John McCain Linked To Jackson Five

by Steve Young

Details are now coming out revealing a close relationship between Senator John McCain and four performing Jackson brothers who together with McCain, were known as the Jackson Five in the early 70’s.

The bombshell news offers a rare glimpse of a younger, hipper McCain, much different than the cantankerous, 72-year-old whose favorite song is “Dancing Queen.”

McCain spokesman, Tucker Bounds, denies any real relationship between McCain and the Jacksons.

“John McCain was only 38-years-old when the Jacksons were really hot,” said Bounds, “While they did sing in the same musical circles and wore similar hair styles that were hip at the time, voters have to remember that John McCain voted against creating a holiday to honor Martin Luther King Jr. If I’m not mistaken, both King and the Jackson’s were black.”

Despite Bounds denials, the record offers a different perspective of McCain’s earlier life.

After returning from his prisoner of war imprisonment in Hanoi, Johnnie looked outside his home and wife for personal gratification.

Known to enjoy singing high-pitched Abba tunes to annoy his Viet Cong captors, Johnnie, looked to exploit his musical talent. After trying to make it with such groups as the Four Aces, Four Preps and the Four Freshman, he attempted to kick off his singing career by visiting the home of Joe Jackson, a former Jehovah Witness whose children wore the same Afro-hairdo that Black Panthers and other 60’s radicals like Angela Davis, Eldridge Cleaver, and Clarence Williams III favored.

The elder Jackson was looking to replace his son Jackie, who had tired of his father’s demand that the boys wear the “fro.”

Johnnie found an undeniable attraction to Joe’s four other troubadour sons, Marlon, Tito, Michael and Jermaine. They quickly bonded and began performing under the moniker of The Jackson 5.

At the time, McCain said, “The other groups I tried to make it with had 20% less members than what I needed to be comfortable.

“If I had to wear the fro to sing in a quintet, I had no problem with it. We were young. When you’re young, you do things that today you might not be that proud of. Am I sorry? I’m just sorry that I wasn’t able to pick my do higher than I did.”

The group’s smash success together with Johnnie’s quick wit, charm and anger, made the Jackson 5 groupies’ number one Motown target. Drinking like a drunken aviator sailor and spending his cash on fast cars and faster women, Johnnie was soon deep in debt.

While partying one night with the Supremes, Marvelettes and a couple of Pips, Johnnie found his savings account at Lincoln Savings and Loan Association, overdrawn. He covertly transferred the savings of Marlon, Tito, Michael and Jermaine into his own account to cover the tab. By the end of the night, he had spent far more that he had.

To save them from bankruptcy Johnnie talked the other Jacksons into intervening on behalf of Charles H. Keating, Jr., chairman of the Lincoln Savings and Loan Association, which was the target of a regulatory investigation by the Federal Home Loan Bank Board (FHLBB). The FHLBB subsequently backed off taking action against Lincoln.

Lincoln Savings and Loan collapsed at a cost of $2 billion to the federal government. Some 23,000 Lincoln bondholders were defrauded and many elderly investors lost their life savings.

The substantial contributions that Keating had made to each of the Jacksons, totaling $1.3 million, attracted considerable public and media attention.

After a lengthy investigation, the Motown Ethics Committee determined in 1991 that Marlon, Tito, Michael and Jermaine had substantially and improperly interfered with the FHLBB in its investigation of Lincoln Savings, with Tito receiving a formal reprimand. Johnnie and Jermaine were cleared of having acted improperly but were criticized for having exercised “poor judgment.”

Royally pissed with Johnnie, the Jacksons disbanded, all going on to solo careers and child sexual abuse legal entanglements.

Johnnie would change his name back to John and go on to become the Republican nominee for president in 2008.

The Obama campaign said the Jackson relationship happened a long time ago, and really doesn’t pertain to this year’s election.

“But if John wants to bring up the Ayers thing,” said Obama spokesman, David Wade, “We’re ready."

Award-winning TV writer, Steve Young, is author of "Great Failures of the Extremely Successful" (www.greatfailure.com) and blogs at the appropriately named steveyoungonpolitics.com