Part 11 (1/2)

'One thing about Michael, though,' Joseph added, 'is that ever since he was four, he wanted to be an entertainer. And he always wanted to be number one. That's why sports upset him, because his brothers can whip him and outdo him at sports and he can't be number one at it. But in music, Michael knows knows he's number one. he's number one.

'And speakin' of Michael, Marlon told me about what happened. You're not gonna write that part about Michael's nickname, are you?' he asked. 'That boy is so sensitive about his nose,' Joseph added. 'Do you see anything wrong with his nose? That's all he ever talks about, his d.a.m.n nose. He threatened to have it fixed, but what can he do with it? I told him I'd break his face if he ever had it fixed.' Joseph's green eyes twinkled. He threw back his head and roared with laughter. 'You don't fix something that isn't broken,' he added. 'He's got a great nose. It looks like mine.'

Afterwards, Michael returned to the living room for some final thoughts about his life and career. As the photographer and I watched, he crossed his left leg over his right knee and began absent-mindedly picking at his toenails. 'When I'm not onstage, I'm not the same. I'm different,' he observed. 'I'm addicted to the stage. When I can't get on to a stage for a long time, I have fits and get crazy. I start crying, and I act weird and freaked out. No kiddin', I do. I start dancin' 'round the house.'

He began to talk rapidly. 'It's like a part of me is missin' and I gotta get it back, 'cause if I don't, I won't be complete. So I gotta dance and I gotta sing, you know? I have this craving. Onstage is the only place I'm comfortable. I'm not comfortable around...' he paused, searching for the right word, 'normal people. But when I get out onstage, I open up and I have no problems.' He seemed fl.u.s.tered, unnerved. 'Whatever is happening in my life doesn't matter. I'm up there and cuttin' loose and I say to myself, 'This is it. people. But when I get out onstage, I open up and I have no problems.' He seemed fl.u.s.tered, unnerved. 'Whatever is happening in my life doesn't matter. I'm up there and cuttin' loose and I say to myself, 'This is it. This This is home. This is exactly where I'm supposed to be, where G.o.d meant for me to be.' I am is home. This is exactly where I'm supposed to be, where G.o.d meant for me to be.' I am unlimited unlimited when I'm onstage. I'm number one. But when I'm off the stage,' he shrugged his shoulders, 'I'm not really...' Again, he paused, trying to find the right word. 'Happy.' when I'm onstage. I'm number one. But when I'm off the stage,' he shrugged his shoulders, 'I'm not really...' Again, he paused, trying to find the right word. 'Happy.'

Earlier in the day, I had conducted an interview with Sidney Lumet, director of The Wiz. The Wiz. 'Michael Jackson is the most gifted entertainer to come down the pike since James Dean,' Lumet told me. 'He's a brilliant actor and dancer, probably one of the rarest entertainers I have ever worked with.' 'Michael Jackson is the most gifted entertainer to come down the pike since James Dean,' Lumet told me. 'He's a brilliant actor and dancer, probably one of the rarest entertainers I have ever worked with.'

I shared Sidney's observation with Michael. He seemed embarra.s.sed for a moment. Then, he asked, 'Who's James Dean?'

Later, he began talking about his role as the Scarecrow in The Wiz. The Wiz. 'What I like about my character,' he observed, 'is his confusion. He knows that he has problems, I guess you could call them. But he doesn't know why he has them or how he got that way. And he understands that he sees things differently from the way everyone else does, but he can't put his finger on why. He's not like other people. No one understands him. So he goes through his whole life with this, uh...' he paused, 'confusion.' 'What I like about my character,' he observed, 'is his confusion. He knows that he has problems, I guess you could call them. But he doesn't know why he has them or how he got that way. And he understands that he sees things differently from the way everyone else does, but he can't put his finger on why. He's not like other people. No one understands him. So he goes through his whole life with this, uh...' he paused, 'confusion.'

Michael looked off into the distance, now seeming lost in his thought process. 'Everybody thinks he's very special, but, really, he's very sad. He's so, so sad. Do you understand?' He fixed his thoughtful gaze on me and asked, again. 'Do you understand his sadness?'

The Wiz is a Flop is a Flop.

When The Wiz The Wiz was released in October 1978, it became a critical failure and a box-office disappointment. The finished film was an overblown spectacle, one that most people who were involved with would just as soon take off their resumes. Even the commercial release of 'Ease On Down the Road', teaming Michael with Diana Ross a coupling that seemed destined for the Top Ten, in theory didn't even crack the Top Forty. Berry Gordy, who had nothing to do with the actual production of the film and didn't believe Diana should have been cast in it, has never discussed was released in October 1978, it became a critical failure and a box-office disappointment. The finished film was an overblown spectacle, one that most people who were involved with would just as soon take off their resumes. Even the commercial release of 'Ease On Down the Road', teaming Michael with Diana Ross a coupling that seemed destined for the Top Ten, in theory didn't even crack the Top Forty. Berry Gordy, who had nothing to do with the actual production of the film and didn't believe Diana should have been cast in it, has never discussed The Wiz, The Wiz, publicly. publicly.

'It was a big dream that got away,' said producer Rob Cohen, in retrospect. 'A brilliant idea gone wrong. The knowledge that two years of my life, twenty-three million dollars of Universal's money, thousands of man hours of labour, and all of the hopes and dreams of everyone involved went into a movie that didn't stand a chance makes me sick.'

Despite its failure, the making of The Wiz The Wiz marked a personal victory for Michael Jackson. Identifying himself with the role of the Scarecrow gave him the opportunity to look within and discover a new sense of strength and self-confidence. 'Working in the movie showed me what makes kings of the world and what makes giants,' he said. 'It showed me how I can believe in myself in a way I never could before.' He also expanded his professional horizons and, in the process, won the respect of fellow workers, and even some critics who had panned the movie. marked a personal victory for Michael Jackson. Identifying himself with the role of the Scarecrow gave him the opportunity to look within and discover a new sense of strength and self-confidence. 'Working in the movie showed me what makes kings of the world and what makes giants,' he said. 'It showed me how I can believe in myself in a way I never could before.' He also expanded his professional horizons and, in the process, won the respect of fellow workers, and even some critics who had panned the movie.

Still, Michael could not ignore the fact that The Wiz The Wiz was a failure at the box office. He was shattered by it; he had never suffered such a high-profile failure. 'Did I make a mistake?' he asked Rob Cohen a few weeks after the movie was released. 'Maybe I shouldn't have done the film? Maybe I should have listened to my family. What will it mean to my career?' was a failure at the box office. He was shattered by it; he had never suffered such a high-profile failure. 'Did I make a mistake?' he asked Rob Cohen a few weeks after the movie was released. 'Maybe I shouldn't have done the film? Maybe I should have listened to my family. What will it mean to my career?'

'Look, you followed your instincts,' Rob told him. 'We all did. Don't second-guess yourself now. We have nothing to be ashamed of. We did the best job we could.'

'But '

'But nothing,' Rob said. 'Go on with your life and career. Be a star. You've only just begun.'

Joseph also supported Michael during this disappointing time. When one of the brothers said something disparaging about the movie, Joseph gave him a sharp punch on the shoulder. 'Ouch! Joseph,' said the brother. 'That hurt.'

'Ouch, my a.s.s,' Joseph countered. 'You don't criticize your brother. At least he tried. How many movies have you you made, big shot?' made, big shot?'

Transition.

At the end of 1978, Joseph Jackson severed his ties with Richard Arons. In Richard's wake, Joseph recruited Ron Weisner and Freddy DeMann as managers. Both were experienced in the entertainment field, Weisner as a business manager and DeMann as a promoter. Joseph felt that he needed the a.s.sistance of these men, both white, in order to insure that CBS would promote The Jacksons as the company did its white artists. He believed that the company considered his sons a 'black act' and was, therefore, restricting the way it promoted and marketed them. Joseph's concern is a common, and often justified, complaint of black acts signed to record companies, like CBS, which are manned predominantly by white executives. Like Joseph, many black managers maintain that white executives don't know how to market black entertainment 'across the board', meaning to white record buyers, as well as to black. Of course, Richard Arons is also white, so it was clear that Joseph felt the new managers were more experienced as well, and had more clout in the music business.

Joseph's strategy worked in America. Destiny Destiny sold over a million copies and reached number eleven on sold over a million copies and reached number eleven on Billboard's Billboard's alb.u.m chart, not bad for a group that hadn't had a major record in some time. alb.u.m chart, not bad for a group that hadn't had a major record in some time.

Destiny didn't do as well in the UK, however. It took six months for it to be released there, and the highest it hit was number thirty-three. But it was now accepted that the Jacksons had sporadic sales in the UK; there was little anyone could do about it. They simply weren't as hot in England as in the States. That was fine with Joseph; the focus at this time was on US sales anyway, not European. didn't do as well in the UK, however. It took six months for it to be released there, and the highest it hit was number thirty-three. But it was now accepted that the Jacksons had sporadic sales in the UK; there was little anyone could do about it. They simply weren't as hot in England as in the States. That was fine with Joseph; the focus at this time was on US sales anyway, not European.

However, Michael was still unhappy. Despite what his brothers tried to promote, he knew in his heart that he and they were not fully responsible for the success of Destiny. Destiny. CBS had whipped up quite a publicity frenzy about how terrific the brothers were as producers, yet it was not true. They hadn't actually produced that alb.u.m on their own; Michael hated living the lie. He was too old for such nonsense, he felt. Gone were the days when it was acceptable to promote such untruths. CBS had whipped up quite a publicity frenzy about how terrific the brothers were as producers, yet it was not true. They hadn't actually produced that alb.u.m on their own; Michael hated living the lie. He was too old for such nonsense, he felt. Gone were the days when it was acceptable to promote such untruths.

Michael had never been dismayed about his life and career as he was when he finished the 1979 Destiny tour. While on the road, he had lost his voice making it necessary for Marlon to sing his higher-register parts while Michael just moved his mouth. He found the process humiliating. Eventually, two weeks of performances had to just be cancelled because of Michael's throat problems.

Throughout the tour, Michael was tired and discouraged and couldn't seem to find the unlimited supply of energy he had always relied upon in the past. As enthusiastic as the audiences were to the show, Michael felt that something was missing from it. Barely twenty-one, he felt he'd stopped growing professionally; he was frustrated by being in a group. 'It was the same thing over and over,' he told me in an interview after the tour. 'It was all for one and one for all, but I was starting to think that maybe I should be doing some things on my own. I was getting antsy.'

To make matters worse, Michael loathed having to answer to Joseph and was getting to the point where he didn't even want to be around him.

Though many industry observers believed that, based on the success of Destiny, Destiny, Joseph Jackson had become a brilliant entertainment manager, Michael was not one of them. In Michael's view, his father used a shotgun approach to his work: 'If you shoot enough bullets, one will hit the target, eventually,' Michael explained. 'But you can also waste a lot of ammunition and maybe hit some targets you would rather not,' Michael explained. 'Look at the way Joseph alienated Berry and everyone else at Motown.' Some people, Michael argued, determine their target, stalk it as long as necessary, and then get it cleanly with one shot. 'That's the way to go,' Michael reasoned. Joseph Jackson had become a brilliant entertainment manager, Michael was not one of them. In Michael's view, his father used a shotgun approach to his work: 'If you shoot enough bullets, one will hit the target, eventually,' Michael explained. 'But you can also waste a lot of ammunition and maybe hit some targets you would rather not,' Michael explained. 'Look at the way Joseph alienated Berry and everyone else at Motown.' Some people, Michael argued, determine their target, stalk it as long as necessary, and then get it cleanly with one shot. 'That's the way to go,' Michael reasoned.

In truth, Joseph would never be able to win with Michael, no matter how many bull's-eyes he scored. Getting the group away from Motown was the best thing he'd ever done, but Michael could not see it that way. His perception of Joseph was understandably clouded by his personal views about him, and his judgement of his father as a child abuser and philanderer. There was no way Michael would be able to credit Joseph Jackson... with anything... ever.

Michael didn't feel that the group had made an impact after leaving Motown and signing with CBS, even though they had a hit with 'Shake Your Body'. It wasn't enough. He was tired of The Jackson 5 image. He knew what he wanted to do: record another solo alb.u.m, one for CBS that would fulfil his ambition, expand his artistry and ease the restlessness that had plagued him since the Destiny tour ended. Day after day, Michael stayed alone in his bedroom pondering, as Marlon would later say, 'who knows what, he's very secretive.'

His brothers soon realized that something was different about Michael, and it scared them. 'Mike was acting strangely,' t.i.to would remember. 'It was as if something had snapped in him. He stopped showing up at family meetings, and when we discussed our future plans, he had nothing to offer. Maybe he was plotting to go out on his own, I don't know. He never did say much. You never really knew what he was thinking.'

'I just didn't think it was fair that I had stopped recording solo alb.u.ms,' Michael would say years later when looking back on this time. 'Part of our contract with CBS was that I would get to record on my own. When that wasn't happening because we hadn't been able to find the time, I started getting nervous and upset.'

When Michael told his father that he wanted to record a solo alb.u.m, Joseph's reaction was predictable supportive but with qualification. 'Why not?' he remarked. 'You know how I feel about it, Michael. Do what you want as long as it doesn't interfere with group business.'

'What does that mean?' Michael wanted to know.

'You know what it means,' his father warned him. 'Family is the most important thing.'

Perhaps Joseph wasn't overly concerned about Michael doing a solo alb.u.m because, in truth, his alb.u.ms never amounted to much: his first two for Motown, Got to Be There Got to Be There and and Ben Ben (1971 and 1972 respectively), each sold a little over 350,000 copies, which wasn't bad. However, his third alb.u.m, (1971 and 1972 respectively), each sold a little over 350,000 copies, which wasn't bad. However, his third alb.u.m, Music and Me Music and Me (1973), sold only 80,286 copies, a dismal showing. His last solo alb.u.m for the company, (1973), sold only 80,286 copies, a dismal showing. His last solo alb.u.m for the company, Forever Michael Forever Michael (1975), did a little better (99,311 copies). Alb.u.ms featuring all of the Jacksons always sold better than solo alb.u.ms; let's not even get into the statistics for sales of Jackie's solo alb.u.m which, incidentally, was terrific. Joseph always felt it was in everybody's best interest to keep the act together. (1975), did a little better (99,311 copies). Alb.u.ms featuring all of the Jacksons always sold better than solo alb.u.ms; let's not even get into the statistics for sales of Jackie's solo alb.u.m which, incidentally, was terrific. Joseph always felt it was in everybody's best interest to keep the act together.

Therefore, if Michael felt the need to record a solo alb.u.m in order to 'get it out of his system', it was fine with Joseph as long as the Boy Wonder remembered that his first allegiance was to his family and to the group, not to himself.

Off the Wall.

When Michael Jackson set out to make his new solo alb.u.m, he didn't know what he wanted to be the final result. However, he knew what he didn't didn't want, and that was to make a record that sounded like a Jacksons' alb.u.m. From the start of his professional career, someone had decided the sound of Michael's music. First, it had been Motown's crack production staff and then the artist and repertoire executives at CBS/Epic. Though the family was given the freedom to write and 'produce' the want, and that was to make a record that sounded like a Jacksons' alb.u.m. From the start of his professional career, someone had decided the sound of Michael's music. First, it had been Motown's crack production staff and then the artist and repertoire executives at CBS/Epic. Though the family was given the freedom to write and 'produce' the Destiny Destiny alb.u.m, Epic insisted that they record a song they didn't write, 'Blame It on the Boogie'. Other concessions and compromises were made along the way with the three alb.u.ms for that label, and Michael never felt totally responsible for the results. While alb.u.m, Epic insisted that they record a song they didn't write, 'Blame It on the Boogie'. Other concessions and compromises were made along the way with the three alb.u.ms for that label, and Michael never felt totally responsible for the results. While Destiny's Destiny's. .h.i.t single, 'Shake Your Body', re-established The Jacksons in the marketplace, many observers in the music business felt as Michael did, that the brothers had left their magic at Motown. hit single, 'Shake Your Body', re-established The Jacksons in the marketplace, many observers in the music business felt as Michael did, that the brothers had left their magic at Motown.

Now, Michael wanted more creative freedom. He wanted to do his next alb.u.m totally outside the family, even though the brothers tried desperately to make his solo alb.u.m a group production as soon as they heard about it. They were hurt that Michael wanted to exclude them from the project, but he stood firm. 'I'm doing this on my own,' he said. 'They're just going to have to understand. For once.'

Uncertain as to how to proceed, Michael called Quincy Jones, who had offered a helping hand during production of The Wiz. The Wiz. The two had their first exchange one day on the set as Michael rehea.r.s.ed a scene in which, as the Scarecrow, he pulled a slip of paper from his stuffing and read a quote by Socrates. He attributed the statement to The two had their first exchange one day on the set as Michael rehea.r.s.ed a scene in which, as the Scarecrow, he pulled a slip of paper from his stuffing and read a quote by Socrates. He attributed the statement to Soh-crates, Soh-crates, as if it rhymed with 'no rates'. 'That's the way I had always a.s.sumed it was p.r.o.nounced,' Michael said later. When he heard the crew giggling, he knew he had it wrong. as if it rhymed with 'no rates'. 'That's the way I had always a.s.sumed it was p.r.o.nounced,' Michael said later. When he heard the crew giggling, he knew he had it wrong.

'Sock-ra-tease,' someone whispered in his ear. 'It's someone whispered in his ear. 'It's Sock-ra-tease? Sock-ra-tease?'

He turned and saw Quincy, the film's musical director. * *

The older man extended his hand. 'I'm Quincy Jones,' he said with a warm smile. 'Anything I can do to help...'

Michael would remember the offer. A little more than a year later, he called Quincy and asked him to suggest possible producers for his solo endeavour. Quincy suggested himself.

Quincy seemed an unlikely choice of producer for Michael. He had found success in the pop-R'B arena with his own alb.u.ms, which were virtual music workshops of musicians, writers and arrangers with Jones overseeing the entire programme. Quincy had also found mainstream success with the Brothers Johnson, a sibling duo out of Los Angeles, whose platinum alb.u.ms he produced. Still, most industry observers privately felt that Quincy was too musically rigid to make a great pop record; many of these people believed that his records with the Brothers Johnson, for instance, though successful, sounded too h.o.m.ogenized.

However, Quincy had a long and varied show-business career, starting as a fifteen-year-old trumpet player and arranger for Lionel Hampton. Over the years, he immersed himself in studio work, arranging, composing, and producing for Dinah Was.h.i.+ngton, Duke Ellington, Big Maybelle, Tommy Dorsey and Count Basie. In the early sixties, he was a vice-president of Mercury Records, the first black Executive at a major label. In 1963, he began a second career in Hollywood, where he became the first black to reach the top rank of film composers, with thirty-eight pictures to his credit, including The Wiz. The Wiz.

'I didn't even want to do The Wiz' The Wiz' Quincy has said. 'I thought, There's no way the public is going to accept a black version of Quincy has said. 'I thought, There's no way the public is going to accept a black version of The Wizard of The Wizard of Oz. I kept telling Sidney Lumet I didn't want to do it, but because he's a great director and because he hired me to do my first movie soundtrack [ Oz. I kept telling Sidney Lumet I didn't want to do it, but because he's a great director and because he hired me to do my first movie soundtrack [The p.a.w.nbroker, 1965], I did it. Out of that mess came my a.s.sociation with Michael Jackson.' 1965], I did it. Out of that mess came my a.s.sociation with Michael Jackson.'