Vegas. The Vegas shows had initially begun in April, without Rebbie; due to a sprained ankle, Rebbie’s debut was postponed until June. Her five brothers were the main draws, with Rebbie, Randy, Janet, and La Toya serving as fillers for the performances.

When the Jackson 5 parted with their record label Motown in 1976, they signed to CBS Records and rebranded themselves as the Jacksons. Additionally, the brothers were signed to CBS-TV to star with their family in a variety series called The Jacksons. The shows premiered in June 1976 and featured all of the siblings excluding Jermaine, who had chosen to stay with Motown. The initial series run of the 30-minute programs was four weeks. Due to ratings success, more episodes were ordered in January 1977. The shows marked the first time that an African-American family had ever starred in a television series. The run of programs concluded shortly afterward.

Prior to the series, Jackson had thought of her singing as merely a private hobby. Her television experience as well as an early love of musicals motivated her to become a professional recording artist, and the show’s producer encouraged her to sing.

Jackson served as a backing vocalist for several musicians around this time, as well as a cabaret singer. She contributed her voice for songs by artists such as the Emotions, Sonny Bono, and Betty Wright before Jackson’s second pregnancy stalled her musical career for a short time.

Centipede Album 

Following years of preparation, Jackson’s debut album Centipede was distributed in October 1984 by CBS Records, who had signed her as a solo artist two years previously. The album was only released once the singer had ensured that family life was secure and that she had spent time with her children during their important younger years. Centipede became a moderate chart success, reaching number 13 on Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and number 63 on its Top 200. The recording of the album had been a family affair; it involved several contributions from her relatives. Her husband Nathaniel Brown co-wrote the song “Come Alive Saturday Night” with two of his wife’s brothers: Randy and Tito. The latter Jackson also penned “Hey Boy” with his wife Dee Dee. The most successful song from the album was the million-selling title track, “Centipede”.Written, arranged, and produced by Michael, the song also featured Jackson’s famous brother and the Weather Girls on backing vocals.[14] It reached number 4 on the Black Singles Chart and was subsequently certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. “Centipede” marked Michael’s first effort at writing and producing since the release of his successful Thriller (1982).

Other tracks from Rebbie’s album included cover versions of songs by Prince (“I Feel for You”) and Smokey Robinson and the Miracles (“A Fork in the Road”). The album received mixed reviews from journalists and music critics.According to the magazine Jet, Centipede marked Jackson’s emergence as a “legitimate recording artist” and “cleared the major hurdle of demonstrating that she [was] talented and marketable”. With the album, Jackson became the last of her siblings to embark on a recording career and the last in line to release hit material.

Rebbie later revealed that there was a lot of discussion at the time of the release of Centipede over whether she should use the Jackson surname professionally or not. To begin with, Rebbie did not want to use her pre-marriage surname, but later reasoned that it was silly to deny her heritage. Jackson explained that she did, however, compromise with the use of her family name on the Centipede album cover – “Rebbie is large and Jackson is small”.[14] She further stated that the success of siblings Michael and Janet had not been a hindrance to her, but served as an enhancement to her career. Rebbie added that she did not have to worry about “name recognition”.

Well that’s it for this TBT. Next week we gonna go way back to 1980. To hear some George Benson!! ??????????????