Jan. 13 in history

20 Years Ago --- Videocassette Firm's Chief A Miracle Worker Chicago Sun Times January 13, 1986 Vestron is the second-largest producer of videocassettes in the country - behind CBS-20th Century Fox, but ahead of the likes of RCA-Columbia Pictures, MGM-United Artists, Warner Communications and Paramount Pictures. ... The most successful of those projects, which analysts and Peisinger agree "put us on the map," has been "Making Michael Jackson's Thriller." The 60-minute film has sold more than 1 million copies. "Making Michael Jackson's Thriller" was a joint venture of Vestron, CBS-Fox and Showtime in which the three companies financed Jackson's highly successful, 14-minute music-video, "Thriller," then produced a film showing how it was made. "Making Michael Jackson's Thriller" accounted for $1.4 million, or almost 12 percent, of Vestron's 1984 revenues... --- 19 Years Ago --- Personal Mention Houston Chronicle January 13, 1987 Michael Jackson (minus sunglasses) joins in a salute to Sophia Loren and Kirk Douglas at a $500-a-place dinner for the American Cinema Awards. It raised $50,000 for the Motion Picture and Television Country Home as well as funding for five scholarships and a traveling museum of movie memorabilia. Robert Wagner, Robert Mitchum and Michael Douglas were co-hosts. --- 18 Years Ago --- Jackson Tour May Come To Houston Houston Chronicle January 13, 1988 Negotiations are under way for singer Michael Jackson to come to Houston during his first national solo tour, which begins next month in Kansas City, Mo., a spokesman for Jackson announced Tuesday. Jackson will perform in Kansas City Feb. 23 and 24, in New York's Madison Square Garden March 3, 5 and 6, and at the Arena in St. Louis March 12 and 13, publicist Lee Solters said. Performance dates in 10 other cities, including Houston, have not been set, Solters said, but negotiations are under way to bring the Jackson tour to Louisville, Ky., Chapel Hill, N.C., Birmingham, Ala., Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Denver, Minneapolis and Pittsburgh. Jackson, who last performed in the United States with his brothers in the 1984 "Victory" tour, performed before an estimated 570,000 fans last fall during a 19-concert tour of Japan and Australia. Solters said 450,000 spectators came from Japan alone, where 14 performances were sold out long before the concerts in September and October. Jackson's current album, "Bad," has sold more than 11 million copies worldwide and is ranked at the top of the charts in 23 countries, including the United States, England, France, Germany and Japan. --- 17 Years Ago --- Jackson's Last Formal Concerts, Ever? Los Angeles Times January 13, 1989 Michael Jackson's five shows, beginning Monday, at the Los Angeles Sports Arena, may be the singer's last formal concert appearances ever. Jackson announced last fall that his current world tour-which concludes with these shows-will be his final one. A publicist for the singer said this week that Jackson stands by the earlier remark. The concerts are make-up dates for shows that were postponed in November after Jackson came down with a throat ailment. Tickets purchased for the November shows will be honored for the upcoming series as follows: Nov. 14 tickets will be good for Monday's show; Nov. 15 for Tuesday; Nov. 20 for Jan. 18; Nov. 21 for Jan. 26; Nov. 22 for Jan 27. The tour, which began last Feb. 23 in Kansas City, has included 109 shows in 15 countries with attendance of more than 3.9 million people, grossing a concert tour record of more than $125 million. --- 16 Years Ago --- Disneyland Fest Austin American Statesman January 13, 1990 The show has an all-star cast in the chorus line - Diahann Carroll, Nell Carter, Lola Falana, Debbie Allen, Dionne Warwick and Ella Fitzgerald - joined by back-up singers Whitney Houston, Frank Sinatra, Anita Baker, Debbie Allen and Shirley MacLaine. Michael Jackson is also on board, singing a number written especially for Davis. Speaking of Michael Jackson, the superstar will be the hero of a home and arcade video game called "Michael Jackson: Moonwalker," based on his movie of the same name and "Smooth Criminal" music video. When touring Japan last summer, Jackson visited the Sega factory, and suggested the company put a game together using his moves and his songs. Players will be able to make the computer-animated singer glide, spin and moonwalk while saving the good children of the world from the evil Mr. Big and his henchman. --- 15 Years Ago --- Memories of 'Hitsville' Echo At Motown Museum Chicago Sun Times January 13, 1991 Today Motown - a sound once described as "chitlins, grits and the ghetto" - is long gone from Detroit. But memories of one of America's most successful black-owned musical enterprises are preserved in the Motown Museum, which occupies the modest house at 2648 W. Grand where it all began. ... Singer Michael Jackson, who started with Motown as one of the Jackson 5 brothers, donated $125,000 to the museum several years ago and has a room dedicated entirely to him. It showcases one of his early Jackson 5 costumes and the black top hat and silver sequined glove he wore while performing "Billie Jean" during the "Motown 25" TV special in 1984. ... The second story, once Gordy's private living quarters, is now a souvenir shop. In addition to Motown T-shirts, pencils, hats, Frisbees, hats and key chains, the shop offers original concert programs from the 1967 Motor Town Review, Gordy's national touring show. An enclosed walkway leads to the red-brick house next door, which was one of eight on West Grand used by Motown in its heyday. Visitors can have their picture taken with their face in the cutout head of a lifesize cardboard figure of Michael Jackson. ... Gordy moved his Motown headquarters to a 10-story building on Woodward Avenue in Detroit in 1968 and four years later to Los Angeles, where he branched out into TV and film production. The movies "Lady Sings the Blues," "Mahogany" and "The Wiz" were among his first productions. He also produced a number of TV specials, including "Diana," "Goin' Back to Indiana" and "Motown 30," and created the Jackson 5 cartoon series. --- 14 Years Ago --- People Column St. Louis Post January 13, 1992 Singer Michael Jackson, proving that music knows no borders, topped the Cuban hit parade for the second consecutive week with his single "Black or White" from the album "Dangerous." Jackson and two other American singers were in the Top 10 in the weekly music poll done by the government-run Radio Progreso. The Cuban news agency, Prensa Latina, carried the results Saturday. --- 12 Years Ago --- Michael Jackson Wins Plagiarism Lawsuit San Francisco Chronicle January 13, 1994 Michael Jackson did not steal his hits "Thriller," "The Girl Is Mine" and "We Are the World" from two other songwriters, a federal jury ruled yesterday. The panel deliberated for just over three hours before returning with its verdict in the copyright infringement trial against Jackson and three others. "I'm just very happy that all my clients' innocence has been reaffirmed by the jury," lawyer Robert Rotstein said. "We always thought that there was absolutely no merit to the suit." Reynaud Jones and Robert Smith, two childhood neighbors of the Jackson family in Gary, Ind., alleged that parts of their songs were pirated for the three Jackson hits, including "We Are the World." Jones claimed that the 1985 African famine relief anthem was based on his 1977 song, "What Will Become of the Children." Jones contended that "We Are the World" co-writer Lionel Richie, "Thriller" songwriter Rod Temperton and record producer Quincy Jones also lifted part of the duo's demo tape, which had been left with the Jackson family. The plaintiffs' attorney, Howard Manning Jr., was in court and could not be reached for comment. --- 11 Years Ago --- Michael Jackson Sues 'Hard Copy' Reporter and Radio Talk Show Los Angeles Times January 13, 1995 Three days after a "Hard Copy" report alleged that Michael Jackson was videotaped in an illicit sexual encounter, the pop star filed a $50-million lawsuit against the tabloid television show's reporter and a radio talk show that aired her assertions. The lawsuit, filed Thursday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, alleges that "Hard Copy" correspondent Diane Dimond slandered Jackson with a false and unsubstantiated report, and compounded the injury by repeating the allegations on KABC-AM radio. The suit also alleges that Dimond falsely reported that authorities had renewed their investigation of child molestation against Jackson. The suit-which also names "Hard Copy" producer Stephen Doran, Paramount Pictures Corp. and KABC talk show hosts Roger Barkley and Ken Minyard-stems from a Jan. 9 episode of "Hard Copy" and an appearance on Barkley and Minyard's show that morning. Jackson's lawyer, Howard Weitzman, said the show was based on British tabloid reports published last weekend and on a claim made by Victor Gutierrez, a self-proclaimed biographer of Jackson who is also named in the suit. But a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney's office said an investigation into Jackson has not been reopened, and Weitzman said "The tape doesn't exist. The conduct never took place." Moreover, he said, he warned the producers of the TV show that if they aired the story, they would be making a false report. "I called and said, look... no tape exists. This is a vicious lie and a rumor," Weitzman said. "They said they were going to air it anyway." After the report was broadcast, Jackson announced he would sue members of the media who "spread vicious lies and rumors about me in their attempts to make money, benefit their careers, sell papers or get viewers to watch their programs." Lawyers for "Hard Copy" and the other defendants could not be reached for comment. But a spokesman for the TV show told the Associated Press that the show's producers stand by the report, and view the suit as an attempt by Jackson's lawyer to discourage "independent ongoing investigations." --- 9 Years Ago --- Jackson Takes Highland Road To Scotland The Vancouver Sun January 13, 1997 Superstar Michael Jackson has been house-hunting in Scotland, a Scottish newspaper reported Sunday. "I love it here. I want to make this my home," the Sunday Mail quoted the pop idol as saying. "The country is beautiful and the people are beautiful." It quoted a member of Jackson's entourage as saying the star looked at least one property: Glenmayne House, near the town of Galashiels midway between Edinburgh and the English border. The mansion, with 6.5 hectares of grounds, is on the market for $1.2 million Cdn. The newspaper said Jackson, wearing a black wide-brimmed hat, red jacket and a scarf covering most of his face, spent Friday visiting Stirling Castle in central Scotland and stopped at a burger restaurant for a meal. A representative for the Cameron House Hotel on the banks of Loch Lomond confirmed Jackson spent Friday night there in a luxury suite. ---