What did it take to convince The Jacksons to boogie their way to Dubai on New Year’s Eve? You can blame it on the sunshine.
The Motown greats are set to perform at the Dubai Media City Amphitheatre on Wednesday as part of the disco-extravaganza Masterjam – also on the bill are Chaka Khan, Gloria Gaynor and Nile Rodgers with Chic.
Jackie Jackson, the group’s oldest member at 63, says the chance to spend the day away from the freezing cold temperatures of America was a huge attraction for the group.
“I always loved coming to this part of the world,” he says. “Also, the chance to just come and enjoy New Year with some sunny weather is a great opportunity. I am sure we are going to have a great time.”
His brother Tito, 61, is more bullish about The Jacksons’s New Year’s Eve performance.
“We are a great party band,” he says. “We got some great songs and when we play, we know that the people are going to dance.”
There is no argument that when it comes to The Jackson's influential place in the pop music pantheon. Spanning four decades, the group – which featured The King of Pop Michael until 1984 – has sold more than 50 million albums, with hits such as I Want You Back and ABC becoming staples of concerts, school discos and karaoke bars.
Tito puts the songs’ enduring popularity down to the fact that the group was never interested in chasing trends.
“We are all about writing the best songs that we can,” he says. “We just worked hard in crafting these good songs. We wanted to create something great, something that people could recognise later and adore. That, I think, has been the key to our longevity.”
Jackie senses a welcome return to “content rather than style” from today’s crop of young artists.
“I can hear it in songs by Bruno Mars and even the new songs by Nick Jonas,” he says. “The good music is coming back again and that is very encouraging.”
That said, Tito says he is relieved the group began in the less tech-savvy era of the 1960s, admitting that it’s tougher to sustain a career in pop music today.
“There is a thing called social media today,” he says, dryly. “It is very cut-throat at the moment and it feels that everyone has a movie camera on their phone. Anything you do, it is put out there and we just didn’t have that in the day.”
The Jacksons are not planning to rest on their laurels and have no intention of being only a nostalgia act. Jackie says big plans are afoot for 2015, including a new album.
“We have been working on it between these tours,” he says. “Although we are playing with some hip-hop sounds, we are not shying away from our own sound, because that is what people want to hear – and we also love that.”
• Masterjam is on Wednesday at the Dubai Media City Amphitheatre. Doors open at 6pm. Tickets, from Dh295, are available at www.masterjam.ae
