by Joseph Vogel
“It pitches a stream”: Ian MacDonald, A Revolution in the Head: The Beatles Records and the Sixties (Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 2005), pp. 358–59.
“a call to unchain the”: Ibid.
“If you really want to know”: Michael Jackson, interview by Ed Bradley, 60 Minutes, CBS, December 28, 2003.
“Our personal history begins”: Michael Jackson: For the Record, p. 54.
“a blend of rampaging ego”: Hunter, review of HIStory: Past, Present, and Future, Book I.
“We were gonna call it”: Robert Seidenberg, “Jimmy Jam’s Work on ‘HIStory,’ ” Entertainment Weekly, June 23, 1995.
“used as a trigger on a gated”: “Post Here If You Worked on Michael Jackson’s DANGEROUS Album.”
“If you listen to the bridge”: Ibid.
“What it’s doing on an album”: Hunter, review of HIStory: Past, Present, and Future, Book I.
“If he ever decides”: Anthony Wynn, review of HIStory: Past, Present, and Future, Book I, Amazon, October 13, 2002.
Jackson was inspired by Thomas Hood’s: R. J., “Little Susie,” Michael Jackson Beat, June 5, 2008.
“Take her up tenderly”: Thomas Hood, “The Bridge of Sighs,” Bartleby.com. Originally published in The Oxford Book of English Verse: 1250–1900, edited by Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1900).
“extremely beautiful, fragile, and totally”: “Michael Jackson Meets with Helnwein in Germany,” Helnwein.com, January 1, 1988.
“I just love him to death”: Bob Colacello and Andy Warhol, “Michael Jackson,” Interview, October 1982. Republished August 31, 2011.
“How could you not admire”: “Michael Jackson’s Private Home Movies,” FOX, April 24, 2003.
“rehearsed a bit without vocals”: Author interview, Rob Hoffman.
“I think I’ve worked with”: “Interview with Jeremy Lubbock,” Black & White, October 1999.
“During the recording”: Swedien, In the Studio with Michael Jackson, p. 58.
“a dramatic tour de force”: Pareles, “Michael Jackson Is Angry, Understand?”
CHAPTER 6: BLOOD ON THE DANCE FLOOR (1997)
“The least I can say”: “Interview with Michael Jackson,” Black & White, 1997.
“revealing record”: review of Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix, Rolling Stone, April 1997.
“His singing on the first five”: Armond White, Keep Moving: The Michael Jackson Chronicles (New York: Resistance Works, 2009), pp. 84–86.
“There is real pain and pathos”: Neil Strauss, review of Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix, New York Times, May 20, 1997.
“I thought I’d be a clever”: “Post Here If You Worked on Michael Jackson’s DANGEROUS Album,” Gearslutz, June 27, 2009.
“He knew nothing about”: Author interview, Teddy Riley.
“It was like he prophesied”: Ibid.
“I remember he came”: Ibid.
“It wasn’t quite finished”: Ibid.
“We took Teddy’s DAT”: Author interview, Brad Buxer.
“I wished I could’ve been”: Author interview, Teddy Riley.
“moment of absolute genius”: Adam Gilham, review of Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix, Sputnik Music, November 28, 2006.
“Michael knew exactly what”: “Brad Buxer Interview,” Black & White, November/December 2009.
“The history of American entertainment”: David Yuan, “The Celebrity Freak: Michael Jackson’s Grotesque Glory,” in Freakery: Cultural Spectacles of the Extraordinary Body, edited by Rosemary Garland Thompson (New York: New York University Press, 1996), p. 372.
“like the elephant man”: Strauss, review of Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix.
CHAPTER 7: INVINCIBLE (2001)
“I got a call from friends”: Karen R. Good, “Black Skin, White Mask,” Vibe, March 2002.
“I’m not one to sit back”: Andrew Dansby and Jenny Eliscu, “Jackson Song to Aid 9/11 Victims,” Rolling Stone, September 17, 2001.
“I want the whole world”: Ibid.
“We discussed the concept of giving”: “Africa: Michael Jackson and Nelson Mandela,” Thoughts of Michael J. Jackson, August 12, 2011.
“I believe in my heart”: “Shining Stars,” Entertainment Weekly, September 19, 2001.
“The Internet”: Brian Hiatt and Evan Serpick, “The Record Industry’s Decline,” Rolling Stone, July 2007.
“a general return—post-grunge”: Jon Pareles, “When Pop Becomes the Toy of Teeny Boppers,” New York Times, July 11, 1999.
“I don’t know”: “The Once and Future King,” TV Guide, December 1999.
“I don’t think so ’cause the press”: Ibid.
“I think it’s going to be”: “Michael Jackson Interview,” MTV, December 1999.
“Words can’t describe how”: Joyce Chen, “Everything That Michael Jackson Said About His Kids, Paris, Prince Michael and Blanket Jackson,” Us Weekly, January 26, 2017.
“I just want to say”: “Paris Jackson Emerges as Surprise Voice of Memorial,” CNN, July 8, 2009.
“Nobody but my brothers”: Brian Hiatt, “Paris Jackson: Life After Neverland,” Rolling Stone, January 24, 2007.
“It’s the most amazing track”: Michael Jackson Fan Club, News Archives, February 26, 1999.
“It was one of the most amazing”: “Music Bosses Launch Investigation over Jackson/Kravitz Song Leak,” Express, January 5, 2010.
“We worked beautifully together”: Author interview, Brad Buxer.
“He was the best dad”: “The Once and Future King.”
“It was pretty scary”: “Dr. Freeze on Michael Jackson,” Michael Jackson Beat, February 4, 2011.
“I did not give him”: Ibid.
“I’m not certain if it was”: C. J. deVillar, “Working with Michael Jackson and Playing Bass on ‘A Place with No Name’,” songworx.com, August 2009.
“musical explorations”: Ibid.
“I’ve always heard people”: Damien Shields, Xscape Origins: The Songs & Stories Michael Jackson Left Behind (Sydney: Modegy, 2018), p. 124.
“He changed my whole perception”: Rodney Jerkins, interview by Don Lemon, CNN, June 29, 2009.
“Michael said, ‘Go out in’ ”: Ibid.
“he went crazy”: Author interview, Rodney Jerkins.
“I have an album coming”: Michael Jackson, interview by Piers Morgan, Daily Mirror, April 13, 1999.
“He’ll be in, like, ten different”: Michael Jackson Fan Club, News Archives, February 1999.
“some of the best music”: Ibid.
“Physically, touring takes a lot”: Edna Gundersen, “Michael in the Mirror,” USA Today, December 14, 2001.
“He was surrounded by enablers”: Deepak Chopra, “A Tribute to My Friend, Michael Jackson,” HuffPost, July 26, 2009.
“I wish I could never”: Shmuley Boteach, The Michael Jackson Tapes (New York: Vanguard, 2009), p. 85.
“He is the best”: Michael Jackson Fan Club, News Archives, February 1999.
“He was like, ‘Let’s start’ ”: Jermaine Hall, “Rodney Jerkins Talks MJ’s Last Studio Album, Invincible,” Vibe, September 5, 2009.
“I pushed Rodney”: Anthony DeCurtis, Online Audio Chat, http://www.mjtranslate.com/en/interviews/116, October 26, 2001.
“He was a little scared”: Elianne Halbersberg, “Rodney Jerkins: A Rare Interview with the Hit-making Producer,” Mix, December 1, 2004.
“He was so hands on”: Hall, “Rodney Jerkins Talks MJ’s Last Studio Album, Invincible.”
“Michael built this studio”: “Teddy Riley Runs Down His Entire Catalogue,” Vibe, March 14, 2012.
“Those song
s should have”: Nitsuh Abebe, “Pharrell Williams on Surprise Hits, Daft Punk, and Watching Michael Jackson Laugh,” Vulture, June 6, 2013.
“ ‘This will be the end’ ”: “Teddy Riley Runs Down His Entire Catalogue.”
“It was glorious”: Author interview, Brad Buxer.
“with Invincible”: Ibid.
“There were some songs”: Steve Knopper, MJ: The Genius of Michael Jackson (New York: Scribner, 2015), p. 262.
“Of all my albums”: DeCurtis, Online Audio Chat.
“In my head, it is completed”: Gundersen, “Michael in the Mirror.”
“I’m never happy with”: Ibid.
“I never think about”: Ibid.
“Invincible is just as good”: Ibid.
“All I can tell you”: Michael Jackson Fan Club, News Archives, February 1999.
“It’s wonderful and amazing”: Roger Friedman, “Michael Jackson Presents the ‘Invincible’ Album, Record Execs Go Crazy,” FOX411, Fox News, June 15, 2001.
“Certainly, if a commercial”: Craig Halstead and Chris Cadman, Michael Jackson: The Solo Years (London: Legend, 2003), p. 195.
“I think that it just shows”: Nekesa Mumbi Moody, “Personalities: Imitation Is Flattery, but Album Is Jackson’s Real Test,” Associated Press, September 7, 2001.
“The nearest we have”: Michael Jackson Fan Club, News Archives, February 1999.
According to Wired, CD sales: Charles C. Mann, “The Year the Music Dies,” Wired, February 1, 2003.
The early 2000s, by contrast: David Goldman, “Music’s Lost Decade: Sales Cut in Half,” CNN, February 3, 2010.
“Not physical threats”: Roger Friedman, “Jacko May Claim Threats by Motolla,” FOX411, Fox News, July 12, 2002.
“I use the present tense”: Robert Christgau, review of Invincible, Consumer Guide Reviews, October 2001.
“sparkly, post-hip-hop”: Stephen Thomas Erlewine, “Invincible,” AllMusic, October 2001.
“ ‘Unbreakable’ is so striking”: Robert Hilburn, “Michael Jackson’s Invincible,” Los Angeles Times, October 28, 2001.
“I’ve been through hell”: DeCurtis, Online Audio Chat.
“It was my idea to put”: Regina Jones, “V Vintage: Michael Jackson 2001 Interview,” Vibe, August 29, 2012. Originally published March 2002.
According to Jerkins, Jackson wanted: Author interview, Rodney Jerkins.
“When you play his new”: Brian Hiatt, “Michael Jackson Nearing Completion of New LP,” MTV, December 21, 2000.
“multi-tracked marvel”: Jon Pareles, “To Regain Glory, the New Michael Imitates the Old,” New York Times, October 28, 2001.
“He and Rodney Jerkins”: Frank Cogan, “The Man in the Distance,” Village Voice, November 27, 2001.
“A lot of sounds on the album”: DeCurtis, Online Audio Chat.
“His singing is sassy”: Hilburn, “Michael Jackson’s Invincible.”
“a beautiful, strolling”: Jones, “V Vintage: Michael Jackson 2001 Interview,” Vibe, August 29, 2012. Originally published March 2002.
“Rarely since Thriller has the performer”: Sal Cinquemani, review of Invincible, Slant, October 29, 2001.
“[That] song was his baby”: “Dr. Freeze on Michael Jackson,” Michael Jackson Beat, February 4, 2011.
“it was the first time”: Ibid.
“one of Jackson’s best vocal”: Mark Anthony Neal, “The Return of the Scarecrow,” Seeingblack.com, December 21, 2001.
“When I did that song”: “When Heaven Can Wait: Teddy Riley Remembers Michael Jackson,” Hip Hop Wired, July 8, 2009.
“It’s like Michael back”: “Rodney Jerkins Talks About You Rock My World…Michael’s Latest,” popdirt.com, August 28, 2001.
“least forced, most seamless”: David Browne, review of “You Rock My World,” Entertainment Weekly, September 3, 2001.
“recall[ed] the singer’s work”: James Hunter, review of Invincible, Rolling Stone, December 6, 2001.
“He had Rodney just play”: LaShawn Daniels, Kempire Radio, November 11, 2012.
“I called them interludes”: Author interview, Rodney Jerkins.
“I first recorded ‘Butterflies’ ”: Gerrick Kennedy, “Marsha Ambrosius Breaks Down Her Biggest Hits,” Los Angeles Times, June 27, 2014.
“This really light voice comes”: “Floetry Biography,” Universal Music Publishing Group Spotlight, 2009.
“My heart is literally beating”: M. Gosho Oakes, “Michael Jackson by Marsha Ambrosius,” SoulCulture, June 25, 2010.
“It was incredible”: Billy Johnson Jr., “Songwriter Gets the Butterflies,” Yahoo, November 15, 2001.
“It is not too overstated”: Neal, “The Return of the Scarecrow.”
“It would have opened”: Steven Ivory, “Michael Jackson Leaves Behind Hits Both Large and Small,” NPR, July 1, 2009.
“Getting the opportunity to work with”: Georgette Cline, “Marsha Ambrosius Remembers Michael Jackson,” Rap-Up, February 4, 2011.
“There are these two sweet”: DeCurtis, Online Audio Chat.
“I got a call at four thirty”: Author interview, Brad Buxer.
“He wanted it to be this”: Ibid.
“more sap than a syrup”: Dan Browne, review of Invincible, Entertainment Weekly, November 5, 2001.
“I woke up”: Michael Jackson, interview by Barbara Walters, 20/20, ABC, September 12, 1997.
“I’ve been living that kind”: Ibid.
“You can’t invite them”: Ibid.
“stunningly heartbreaking ballad”: Mike Heyliger, review of Invincible, Pop Dose, June 28, 2009.
“Lisa’s sweet. I like her very”: “The Once and Future King.”
“He had something so intoxicating”: Lisa Marie Presley, interview by Oprah Winfrey, The Oprah Winfrey Show, ABC, October 21, 2010.
“checking to get a read”: Ibid.
“It’s therapeutic”: Gundersen, “Michael in the Mirror.”
“creepy, airheaded companion”: Justin Hartung, review of Invincible, Spin Cycle, November 2001.
“Here is a typical”: Michael Jackson, “Heal the Kids” Speech, Oxford University, Oxford, March 2001.
“momentous rhythms, Santana’s passionate”: Hunter, review of Invincible.
“It would’ve made for an”: Heyliger, review of Invincible.
“The song is about a girl”: “The origins of ‘Whatever Happens,’ ” MJJCommunity.com, October 11, 2012.
EPILOGUE: THE FINAL YEARS
“It was painful for [Michael]”: Deborah Kunesh, “The Trial…Words from Michael’s Lawyer,” Reflections on the Dance, June 14, 2010.
“[Michael] looked beaten”: “The Secret Life of Michael Jackson,” Dateline, MSNBC, February 5, 2010.
“I am incredibly excited”: “Michael Jackson Sails with Two Seas,” Billboard, April 18, 2005.
“The signed contract had Michael”: Jermaine Jackson, You Are Not Alone: Michael, Through a Brother’s Eyes (New York: Touchstone, 2011), p. 395.
“I felt that he was”: “The Secret Life of Michael Jackson.”
“Michael actually spent most”: Luke Bainbridge, “Michael Jackson’s Irish Hideaway,” Guardian, August 14, 2010.
“I never stopped”: “An Exclusive with Michael Jackson,” Access Hollywood, October 26, 2006.
“Something needs to put”: Ibid.
“It was going to be out”: “Will.i.am on MJ,” BBC Music, June 29, 2009.
“Man, he still sings like”: “Will.i.am Working on Michael Jackson Comeback Album,” Billboard, January 4, 2007.
“Some days we would work”: Author interview, Michael Prince.
“All I can say is”: Mike Collette-White, “Pro
ducer Red One Eyes Michael Jackson Release,” Billboard, January 21, 2010.
“He’s incredible”: Elizabeth Goodman, “Michael Jackson Comeback Tracker,” Rolling Stone, September 18, 2007.
“This is something Michael”: “Michael Jackson Aiming to Out-do Thriller with New Album,” SawFNews, September 24, 2008.
“My hands were shaking”: Ibid.
“He was incredibly focused”: Author interview, Michael Prince.
“We often talk about unprecedented demand”: Andre Paine, “Michael Jackson’s 50 Shows Sell Out in Hours,” Billboard, March 13, 2009.
“To sell out like that”: Jason Gregory, “Coldplay’s Chris Martin: ‘Michael Jackson Comeback Bigger Than Lazarus,’ ” Gigwise.com, March 24, 2009.
“so loud the walls were shaking”: Harriet Ryan, “Doubts Surfaced Early on Michael Jackson,” Los Angeles Times, September 2, 2012.
“I believe that [Michael]”: Jeff Gottlieb, “Michael Jackson ‘a Lost Boy,’ Concert Director Said in Email,” Los Angeles Times, July 10, 2013.
“I was reluctant to shake”: Tim Smith, “More Details on Instrumental Album Michael Jackson Started Before His Death, and His Love of Classical Music,” Baltimore Sun, July 10, 2009.
“He said he listened to”: Ibid.
“It’s very pretty music”: Ibid.
“I sat at the piano”: Ibid.
“He asked me how”: Ibid.
“The music demo he sent”: Deepak Chopra, “A Tribute to My Friend, Michael Jackson,” HuffPost, June 26, 2009.
“I’m channeling”: “Michael Jackson’s Final Days: Hope and Ruin,” Rolling Stone, August 6, 2009.
“You don’t understand”: “The New Michael Jackson Movie,” Entertainment Weekly, October 15, 2009.
“When you know it’s right”: “Michael: 25 Years After Thriller,” Ebony, December 2007.
APPENDIX: DEMOS, OUTTAKES, AND OTHER SONGS RECORDED BY MICHAEL JACKSON
“I was very impressed”: Paul Anka, My Way: An Autobiography (New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 2014), p. 234.