The Jackson 5 hit #1 with their first four singles. Michael was 11. Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon, and Michael -- five brothers from a two-bedroom house in Gary, Indiana, raised by a steel-mill father who drove them relentlessly and a mother who gave them their faith. They played strip clubs as children. They played the Apollo and won. Then came Motown.

I Want You Back -- that bassline, that piano, that preternatural kid's voice singing about a love he couldn't possibly have experienced yet -- is three minutes of perfection. Berry Gordy moved his whole operation from Detroit to Los Angeles for them. ABC. The Love You Save. I'll Be There. Four number ones in a row. A feat nobody had accomplished before.

They left Motown for Epic in 1975 -- minus Jermaine, who stayed with the label and married Berry Gordy's daughter -- and became the Jacksons. Michael went solo and became the most famous person on earth. But the Jackson 5 -- those Motown years, those matching outfits, that choreography -- is the sound of the future arriving early.

The Jackson 5 -- five brothers from Gary, Indiana. I Want You Back hit #1 when Michael was 11. First four singles, all number ones.