The Mizell Brothers, Freddie Perren, Michael Jackson, and Englewood's Hidden Place in Music History

When people think about the origins of hip hop, they often think of the Bronx, Harlem, Queens, or the studios of Sugar Hill Records in Englewood, New Jersey. Few realize that decades before hip hop emerged, a remarkable group of young musicians from Englewood helped create some of the most influential music of the twentieth century. At the center of that story were brothers Larry and Alphonso "Fonce" Mizell and their childhood friend Freddie Perren.

The Mizell brothers spent much of their youth in Englewood, where they attended local schools and developed their musical talents. Alongside fellow Englewood native Freddie Perren, they formed an early vocal group known as the Nikons. Their friendship and musical partnership would eventually help shape the careers of Michael Jackson, The Jackson 5, and countless other artists whose music continues to influence popular culture today.

The Mizells' story also connects Englewood to an even deeper tradition of African American music history. The brothers were related to the legendary songwriter and lyricist Andy Razaf, one of the most important figures of the Harlem Renaissance. Razaf collaborated with jazz giants including Thomas "Fats" Waller and helped create standards such as "Ain't Misbehavin'," "Honeysuckle Rose," and "Black and Blue." Widely regarded as one of the greatest lyricists in American music history, Razaf's influence can be heard throughout jazz, popular music, and the Great American Songbook. He also maintained ties to Englewood, where he was active in civic and political affairs.

The family's musical legacy continued into later generations through cousin Cindy Mizelle, one of the most accomplished backing vocalists in popular music. Over the course of her distinguished career, she performed with artists including Bruce Springsteen, Luther Vandross, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, and Dave Matthews Band. Her longtime role as a backing vocalist for Bruce Springsteen connected yet another chapter of American music history to the extended Mizell family and, by extension, to Englewood itself.

After graduating from Englewood schools, the Mizells and Perren attended Howard University, where they further developed their musical skills. Their paths eventually led to Los Angeles and Motown Records, where Perren and Fonce Mizell joined legendary songwriter and producer Deke Richards and Motown founder Berry Gordy Jr. to form a production and songwriting team known as The Corporation.

The Corporation's first major assignment was a young family group recently signed from Gary, Indiana: The Jackson 5.

The results changed music history.

Together, Perren, Fonce Mizell, Richards, and Gordy wrote and produced "I Want You Back," "ABC," "The Love You Save," "Mama's Pearl," and other early Jackson 5 classics. These records introduced the world to an eleven-year-old Michael Jackson and established the sound that would make him one of the most famous entertainers in history.

The Jackson 5's first three singles all reached No. 1 on the Billboard charts, an unprecedented achievement that transformed Motown and launched Michael Jackson's path toward superstardom. While Berry Gordy often received much of the public attention, it was the creative work of Englewood's Freddie Perren and Fonce Mizell that helped craft the infectious melodies, sophisticated arrangements, and youthful energy that defined these recordings.

Perren's role in Michael Jackson's success continued beyond the Jackson 5. He later co-wrote "Ben," Michael Jackson's first solo No. 1 hit, helping establish Jackson as a star in his own right. From Michael's earliest Jackson 5 triumphs to his emergence as a solo performer, Perren's fingerprints were all over the foundation of one of the most extraordinary careers in entertainment history.

Yet the impact of the Englewood musicians extended far beyond Michael Jackson.

After leaving Motown, the Mizell brothers formed Sky High Productions, one of the most innovative production companies of the 1970s. Working closely with jazz trumpeter Donald Byrd, they helped create a new sound that blended jazz improvisation, funk rhythms, soul grooves, and commercial accessibility. Albums such as Black Byrd, Street Lady, and Bobbi Humphrey's Blacks and Blues became landmarks of jazz-funk and helped lay the foundation for future genres including acid jazz, neo-soul, and contemporary R&B.

The brothers' productions transformed the careers of artists including Donald Byrd, The Blackbyrds, Bobbi Humphrey, Johnny Hammond, Gary Bartz, and others. Although some jazz critics initially resisted their crossover approach, the Mizells ultimately helped create one of the most influential sounds of the 1970s.

At the same time, Freddie Perren became one of the dominant hitmakers of the disco era. He produced and wrote classics including "Boogie Fever" and "Hot Line" by The Sylvers, "Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel" and "Don't Take Away the Music" by Tavares, "Shake Your Groove Thing" and "Reunited" by Peaches & Herb, and the immortal Gloria Gaynor anthem "I Will Survive," which won a Grammy Award and became one of the most enduring songs of the twentieth century.

Perren also contributed to the success of the landmark Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, helping create music that defined the disco era and earned the Grammy Award for Album of the Year.

The Mizells crossed into mainstream pop and disco success as well. Through Sky High Productions they helped create "Boogie Oogie Oogie" by A Taste of Honey, one of the defining hits of the late 1970s and one of the era's most recognizable dance records.

Their influence did not end there.

As hip hop emerged during the late 1970s and 1980s, producers and DJs increasingly turned to the rich grooves created by the Mizell brothers and Freddie Perren. Recordings by Donald Byrd, The Blackbyrds, Bobbi Humphrey, Johnny Hammond, and other Sky High Productions artists became fertile ground for sampling. Artists including A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, J Dilla, Madlib, Pete Rock, and countless others drew upon the Mizells' lush arrangements, deep bass lines, sophisticated harmonies, and innovative rhythms.

In this way, the music created by Englewood musicians in the 1960s and 1970s became woven directly into the fabric of hip hop culture.

This connection is particularly significant because Englewood occupies another important place in hip hop history. Just a few years after Perren and the Mizells helped launch Michael Jackson's career, Sugar Hill Records established itself in Englewood under the leadership of Sylvia Robinson. Sugar Hill released "Rapper's Delight" in 1979, widely regarded as the first commercially successful hip hop record, and helped introduce rap music to audiences around the world. The label would become one of the most important institutions in the early history of hip hop.

Taken together, these stories reveal that Englewood's contribution to modern music extends far beyond what most people realize. The city helped nurture Freddie Perren and the Mizell brothers, whose work launched Michael Jackson's career, transformed jazz-funk and disco, and supplied many of the sounds later sampled by hip hop artists. Through Andy Razaf, Englewood is connected to the Harlem Renaissance and the birth of modern American songwriting. Through Cindy Mizelle, that legacy extends into contemporary popular music. Through Sugar Hill Records, Englewood became one of the places where hip hop entered the mainstream.

From Andy Razaf and the Harlem Renaissance to Freddie Perren and the Jackson 5; from the jazz-funk innovations of the Mizell Brothers to the rise of disco, from Bruce Springsteen's stage to Sugar Hill Records and the birth of hip hop, Englewood occupies a unique and often overlooked place in American music history. Few communities can claim direct connections to so many pivotal moments in the evolution of twentieth-century Black music and popular culture.

The careers of Freddie Perren and the Mizell Brothers remind us that Englewood was not merely a witness to musical history—it helped create it.

Remarkably, Englewood's influence on Michael Jackson did not end with Freddie Perren and the Jackson 5.

A generation later, another Englewood musician, songwriter, and producer would help shape Jackson's sound during one of the most important periods of his adult career.

Bernard Belle grew up in Englewood and attended Dwight Morrow High School before beginning his professional career as a guitarist. 

Bernard's musical development was also deeply rooted in Englewood's church community. He and his sister, Grammy Award-winning singer Regina Belle, were active members of Mount Calvary Baptist Church, where Bernard served as the church organist. The church proved to be an important incubator of musical talent and became a gathering place for future performers who would go on to achieve national success.

Among those connected to Mount Calvary was Eric Williams, later a member of the R&B group Blackstreet. While attending the church, Williams performed in a gospel quartet alongside Fred 'Big Bub' Drakeford of the R&B group Today, Chauncey Black of the group Riff, and Michael Nest, better known as Nitty Green. Their performances reflected the close relationship between gospel music and the contemporary R&B traditions that many Englewood musicians would later help shape.

Mount Calvary Baptist Church thus served not only as a center of worship but also as one of the community's most important musical training grounds. Long before these artists appeared on concert stages, radio playlists, and television screens, they honed their talents in church choirs, gospel groups, and worship services in Englewood.

Like many successful musicians, his first major break came through family connections. His sister, Grammy Award-winning singer Regina Belle, recommended him for a position playing guitar with the R&B group The Manhattans. Belle later described this opportunity as the beginning of a "domino effect" that launched his career in the music industry.

During the 1980s, Belle became a key collaborator of producer Teddy Riley, one of the architects of New Jack Swing, the groundbreaking fusion of R&B, hip hop, and pop that transformed Black popular music. Together, Riley and Belle helped create a sound that would dominate radio and influence a generation of artists.

Their work eventually brought Belle into Michael Jackson's creative circle during the recording of Jackson's landmark 1991 album Dangerous. According to Belle, Riley asked him to develop a series of musical tracks and demos for Jackson. Two of those ideas evolved into the songs "Remember the Time" and "Why You Wanna Trip on Me," both of which became important tracks on the album.

Belle later recalled that the process was highly collaborative. For "Remember the Time," he provided the musical foundation upon which Jackson built the melody and lyrics. For "Why You Wanna Trip on Me," Jackson specifically asked Belle to develop a socially conscious lyrical concept addressing larger issues facing society. Jackson and Riley subsequently expanded and refined the song, but Belle's ideas formed an important part of its foundation.

Perhaps most revealing were Belle's memories of Jackson as a collaborator. Despite being one of the most famous entertainers in the world, Jackson frequently reminded musicians that "there's no room in the studio for ego—you leave that at the door." Belle remembered Jackson as someone who trusted talented writers and producers, encouraged creative contributions, and possessed a remarkable ability to transform good ideas into great ones.

Belle reunited with Jackson a decade later during the recording of Invincible (2001), co-writing "Privacy," a song inspired by Jackson's struggles with media intrusion and paparazzi culture. Belle recalled Jackson describing rhythms by beatboxing them in the studio and actively participating in the songwriting process. The collaboration offered a rare glimpse into Jackson's creative methods and demonstrated the trust he placed in fellow musicians.

Taken together, the careers of Freddie Perren and Bernard Belle reveal a remarkable historical continuity. In 1969, Englewood's Freddie Perren helped introduce the world to the young Michael Jackson through the Jackson 5's first No. 1 hits. More than twenty years later, Englewood's Bernard Belle helped shape Jackson's sound during the Dangerous era, one of the most successful and influential periods of his adult career. Few communities can claim such a direct connection to both the beginning and the reinvention of one of the most important entertainers in modern history.

From Andy Razaf and the Harlem Renaissance to Freddie Perren and the Jackson 5; from the jazz-funk innovations of the Mizell Brothers to Bernard Belle's contributions to Michael Jackson's Dangerous and Invincible albums; from disco and jazz fusion to Sugar Hill Records and the birth of hip hop, Englewood occupies a unique place in American music history. Across nearly a century, musicians connected to Englewood helped shape jazz, rhythm and blues, Motown, disco, New Jack Swing, hip hop, and popular music worldwide. The city was not simply a backdrop to these developments—it was one of the places where they were created.