Michael Jackson (100 page)

If he received a telephone call while in the studio recording
Invincible
, it could mean the end of that day’s work. ‘Sorry, I’ve got business to take care of,’ he’d announce while walking out the
door. If he had to go to the bathroom, the production staff would fret because Michael would sometimes sneak out and not be
seen or heard from for days. ‘He’s an artist,’ explained one producer. ‘They’re usually pretty nuts.’

However, when the album was finally released, it demonstrated something many of Michael’s supporters already know: he is best
when recording his own material, such as the sublime ‘Speechless’, which is really the only track he solely wrote (in about
forty-five minutes, he says, after a water-balloon fight with his children) and produced, from beginning to end. However,
he doesn’t seem to have the fire in his belly he once did to write and produce his own music, therefore
Invincible
was largely a compilation of material from outside songwriters and producers, such as Rodney Jerkins, the hit-making mastermind
behind tunes by the Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, Brandy and Destiny’s Child. If Michael wants a huge-selling album in
his future, perhaps he should write and produce it himself –
all
of it. He still has the magic touch, if not the drive, ambition and, perhaps, self-confidence.

The initial single release was the somewhat formulaic Rodney Jerkins song, ‘You Rock My World’. It had been Sony’s decision;
Michael was against it and fought for the upbeat, probably more commercial ‘Unbreakable’ to be issued. He had already conceived
of a video for the song. It’s interesting that even at this stage of his career, his choices were vetoed by his label. In
the end, ‘You Rock My World’ stalled at number ten in the United States. It debuted at number two in the United Kingdom, but
dropped from there quickly. Sales in the rest of Europe were comparable; a Top Ten hit in most countries, but not a huge record.

The video for ‘You Rock My World’ was a miscalculation; it looked like a remake of the ‘Smooth Criminal’ short-film, but with
Michael in a black suit instead of a white one. In most of the production, Michael seems to be camouflaging the top half of
his face with his fedora, causing the viewer to wonder what he is trying to hide. Again, he didn’t seem inspired by the concept,
anyway – even if it did have a weird cameo appearance by Marlon Brando. There had been upsetting debates between Michael and
Sony over the video’s budget, and by the time he was to begin production he was, as one of his intimates put it, ‘completely
over it, done with it.’ The dancers had rehearsed for days before Michael appeared on the set. When he finally arrived, he
did pretty much the same variety of jerky, robotic steps he’s been doing for years, as if trapped in his own myth and afraid
to break out of it.

A stand-out on
Invincible
is Carole Bayer Sager’s, Kenny ‘Babyface’ Edmonds and John McClain’s sparkling, ‘You Are My Life’. It was recorded just five
weeks before the album was released – that’s how late in the schedule they were considering material. The writers first played
it for Michael on a Thursday, he loved it – changed the lyrics from ‘You Are My World’ to ‘You Are My Life’ (and got a songwriting
credit in the process!) and then recorded it the next evening. John McClain, an executive at DreamWorks Records, has been
one of Michael’s most trusted and capable advisers for decades. He wrote the song based on a finger exercise he had created
for his guitar practice!

The second release from the album was ‘Cry’. However, Michael was so angry at Sony for the budget allocated for the video,
he refused to even appear in it. Then, the delightful ‘Butterflies’ began receiving radio, and could have been a hit record.
However, again, Jackson and Sony battled over the video, and production was cancelled – as was the commercial release of the
song.

The battle lines were boldly drawn between Michael and Sony in a war that continued to be so bitter it would contribute to
the commercial failure of
Invincible
. The executives at the label, all the way up to its chieftain at the time, Tommy Motolla, didn’t care what Michael thought
about anything, he was now that low on their priority lists. His very good song, ‘What More Can I Give?’ (recorded with a
host of pop stars in the wake of 9-11 in an effort similar to ‘We Are The World’), was shelved by the label. Of course, Michael
didn’t help matters when he hired a former gay porn director to direct the video; the man is a friend of his, and Jackson
didn’t feel that anything was wrong with the association. However, he inadvertently provided Sony with more ammunition to
use against him. Frustrated and angry at the label for this and other sins, Michael then went on a terrible, ill-advised campaign
against Tommy Motolla, holding a press conference and other public events in the summer of 2002 to call him a ‘racist’, insisting
he is ‘very, very, very… devilish.’ This was not his best moment.

In the end,
Invincible
sold only about ten million copies worldwide – a crushing blow for Michael, as well as for loyal fans who campaigned for it
with more devotion and organization than Michael’s own label, Sony, possibly did. Even though it entered the
Billboard
charts at number one, it sank quickly, falling out of the Top Ten in a month. It also debuted at number one in the UK, Germany,
Holland and a number of other countries, but didn’t last long at the top of those charts either – except in France, where it
was number one for three weeks. (In Britain, it fell out of the Top Ten completely in three weeks.) The reviews were, generally,
dreadful, and often unfair, focusing on the artist’s unusual nature, rather than his music. Maybe the expectations had been
so high for a new Michael Jackson collection, there was no way for
any
recording to rise to the occasion, let alone one caught in the cross-fire of such acrimonious exchanges between artist and
label.

Michael Jackson does try to stay current with musical trends, as evidenced by some of the hip-hop production work on
Invincible
. One way he attempts to do that is to keep the lines of communication open with popular young entertainers, such as pop heart-throb
Justin Timberlake. Michael is a big admirer of Justin’s and was determined to meet him. A couple of years ago, when Justin
was about twenty, Michael asked Wade Robson (who, when he was a youngster, was brought forward by Anthony Pellicano to say
that he slept innocently in bed with Michael), to arrange a meeting. Robson was a friend of Timberlake’s and worked with him
and ’N Sync as a choreographer.

‘Are you kidding?’ Justin said when asked by Wade if he’d be interested in meeting Michael. ‘Hell, yeah. Who wouldn’t want
to meet Michael Jackson? He’s my idol.’ The meeting would take place at the Four Seasons Hotel in New York.

At the appointed hour, Wade, his girlfriend Mayte Garcia (ex wife of Prince), and Justin showed up in the hotel lobby… with
Justin’s then-girlfriend, Britney Spears. Britney, who is a big admirer of Michael’s, simply couldn’t resist tagging along.

‘Oh no,’ Michael said when told that Justin had brought Britney. ‘I didn’t invite her. Why’d he have to bring
her?
‘

‘Well, she’s his girlfriend, Mike,’ said one of his advisers.

‘Oh man, you gotta be kidding me?’ Michael remarked. ‘He brought his
girlfriend?
Damn. I just wanted to see Justin. Maybe she should wait downstairs, or something?’

The notion that Britney Spears might wait in the lobby while Michael entertained Justin, Wade and Mayte was not an idea his
associates felt they could suggest. ‘Mike, look. You can’t keep her waiting in the lobby,’ said one of them. ‘How’s that gonna
look? She’s one of the biggest stars in show business, Mike. Come on!’

‘Oh, man,’ Michael protested again, chagrined by the turn of events. ‘Damn. She’s just gonna be in the way.’

On and on went the discussions. Finally, Michael agreed to allow them both up to his suite.

Once they got up there, however, Michael was enchanted by both Justin and Britney. They were so thrilled to meet him, the
two lavished more praise upon him than he’d probably gotten in about a week.

‘How about when you did the moonwalk on that Motown show?’ Justin said, according to one recollection. ‘Man, that was so fucking
cool. You are the coolest, Michael. I can’t believe I am standing here with
Michael Fucking Jackson
.’

‘And how about that “Thriller” video?’ Britney enthused. ‘That was the best. You revolutionized videos, dude. You are the
fucking
best
.’

His indelible influence on modern pop is so far-reaching and entrenched, it’s probably not surprising that Justin and Britney
were dazzled to be in his presence. Michael beamed; as far as the top teen stars of the day were concerned, he was still the
man.
^*

Michael Jackson has earned an estimated $500 million dollars in his lifetime, about $100 million from 1982’s
Thriller
alone. A report by the business magazine
Forbes
last year estimated his net worth at $300 million but warned that he had incurred big debts and that his spending seemed
to be out of control.

Though Michael has made some canny investments, he has experienced financial difficulties in recent years because of his high
overheads. He spends money like mad, as demonstrated when he appeared to shell out about six million dollars in minutes on
baroque vases and urns, with Martin Bashir’s cameras rolling in Las Vegas. ‘I want that one,’ he exclaimed, ‘and that one
and that one and…
yoo-hoo?
How much is
that
one!’ (However, he did return much of that merchandise after the programme was broadcast – buyer’s remorse, perhaps… or maybe
just a reconsideration of his taste in furnishings.)

His staff of 120 people costs him about $300,000 a month. More than once, the company that leases much of the amusement park
equipment has threatened to repossess it; Michael has had to come up with emergency payments, thereby not being able to compensate
certain employees. Neverland’s monthly expenditures amount to about $1.2 million.

A couple of years ago, Michael used his one-half share of the Sony/ATV music catalogue as collateral to borrow $200 million.
(Michael bought ATV in 1985 for $47.5 million. Ten years later, in 1995, he sold 50 per cent of ATV to Sony for about $90
million. Sony/ATV, of course, owns the publishing rights to hundreds of Beatles songs, as well as more than 400,000 other
songs, including some of Elvis’s and even Madonna’s.) Sony guaranteed the $200 loan for Michael. However, if he defaults,
the company can then move to claim his share of ATV.

‘He’s a ticking financial time bomb waiting to explode,’ claimed the attorney of Myung Ho Lee, his former financial manager
from 1998 to 2001 who sued him for back payment. (The suit was settled in June 2003.)

More than likely, in order to meet the loan, Michael will borrow $200 million from someone else, pay back the original lender,
and then owe the money to a new one. He’s never going to be sensible when it comes to finances; yet he will always live like
a king. According to different legal filings along the way, he owes hundreds of thousands of dollars to attorneys, publicists
and even to limousine companies; people apparently work for him, and then wait to be paid, because it’s worth it just to be
able to be affiliated to him. He even still owes money to the contractor who built Neverland! Those who predict his financial
downfall forget that he’s a person with whom powerful people want to rub shoulders, no matter what, a famous man who traffics
with the international elite. There will always be someone, somewhere, willing to bail him out, if it becomes necessary to
do so, even if he’s viewed as a poor risk. Why? Because he’s
Michael Jackson
.

Besides, the $200 million isn’t due until 2006. In Michael’s world, that’s a lifetime away. There are times when he’s simply
trying to get through the week; his eye certainly isn’t on what will happen in three years. Also, he can take comfort in knowing
that he can eradicate the entire matter by doing the one thing he most doesn’t want to do: tour. A couple of unsuccessful
CDs, videos and bad judgement calls can still not dim the glory that has been Michael Jackson’s performing career for decades.
His 1997
HIStory
tour was a monumental success for him, setting attendance records at each stop along the way. The public might not be as
supportive of his music as it was before the allegations, but Michael still sold out concert halls after the scandal.

For instance, he feared that he would have problems performing in the United States, and was particularly nervous about two
January 1997 dates in Hawaii, his first American shows since the scandal (and his first US Tour stop since 1989). However,
the two concerts (4 and 5 January 1997, in Honolulu) were hugely successful for him. While no other musical act had ever sold
out the stadium, Michael’s shows sold out in less than a day. Hawaii promoter, Tom Moffatt enthused, ‘I’ve never seen anything
like it… there’s been nothing even close to this the Rolling Stones, Elton John, Julio Iglesias, the Eagles.’ Evan Chandler
may have thought he would ‘ruin’ Michael Jackson… and maybe he did do him significant damage where record sales are concerned,
but not when it comes to his ability to draw concert goers.