Michael Jackson Lives: Investigating His Birth Time 1961-1969
Part two of an eleven-part series by Nick Dagan Best
1961
October-December 1961
Michael Jackson was born with natal Mercury retrograde, three days before its direct station. Therefore, his secondary progressed Mercury stationed direct three years after his birth, sometime around late 1961. With Gemini rising, it stationed direct in October 1961, the same month his younger brother Randy was born. With Pisces rising, it stationed direct in December 1961.
1962-1964
Dates and details are sketchy during this period, but from what I can gather, Michael first performed before an audience at his school’s Christmas show in 1963, when he was five years old.
Some sources claim he started singing with his brothers in mid-1964, probably sometime after Saturn’s ingress to Pisces in March.
1965
August 29, 1965
On August 29, 1965, Michael’s seventh birthday, he and his brothers performed at a fashion show held at Big Top department store in Gary, Indiana.
Evelyn Lahaie, the woman who owned the modeling school that was hosting the show, booked the band, but told Joseph Jackson that the name “The Jackson Brothers” sounded too ordinary, and suggested he change it to “The Jackson Five”. It was with this gig that the band first played under their new name.
Transiting Saturn retrograde was conjunct the natal Moon in Pisces, opposite transiting Uranus and Pluto in Virgo. With Gemini rising, this transit spans the 10th and 4th houses. With Pisces rising, it spans the 1st and 7th houses.
Transiting Mercury had just stationed direct conjunct natal Venus in Leo, square transiting Neptune in Scorpio. This transit connects the 3rd and 6th houses using the Gemini Ascendant, and connects the 6th and 9th houses using the Pisces Ascendant.
1966
August 20, 1966
The Jackson family spent some of their summers visiting Joe Jackson’s father, Samuel Jackson, in Winslow, Arizona. During their time there, they occasionally performed local shows.
One such show took place at Winslow’s Elks Lodge on August 20, 1966. Also, sometime during this year (probably earlier), Michael had joined the group to win a talent show contest at Gary’s Roosevelt High School, where his older brothers were students.
Transiting Pluto and Uranus in Virgo were square Michael’s natal Saturn in Sagittarius. With Gemini rising, they are also opposite his natal Moon in Pisces and square his Ascendant. With Pisces rising, they are also square his natal Midheaven in Sagittarius.
Transiting Jupiter and Mars in Cancer were square Michael’s natal North Node and Jupiter in Libra. This transit connects his 2nd and 5th houses using the Gemini Ascendant, and his 5th and 8th houses using the Pisces Ascendant.
The transiting North Node was conjunct Michael’s natal Mars in Taurus. With Gemin rising, this transit is in his 12th house, square the Midheaven in Aquarius. With Pisces rising, it is in his 3rd house.
1967
August 13, 1967
Having toured the “chitlin’ circuit” of strip bars and nightclubs around the mid-west, the Jackson Five legend began to take hold on the east coast when the group won the Amateur Night Showdown at Harlem’s famous Apollo theater on August 13, 1967.
The group impressed Motown artist Gladys Knight so much that she recommended them to label boss Berry Gordy. However, already weary from the complications of handling child star Stevie Wonder, he passed on even hearing them for consideration.
With Pisces rising, the Jupiter-Sun conjunction transit to Venus and the IC in Leo occurred in the 6th house, square natal Mars in the 11th house and and transiting Neptune in Scorpio in the 5th.
Also, transiting Venus retrograde in Virgo in the 7th house is just past opposition to the natal Moon in Pisces in the 1st. The Jackson Five signed a contract with a small record label called Steeltown in October 1967, recording and releasing three singles, released in 1968, that failed to make a splash.
September 1967
Depending on which birth time is accurate, Michael’s secondary progressed Sun in Virgo was opposite his natal Moon in Pisces sometime between 1967 and 1969. With Pisces rising, this progression occurred in September 1967.
1968
July 23, 1968 
While playing alongside Bobby Taylor and the Vancouvers at Chicago’s Regal Theater during the summer of 1968, Taylor arranged for the Jackson Five to audition for Motown executives Suzanne DePasse and Ralph Seltzer, and other company staff.
On July 23, 1968, at around 10 a.m., the band’s audition in Detroit was videotaped and then shown to Berry Gordy two days later, whereupon he immediately decided to sign them to his prestigious label.
Although he and Joe Jackson signed a contract on July 26, the group’s existing contract with Steeltown had to be dealt with before the new one could be considered legal.
Transiting Jupiter was conjunct Michael’s natal Sun in Virgo. With Gemini rising, this transit is in his 4th house. With Pisces rising, it is in his 7th house.
Transiting Saturn, two weeks prior to its retrograde station, was conjunct Michael’s natal South Node in Aries. This transit was in Michael’s 11th house using the Gemini Ascendant, and in his 2nd house using the Pisces Ascendant.
Transiting Neptune retrograde in Scorpio, twelve days prior to its direct station, was opposite Michael’s natal Mars in Taurus, square his natal Mercury retrograde in Leo and his Midheaven in Aquarius. With Gemini rising, this transit is in his 6th house, with Pisces rising, it is in his 9th house.
November 25, 1968
Berry Gordy introduced the group (now slightly re-christened the Jackson 5) to the Motown staff at a party on November 25, 1968, where Michael and his brothers first met the likes of Diana Ross and Smokey Robinson. However, despite having signed a contract the previous July, the band’s status with Motown was up in the air while the company’s legal team negotiated a settlement with Steeltown records.
Transiting Neptune and Mercury in Scorpio were square Michael’s natal Mercury retrograde in Leo. With Gemini rising, this transit connects his 6th and 3rd houses. With Pisces rising, it connects his 9th and 6th houses.
The transiting Moon in Aquarius was square Michael’s natal Mars in Taurus. The Moon was also conjunct his Midheaven in Aquarius using the Gemini Ascendant, square Mars in the 12th. The transit connects the 12th and 3rd houses using the Pisces Ascendant.
Transiting Jupiter and Uranus had both just made their ingress to Libra. With Gemini rising, they are in the 5th house. With Pisces rising, they are in the 8th house.
1969
March 11, 1969
The Jackson Five’s contract with Motown records did not come into effect until March 11, 1969, after negotiations were made to buy out the existing Steeltown contract.
Transiting Mars in Sagittarius, six weeks prior to its retrograde, was square Michael’s natal Sun in Virgo. With Gemini rising, this transit connects his 7th and 4th house. With Pisces rising, it connects his 10th and 7th.
Transiting Saturn and Venus, one week prior to its retrograde station, were conjunct Michael’s natal South Node in Aries. This transit is in Michael’s 11th house using the Gemini Ascendant, and in his 2nd house using the Pisces Ascendant.
August 11, 1969
The Jackson Five (soon to be called “The Jackson 5″) were introduced to the music press by Diana Ross, on behalf of Motown, at a club called the Daisy on North Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills at a special party that began at 6:30 p.m. on August 11, 1969.
It was at this party that ten-year-old Michael, just over two weeks away from his 11th birthday, was instructed to tell interviewers that he was only eight years old. Ever the professional, young Michael understood the importance of publicity in show business, and eager to please, he gladly did as he was told.
Transiting Mars in Sagittarius, now just over a month past its direct station, and just three zodiacal degrees past its position at the time the Motown contract was signed five months earlier, was square transiting Mercury in Virgo, just past Michael’s natal Sun, making a recurrence of his natal square between Mars in Taurus and Mercury retrograde in Leo. With Gemini rising, this transit connects Michael’s 7th and 4th houses. With Pisces rising, it connects his 10th and 7th houses.
Transiting Neptune station direct in Scorpio was square Michael’s natal Mercury retrograde in Leo. This transit is in Michael’s 6th house using the Gemini Ascendant, and in his 9th house using the Pisces Ascendant.
With Gemini rising, the transiting Sun is conjunct Michael’s natal Venus and IC in Leo.
October 1969
Depending on which birth time is accurate, Michael’s secondary progressed Sun in Virgo was opposite his natal Moon in Pisces sometime between 1967 and 1969. With Gemini rising, this progression occurred in October 1969.
October 7, 1969
The Jackson 5’s debut single, I Want You Back, was released on October 7, 1969, and would become the first of four number one hit singles in a row. A lively and deceptively sophisticated pop tune, Michael’s performance was strong and memorable, guaranteed to charm the most reluctant audience.
During the month of October, while his brothers and dad stayed at a variety of Los Angeles motels, Michael stayed alone as a guest in the California home of Diana Ross, where he observed the star up close and began to learn about living in the lap of luxury. Gordy had arranged the setup to expose his new protegee to this way of life and provide him with an education in the life of stardom.
Transiting Venus was conjunct the South Node in Virgo. With Gemini rising, they are in the 4th house opposite the natal Moon in Pisces in the 10th, square the Ascendant and Saturn in Sagittarius in the 7th. With Pisces rising, they are in the 7th, square natal Saturn and the Midheaven in Sagittarius.
Transiting Neptune in Scorpio was square Michael’s natal Mercury retrograde in Leo. This transit connects the 6th and 3rd houses using the Gemini Ascendant, and connects the 9th and 6th houses using the Pisces Ascendant.
Transiting Mercury was stationing direct in late Virgo. With Gemini rising, this is in the 4th house. With Pisces rising, it is in the 7th house.
October 18, 1969
The Jackson 5 got their first national exposure when Diana Ross introduced them on the ABC-TV show Hollywood Palace on October 18, 1969, where they performed exhilarating versions of Sly and the Family Stone’s Sing A Simple Song and The Delfonics’ Can You Remember, before Michael introduced their new debut single, saying, “it’s on sale everywhere!” and they tore into a blistering version of I Want You Back.
With Gemini rising, the transiting North Node was conjunct the natal Moon in Pisces in the 10th house, square natal Saturn in the 7th.
Also, the transiting Sun was conjunct the natal North Node in the 5th. With Pisces rising, the Sun transit to the natal North Node is in the 8th house.
December 14, 1969
The Jackson 5’s debut album, Diana Ross Presents The Jackson 5, was released on December 18, 1969. Four days earlier, the band made a huge splash with their second national television appearance, on the Ed Sullivan Show. Once again, they brought the house down, starting with Stand and Who’s Lovin’ You, and then closing the deal with I Want You Back, Michael charming the country decked out in a funky purple fedora.
Transiting Jupiter was conjunct Michael’s natal Jupiter in Libra. With Gemini rising, this transit is in his 5th house. With Pisces rising, it is in his 8th house. The transiting North Node was conjunct Michael’s natal Moon in Pisces. This transit is in Michael’s 10th house square the Gemini Ascendant, and in his 1st house using the Pisces Ascendant, square transiting Venus in Sagittarius in the 10th.
<< Previous Chapter: Introduction and Synastry
Next Chapter: 1970-1974 >>
Related posts:
- Michael Jackson Lives: Investigating His Birth Time 1975-1979
- Michael Jackson Lives: Investigating His Birth Time 1970-1974
- Michael Jackson Lives: Investigating His Birth Time 1980-1984
- Michael Jackson Lives: Investigating His Birth Time – Introduction and Synastry
- Michael Jackson Dies: A Jupiter-Neptune Life
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[...] « Previous Chapter: 1961 – 1969 [...]
[...] « Previous Chapter: 1961 – 1969 [...]
Michael Jackson Lives: Investigating His Birth Time 1961-1969 » The Celebrity Astrology Blog…
Part two of an eleven-part blog series investigating Michael Jackson’s elusive time of birth. The beginning of a detailed transit chronology, this chapter covers important events in MJ’s life between the years 1961-1969….