Michael Jackson

by J. Randy Taraborrelli

  By acquiring ATV, Michael Jackson proved himself a perceptive, hardheaded businessman, exactly the kind of entrepreneur his father, Joseph, would like to have been, but wasn't. Where Joseph bullied, Michael ingratiated. Where Joseph shouted, Michael usually listened – but he, too, could be unreasonable. Where Joseph rushed in unprepared, Michael usually studied every angle before reaching a decision – or, at least, he had someone else do it for him, namely John Branca. Indeed, Michael had the wisdom to surround himself with brilliant people, and then allow them to do their jobs without interference; Joseph never did. He always felt that he had to have final-say over everything. It's almost as though Michael had studied Joseph's technique and then tried to do exactly the opposite. However, what father and son did share back then – and still do today – is that they trust no one and can be ruthless to those they have vanquished. Rarely do they allow anyone a second chance.

  ‘We Are the World’

  By January 1985, the Victory tour was history. Though it hadn't been an easy experience, Michael did find a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow: Chuck Sullivan gave him eighteen million dollars, cash, to develop a clothing line. Michael barely got a few fashions into the stores – which didn't sell – when Chuck went bankrupt. Michael got to keep the eighteen million.

  The Jacksons made a lot of money on the Victory tour, even if the promoters didn't; each brother made about $7 million, one-sixth of the share after all expenses, net. Michael donated his take to charity; his brothers spent theirs on a lavish lifestyle and, before very many years, would need to work again.

  Michael has never again gone on the road with his brothers – though they have repeatedly tried to convince him to do ‘just one more tour’.

  Once he got home to Encino, one of the first things Michael did was get into LaToya's black Mercedes-Benz 450 SEL and speed off without any security. He simply wanted some freedom – as if he could ever have it! As always, there were about two dozen fans waiting at the front gate for someone – anyone – who looked like a Jackson. They never dreamed they might actually catch a glimpse of the Jackson. When they saw him pull out of the gate, they jumped into their cars and followed in hot pursuit. Michael tried to lose them, but to no avail. He was almost to Quincy Jones's house, miles away, when the vehicle car ran out of gas. Michael jumped out of the car, leaving it in the middle of the street, and then ran for blocks, with his stalkers following him, until he reached Quincy's home, where he found refuge.

  After the Victory tour, Michael became involved in ‘We Are the World’, the historic effort to feed the hungry of Ethiopia. For some time, Harry Belafonte had been making plans to draw together some of the biggest artists in the entertainment business to record a song, the proceeds of which would go to a new nonprofit foundation, USA for Africa, to feed the starving masses. In addition to providing emergency food, medical relief, and self-help programmes to stricken areas of Africa, the undertaking was also to set aside funds for hunger relief in the United States. Harry contacted Ken Kragen, an entertainment manager with a history of fund-raising, to ask if he could enlist his clients, Kenny Rogers and Lionel Richie, in the endeavour. Kenny and Lionel, in turn, obtained the cooperation of Stevie Wonder to add more name value to the project. Lionel then telephoned Michael to ask if he would perform on the recording. He not only wanted to sing on the song, Michael said, he also wanted to help Lionel write it.

  Michael has always been empathetic to the plight of the hungry, homeless and sick, especially children. In the past, Frank Dileo has told many heartbreaking stories of Michael's influence on dying children. It is as though an unexplainable part within Michael is able to reach children close to death; his touch seems to act as some kind of soothing balm for kids facing a frightening time. It's an important, positive side of Michael, and one he thinks is the best thing about himself.

  For instance, a small child suffering from a brain tumour and spinal cancer was brought to Michael on a stretcher one night after a show. When the boy reached up to Michael, Michael grabbed his hand and held tight. The child smiled. Frank Dileo turned away and broke into tears. ‘He's not afraid to look into the worst suffering and find the smallest part that's positive and beautiful,’ Frank concluded.

  Seth Riggs, his voice teacher who has travelled with Michael on tours, recalled, ‘Every night the kids would come in on stretchers, so sick they could hardly hold their heads up. Michael would kneel down at the stretchers and put his face right down beside theirs so that he could have his picture taken with them, and then give them a copy to remember the moment. I couldn't handle it. I'd be in the bathroom crying. The kids would perk right up in his presence. If it gave them a couple days' more energy, to Michael it was worth it.’

  While working on ‘We Are the World’, Lionel Richie went to Hayvenhurst every night for a week where he and Michael sequestered themselves in Michael's room to labour on lyrics and melodies. They knew that what they wanted was some sort of anthem, a song both easy to sing and memorable. Though Michael and Lionel have never said as much publicly, LaToya – who watched the pair work – claims that Lionel only wrote a couple of lines of the song. She contends that 99 per cent of the lyrics were written by Michael, ‘but he's never felt it necessary to say that.’ The lyrics and the melody were finished on 21 January 1985, just one night before the recording session.

  While Michael and Lionel were composing, Ken Kragen went about the business of lining up the all-star cast: Bruce Springsteen, Tina Turner, Bette Midler, Billy Joel, Ray Charles, Diana Ross, Dionne Warwick, The Pointer Sisters, Stevie Wonder, Cyndi Lauper, Willie Nelson, Smokey Robinson, Bob Dylan and many others, forty-five in all. Another fifty artists had to be turned down to keep the project from becoming too unwieldy. Michael asked LaToya to show up, and she did. (She got to stand next to Bette Midler in the line-up.) Marlon, Jackie, Tito and Randy were also there.

  Quincy Jones took time away from producing the film The Colour Purple to produce and arrange (with Tom Bahler) the Jackson – Richie collaboration at A&M Studios in Hollywood. Because the American Music Awards had been held that same night, many of the artists came directly from those festivities. When the performers showed up, the first thing they saw was a sign outside Studio A: ‘Please check your egos at the door.’ It was astonishing that so many artists of diverse backgrounds and individual renown were able to do just that: there were no ego problems, at all. Diana Ross could not conceal her excitement and asked the other stars for autographs. The Pointer Sisters took pictures of Michael. ‘I've never before felt that strong sense of community,’ Kenny Loggins observed.

  At around ten p.m., the proceedings turned solemn. Ken Kragen addressed the group to assure them that money generated from the recording would, indeed, ‘go to the right places’. Bob Geldof, the leader of the Boomtown Rats and organizer of the British Band Aid musical charity effort, which produced the single, ‘Do They Know It's Christmas?’ told of his visits to Ethiopia. Two Ethiopian women, whose presence had been arranged by Stevie Wonder, reported on the horrible suffering there.

  Finally, Michael addressed the assemblage of stars. Very quietly and somewhat awkwardly, he explained his and Lionel's composition as ‘A love song to inspire concern about a faraway place close to home.’

  The musical tracks had been recorded earlier in the day, so it was just a matter of fine-tuning the lyrics – ‘Should it be “brighter day” or “better day”?’ – and adding the voices. Michael taught the artists the melody and lyrics – most had already been sent taped demos of the song with Michael performing – and worked with them on vocal arrangements.

  As integral as Michael Jackson had become to the process, he was also very much separated from it. Whereas everyone else present was filmed (by six cameras) as they performed for the ‘We Are the World’ video, Michael's solo was taped later, privately, and spliced into the final version. He never took off his shades. Some people speculate that he chose not to record with the rest because he was so awestruck by his f
ellow celebrities. The ultimate perfectionist, he would feel that he could not perform to the best of his abilities in front of them. Others offer a more cynical explanation: Michael likes to feel he is different from everybody and emphasizes this difference by erecting barriers between him and his fans, his peers and his family. Indeed, in the video of ‘We Are the World’, the shot of Michael begins at his Bass Weejun shoes and trademark sequined socks, and then pans upward to his carefully made-up face, all at Michael's direction. ‘People will know it's me as soon as they see the socks,’ he said, proudly, and he was right about that. ‘Try taking footage of Bruce Springsteen's socks and see if anyone knows who they belong to,’ he added with a grin.

  The recording and taping session took all night. Who would sing what and with whom had been decided a couple of days earlier by Lionel Richie, producer Quincy Jones, and arranger Tom Bahler. Some of the interesting vocal pairings included Tina Turner with Billy Joel, Dionne Warwick with Willie Nelson, and, of course, Diana Ross with Michael Jackson. The only hint of things not going as planned involved the pairing of Michael and Prince. Michael didn't like Prince, but for charity he would sing with him. However, Prince didn't even show up. At six the next morning, he called the studio to ask if he might come in and lay down a guitar part. Quincy told him it was too late.

  By seven-thirty in the morning, the job was done and the artists began to leave. ‘Michael was as exhausted as anyone,’ Jeffrey Osborne reported. ‘He didn't say much, maybe something about being very happy, but I could tell that he was delighted.’

  ‘I did expect to see more ego,’ Paul Simon reported. ‘You know, “The Gloved One” meets “The Boss” and things like that, but it just didn't happen.’

  ‘I just don't want this night to end,’ Diana Ross said as she hugged Tina Turner.

  It would seem that everyone who participated in the ‘We Are the World’ recording session shared Diana's sentiments. The gentle, uplifting spirit of the song also touched the public's emotions when it was finally released on 7 March 1985. The initial shipment of 800,000 records sold out within three days of its release. The song was number one in America for a month, and also spent a couple of weeks at the top spot in Britain, as well as in other countries. The ‘We Are the World’ video lent itself well to the benevolent spirit of the celebration and helped to sell four million records in all, earning about eight million dollars for the USA for Africa fund.

  A Prank That Didn't Work

  The 1986 Grammys set the stage for one of Michael's more bizarre pranks – but one that didn't pan out as he had expected.

  Frank Dileo, John Branca, Norman Winter and Michael Jackson had often discussed the careers of show-business icons like Frank Sinatra and The Beatles, and how their representatives were known to sometimes hire teenagers to scream and weep at the sight of them at public appearances. Hysteria does photograph well. Michael always believed that hiring youngsters to holler, faint and sob was a masterful public relations stroke.

  One evening Michael and Frank telephoned Norman to tell him of an idea. Michael wanted to cause a commotion during the televised Grammy Awards presentation in February. It had been decided that Quincy and Michael would accept the award if ‘We Are the World’ won for Record of the Year, accompanied by some of the other participants on the record. It's not known whether it was his intention to do so, but it would seem that Michael wanted to steal a little of Quincy's thunder during the acceptance. He and Quincy always had a strange relationship, symbiotic but also competitive.

  Michael's plan was to have a female teenager run out on to the stage from the wings and jump him as he stood next to Quincy. Bill Bray's security staff would be ready and waiting to pull the girl off Michael, who would then act surprised and frazzled. Since the Grammys are televised internationally, the whole world would witness this mad scene. The next day, Michael's popularity, and the hysteria it had caused at the Grammys, would be the subject of worldwide news. The scene caused by Jackson's ‘overwrought fan’ would probably even overshadow the fact that ‘We Are the World’ had won the coveted Grammy for Record of the Year. Certainly, Quincy's acceptance speech would be overlooked in favour of Michael's manic adoration.

  Frank and Norman were against Michael's idea. If word ever got out to the press that the girl who had attacked Michael had actually been hired by him to do so, it would be embarrassing to everyone involved. ‘But it'll never get out,’ Michael said, enthused. ‘So, who do we get? Who can we hire to do this thing?’

  Frank and Norman didn't have a clue. Finally, a female publicist who worked in Norman's office found a teenager who she felt was savvy enough to pull off the hoax. She was hired for the job.

  The night of the awards, those involved in the trickery held their breath as ‘We Are the World’ was announced by presenters Sting and Phil Collins as Record of the Year. Michael, who was wearing a black military jacket, red shirt and red brooch, rose from his seat. Frank, seated behind Michael, smiled broadly, a cigar hanging from his mouth. Michael then walked up on to the stage with Lionel Richie.

  Before long, Quincy Jones, Dionne Warwick, Kenny Rogers and Stevie Wonder were also on stage. As Quincy gave his speech, Michael nervously rocked from side to side. He kept looking off into the wings, as if he was wondering when the girl was going to make her move.

  Unbeknownst to Michael, the teenager, who had full backstage credentials, was having a difficult time trying to break through the crowd of people – technicians, production people, members of the press – who had gathered in the wings to gawk at the celebrities on stage. Before the hapless ‘attacker’ knew what was happening, the speeches were over and she had missed her moment. The scheme didn't work.

  ‘What happened? What happened?’ Michael wanted to know later. ‘I'm standing there waiting and waiting, and nothing?’

  When Frank Dileo explained, Michael cracked up into laughter. ‘The joke's on me, I guess,’ he said. ‘I couldn't even concentrate on what was going on because I'm waiting for this girl to come out and jump me… and she never did it. Quincy said I was squirming so much, he thought I had to go to the bathroom! Next time, we'll have to plan it better,’ Michael concluded, with a wink.

  More Plastic Surgery

  In June 1986, Michael Jackson underwent another operation to have his nose made slimmer, his fourth rhinoplasty. He also wanted Steven Hoefflin to create a cleft in his chin. Years later, he would tell one associate that the ‘greatest joy I ever had was in knowing I had a choice about my face.’ This same associate asked Michael for advice about rhinoplasty surgery, and Michael recommended that Steven Hoefflin operate on him. ‘There's nothing to it, man,’ Michael said. ‘After the first one, it doesn't even hurt that much. Once you have it done, you'll never stop looking in the mirror. That's how great you'll feel about yourself. Do it. You'll love it.’

  When Michael told Katherine he was going to have a cleft put into his chin, she thought he was going, as she put it, ‘overboard’.

  ‘Why?’ she wanted to know. ‘I just don't understand.’

  As Katherine told a friend of hers, Michael explained, ‘I can afford it, I want it, so I'm going to have it.’ It was as if he were buying a new car instead of undergoing painful, appearance-changing plastic surgery. Whereas most people can only fantasize – ‘Wouldn't a new nose be nice, and maybe a new chin too?’ – Michael could afford to make those whims a reality. ‘And I think if more people could afford it, they would do it too,’ his sister Janet has reasoned. ‘I see nothing wrong with it.’

  One psychologist has speculated that it was Michael's narcissistic side that dictated he have a cleft carved into his chin. ‘Michael Jackson was obviously becoming more and more enchanted by his own image,’ Dr Raymond Johnson said. ‘He is apparently continuing his quest for the perfect face.’

  ‘I do want to be perfect,’ Michael confirmed. ‘I look in the mirror, and I just want to change, and be better. I always want to be better, so maybe that's why I wanted the cleft. I don't k
now how else to explain it.’

  Of course, one of the public's favourite theories about him is that Michael was trying to transform Himself into the image of Diana Ross – as if Diana has a cleft in her chin! Mostly this theory is the result of the popular connection between the two stars over the years, and some family members' recollections of Michael making statements to Janet and LaToya such as, ‘You're not pretty until you start looking like Diana.’ After surgery and with the help of carefully applied makeup, Michael sometimes did resemble Diana, with tweezed, arched eyebrows, high cheekbones, and a tapered nose (actually much more tapered than Diana's). Still, the resemblance was in the eye of the beholder. When an associate told Diana that Michael was trying to look like her, Diana was dismayed by the notion. She sized Michael up and snapped, ‘I look like that?’

  In fact, Michael does not want to look like Diana, even if he was enraptured by her image, allure, glamour and, also, her power. He did try to recreate her from time to time, though, by playing out certain ‘Miss Ross’ fantasies in front of witnesses. Beverly Hills limousine chauffeur, Ralph Caricosa, recalls having driven Michael to a destination. He looked into the rear view mirror and asked, ‘Where to now, Mr Jackson.’ Michael said, ‘Call me Miss Ross, won't you?’ Then, there was the night Diana caught him putting on her makeup backstage at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Former Supremes star Cindy Birdsong reported that when Diana scolded him (‘How many times have I told you to stay out of my makeup!’), Michael responded by saying, ‘But, Diana, it's magic.’

  Once, when Michael checked into the swank Helmsley Palace in Manhattan, he telephoned the front desk from a house phone in the lobby and, in front of amused witnesses, used his best imitation of Diana's speaking voice to hoodwink the operator. ‘My suite is not good enough,’ he said, acting like a disgruntled diva. ‘How dare you put me in that suite? There are no flowers, and I think I saw a mouse, and I'm, well, I'm just really upset. I can't even go back up there.’