Michael Jackson

by J. Randy Taraborrelli

  Another scene showed him feeding Prince Michael II with a bottle. As he fed the infant, concealed by a green chiffon scarf, Michael vigorously bounced him on his knee. ‘I love you, Blanket,’ he cooed, ‘I love you, Blanket.’ Then, seeming somewhat wild-eyed and jittery, he recalled his actions on the balcony in Germany, explaining that he had the infant firmly in hand when he briefly dangled him off the side, and that it was the media that was responsible for the ensuing fracas, not him. ‘Why would I put a scarf over the baby’s face if I was trying to throw him off a balcony?’ Michael asked, angrily. ‘We were waving to thousands of fans below and they were chanting to see my child, and I was kind enough to let them see.’

  Of his love for children, he noted, ‘I’ll say it a million times. I’m not afraid to say it. If there were no children on this earth, if somebody announced that all kids are dead, I would jump off the balcony immediately. I’m done. I’m done.’

  Most maddening, perhaps, was Michael’s insistence that ‘I’ve had no plastic surgery on my face, just my nose. It helped me breathe better, so I can hit the higher notes.’ He claimed that he’s only had two surgeries, both on his nose. I’m telling you the honest truth. I don’t do anything to my face,’ he said. After all of these years, one would think he would have a better way to deal with the issue of plastic surgery. How about: ‘Obviously, I have had plastic surgery. Next question, please.’ Who could argue with that?

  Throughout the ages, the one safe haven to which a celebrity can always retreat from an aggressive media is the ‘No Comment’ zone. It works. Jackie Kennedy, for instance, rarely had an interesting public comment to make about anything, and no one held it against her. It’s often better, in fact, if celebrities have nothing to say, especially if they are unconventional people who behave in a way that, no matter how much they try, they simply will not be able to explain to anyone’s satisfaction.

  For anyone who knew Michael, watching the Martin Bashir documentary was painful. Lisa Marie Presley telephoned Neverland the next morning, telling his assistant that she wanted to speak to Michael as soon as possible. She was in another state, on a radio tour for her album. Still, she took the time to call to see how her ex-husband was handling the highly publicized controversy.

  When Michael heard that Lisa was trying to reach him, his heart began to race. He still hasn’t got over what he shared with her and, according to what he has said, believes that one day, somehow, they will be together again. When Lisa married actor Nicolas Cage in Hawaii in November 2002, Michael had been troubled. When they separated after less than four months, he called her to check in on her. ‘Oh, don’t worry about me,’ she told him. ‘It’s just another shit storm in my life. I’m getting through it, just shovelling through the bullshit.’ He laughed.

  He called her at the number she left for him. ‘Dude!’ Lisa said as soon as she got on the line. ‘That documentary fucking sucked, man. What were you thinking?‘

  They couldn’t stop laughing. Leave it to her to lift his spirits. ‘Oh, screw Martin Bashir,’ she said. ‘That guy’s never gonna work again, Michael. Who would ever trust him? He’s over. You fucking killed his career.’

  ‘I think maybe he tried to kill mine, Lisa,’ Michael said.

  ‘Oh, please,’ she told him, ‘it’s gonna take more than that shit head of a reporter to kill your career, believe me.’

  It could be argued that Martin had exploited Michael with all of his leading questions, his presumptions, expressed fascination and bemusement. For instance, he encouraged Michael to climb the tree atop which he writes many of his songs while at one with the beauty of Neverland, his so-called ‘Magic Tree’. One doubts he did so because he was trying to show Michael’s playful side. What he got was the image of Michael sitting alone, on top of a tree. It worked; it was touching and even somewhat disturbing. When Martin later followed Michael on a Las Vegas shopping spree and observed him spending thousands of dollars on the worst, most gaudy furnishings, was he doing it for any other reason than to make Michael look like a spectacle? But why, by the same token, did Michael allow himself to be seen this way? There were also a number of sanctimonious voiceovers from Martin as he stood in judgement of Michael and his life.

  Michael was at home, in Neverland, with a few friends and advisers when he viewed an advance copy of Living with Michael Jackson, just before it aired in the UK. He expected to be pleased with it. ‘However, he knew within five minutes that he was going to be very unhappy,’ said an associate. ‘He watched quietly. You could hear a pin drop in the room, no one wanted to say a word. When it was over, he was quiet. He kept saying, “I can’t believe he would do this to me.” There was a lot of discussion about blocking the programme’s broadcast, but not much hope held out for it. Mike drank a lot of wine, that night, trying to dull the misery. It wasn’t until the next day that he became angry. Then, he was adamant that he didn’t want it released. His attorneys said there was no way to block it. “Don’t tell me that, now. Find a way,” he said, angrily. However, they were never able to do that.’

  In the final analysis, though, Michael did say what he said and was the way he was – tricky editing had nothing to do with him, at the age of forty-four, holding hands and giggling with a cancer-survivor, age twelve, and admitting that he sometimes sleeps in the same room with him. Recalled the youngster, his head nuzzling against Michael’s shoulder, ‘I was, like, “Michael, you can sleep in the bed,” and he was, like, “No, no, you sleep in the bed,” and I was, like, “No, no, no, you sleep in the bed,” and then he said, “Look, if you love me, then you’ll sleep in the bed.” I was, like, “Oh, man!”’ said the youngster. ‘So, I finally slept in the bed.’ (Michael slept on the floor.)

  As the boy spoke, Michael gazed upon him steadily, clearly wanting to convey his affection and devotion. Once again, by his own doing, he had presented himself to the world in a way that would cause the raising of eyebrows and the wagging of tongues. Michael told Martin, ‘I have slept in a bed with many children. Why can’t you share your bed? The most loving thing to do is to share your bed with someone. When you say “bed”, you’re thinking sexual. They make that sexual; it’s not sexual. We’re going to sleep, I tuck them in and I put a little music on, and when it’s story time, I read a book. We go to sleep with the fireplace on. I give them hot milk, you know, we have cookies. It’s very charming, it’s very sweet; it’s what the whole world should do.’

  Of course, talent and excess go hand in hand in the entertainment world, and in some ways Michael Jackson may be no more eccentric than certain other stars in pop history. Imagine what Living With Elvis might have looked like in his declining years, secluded at Graceland, paranoid and on drugs? The problem for Michael is that he has been publicly wigging out for more than fifteen years, since the hyperbaric chamber scam of 1986. ‘No, I am Peter Pan,’ he told Martin Bashir. ‘I’m Peter Pan in my heart.’ Such PR has never served him well in the court of public opinion; his wacky image only serves to diminish his important, hard-earned legacy in the entertainment field.

  Perhaps Lisa Marie said it best to Playboy writer, Rob Tannenbaum: ‘For a while, Michael was like the Wizard of Oz, the man behind the curtain. At one time, he was really good at manipulating a Howard Hughes type of image. He became this bigger-than-life figure. But at some point, it turned on him and he became this freak [in some of the public’s view]. And now he can’t get out from under it. When you’re the king of your own palace, there are no morals or ethics or integrity. Everyone will kiss your ass and then give you the push that knocks you over.’

  After Living with Michael Jackson aired in the United States, an unhappy Michael issued a statement saying that he felt ‘devastated’ and ‘utterly betrayed’ by the documentary, that he viewed it as ‘a gross distortion of the truth’ and a ‘tawdry attempt to misrepresent’ his life and his abilities as a father. Michael clearly felt that the journalist had let him down. Blaming the sensational tone of the documentary on its editing and on
what he saw as Bashir’s bad-faith intentions, Michael then launched a turn-about-is-fair-play offensive by releasing a sixteen-second extract of unreleased film that would, it was hoped, make Bashir look like a complete ass.

  In Living with Michael Jackson, Martin accused Michael of having little time for his own youngsters: Prince Michael I, then five; Paris Katherine Michael, four; and baby Prince Michael II. Of the Jackson offspring, Martin noted, ‘The children are restricted. They are over protected.’ He branded Michael ‘broken, childish and self-obsessed’. He said, ‘I came away quite saddened and deeply disturbed by what I saw.’

  However, on Michael’s footage, Bashir gushes, ‘Your relationship with your kids is fantastic. In fact, it almost makes me weep when I see you with them because your interaction is so natural, so loving and so caring. Everyone that comes into contact with you knows that.’ Michael Jackson replies: ‘Thank you.’

  Did this film make Martin Bashir appear to be a liar, and Michael an exemplary parent? Perhaps, to some, it did. To others, it came as little surprise that an interviewer would attempt to ingratiate himself to the person that he’s talking to in order to encourage him to be more candid.

  It was then decided that Michael would release an entire two-hour documentary about his life, as seen by him and some of his inner-circle. Fox-TV, in America, paid him two million dollars for the rights to The Michael Jackson Interview: The Footage You Were Never Meant to See, and then the programme was sold around the world. Because his interpretation of Martin Bashir’s un-released footage would not have been enough to sustain an entire documentary, Katherine and Joseph were brought in to defend him, as were others such as his brother, Jermaine, his makeup artist, Karen Faye, and Debbie Rowe.

  Debbie’s attempts to explain her relationship to Michael, and to their children, may have done him more harm than good. ‘My kids don’t call me Mom because I don’t want them to,’ she said. ‘They’re Michael’s children. It’s not that they are not my children, but I had them because I wanted him to be a father. People make remarks, “I can’t believe she left her children.” Left them? I left my children? I did not leave my children. My children are with their father, where they are supposed to be. I didn’t do it to be a mother… If he called me tonight and said let’s have five more [children], I’d do it in a heartbeat.’

  She seems well-meaning; her heart in the right place. However, Debbie’s unconventional relationship with Michael, and especially with her children, is perplexing, no matter how much logic she tries to ascribe to it. It’s probably better left unpublicized, unexploited.

  After the duelling documentaries were broadcast – Martin’s and Michael’s – Michael once again dismissed his longtime attorney, John Branca, this time, by fax. John was said to be sorry to go, but also a bit relieved. His had been an exhausting job, on and off for twenty-five years, made even more frustrating when Michael stopped taking his good advice. As a friend as well as his attorney for so many years, it was difficult for him to see Michael make some of his choices. Also, the woman managing Michael at this time, Trudy Green, quit her position – she, too, did not know Michael had finalized a deal with Bashir until it was too late to do anything about it. Then, Michael fired his accountant, Barry Siegel, as if completely cleaning out the shop.

  At this same time, a website published previously unseen documents filed by authorities a decade before when Jordie Chandler detailed his alleged sexual abuse at Michael’s hands. It had to happen; more reminders of the past misery with Jordie and Evan, and all as a result of the appearance of impropriety that resulted from footage of Michael holding hands with a twelve-year-old on the Martin Bashir documentary. After the release of the lurid five-page document, Michael issued a statement saying he ‘has respected the obligation of confidentiality’ and that Jordie’s declaration was just being used to ‘further sully’ his [Michael’s] character. ‘It will never go away, will it?’ he then asked one adviser, seeming miserable. Just when he was able to forget about Jordie Chandler for a time, he had to once again be reminded of him. ‘It’s not fair. Why won’t the media leave me alone?’ he asked. ‘Why?’

  If Michael truly wants to redeem himself, perhaps he should do the one thing he has never done: join us, the general public, in acknowledging the strange, disturbing aspects of some of his behaviour and attribute them to something, rather than continue to act as if they don’t exist. Instead, he issues statements such as one after the Martin Bashir interview, in which he said, ‘I am bewildered at the length to which people will go to portray me so negatively.’ Then, he allows his enablers to come forth with their own proclamations: ‘He’s not crazy. It’s the public that’s crazy. He’s not nuts. It’s the public that’s nuts. Why don’t you understand? Why don ‘t you get it?‘ Rather, one wishes Michael Jackson would be the one to finally ‘get it’, apologize for any perceived impropriety and say, ‘To tell you the truth, I don’t know what I was thinking.’

  HIStory, Blood on the Dance Floor & Invincible

  Michael Jackson survived the devastating child molestation allegations of a decade ago, but it could be argued not without considerable damage to his recording career. In fact, his record sales have dipped dramatically since 1993.

  In 1995, a double CD was issued, HIStory – Past, Present & Future, Book 1. The package boasted fifteen of his greatest hits (‘Beat It’, ‘Billie Jean’, and the rest) and fifteen new songs, such as the thoughtful ‘Stranger in Moscow’, the elegant ‘Earth Song’ and ‘Scream’ (with Janet, the first single release from the package).

  ‘You Are Not Alone’, also included, remains among Michael’s best songs; it made chart history in America by becoming the first song ever to go straight to number one on the Billboard charts in its first week. It also topped the chart in Britain, after debuting there at number three. On listening to ‘You Are Not Alone’, one wonders how many times Michael tried to tell himself, during his most desperate and anguished times, that he did have support in his life, from a higher power, or even friends and family, whether he actually believed it or not.

  The only problem with ‘You Are Not Alone’ was the bizarre video for it, in which Michael and Lisa Marie frolic about semi-nude against an ethereal backdrop. ‘I don’t know why I did it,’ Lisa says. ‘I was sucked up in the moment. It was kind of cool being in a Michael Jackson video. Come on!’ Actually, the semi-nudity made no sense and was a bit disconcerting; one wished they would put their clothes back on.

  Another stand-out is Michael’s version of Charlie Chaplain’s ‘Smile’. What a vocal performance and delivery he gives to this song! Never has he sounded more sincere, more gorgeous. The song was scheduled for release as a single, but cancelled at the last minute when it was decided it was probably not commercial. However, some promotional CDs – now collectors’ items – did slip out, with pictures of Michael nattily dressed as Charlie Chaplain.

  Huge statues of Michael were constructed and unveiled in a number of European cities to coincide with the record’s release. (Leave it to Michael to have a huge statue of himself towed down the Thames as a publicity stunt!) Also, a controversy over the lyrics of ‘They Don’t Care About Us’ broke out, with Michael accused of anti-Semitism because of his lyrics ‘kike me’ and ‘jew me’. He replaced them with ‘strike me’ and ‘do me’ as a result.

  However, any publicity for Michael is usually good publicity when he’s promoting a record. HIStory went on to sell about fifteen million copies worldwide, a slip down from Dangerous, which had managed twenty-seven million (Bad sold twenty-five million; Thriller went on to fifty-two million, and Off the Wall, fifteen million). Still, HIStory was a major success – artistically as well as commercially – though one largely ignored by a media still distracted by his turbulent and vastly entertaining personal life.

  Blood on the Dance Dloor – History in the Mix, Michael’s 1997 album, contained five new songs and eight previously unreleased, kick-ass dance remixes of songs such as ‘Scream’, ‘You Are Not A
lone’ and ‘Stranger in Moscow’ from HIStory. Several of the other songs on Blood are also memorable. ‘Ghosts’ stands out, perhaps because it’s so evocative of Michael’s spell-binding ‘Ghosts’ long-styled video in which he is transformed into an old, white man with no rhythm. (It’s classic, must-see Michael Jackson.)

  The bad news for Michael was that the collection was not a success in America; it was dismissed by critics and much of his audience, who seemed confused as to whether it was a new release or some kind of hybrid combination of songs. Michael’s British fans, however, did not disappoint: Blood was a major hit in the United Kingdom, kicking off with the single release of ‘Blood on the Dance Floor’ debuting at number one, then the album. In truth, there may be nothing in his entire catalogue better than ‘Blood on the Dance Floor’, a song that many of Michael’s American fans don’t even know exists, it was so overlooked. He wrote and produced it himself.

  Blood only sold about four million copies worldwide. While it’s not fair to equate the sales of an album of mostly remixes with the sales of his other products, this was still a weak showing. It, and the ‘Ghosts’ video, like much of what Michael did at this time, was lost in the ongoing controversy of his world: the ongoing confusion about children, Lisa Marie, Debbie Rowe… Without that, this stellar work would no doubt have found an appreciative audience.

  It should also be noted that it was because of its weak showing Sony executives no longer viewed Michael as being ‘invincible’. Heads would not roll, it was learned, if he had a flop record, or if he was unhappy with the company. After Blood on the Dance Floor disappointed in the USA, he was never a company priority again.

  Invincible (released in October 2001), was said to be the most expensive recording ever produced. Sony advanced Michael about forty million dollars to make it. They then spent another twenty-five million to promote it (though, it’s difficult to specify how such funds were allocated because the promotion was so weak).