Michael Jackson

by J. Randy Taraborrelli

  Joseph was a bit craftier, however, than Michael may have thought because he did have a plan to get ‘back in’ and it was one he knew that Michael's brothers would find irresistible: a reunion tour.

  Many of the artists who participated in the Motown anniversary television special felt a new sense of brotherhood and camaraderie with the label. After the programme, Berry Gordy re-signed The Four Tops to the company and teamed them with The Temptations on vinyl, just as they had been united on stage that evening in Pasadena. Other artists began to negotiate with Berry, as well. Holland-Dozier-Holland were back, and even Diana Ross was socializing with Berry again. It was as if they were all trying to recapture the feeling they had had during the glory days of Motown – everyone, that is, except Jermaine Jackson.

  After the show was taped, Jermaine began meeting with his brothers and Joseph about the possibility of his leaving Motown, reuniting with the group, and going out on the road again, together. Michael knew nothing about these meetings. ‘Michael's success can only help us,’ Tito said. ‘He's way up there above us, and maybe he can throw down a rope and let us climb it.’ A tour would also relieve Marlon of certain financial pressures. He and his wife, Carol, had separated but were now reconciled. They were determined to make their marriage work, despite their financial challenges. They needed some assistance, however.

  At this time, the brothers also prepared a new Jacksons album for CBS called Victory. Michael did not want to be involved in the project. He would write and sing only two tracks and participate in the writing of a third, and even that much participation was too much for him. However, as they recorded the album, the brothers became excited at the prospect of touring to promote it once it was released.

  No one wanted to consider Michael's reaction to the possibility of a tour, probably because they knew in their hearts that he might present a problem. ‘The thing is, we've always worked really hard,’ Marlon observed at this time. ‘As far back as I can remember, since the time Michael and I were six and seven, we were going to school, doing homework, attending rehearsals, and then on weekends we'd play nightclubs, stayin' up till four in the morning, then get up and go to school come Monday. It was real, real hard for us. And I don't think you can outgrow your brothers and sisters, and Michael feels the same way. We're blood. You just don't sever those ties.’

  By the summer of 1983, Jermaine had become excited enough about the prospects of a tour with his brothers that he asked Berry for a release from Motown. He wanted to look at his options, he said. Arista had offered him a deal (which he would take) and he also wanted to be free to tour with The Jacksons.

  Sadly, Jermaine's solo career had never taken hold at Motown. All of that family angst – and for what? One Top Ten record: ‘Let's Get Serious’, which sold 722,737 copies, and not until 1981, some six years after the night at the Westbury Music Fair when he had to choose between his family and the Gordy family. However, in the company's defence, some felt that Jermaine wasn't motivated; he didn't hunger for stardom, like Michael. Many of his fans felt he should have stayed with the group, stayed married to Berry's daughter… and hoped for the best.

  ‘Sometimes I have this dream that I'm onstage with my brothers,’ he told me in an interview in 1983. ‘And I'm countin' off the songs like I always used to do when we performed together. We're all onstage and the crowd is goin' crazy. All of a sudden I wake up. What a let-down. We all started here at Motown,’ he said, ‘and if anybody left anybody, I feel they left me at Motown. If we were to perform together again, there'd be no end to the things we could do, the excitement we'd create.’

  Berry gave Jermaine his release, sealing an anticlimactic ending to his days at Motown.

  Finally, Joseph called a meeting of all of the brothers in the family's living room. He announced that it was time for them to go back out and tour, the original Jackson 5, plus Randy. Michael's response was swift and to the point: ‘Count me out.’

  Joseph tried to reason with Michael. A major tour could solve many of his brothers' financial problems, and they all had them. No one had been making money lately, but Michael. Of course, Michael realized that none of his brothers had become as wealthy as he had become since Thriller. However, he also knew that if they curbed their extravagant tastes, they would be in good shape. ‘Michael's money didn't matter to nobody but Michael,’ Joseph maintained. ‘And he was always very secretive about that. More important, the brothers needed to enhance their own situation. Like any other group, they needed to tour.’

  Next, Joseph tried guilt, accusing Michael of turning his back on his brothers now that he was a superstar. If Michael, never selfish in regard to his family, had sensed need, not greed, he might have responded. However, he knew when he was being used. He also realized that even if he agreed to the tour, his superstar status would be ignored. He would be just one vote in six – the odd man out, as usual. ‘No,’ he said, ‘I'm not going.’ The brothers stormed out of the meeting. ‘See that,’ Joseph said, pointing a finger at him. ‘Now, they're mad atcha'.’

  ‘So?’ Michael said. ‘Big deal.’

  About a week later, the brothers and Joseph had another meeting with Michael and, this time, tried humour on him. They brought along a life-sized stand-up poster of Michael. ‘If you don't come with us, we're gonna put this onstage in your place,’ Jermaine told Michael, a grin playing on his face. It was always hard to resist Jermaine's smile; he and Michael had always been close. The brothers laughed, and Michael said he would think it over.

  A few days later, when Michael still had not made up his mind, Joseph tore into him. ‘Look, we don't need you anyway,’ he shouted at him. ‘In fact, I think it would be better if you weren't on this tour. Jermaine can sing some songs, and Jackie and Marlon and Randy can all have songs. Tito, too. So, the hell with you, Michael. The hell with you.’

  Joseph's reverse psychology worked like a charm; Michael was upset by his father's comments. He told John Branca: ‘Branca, what's he talking about? The brothers can't sing. Only I can be the lead singer.’

  Just as Michael was on the brink of making up his mind in favour of the tour, lest they go without him and maybe – though not likely – show that he was dispensable, Joseph pulled out the big gun: Katherine, who was made co-promoter of the tour. Her chief responsibility would be to turn the new family dream into reality by, once and for all, convincing Michael to be involved in the tour. ‘When Mother speaks, we listen,’ Jermaine once said.

  It could have been successfully argued that Michael had done more for Katherine over the years, financially as well as emotionally, than any of his brothers. It seemed unfair, then, that she would now be coaxing him to do something that he clearly didn't want to do, just so that she could appease his brothers and make more money for the family. However, Katherine loved all of her children, not just Michael. She knew that they were in financial straits, and that only a tour with Michael would help them straighten out their lives. In her view, it was the least Michael could do. After all, they were family.

  Katherine met with Michael privately and asked him to consider the possibility of a tour – for her sake. How could he resist such a request? For Katherine he would agreed to continue being held down as part of a family act rather than do what was natural at this time in his life and career: soar on his own. It didn't particularly matter to Joseph or the brothers that Michael's heart would not be in the upcoming tour, as long as his body was on that stage.

  In any case, Michael had his mind on other things at this time. In October 1983, he and Jackie Kennedy Onassis met at the Encino home to discuss the possibility of his writing an autobiography to be published by Doubleday, the company for which she worked as an editor.

  Five years earlier, in 1978, Michael had befriended John Kennedy, Jr., and Caroline after meeting the two while he was in New York to film The Wiz. So determined was he to meet their mother he decided to try to date Caroline (then twenty) thinking, perhaps, that she might introduce him to the former First
Lady. ‘I remember that Michael began to call Caroline constantly, even hoping that maybe Jackie would answer,’ recalled, LaToya, who was staying with Michael in New York at the time. ‘Finally, she agreed to go out on a date with him. They went to an ice-skating rink and then to dinner. Caroline ordered veal osso buco, which Michael said he had never heard of before. After dinner, Michael said he tried to kiss her, and she said, “If my mother finds out I kissed a black boy, she will absolutely kill me.” Michael came home crying, but it didn't stop him from wanting to meet Jackie.’ (Many years later, when Michael asked Jackie about Caroline's comment, Jackie was angry. She insisted that Caroline made up the excuse just to avoid kissing him.)

  LaToya says that she discovered a naked photograph of Jackie in Michael's room in New York, hidden in his sock drawer. Apparently, an embarrassed Michael explained that he had recently visited a New York Daily News reporter at his home for dinner. While the two rummaged through the writer's showbiz memorabilia, they came across the picture of Jackie. Michael was perplexed as to why she would pose for such a photographer, while unclothed. The reporter explained that the picture was taken by a paparazzo, obviously without her permission. Then, the scribe gave him the photo as a souvenir. ‘I just can't stop looking at it,’ he told LaToya. ‘I must meet her.’

  ‘What will you do when you meet her,’ LaToya asked.

  ‘I don't know,’ Michael answered. ‘Faint, I guess.’

  By the fall of 1983, Michael was a world-famous superstar and Jackie a Doubleday editor who wanted to edit his memoirs. Finally, Michael would have his chance to meet her when Jackie asked to have lunch with him in Los Angeles. However, on the day of the scheduled luncheon, Michael suffered a panic attack. ‘She's the most famous woman in the world,’ he explained to one family member. ‘And I'm, well, I'm just me.’

  Michael spent the afternoon at Hayvenhurst vomiting and hyperventilating while Jackie and a couple of assistants waited for him in a Beverly Hills restaurant. The next day, Michael invited Jackie to his home in Encino.

  ‘On the day she was set to come by the house, everyone was excited,’ Steve Howell remembered. ‘Naturally, we all wanted to meet her but would have settled for just a glimpse of her going from the limo to the house. The buzz around the house was ‘Jackie O's coming, Jackie O's coming.’ Her driver called from the car to alert Michael that they were about thirty minutes away. ‘Okay, everybody out,’ Mike said. ‘You can all go home. Out, out, out!’ Though nobody wanted to leave, everyone had to go. Michael wanted the entire staff to vacate the premises so that he would be able to be alone with Jackie. “But I want to meet, Jackie O, too,” Katherine said. “Nope,” Michael told her. “Not this time, Kate. Maybe next time.”’

  Another friend of Michael's remembered, ‘Jackie wanted to talk book business, but Michael had other things on his mind. He wanted to know how she felt about always being photographed everywhere she went. He wanted to know how she handled her celebrity. He asked her for tips on how to avoid paparazzi. He admired her and was hoping to figure out what makes her tick.’

  Michael was twenty-five years old and felt uneasy about writing his memoirs. ‘I'm still trying to sort it all out myself,’ he told Steve Howell. Indeed, some of his life did deserve close examination, but most people who knew Michael at this time agreed that he was not the most impartial person for the job. Michael was much too concerned about his public image, and that of his family, to write the real story. He certainly had many personal problems, most of which Jackie was not aware of, but he would do anything to protect the family's dignity. ‘I don't want to let my fans down by having them know the whole truth,’ he said. ‘They'll be crushed.’

  Michael knew that baring his soul in a book at this time was not something he could do, so he asked Jackie to consider a scrapbook concept, a book illustrated by such novelty items as his first report card, early pictures and poetry. Jackie tried to act interested, but she really wasn't enthralled by the notion. She wanted his whole life on paper, but she agreed to the scrapbook idea, at least for a while.

  The next day Michael took Jackie to Disneyland. Jackie wore a sleek leather jacket with belt fastened around her impossibly thin waist, along with playfully striped pants. Michael was in the requisite military-styled, sequined jacket adorned with silver zippers and buckles. They both wore sunglasses.

  ‘Afterward, he told me he thought she was strong and intelligent, and the fact that she survived JFK's death made him feel that she was someone he should have in his life as a mother figure,’ said LaToya. ‘I told him, “But, Michael, we already have a mother,” and he said, “Yes, but we have to take care of Kate because of all she's going through with Joseph. Who is there to take care of us?” I didn't know the answer to that,’ concluded LaToya, ‘but I felt sure it would not be Jackie O.’

  Meanwhile, Michael struck up the first of many friendships with young boys, this one being the twelve-year-old actor Emmanuel Lewis. Emmanuel was three feet, four inches tall at that time; Michael enjoyed carrying him in his arms as if he were a toddler. Emmanuel had come to Hollywood to star in the sitcom Webster; Michael had seen him on television commercials and had always wanted to meet him. He telephoned the boy's mother and invited him to visit Hayvenhurst. When he did, the two became fast friends. In truth, Michael nearly became obsessed with Emmanuel Lewis. They would play with Michael's pets, run around the estate like little kids playing ‘Cowboys and Indians’, roll around on the lawn together, laughing. It appeared to observers that Michael was trying to live the childhood he feels he missed. Today, of course, this is ‘normal’ behaviour for Michael. Everyone is used to seeing him rolling around with kids. However, in 1983, this was considered unusual, even for him.

  One visitor at the Encino estate recalled watching as Michael read the story of Peter Pan to Emmanuel. Afterwards the two of them imagined themselves as characters in the story. According to the eyewitness, twenty-five-year-old Michael and twelve-year-old Emmanuel sat on the floor with their eyes closed and fantasized that they were flying over Never-Never Land. ‘Believe it and it'll be true,’ Michael whispered. ‘Now, are you ready? Do you believe? Do you?’

  ‘Yes, I believe,’ Emmanuel said, his eyes closed tightly. ‘I do believe.’

  They then began to recite dialogue from the story. After a while, the two broke up laughing and began to wrestle on the floor like puppies.

  Emmanuel Lewis's family reportedly became concerned about the friendship after Michael and Emmanuel checked into the Four Seasons hotel in Los Angeles – as father and son. It's not known what fantasy they were acting out at that time. However, shortly afterwards they stopped seeing as much of each other.

  Once Michael had agreed to a reunion tour with his brothers, Joseph and Katherine asked Don King to assist in promoting the venture. Don is a flamboyant, outrageous and controversial black man considered by many at the time to be the leading boxing promoter in the world. Raised in a Cleveland ghetto, he went to prison in 1966 for second-degree murder after killing a man in a street fight. He served four years and then began promoting prizefights.

  King was best known for his huge boxing promotions of Muhammad Ali's ‘Thrilla in Manila’ and Sugar Ray Leonard/Roberto Duran rights. When the Jackson sons met with him, though, they were not impressed. During the meeting, King wore a white fur coat, diamond rings and a gold necklace on which hung a charm: a crown with the name DON on top of it. His grey hair stuck straight up, as if he'd just been electrocuted. The brothers decided that he was too ostentatious, not the type of man they wanted representing them in the public arena. However, their negative judgement about Don King shifted when he came up with three million dollars to give them as a show of good faith, against concert earnings – $500,000 to each member of the group. The brothers were ecstatic, Joseph was happy, and Katherine content. Michael was not impressed.

  ‘I think he's creepy,’ Michael told one friend. ‘I don't trust the guy. He just wants a piece of the action, that's all.’ It would
n't be a small ‘piece’, that much was certain. Forty shows were planned, with a projected gross revenue of thirty million dollars. Deducting six million dollars for expenses would leave twenty-four million dollars net profit – 85 per cent of which would go to the group, 7.5 per cent to Don King, and 7.5 per cent to Joseph and Katherine. That amounted to $3.4 million for each Jackson member – enough to get the brothers back on their feet, for a while anyway – as well as $900,000 each for Joseph and Katherine, and a $1.8-million pay-day for Don King.

  Once aboard, Don King contacted Jay Coleman, an enterprising promoter who specialized in obtaining tour sponsorships from major corporations. Don told Jay about the Jacksons' tour and their need for a big-money sponsor. ‘And you, my man, are just the white boy who can walk into a corporation and tap them for the change,’ he said. He was right about that: Jay recruited the Pepsi-Cola Company to pony up another five million dollars to sponsor the tour.

  Jackie, Tito, Randy, Marlon and Jermaine all voted to work with Don King as promoter. After all, an extra five million dollars was impressive. However, for Michael, five million dollars was, as they used to say back in Gary, ‘chump change’, especially after it was split six ways and 15 per cent was taken off the top for Don, Joseph, and Katherine – leaving Michael with $700,000 and not much incentive. Michael reluctantly agreed to allow Don King to promote the tour, but he wanted Pepsi out of the picture. ‘Forget it,’ Michael said. ‘I don't drink Pepsi. I don't believe in Pepsi.’

  The family then worked on Michael to accept the Pepsi endorsement; there was too much money involved to let it go, and it was a viable and impressive sponsorship whether Michael drank the soft drink or not. The Rolling Stones had only received a half million for their endorsement. In fact, up until that time, the biggest deal in Madison Avenue history had been actor Alan Alda's for Atari, and that was only a million. The brothers thought Michael was crazy. ‘I just don't want to do it,’ Michael insisted. ‘I have a bad feeling about it.’