Interviewing Michael Jackson.
http://voices.yahoo.com/interviewing-michael-jackson-3-hours-king-3716510.html
It's easy to judge based on the image of a person. It's even easier when we don't "know" them personally. We draw conclusions based on what the popular media tells us and surprisingly it has a profound effect on us. Having been in broadcasting for over 20 years, I can attest to the power of media. If we tell you the sky is falling long enough and put enough "experts" on the air, you're eventually going to buy into it.
This is exactly what happened to Michael Joseph Jackson!
After hearing all the news and seeing all the "experts" talk about the greatest entertainer of all time, I felt compelled to write about the "Man in the Mirror." It amazes me that people can get on TV that have had NO interaction with the King of Pop and draw conclusions on who or what he was.
In the summer of 2008, in a very plush section on Beverly Hills, I had a chance to sit down with Michael Jackson one on one for an exclusive interview. We'd been working on getting this interview for well over two years. To put in gently, Michael was gun shy over the media and didn't trust them and when you look at what "we" did to him how could you blame him? We went through the seven gates of hell in order to get a one-on-one with this kind, gentle man. We had to sign waiver after waiver and when it was all said and done, the date, time and location was set.
We were putting together an MJ retrospective that would be broadcast on many major radio stations across the county and around the world. We were told we would have 30 minutes with the King. Now I must admit preparing for the interview I was worried because the "Ryder" as it's called in show business was unlike anything I've ever seen. Basically a "Ryder" is a list of wants, desires, dos and don'ts on behalf of the artist. After reviewing it, I thought for sure I was going to come face to face with the biggest freak of them all.... Oh how wrong I was!
The "Ryder" basically said we had to be 10 feet from MJ at all times, we couldn't touch him, we had to take our shoes off and put "booties" on our feet, we were not allowed to give him anything, we had to sanitize our hands before entering the room and the one that really got us was that we had to refer to him as "King Michael"! So imagine reading this and thinking to yourself of how you're going to pull off a legitimate interview without coming across like an ass! The King Michael.. Get real! What's worse, this wasn't a joke! This was a real document that we had to sign with penalties in excess of a million dollars if we broke the "rules of engagement"!
The night before the interview my entire team was talking about what it was going to be like? After all my crew were seasoned broadcast professionals. We've interviewed everyone from Super Bowl champs to the president and never gone through anything like this before. Needless to say we were a little worried and nervous if we were going to be able to pull it off, especially after going through all the trouble to get the interview!
We were asked to be at the interview location at noon. We were given a room number and a "code" to get through security. By the way, the code... "MJJITK". To this day we still don't know what it means.
After a twenty-minute search of our bags, briefcases and persons we were lead into a room. It was a medium-sized room with gorgeous furniture, classical music playing softly and the drapes closed tight with all the lights on. We were told "Mr. Jackson would be right in". When the security chief told us that we were taken aback. We had just went through a security check more intense then the Secret Service gives when interviewing a president and now we're left alone in his main sitting room waiting for the man himself.
About 15 minutes into the wait, we could hear MJ talking and laughing. He was asking about one of his children and whomever he was talking to was telling him about the child running after another sibling and getting mad because they couldn't catch up. He found that funny and the laughter that came from him was laughter from the soul.
The giggling fainted off and we heard a cough and from the left side of the room which lead to the master bedroom, Michael Jackson appeared by himself dressed in black jeans, a red t-shirt, his hair perfect and very little make up. As he approached we all stood up and the first words out of his mouth was, "Hello, I'm Michael Jackson", he voice so soft but yet with authority.
After the nervous introductions he asked us where he wanted him to sit. I told him anywhere would be fine. He asked if we wanted anything and we declined and thanked him for the opportunity to have a one on one conversation and he did something that totally blew me away. He thanked me for taking the time to come and visit with him. I was floored at that moment. I knew this man wasn't anything like the "Ryder" or the press played him to be. Before me was the most talented man in the world with a heart just as big and soul to match.
We started the interview and it was a typical interview with the basic question on his career and where he's been and where he's going. He took his time with every answer giving honest open answers. During the interview he laughed, joked, made fun of our audio tech because he was wearing a UCLA hat and always looked me in the eye.
I knew we only had thirty minutes so I set the pace and completed the interview with 4 minutes to spare. I thanked him for the interview and he asked me if I had somewhere to go. I told him we were going to see some of the sites and what come out of his mouth next shocked us all. He said that we didn't have to rush off; he had some questions about broadcasting that he wanted to know if we could answer. The King of Pop, asking us to stay.
Of course we did and our conversation went from radio stations and why they play the music they do to the promotions to our kids to his kids to his childhood, our favorite food, his favorite food and everything in between. It was like talking to a best friend that you haven't seen in years. He was relaxed, very open, at times emotional, which in turn made us emotional because of his pure honesty over delicate subjects.
About two hours into our meeting, a man walked into the room and informed MJ that he needs to wrap it up because he has another interview within the hour. He turned to the huge brick of a man and said, "They can wait, they can't do the interview without me."
This brought us to a discussion that makes me want to slap everyone who trash talks this man and gives opinions over media reports instead of the truth. He looked down at his shoes with his legs shaking as if they were dancing in tempo and asked us if we ever felt like a prisoner? He went on to say that all of his life he never had the chance to do anything for himself; he always was made to have someone else do it. Even at 49 years old he still had the chains of his childhood bound to him in a way that prevented him from being anything other than the King of Pop.
Three and half hours had passed and the whole time I was praying that our audio guy was recording every second of what is without doubt the highlight of my career. A middle-aged woman walked into the room and said, "Michael one of the children cut open a knee while playing". His response was genuine and I'll wait until I post the audio to let you hear it for yourself! He was truly an amazing dad that loved his kids!
As we were saying our goodbyes he gave us his personal email address and asked for ours. We had some memorabilia we bought in Hollywood and asked if he would sign them. He asked were we got it and we told him we had just bought it and he said "no-no that won't work" and called for one of his staff. He instructed the staffer to give us our money back for everything we bought and to assemble gift bags for each of us plus our spouses and children and then he signed everything we had and we said our goodbyes. As he went around the room saying goodbye I couldn't get over how real this man was. He was grateful that we took the time to stop by. He got to me and I extended my hand and then I thought of the "Ryder" and all the money I was going to have to pay if I touched him and before I could say anything he hugged me and whispered in my year that it was a great interview and thanked me for not bringing up the scandal with the allegations of sexual misconduct with a child. I had chills from the tip of my hair to my toes and just like that he was gone!
Twenty minutes later a man came into the room to escort us out and he had a cart full of MJ memorable that included jackets, more signed 8x10's, cd's, dolls, DVD's and so much more. 22 bags in all well worth six to seven hundred dollars apiece and then he handed each one of us an envelope that had the money we paid for the merchandise.
I know this story doesn't go into the details of what we talked about. We're working on getting that transcribed and a link to our site so you can listen for yourself what we experienced and by the way our audio man got it all!
Michael Jackson was the most real, honest, loving human being I've ever met. He wasn't a monster, wasn't a freak, didn't look that weird, had the gentlest of souls and cared about his fellow man. When you read the transcripts or listen to the raw audio you'll hear a man that wants to change to world and make it a better place but what he doesn't realize is, he already has and that comes to proof in death more than life.
He wasn't anything like the media made him to be. Yes he was small and looked fragile but looking back I don't think he could have been anything less because of the world he had to live in. The man had every move he made investigated under a microscope his entire life. He didn't have a childhood, never had the real love of a woman of the freedom to be a man.
His children were his life. If the months after the interview he would email me and I would email him and he always talked of his kids and how much they meant to him. He would talk about the tour he was planning in London and how he hoped to pull it off and if he did how it would impact his kids. He was always worried about his actions and how it would affect his children. He talked about getting in shape and how he was looking onward to getting back on stage one more time.
When the news of his death went worldwide I was sad and cried like I had lost my brother. To know him was an honor.
The media and what they've done and said about him since his death makes this interview so much more special to me. I laugh when they say the things they do because they never had the chance to know the man, not the legend but the man.
I had my doubts. I didn't believe he was "innocent." I thought he was a freak and thought this interview was going to be the biggest cluster and a chance to say.. "yea.. He's weird all right".. but instead I found a angel from heaven that God gave us for a short time to open our eyes to the good in all of us and what can happen when a select few take the spotlight and twist it to make him look dark and evil when all along his wings were spread never giving up the will to fly away!
MICHAEL JACKSON'S DREAM CONTINUES
Friday, October 19, 2012
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Michael Jackson Battle with Lupus and Vitiligo
Pictorial Observation
http://popintervention.hubpages.com/hub/Michael-Jackson-Battle-with-Lupus-and-Vitiligo
http://popintervention.hubpages.com/hub/Michael-Jackson-Battle-with-Lupus-and-Vitiligo
In the wake of Michael Jackson's death, questions still linger. Among many is the debate about Michael's Vitiligo disease versus skin bleaching. (Undoctored) Pictures never lie, but often times, they can be misinterpreted. This hub contains a pictorial of Michael Jackson's struggle with his skin.
To the right is a photo copyrighted by mjsfc.com that shows the advanced stages of the disease, as he filmed They Don't Really Care About Us in Rio de Janeiro in 1995. This picture depicts splotches on Michael's arm and his chest. Makeup or video touch up effectively covers these disfigurations in the actual video.
To the right is a photo copyrighted by mjsfc.com that shows the advanced stages of the disease, as he filmed They Don't Really Care About Us in Rio de Janeiro in 1995. This picture depicts splotches on Michael's arm and his chest. Makeup or video touch up effectively covers these disfigurations in the actual video.
Vitiligo apparent on the chest and arms.
Next is a photo of teen Michael Jackson. You may notice the discoloration beneath his right eye. Michael was plagued by acne as most teenagers were. The next picture shows the left arm, freckled and white. The last picture shows Michael's right hand and fingernails. The fingernails indicate that Michael wasn't in good health.
Discoloration beneath the right eye.
Some have speculated that his fingernails are darker because he couldn't bleach beneath his nails. This is a fallacy because black people, such as I am, have flesh, or whitish skin beneath their nails, on their palms and the bottoms of their feet. When I first noticed Michael's nails, I was shocked to see odd coloring. I'm in the midst of researching theories and causes for his nail discoloration.
Blotchy right arm.
Speckled hand & unhealthy nails.
Michael Jackson's close friend, who is also a doctor, Deepak Chopra, told people.com on June 27, 2009 that Jackson suffered from Lupus and Vitiligo. Michael had explained to Oprah in a 1993 interview that he wasn't trying to be white. He said he didn't bleach his skin, and he had a disease that came from this father's side of the family. He didn't name the disease, but he insisted to Oprah that he used makeup to cover the ever-present blotches.
Corroboration of Michael's statement comes from his makeup artist of over twenty years, Karen Faye, who states in the video below that she used makeup to even out his skin. In the video, she said they used to match his color to brown until the white blotches overtook him, and it became an easier process to make the brown white.
To the right are other sufferers of the disease. A prominent newscaster, Lee Thomas also battles with Vitiligo. He calls it a degrading disease. Other stars with the disease:
Corroboration of Michael's statement comes from his makeup artist of over twenty years, Karen Faye, who states in the video below that she used makeup to even out his skin. In the video, she said they used to match his color to brown until the white blotches overtook him, and it became an easier process to make the brown white.
To the right are other sufferers of the disease. A prominent newscaster, Lee Thomas also battles with Vitiligo. He calls it a degrading disease. Other stars with the disease:
Another sufferer of vitiligo.
White spot beneath his neck.
There are other sufferers of the disease. A prominent newscaster, Lee Thomas also battles with Vitiligo. He calls it a degrading disease. Other stars with the disease:
· Tempest Bledsoe
· Doc Hammer
· John Henson
· Big Krizz Kaliko
· Thomas Lennon
· Hedvig Lindahl
· Joe Rogan
· J.D. Runnels
· Sisqo
· Rasheed Wallace
· Tempest Bledsoe
· Doc Hammer
· John Henson
· Big Krizz Kaliko
· Thomas Lennon
· Hedvig Lindahl
· Joe Rogan
· J.D. Runnels
· Sisqo
· Rasheed Wallace
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Michael Jackson Moonwalk Motown 25
Michael Jackson:
“‘The Motown 25 show had actually been taped a month earlier, in April. The whole title was Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, and Forever , and I’m forced to admit I had to be talked into doing it. I’m glad I did because the show eventually produced some of the happiest and proudest moments of my life.
As I mentioned earlier, I said no to the idea at first. I had been asked to appear as a member of the Jacksons and then do a dance number on my own. But none of us were Motown artists any longer. There were lengthy debates between me and my managers, Weisner and DeMann. I thought about how much Berry Gordy had done for me and the group, but I told my managers and Motown that I didn’t want to go on TV. My whole attitude toward TV is fairly negative. Eventually Berry came to see me to discuss it. I was editing “Beat It” at the Motown studio, and someone must have told him I was in the building. He came down to the studio and talked to me about it at length. I said, “Okay, but if I do it, I want to do ‘Billie Jean.’” It would have been the only non-Motown song in the whole show. He told me that’s what he wanted me to do anyway. So we agreed to do a Jacksons’ medley, which would include Jermaine. We were all thrilled.
So I gathered my brothers and rehearsed them for this show. I really worked them, and it felt nice, a bit like the old days of the Jackson 5. I choreographed them and rehearsed them for days at our house in Encino, videotaping every rehearsal so we could watch it later. Jermaine and Marlon also made their contributions. Next we went to Motown in Pasadena for rehearsals. We did our act and, even though we reserved our energy and never went all out at rehearsal, all the people there were clapping and coming around and watching us. Then I did my “Billie Jean” rehearsal. I just walked through it because as yet I had nothing planned. I hadn’t had time because I was so busy rehearsing the group.
The next day I called my management office and said, “Please order me a spy’s hat, like a cool fedora – something that a secret agent would wear.” I wanted something sinister and special, a real slouchy kind of hat. I still didn’t have a very good idea of what I was going to do with “Billie Jean.”
During the Thriller sessions, I had found a black jacket, and I said, “You know, someday I’m going to wear this to perform. It was so perfect and so show business that I wore it on Motown 25 .
But the night before the taping, I still had no idea what I was going to do with my solo number. So I went down to the kitchen of our house and played “Billie Jean.” Loud. I was in there by myself, the night before the show, and I pretty much stood there and let the song tell me what to do. I kind of let the dance create itself. I really let it talk to me; I heard the beat come in, and I took this spy’s hat and started to pose and step, letting the “Billie Jean” rhythm create the movements. I felt almost compelled to let it create itself. I couldn’t help it. And that – being able to “step back” and let the dance come through – was a lot of fun.
I had also been practicing certain steps and movements, although most of the performance was actually spontaneous. I had been practicing the Moonwalk for some time, and it dawned on me in our kitchen that I would finally do the Moonwalk in public on Motown 25.
Now the Moonwalk was already out on the street by this time, but I enhanced it a little when I did it. It was born as a break-dance step, a “popping” type of thing that blacks kids had created dancing on the street corners in the ghetto. Black people are truly innovative dancers; they create many of the new dances, pure and simple. So I said, “This is my chance to do it,” and I did it. These three kids taught it to me. They gave me the basics – and I had been doing it a lot in private. I had practiced it together with certain other steps. All I was really sure of was that on the bridge to “Billie Jean” I was going to walk backward and forward at the same time, like walking on the moon.
One the day of the taping, Motown was running behind schedule. Late. So I went off and rehearsed by myself. By then I had my spy hat. My brothers wanted to know what the hat was for, but I told them they’d have to wait and see. But I did ask Nelson Hayes for a favor. “Nelson – after I do the set with my brothers and the lights go down, sneak the hat out to me in the dark. I’ll be in the corner, next to the wings, talking to the audience, but you sneak that hat back there and put it in my hand in the dark.”
So after my brothers and I finished performing, I walked over to the side of the stage and said, “You’re beautiful! I’d like to say those were the good old days; those were magic moments with all my brothers, including Jermaine. But what I really like” – and Nelson is sneaking the hat into my hand – “are the newer songs.” I turned around and grabbed the hat and went into “Billie Jean,” into that heavy rhythm; I could tell that people in the audience were really enjoying my performance. My brothers told me they were crowding the wings watching me with their mouths open, and my parents and sisters were out there in the audience. But I just remember opening my eyes at the end of the thing and seeing this sea of people standing up, applauding. And I felt so many conflicting emotions. I knew I had done my best and felt good, so good. But at the same time I felt disappointed in myself. I had planned to do one really long spin and to stop on my toes, suspended for a moment, but I didn’t stay on my toes as long as I wanted. I did the spin and I landed on one toe. I wanted to just stay there, just freeze there, but it didn’t work quite as I’d planned.
When I got backstage, the people back there were congratulating me. I was still disappointed about the spin. I had been concentrating so hard and I’m such a perfectionist. At the same time I knew this was one of the happiest moments of my life. I knew that for the first time my brothers had really gotten a chance to watch me and see what I was doing, how I was evolving. After the performance, each of them hugged and kissed me backstage. They had never done that before, and I felt happy for all of us. It was so wonderful when they kissed me like that. I loved it! I mean, we hug all the time. My whole family embraces a lot, except for my father. He’s the only one who doesn’t. Whenever the rest of us see each other, we embrace, but when they all kissed me that night, I felt as if I had been blessed by them.
The performance was still gnawing at me, and I wasn’t satisfied until a little boy came up to me backstage. He was about ten years old and was wearing a tuxedo. He looked up at me with stars in his eyes, frozen where he stood, and said, “Man, who ever taught you to dance like that?” I kind of laughed and said, “Practice, I guess.” And this boy was looking at me, awestruck. I walked away, and for the first time that evening I felt really good about what I had accomplished that night. I said to myself, I must have done really well because children are honest. When that kid said what he did, I really felt that I had done a good job. I was so moved by the whole experience that I went right home and wrote down everything which had happened that night. My entry ended with my encounter with the child.
The day after the Motown 25 show, Fred Astaire called me on the telephone. He said – these are his exact words – “You’re a hell of a mover. Man, you really put them on their asses last night.” That’s what Fred Astaire said to me. I thanked him. Then he said, “You’re an angry dancer. I’m the same way. I used to do the same thing with my cane.”
I had met him once or twice in the past, but this was the first time he had ever called me. He went on to say, “I watched the special last night; I taped it and I watched it again this morning. You’re a hell of a mover.”
It was the greatest compliment I had ever received in my life, and the only one I had ever wanted to believe. For Fred Astaire to tell me that meant more to me than anything. Later my performance was nominated for an Emmy Award in a musical category, but I lost to Leontyne Price. It didn’t matter. Fred Astaire had told me things I would never forget – that was my reward. Later he invited me to his house, and there were more compliments from him until I really blushed. He went over my “Billie Jean” performance, step by step. The great choreographer Hermes Pan, who had choreographed Fred’s dances in the movies, came over, and I showed them how to Moonwalk and demonstrated some other steps that really interested them.
Not long after that Gene Kelly came by my house to visit and also said he liked my dancing. It was a fantastic experience, that show, because I felt I had been inducted into an informal fraternity of dancers, and I felt so honored because these were the people I most admired in the world.
Right after Motown 25 my family read a lot of stuff in the press about my being “the new Sinatra” and as “exciting as Elvis” – that kind of thing. It was very nice to hear, but I knew the press could be so fickle. One week they love you, and the next week they act like you’re rubbish. Later I gave the glittery black jacket I wore on Motown 25 to Sammy Davis as a present. He said he was going to do a takeoff of me on stage, and I said, “Here, you want to wear this when you do it?” He was so happy. I love Sammy. He’s such a fine man and a real showman. One of the best. I had been wearing a single glove for years before Thriller . I felt that one glove was cool. Wearing two gloves seemed so ordinary, but a single glove was different and was definitely a look. But I’ve long believed that thinking too much about your look is one of the biggest mistakes you can make, because an artist should let his style evolve naturally, spontaneously. You can’t think about these things; you have to feel your way into them.”
“‘The Motown 25 show had actually been taped a month earlier, in April. The whole title was Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, and Forever , and I’m forced to admit I had to be talked into doing it. I’m glad I did because the show eventually produced some of the happiest and proudest moments of my life.
As I mentioned earlier, I said no to the idea at first. I had been asked to appear as a member of the Jacksons and then do a dance number on my own. But none of us were Motown artists any longer. There were lengthy debates between me and my managers, Weisner and DeMann. I thought about how much Berry Gordy had done for me and the group, but I told my managers and Motown that I didn’t want to go on TV. My whole attitude toward TV is fairly negative. Eventually Berry came to see me to discuss it. I was editing “Beat It” at the Motown studio, and someone must have told him I was in the building. He came down to the studio and talked to me about it at length. I said, “Okay, but if I do it, I want to do ‘Billie Jean.’” It would have been the only non-Motown song in the whole show. He told me that’s what he wanted me to do anyway. So we agreed to do a Jacksons’ medley, which would include Jermaine. We were all thrilled.
So I gathered my brothers and rehearsed them for this show. I really worked them, and it felt nice, a bit like the old days of the Jackson 5. I choreographed them and rehearsed them for days at our house in Encino, videotaping every rehearsal so we could watch it later. Jermaine and Marlon also made their contributions. Next we went to Motown in Pasadena for rehearsals. We did our act and, even though we reserved our energy and never went all out at rehearsal, all the people there were clapping and coming around and watching us. Then I did my “Billie Jean” rehearsal. I just walked through it because as yet I had nothing planned. I hadn’t had time because I was so busy rehearsing the group.
The next day I called my management office and said, “Please order me a spy’s hat, like a cool fedora – something that a secret agent would wear.” I wanted something sinister and special, a real slouchy kind of hat. I still didn’t have a very good idea of what I was going to do with “Billie Jean.”
During the Thriller sessions, I had found a black jacket, and I said, “You know, someday I’m going to wear this to perform. It was so perfect and so show business that I wore it on Motown 25 .
But the night before the taping, I still had no idea what I was going to do with my solo number. So I went down to the kitchen of our house and played “Billie Jean.” Loud. I was in there by myself, the night before the show, and I pretty much stood there and let the song tell me what to do. I kind of let the dance create itself. I really let it talk to me; I heard the beat come in, and I took this spy’s hat and started to pose and step, letting the “Billie Jean” rhythm create the movements. I felt almost compelled to let it create itself. I couldn’t help it. And that – being able to “step back” and let the dance come through – was a lot of fun.
I had also been practicing certain steps and movements, although most of the performance was actually spontaneous. I had been practicing the Moonwalk for some time, and it dawned on me in our kitchen that I would finally do the Moonwalk in public on Motown 25.
Now the Moonwalk was already out on the street by this time, but I enhanced it a little when I did it. It was born as a break-dance step, a “popping” type of thing that blacks kids had created dancing on the street corners in the ghetto. Black people are truly innovative dancers; they create many of the new dances, pure and simple. So I said, “This is my chance to do it,” and I did it. These three kids taught it to me. They gave me the basics – and I had been doing it a lot in private. I had practiced it together with certain other steps. All I was really sure of was that on the bridge to “Billie Jean” I was going to walk backward and forward at the same time, like walking on the moon.
One the day of the taping, Motown was running behind schedule. Late. So I went off and rehearsed by myself. By then I had my spy hat. My brothers wanted to know what the hat was for, but I told them they’d have to wait and see. But I did ask Nelson Hayes for a favor. “Nelson – after I do the set with my brothers and the lights go down, sneak the hat out to me in the dark. I’ll be in the corner, next to the wings, talking to the audience, but you sneak that hat back there and put it in my hand in the dark.”
So after my brothers and I finished performing, I walked over to the side of the stage and said, “You’re beautiful! I’d like to say those were the good old days; those were magic moments with all my brothers, including Jermaine. But what I really like” – and Nelson is sneaking the hat into my hand – “are the newer songs.” I turned around and grabbed the hat and went into “Billie Jean,” into that heavy rhythm; I could tell that people in the audience were really enjoying my performance. My brothers told me they were crowding the wings watching me with their mouths open, and my parents and sisters were out there in the audience. But I just remember opening my eyes at the end of the thing and seeing this sea of people standing up, applauding. And I felt so many conflicting emotions. I knew I had done my best and felt good, so good. But at the same time I felt disappointed in myself. I had planned to do one really long spin and to stop on my toes, suspended for a moment, but I didn’t stay on my toes as long as I wanted. I did the spin and I landed on one toe. I wanted to just stay there, just freeze there, but it didn’t work quite as I’d planned.
When I got backstage, the people back there were congratulating me. I was still disappointed about the spin. I had been concentrating so hard and I’m such a perfectionist. At the same time I knew this was one of the happiest moments of my life. I knew that for the first time my brothers had really gotten a chance to watch me and see what I was doing, how I was evolving. After the performance, each of them hugged and kissed me backstage. They had never done that before, and I felt happy for all of us. It was so wonderful when they kissed me like that. I loved it! I mean, we hug all the time. My whole family embraces a lot, except for my father. He’s the only one who doesn’t. Whenever the rest of us see each other, we embrace, but when they all kissed me that night, I felt as if I had been blessed by them.
The performance was still gnawing at me, and I wasn’t satisfied until a little boy came up to me backstage. He was about ten years old and was wearing a tuxedo. He looked up at me with stars in his eyes, frozen where he stood, and said, “Man, who ever taught you to dance like that?” I kind of laughed and said, “Practice, I guess.” And this boy was looking at me, awestruck. I walked away, and for the first time that evening I felt really good about what I had accomplished that night. I said to myself, I must have done really well because children are honest. When that kid said what he did, I really felt that I had done a good job. I was so moved by the whole experience that I went right home and wrote down everything which had happened that night. My entry ended with my encounter with the child.
The day after the Motown 25 show, Fred Astaire called me on the telephone. He said – these are his exact words – “You’re a hell of a mover. Man, you really put them on their asses last night.” That’s what Fred Astaire said to me. I thanked him. Then he said, “You’re an angry dancer. I’m the same way. I used to do the same thing with my cane.”
I had met him once or twice in the past, but this was the first time he had ever called me. He went on to say, “I watched the special last night; I taped it and I watched it again this morning. You’re a hell of a mover.”
It was the greatest compliment I had ever received in my life, and the only one I had ever wanted to believe. For Fred Astaire to tell me that meant more to me than anything. Later my performance was nominated for an Emmy Award in a musical category, but I lost to Leontyne Price. It didn’t matter. Fred Astaire had told me things I would never forget – that was my reward. Later he invited me to his house, and there were more compliments from him until I really blushed. He went over my “Billie Jean” performance, step by step. The great choreographer Hermes Pan, who had choreographed Fred’s dances in the movies, came over, and I showed them how to Moonwalk and demonstrated some other steps that really interested them.
Not long after that Gene Kelly came by my house to visit and also said he liked my dancing. It was a fantastic experience, that show, because I felt I had been inducted into an informal fraternity of dancers, and I felt so honored because these were the people I most admired in the world.
Right after Motown 25 my family read a lot of stuff in the press about my being “the new Sinatra” and as “exciting as Elvis” – that kind of thing. It was very nice to hear, but I knew the press could be so fickle. One week they love you, and the next week they act like you’re rubbish. Later I gave the glittery black jacket I wore on Motown 25 to Sammy Davis as a present. He said he was going to do a takeoff of me on stage, and I said, “Here, you want to wear this when you do it?” He was so happy. I love Sammy. He’s such a fine man and a real showman. One of the best. I had been wearing a single glove for years before Thriller . I felt that one glove was cool. Wearing two gloves seemed so ordinary, but a single glove was different and was definitely a look. But I’ve long believed that thinking too much about your look is one of the biggest mistakes you can make, because an artist should let his style evolve naturally, spontaneously. You can’t think about these things; you have to feel your way into them.”
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