Before Michael Jackson, before Justin Bieber, there was Frankie Lymon.  Well, Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers to be exact.  Frankie is the original rock and roll prodigy, a 13 year old backup singer from Harlem who by a stroke of fate stepped in to sing lead for his vocal group the Teenagers when original lead vocalist Herman Santiago caught the flu on their crucial audition day.  Even when Herman got better, it was no contest, Frankie was the goods, blessed with the voice of a rock and roll angel, annihilating audiences with his golden pipes.  When Frankie and the Teenagers became a smash, they hit the road hard.  Frankie was dating 25 year old women, smoking cigars, drinking booze, and using heroin.  He ended up marrying 3 women, without divorcing any of them, losing his front teeth, joining the army (well he was sentenced to join by a judge) and then quickly dropping dead in a NYC bathroom at the age of 26.  Frankie burned out quickly, but his voice and songs live on.  “Why Do Fools Fall in Love,” and “Little Bitty Pretty One,” are testaments to inhuman voice, a voice he lost quickly when puberty hit.  I guess he was basically one of the early prototypes for childhood stars who got success too quickly, and turned to drugs in an effort to destroy their lives.  It’s hard to imagine a time when the songs below rocked hard, but at one point they did, so give em a play and let Frankie’s voice soar one more time.

We’re the Pepsi Generation in part 79 of my youtube countdown.  I’ve got Michael, Marlon, Jackie, Randy, Tito, and Jermaine all pitching soft drinks in the height of the 80s soda craze.  These 3 awesome videos to take you back in time to a more magical place where if you were drinking a Pepsi and dancing in the Bronx, you might just run into Michael Jackson and his brothers doing the same.  Wearing the same clothes as them only increased your chances by the way.  The other video features the gang getting ready for one of their Victory tour shows, evidenced by the guy wearing a 350 dollar official Victory Tour jacket.  Lastly, I have a clip of Michael’s hair catching fire filming, the event that supposedly led him to consider more and more radical plastic surgery.  Pretty freaky stuff.  It’s kind of incredible that even though his head is blazing, he keeps dancing until the entire crew tackles him trying to save his life.  Crazy!

Welcome to Part 2 of all the youtube videos I’ve favorited in the past 3 years.  And because its part 2, I’m giving you a double dip of J5.  I must have favorited these right after Michael Jackson died a few summers ago.  A little cheesy, but still an incredible display of raw talent.  Michael Jackson was clearly one of the greatest childhood best medicine for herpes prodigies of all time, right up there with Stevie Wonder and Mozart.  I found these videos from a series of youtube videos featuring just the vocal tracks of all the Motown greats.  Worth searching around for all of those.

I’ll Be There

Rockin Robin