DEON JACKSON

He was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on January 26, 1946. As a boy, he studied the clarinet and drums. In high school, he formed a vocal group called the Five Crystals. They auditioned for the Tamla and Maximillian record labels, but both rejected them. In 1962, however, disc jockey and producer Ollie McLaughlin heard the group at a school concert. McLaughlin’s previous discoveries included Del Shannon (“Runaway”) and Barbara Lewis (“Hello Stranger”), and would soon include the Capitols (“Cool Jerk”). He took an interest in Jackson, but not the rest of the group.

As Jackson told Goldmine magazine’s Bill Dahl, “Ollie could see that while I was the youngest, I was the one most serious about music. The others didn’t always show up and they weren’t contributing. I was the only one writing.” McLaughlin became Jackson’s manager and got him signed with Atlantic Records in 1963. The label put out two singles on Jackson, but neither did anything outside of Michigan.

In 1965, Jackson wrote a song that he considered a throwaway. He said, “I wrote that song when the United States was in a riot, from Detroit to Florida, California to New York City. It happened one very sunshiny morning. My sister was singing in the kitchen and I thought, ‘Jesus, all this stuff going on around me. Ah, the world needs more love. Although all this crap is happening around me, our dear God can make a beautiful day anyway.’ Three or four minutes and the song was done.’”

Despite being unhappy with the results, Jackson made a demo of of “Love Makes the World Go ‘Round” and sent it to Ollie McLaughlin. The demo featured vocal accompaniment by Jackson’s friend and fellow recording artist Edwin Starr, along with Thelma Hopkins and Joyce Vincent—who would later become two-thirds of Tony Orlando & Dawn. It took McLaughlin a year to finally release the song on his Carla label; but when he did, it took off immediately.

Jackson: “All of a sudden, I get this call from Ollie. I had forgotten all about the song. Ollie said ‘You realize you’ve got a hit record.’ I didn’t know what he was talking about. He mentioned the song and I just sat back, shocked.” Jackson also told Goldmine’s Bill Dahl, “I would cringe every time the song came on the radio.”

His follow-up singles, “Love Takes a Long Time Growing” and “Ooh Baby,” were respectable efforts, but Jackson could never duplicate his initial success. In 1969, he was invited to the Command Performance before the King of Portugal; the Ball of the Century. The other performers included Frank Sinatra, the Supremes, King Curtis, the Sweet Inspirations, and Ike & Tina Turner. In 1972, the Shout label released a single on Jackson, but “I’ll Always Love You” went nowhere.

Jackson later left the record business and relocated to New York City, where he spent the early 1970s playing piano in clubs like Nathan’s and Matt Snell’s. He later moved to Chicago, where he played piano and performed covers of songs by the likes of Nat “King” Cole, Johnny Mathis, and Frank Sinatra. Jackson would often get requests to play his old hit. He wasn’t thrilled but did it anyway.

While Deon Jackson was relegated to “one-hit wonder” status, his catalog (including previously unreleased material) became popular on the UK’s Northern Soul scene. In that country, his recordings fill dance floors to this day.

After suffering a brain hemorrhage at home, Deon Jackson, 68, died at the Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights, Illinois, on April 18, 2014.

Charted singles:

“Love Makes the World Go ‘Round” (1966) R&B #3, Pop #11
“Love Takes a Long Time Growing” (1966) Pop #77
“I Can’t Do Without You Baby” (1967) Pop #111
“Ooh Baby” (1967) R&B #28, Pop #65