"I wouldn't say I was sexy! But I guess that's fine if that's what they say. I like that in concert. That's neat."
In 1983, Sylvie Simmons, writing for the leading US rock magazine Creem, interviewed the 24-year-old star on the set for the video of 'Beat It' - one of the many classic songs from his new LP, Thriller, which was to become the biggest selling album of all time. She found a driven artist at the height of his powers, an assured performer on stage, but also a gentle soul who found the attentions of fans unbearable
Downtown between the Pacific American Fish Co and the Hotel St Agnes Hospitality Kitchen there's an alley. Cars block each end, no escape. And, silhouetted in the car headlights, two rival LA gangs are swaggering towards each other. A couple of people pop their heads out of the hotel window, mutter something incomprehensible and go back to sleep. Down below in the smoke, the gangs are getting closer. They look mean. Those Cripps, the ones with the blue bandannas, look really mean, slapping their fists in their hands and scowling and getting closer. Then someone switches on a tape machine and a bit of "Beat It" blares out into the night ...
"Magic" - says Michael Jackson, who talks a lot about magic - "is easy if you put your heart into it." There can't be that many things much more magic than standing around in downtown LA in the middle of the night watching marauding hordes stand to attention when someone with a fruity English accent gives the command. This particular bit of sorcery will, by the time you read this, be the video for "Beat It", Michael Jackson's new single. This song's about machismo; so's the video. Michael wakes up in some sleazy downtown bedroom in a cold sweat; he's had a dream about the upcoming punch-up and has to go stop it. He leaps out of bed, seriously endangering the lives of a whole family of cockroaches.
Back in the warehouse they're doing the choreographed fight sequence. The real gang members stand on the edges while a dozen or so imitation gang members, professional dancers, dance and wave knives.
All this time, a thin, long-fingered man in a brown leather jacket too big for him, is sipping orange juice, gazing wide-eyed and curious at the dancers and the monitors, nodding his head soberly in time to the music, his foot on automatic tap. Michael Jackson looks fascinated by the whole thing. It's three in the morning before he gets his go. He's to come in, break up the fight and lead them dancing out of a warehouse. Pied Piper meets Peter Pan. Dawn was breaking by the time they finished; Michael Jackson wasn't.
Where the man gets his energy from no one knows. It's certainly not drugs - he doesn't touch them and rarely drinks. It's certainly not raw meat - Michael's a strict vegetarian and wouldn't eat at all given an alternative; he fasts and dances every Sunday and manages to live to start another week. Michael Jackson manages to do more in a week than most manage in a decade. In the time it took Supertramp to get the right piano sound, Michael sang harmonies with Donna Summer, backing vocals with Joe King Carrasco, wrote and produced "Muscles" for Diana Ross, wrote and sang "The Girl is Mine" with Paul McCartney, and did a song for a narrated ET album, gathered together everyone from Vincent Price to Eddie Van Halen to help out with his solo album, and still had time for his pet llama, snake and parrots.
Just back from England (a couple more tunes with Macca, whom he met at a Hollywood cocktail party at silent comedian Harold Lloyd's place and swapped phone numbers: "I love Paul, Linda and family very much."), he's already planning projects with Gladys Knight, Jane Fonda, Barbra Streisand, Katharine Hepburn, and Freddie Mercury of Queen, his old pal. Not to mention working on a film with Steven Spielberg ("a futuristic fantasy with music") and an album with the Jacksons. Remember the Jacksons? Michael's been their singer and choreographer ever since his dad Joe Jackson - one-time head of a Chuck Berry cover band in Indiana, the Falcons - noticed the five-year-old's nifty James Brown impersonations.
The songs, ideas, energy come from God, he reckons - the man's a devoted Jehovah's Witness, He'll just wake up in the night and there they are. Several more million sellers. His first solo album, Off the Wall, sold seven million copies. Thriller's not exactly ready for the cut-out bins yet. The first act in history, no less, to top the pop and R&B singles and albums charts all at the same time ...
I talked to Jackson before the video shoot. In a three-story condo in the San Fernando Valley - where Michael is staying while they rebuild his family house five miles down the road - filled with books, plants, art-work, animals, organic juices and nephews and cousins and siblings of the Jackson family. La Toya was there in a cowboy hat. Little sister Janet was there to parrot my questions to Michael. Oh, I forgot, and there was a record collection ranging from Smokey Robinson to Macca, with stops at funk, new wave, classical and just about anything else.
"James Brown, Ray Charles, Jackie Wilson, Chuck Berry and Little Richard - I think they had strong influences on a lot of people, because these were the guys who really got rock'n'roll going. I like to start with the origin of things, because once it gets along it changes. It's so interesting to see how it really was in the beginning."
Michael's got a tiny, otherworldly voice. You've heard him described as childlike and angelic. You will again. He's painfully shy, stares at his hands, his shoes, his sister, anywhere he can forget there's an interviewer around.
He goes on: "I like to do that with art also. I love art. Whenever we go to Paris I rush to the Louvre. I just never get enough of it! I go to all the museums around the world. I love art. I love it too much, because I end up buying everything and you become addicted. You see a piece you like and you say, Oh God, I've got to have this ...
"I love classical music. I've got so many different compositions. I guess when I was real small in kindergarten and hearing Peter and the Wolf and stuff - I still listen to that stuff, it's great, and Boston Pops and Debussy, Mozart, I buy all that stuff. I'm a big classical fan. We've been influenced by all kinds of different music - classical, R&B, folk, funk - and I guess all those ingredients combine to create what we have now.
"I wouldn't be happy doing just one kind of music or label ourselves. I like doing something for everybody... I don't like our music to be labelled. Labels are like ... racism."
How does he choose who he works with? Anybody who asks?
"I choose by feeling and instinct," says Michael.
What does he get out of them?
"I feel it would be... magic."
Then again, you've got to keep in mind the man lives for his work.
"My career is mainly what I think about. It's hard to juggle your responsibilities around - my music here, my solo career, my movies there, TV and everything else."
Is that what makes you happy?
"Yes. That's what I'm here for really. It's like Michelangelo or Leonardo da Vinci," his voice trails off; he looks torn between sounding immodest and telling the truth, which, as he sees it, is that talent comes from God anyway, so don't go patting him on the back. "Still, today, we can see their work and be inspired by it."
So, as long as there are stereos, Michael Jackson lives?
"Yes. I'd like to just keep going and inspire people and try new things that haven't been done."
To what extent has his belief in divinity influenced his life?
"I believe in God. We all do. We like to be straight, don't go crazy or anything. Not to the point of losing our perspective on life, of what you are and who you are. A lot of entertainers, they make money and they spend the rest of their life celebrating that one goal they reached, and with that celebration comes the drugs and the liquor and the alcohol. And then they try to straighten up and they say, 'Who am I? Where am I? What happened?' And they lost themselves, and they're broken. You have to be careful and have some kind of discipline."
Is he a very self-disciplined person? "I'm not an angel, I know. I'm not like a Mormon or an Osmond or something where everything's straight. That can be silly sometimes. It goes too far."
It must be hard being an angel when you're acknowledged as one of the sexiest performers around, have girls camping in your backyard and the like.
"I wouldn't say I was sexy! But I guess that's fine if that's what they say. I like that in concert. That's neat."
What isn't neat is: "Like you run into a bunch of girls, which I do all the time, you'll drive outside and there'll be all these girls standing on the corner and they'll start bursting into screaming and jumping up and down and I'll just sink into my seat. That happens all the time ... Everyone knew where we lived before, because it was on the Map To The Stars Homes, and they'd come round with cameras and sleeping bags and jump the fence and sleep in the yard and come in the house - we found people everywhere. Even with 24-hour guards they find a way to slip in. One day my brother woke up and saw this girl standing over him in his bedroom. People hitch-hike to the house and say they want to sleep with us, stay with us, and it usually ends up that one of the neighbours takes them in. We don't let them stay. We don't know them."
More tales of crazy fans. One girl who tried to blow them up; another who screams at him in supermarkets. Must get a bit tough knowing who's your friend sometimes.
"It does become difficult. It's hard to tell, and sometimes I get it wrong. Just the force of feeling, or if a person's just nice without knowing who you are."
Lonely at the top? "We know lots and lots of people because we have such a big family. But [I've got] maybe two, three good friends."
Things weren't much different when he was growing up in Gary, Indiana. He remembers "a huge baseball pitch at the back of where I lived and children playing and eating popcorn and everything" and not being allowed to join in, but still reckons: "I didn't really feel left out. We got a lot in exchange for not playing baseball in the summer. My father was always very protective of us, taking care of business and everything.
"We went to school, but I guess we were even different then, because everyone in the neighbourhood knew about us. We'd win every talent show and our house was loaded with trophies. We always had money and we could buy things the other kids couldn't, like extra candy and extra bubblegum - our pockets were always loaded and we'd be passing out candy. That made us popular! But mostly we had private schooling. I only went to one public school in my life.
"I tried to go to another one here, but it didn't work, because a bunch of fans would break into the classroom, or we'd come out of school and there'd be a bunch of kids waiting to take pictures and stuff like that. We stayed at that school a week. The rest was private school with other entertainment kids or stars' kids, where you wouldn't have to be hassled."
But spending your life almost exclusively with your brothers and sisters - doesn't it get claustrophobic?
"Honestly, it doesn't, and I'm not just saying that to be polite."
Not even when they're on the road?
"No. We're so silly when we're on the road. We play games, we throw things at each other. It seems like when you're under pressure you find some kind of escapism to make up for that - because the road is a lot of tensions: work, interviews, fans grabbing you, everybody wants a piece of you, you're always busy, the phones ringing all night with fans calling you, so you put the phone under the mattress, then the fans knock at the door screaming, you can't even get out of the room without them following you. It's like you're in a goldfish bowl and they're always watching you."
How do you escape the madness?
"I go to museums and learn and study. I don't do sports - it's dangerous. There's a lot of money being counted on, and we don't want to risk anything. My brother hurt his leg in a basketball game and we had to cancel the concert, and just because of him having an hour of fun, thousands of people missed the show, and we were being sued left and right because of a game. I don't think it's worth it ... I try to be real careful."
Even about talking to the press. Another reason he hates interviews is a fear of being misquoted. Magazines he reckons, "can be so stupid sometimes that I want to choke them! I say things and they turn it all around. Once I made a quote - I care about starvation and I love children and I want to do something about the future. And I said, one day I'd love to go to India and see the starving children and really see what it feels like. And they wrote that Michael Jackson gets a kick out of seeing children starve, so you can see what kind of person he is!"
You wonder how someone so sweet and shy and childlike gets to be such a demon onstage.
"I just do it really. The sex thing is kind of spontaneous. It really creates itself."
So you don't practise being sexy in front of the mirror?
"No! Once the music plays, it creates me. The instruments move me, through me, they control me. Sometimes I'm uncontrollable and it just happens - boom, boom, boom! - once it gets inside you."
Michael has complete control over every aspect of his career. And he criticises his own efforts more than anyone else's: "I'm never satisfied with what I do. I always think I can do it a lot better."
Anyway, as we told you already he's going to be working on a film with Steven Spielberg. "I love Steven," says Michael. "I can't really tell you anything about the project. I will say Steven is my favourite director, and that he's looked long and hard for the right property."
Just heard that Francis Ford Coppola wants to do Peter Pan with him as the lead. And we at Creem haven't seen such a blatant bit of typecasting since Sly Stone made his fortune playing mindless beefcake. At 24, doesn't it get on his nerves being referred to as a "child"?
"I don't mind. I feel I'm Peter Pan as well as Methusalah, and a child. I love children so much. Thank God for children. They save me every time!
But how about a film of his own life, then? Will we ever get to see a film of Michael Jackson's magical life?
"No. I'd hate to play my own life story," he grimaces. "I haven't lived it yet! I'll let someone else do it."
© Sylvie Simmons, 1983
one day, there's a girl name josephine, who just moved to LA with her aunt. after moving in, she goes to an acting school. the same school with michael jackson kids.
and at the first day at school, it seems like 4ever 4 her.after school, she goes home to her house that only 4 bloks away from neverland.
and at the next day, she goes to the same class with paris. then, paris and her group is planning to prank josephine.
she planned that at p.e, when it's dogeball time, they all gonna beat joshephine. then, that all happen with only a split of minute.
because of that, josephine have to go to th nurse room.
but the next day, is the worst day for paris. paris almost always fail her math. but, as the teacher see that josephine is really really good at math, the math teacher told josephine to tutor paris.
for joshephine, it's really ok. but 4 paris, it was the worst day and the worst felling ever...
and at the first day at school, it seems like 4ever 4 her.after school, she goes home to her house that only 4 bloks away from neverland.
and at the next day, she goes to the same class with paris. then, paris and her group is planning to prank josephine.
she planned that at p.e, when it's dogeball time, they all gonna beat joshephine. then, that all happen with only a split of minute.
because of that, josephine have to go to th nurse room.
but the next day, is the worst day for paris. paris almost always fail her math. but, as the teacher see that josephine is really really good at math, the math teacher told josephine to tutor paris.
for joshephine, it's really ok. but 4 paris, it was the worst day and the worst felling ever...
Michael, we remember and appreciate
as you gave happiness to others ...
He did not like everything
He was alone in the whole wide world
He taught us to be kinder
He appealed to protect the planet.
Appreciate the love, doing good
contempt for revenge
forgave the insult, he loved life,
Preserved word of honor.
His eyes filled with deep
unearthly warmth
In his eyes concealed life
a hard life.
About him in the newspapers wrote
Just slander and lies
he wanted to humiliate,
What magazine did not take.
Michael is gone forever,
Nobody really does not return
He remained in the hearts
He's never in them will not die.
Day passes for the day ...
I still want to find the answer:
Why do people appreciate
When they are no longer close?
PS
I know Michael, your life is not in vain
You just wanted to give children the happiness
You tried to awaken within us human
You'll always be king of the 20 th century!
as you gave happiness to others ...
He did not like everything
He was alone in the whole wide world
He taught us to be kinder
He appealed to protect the planet.
Appreciate the love, doing good
contempt for revenge
forgave the insult, he loved life,
Preserved word of honor.
His eyes filled with deep
unearthly warmth
In his eyes concealed life
a hard life.
About him in the newspapers wrote
Just slander and lies
he wanted to humiliate,
What magazine did not take.
Michael is gone forever,
Nobody really does not return
He remained in the hearts
He's never in them will not die.
Day passes for the day ...
I still want to find the answer:
Why do people appreciate
When they are no longer close?
PS
I know Michael, your life is not in vain
You just wanted to give children the happiness
You tried to awaken within us human
You'll always be king of the 20 th century!
My heart,
I’ll be waiting
Look out to the horizon,
A whole world lies beyond
The path of life shall guide you
And move you swiftly on,
There’s new things to discover
And unseen sights to see
But always I’ll be waiting
Remember of my love.
The road stretches before you
No one knows just how far,
And whatever may befall you
Just remember who you are
If others try to change you,
Think who you want to be,
And I’ll be right here waiting
Remember of my love.
You’ll find you’ve reached your limit,
When you can go no more,
And you’ll always have the memories
Of good times you’ve had before
So when your journey’s ending,
And you’ve managed to break free
Just remember I’m here waiting
For our love.
I love you Michael ♥
I’ll be waiting
Look out to the horizon,
A whole world lies beyond
The path of life shall guide you
And move you swiftly on,
There’s new things to discover
And unseen sights to see
But always I’ll be waiting
Remember of my love.
The road stretches before you
No one knows just how far,
And whatever may befall you
Just remember who you are
If others try to change you,
Think who you want to be,
And I’ll be right here waiting
Remember of my love.
You’ll find you’ve reached your limit,
When you can go no more,
And you’ll always have the memories
Of good times you’ve had before
So when your journey’s ending,
And you’ve managed to break free
Just remember I’m here waiting
For our love.
I love you Michael ♥
Smile, even though it's breaking
When there are clouds in the sky
You'll get by...
If you smile
With your fear and sorrow
Smile and maybe tomorrow
You'll find that life is still worthwhile
If you just...
Light up your face with gladness
Hide every trace of sadness
Although a tear may be ever so near
That's the time you must keep on trying
Smile, what's the use of crying
You'll find that life is still worthwhile
If you just...
Smile, though your heart is aching
Smile, even though it's breaking
When there are clouds in the sky
You'll get by...
If you smile
Through your fear and sorrow
Smile and maybe tomorrow
You'll find that life is still worthwhile
If you just smile...
That's the time you must keep on trying
Smile, what's the use of crying
You'll find that life is still worthwhile
If you just smile
So we had our school retreat today, & there was a band right? They started playing will you be there, & my friends were all nudging me going "it's MJ!" The thing is, I didn't know it was MJ when they first started playing. I had never heard will you be there before, yet all my friends knew it. Isn't that kinda sad? My friend Emily was like "Keri, it's MJ get up & sing!" but I was like "I don't know the words." I learned it pretty fast though; they only played the first 2 lines over & over instead of the whole song, so I didn't feel like a total idiot!! So it was kinda embarrassing for me because my friends all know me as the big MJ fanatic, yet I didn't recognize the song. But it really made my day!
YES!!! I LOVE THRILLER but come on thriller thriller thriller lets have a dif fav era for once hehe. ok so i do love the thriller era yes probably ALLOT but my fav's are invincible and history why cause he had a more....mellinium and upbeat like a sorta futureristic pop music sound that just hung on me like all his albums not 1 mj song i hate. I like invincible cause it has beats that just make you want to move not to menchon the beautiful and awesome slow songs on there i think mj put all his work into this album im sure. HIStory sorta explains how i feel and makes happy when im sad cause i know im not the only one whos lonely and gets made fun of cause of my looks or what. I LOVE ALL MJ ERAS xD
"Moonwalker" -- a collection of short films made by MJ in 1988 -- was never released theatrically in the United States ... but one L.A. movie theater is finally trying to make it happen ... for one night only.
TMZ has learned Arclight Cinemas in Hollywood is on the hunt for a film print of the 1988 cult classic ... after MJ fans flooded the A.C. Facebook page with the challenging request.
According to reports, "Moonwalker" was never theatrically released in America because of failed negotiations with U.S. movie distributors back in the day ... however the flick was eventually released in The States on VHS.
FYI -- "Moonwalker" featured a super-iconic 25-minute featurette for "Smooth Criminal" ... which included an awesome cameo by Joe Pesci.
Arclight claims they're actively searching for the print -- we'll let you know if the search succeeds.
TMZ has learned Arclight Cinemas in Hollywood is on the hunt for a film print of the 1988 cult classic ... after MJ fans flooded the A.C. Facebook page with the challenging request.
According to reports, "Moonwalker" was never theatrically released in America because of failed negotiations with U.S. movie distributors back in the day ... however the flick was eventually released in The States on VHS.
FYI -- "Moonwalker" featured a super-iconic 25-minute featurette for "Smooth Criminal" ... which included an awesome cameo by Joe Pesci.
Arclight claims they're actively searching for the print -- we'll let you know if the search succeeds.
The prosecutor in the Michael Jackson manslaughter preliminary hearing -- which begins tomorrow -- will not call Michael's eldest son, Prince Michael, to testify about what he saw the day his dad died ... sources tell TMZ.
Dr. Conrad Murray has said after administering CPR he ran downstairs and asked the chef to send up Prince Michael, who saw his dad's lifeless body lying in the bed.
In fact, we're told no one from MJ's family will be called to the stand during the prelim.
As TMZ first reported, prosecutors plan to call 30 witnesses during the 2-week prelim ... many of whom will be medical professionals offering opinions about the standard of care administered by Dr. Murray.
There will be no "star witness" in the prelim. Sources tell us the various witnesses will form building blocks, making the case that Dr. Murray acted recklessly by administering Propofol and other drugs to Jackson the day he died.
Dr. Conrad Murray has said after administering CPR he ran downstairs and asked the chef to send up Prince Michael, who saw his dad's lifeless body lying in the bed.
In fact, we're told no one from MJ's family will be called to the stand during the prelim.
As TMZ first reported, prosecutors plan to call 30 witnesses during the 2-week prelim ... many of whom will be medical professionals offering opinions about the standard of care administered by Dr. Murray.
There will be no "star witness" in the prelim. Sources tell us the various witnesses will form building blocks, making the case that Dr. Murray acted recklessly by administering Propofol and other drugs to Jackson the day he died.
Certain items found in the room where Michael Jackson died could help shape Dr. Conrad Murray's defense -- namely, that other docs were medicating Michael.
Sources connected with the case tell TMZ ... evidence in the room suggests certain potent drugs were "prescribed and prepared" for MJ to self-medicate.
As we first reported, Dr. Murray's team will not challenge the L.A. County Coroner's finding that Jackson died of a massive Propofol overdose. But as we told you, Murray's team will present evidence in the doc's manslaughter case that Michael awakened, then gave himself the fatal dose of Propofol when Murray left the room.
We're told Murray's team hasn't decided if it will use the evidence found in the room to implicate other doctors in Jackson's death. But we do know Murray's legal team will present evidence during the trial that the fruits of Jackson's notorious doctor shopping over two decades wore his body down.
The rep for Dr. Murray's lawyer refused comment.
Sources connected with the case tell TMZ ... evidence in the room suggests certain potent drugs were "prescribed and prepared" for MJ to self-medicate.
As we first reported, Dr. Murray's team will not challenge the L.A. County Coroner's finding that Jackson died of a massive Propofol overdose. But as we told you, Murray's team will present evidence in the doc's manslaughter case that Michael awakened, then gave himself the fatal dose of Propofol when Murray left the room.
We're told Murray's team hasn't decided if it will use the evidence found in the room to implicate other doctors in Jackson's death. But we do know Murray's legal team will present evidence during the trial that the fruits of Jackson's notorious doctor shopping over two decades wore his body down.
The rep for Dr. Murray's lawyer refused comment.
