Michael Jackson (39 page)

Berry was fairly blasé about the reluctance of some former Motown stars to pay homage to him. Even Marvin Gaye, his former
brother-in-law, had said he would not appear. ‘It's gonna be a great special anyway,’ Berry said. ‘Oh yeah?’ Suzanne dePasse
argued. ‘Without Diana Ross and Michael Jackson, what kind of special do we have? We got DeBarge. We got High Inergy. [Both
were minor Motown acts.] You have got to talk to these people.’

Berry telephoned Diana; after their discussion, she agreed that she would appear on the programme. Marvin Gaye eventually
made the same commitment. However, Michael was still a hold-out.

One night, while Michael was editing a special mix of ‘Billie Jean’ in a Motown recording studio (which he had leased for
the session), Berry decided to show up at the session, unannounced. At first, Michael was flabbergasted to see Berry, but
he quickly regained his composure. Berry meant a lot to Michael, despite whatever had happened in the past. At one point,
he actually wished that Berry was his father instead of Joseph. The truth is, business complications aside, Berry was always
personally kind to Michael, which couldn't always be said about Joseph. Berry also had great respect for Michael, which, again,
couldn't always be said about Joseph. Seeing Berry once again felt good to Michael, his smiling face a reminder of some good
times at the beginning, at Motown.

Sitting next to him at the control board, Berry asked Michael why he would not appear on the
Motown 25
broadcast. Michael explained why he disliked performing on television, but he did not offer his reservations regarding his
brothers, or even Motown. Finally, the two began discussing old times at the company, and it was clear that Michael still
felt a kinship to his past there. Still, he really didn't want to perform – unless he could get something out of it for himself.
Why not? Everyone else was getting something out of it: Berry was getting a tribute; the brothers, a reunion; Joseph, his
way; the network, big ratings… why not something for Michael? ‘Listen, if I do this thing, I want to have a solo spot,’ Michael
told Berry.

‘Hey, man, that's cool,’ Berry said eagerly. ‘I
want
you to have that, too.’

Berry assumed that Michael was talking about singing one of his Motown solo recordings, such as ‘Got to be There’ or ‘Ben’.
Berry began rattling off a list of the solo songs. He even mentioned ‘Never Can Say Goodbye’, which, of course, was not a
solo recording. However, to Berry, who was never much for the details of Motown history, they were all the same: hits.

Michael shook his head. ‘No, Berry,’ he said, firmly, ‘I want to do “Billie Jean”.’

Berry started chewing on his tongue, as he always does when he's deep in thought. He explained that the special was a celebration
of Motown and since ‘Billie Jean’ had been recorded for CBS, it made no sense to have him perform it on the programme.

Michael told Berry that if he couldn't do ‘Billie Jean’, he would simply not appear on the show. He wanted to prove that,
as good as the classic Motown hits were, he had been able to come up with a song that was, arguably, even better. Though he'd
never been sure it was a good career move for the Jacksons to leave the company that had made them world-famous, it turned
out that it was the best thing that could have happened to him and to his brothers. Now, he wanted the public to see his growth.
He also wanted to promote ‘Billie Jean’, which was in the Top Ten and didn't really need it, but why not? Of course, he also
wanted ‘his way’.

‘I don't know about “Billie Jean”,’ Berry said, stalling. ‘It doesn't seem right to me.’

‘Well, then, Berry, I'm sorry…’

There was a moment of silence.

‘Okay,’ Berry agreed with a grin. ‘It's “Billie Jean”. Hey, what the hell, I love that song.’

‘Oh, and I want to have final edit on the videotape of the song before it's broadcast,’ Michael added.

No other artist had made this particular request; most would not have bothered since it was so highly unusual; Berry wasn't
sure what to think about it. Motown always liked to have control over final product; it's just the way it had always been.
However, things had to change if he wanted Michael aboard.

‘Okay,’ Berry concluded with a firm handshake. ‘And you'll do The Jackson 5 reunion, right? 'Cause Jermaine's lookin' forward
to it.’

Michael rolled his eyes and sighed. ‘Yeah, sure. Why not?’

The two smiled at one another as they rose from their chairs. Michael embraced Berry and whispered something in his ear. Berry
left the studio beaming.

It had been years since his last television performance and on 25 March 1983, at the taping of
Motown 25: Yesterday, Today and Forever,
Michael Jackson looked different: slimmer, almost fragile. His nose was now streamlined and sculpted, a tribute to a twentieth-century
Michelangelo – his plastic surgeon. The new face had been skilfully enhanced: almond-shaped eyes outlined in black and lightly
shadowed, high cheekbones emphasized by the merest hint of rouge, lips glossed to a subtle sheen. His former Afro hairstyle
had been replaced by soft curls which framed his face; two wisps adorned his brow.

The Jackson 5 reunion went well. By the time they took the stage at the Pasadena Civic Center, the audience had already seen
Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson and Mary Wells perform. They erupted in applause at the sight of the reunited brothers. For ‘I
Want You Back’, Jermaine was back, smiling broadly and standing right next to Michael, in his old position. By the time the
Jacksons swung into ‘The Love You Save’, and Randy trotted on stage to join them, the crowd – men in tuxedos, women in evening
gowns – were standing and applauding. During ‘I'll Be There’, when Michael and Jermaine shared the spotlight and microphone,
the two seemed choked up. Jermaine's eyes welled with tears. Michael draped an arm over his brother's shoulder and the two
looked at one another with great warmth. It was an emotion-packed, memorable moment.

After hugs all around, the other Jacksons left the stage.

Then, the spotlight found
him.
It caught the glint of his black sequined jacket with cuffs that matched the silver sequined shirt, the white glitter socks
that peeped from beneath the just-above-the-ankle black trousers, the shiny black penny loafers. And of course, there was
the single left-handed white glove with its hand-sewn rhinestones.

Michael thanked the audience. He hesitated, speaking haltingly. ‘I have to say those were the good old days. I love those
songs,’ he said of the medley. ‘Those were magic moments with all my brothers – including Jermaine.’ Michael began pacing the
stage, his hand in his pocket, talking as though he were just voicing some thoughts that happened to pop into his head, as
though he were alone, as though the audience was not there. Actually, he was walking to the side of the stage to sneak the
fedora into his hand. ‘But, uh, you know,’ he continued, ‘those were the good songs. I like those songs a lot. But especially,
I like’ – he was centre stage by this time, facing the audience – ‘the
new
songs,’ The audience knew what was coming. They began calling out for ‘Billie Jean’.

As the funk-infused guitar riff of ‘Billie Jean’ began, Michael went into his routine. He was going to be lip-synching – that
was obvious from the first note – but no one watching cared. As the music pulsated, he jammed a black fedora over his eyes and
struck a pose – his right hand on his hat, his left leg bent and poised for action. The stance may have been a tribute to Bob
Fosse or Sammy Davis, Jr., but Michael imprinted it with his own magic. While most entertainers perform for their audiences,
Michael seemed to be performing for himself, tonight. Maybe it was catharsis, his way of dealing with his personal pain, exorcising
the demons in his life, coming to terms with the disappointments of the past just as others around him had celebrated it.

He threw the hat aside with a graceful flourish, the audience went wild.

He moved constantly. Even when he was standing still, he seemed to be moving.

Michael's brothers stood in the wings, their mouths open. His parents and sisters sat in the audience, spellbound. ‘He just
stole the show,’ Joseph exclaimed to Katherine.
‘That boy just stole the show.’
Berry was also seen standing and applauding, one of the biggest fans in the house.

‘Billie Jean is not my lover,’ Michael sang, a pained expression playing on his face. It was a deeply personal song about
fathers and sons, about denial, entrapment, and hypocrisy, about coming close to the outer edges of madness.

The whole of Michael's performance was spellbinding, but during a brief instrumental interlude, he executed a combination
of moves that would seal his reputation as a dance legend. He commenced with a series of split-second locking moves and poses
before gliding across the stage via his now-famous sleek and graceful moonwalk – a reversed syncopated glide, heading forwards
and sliding backwards at the same time. The moonwalk gave way to that equally renowned spin – now refined, after years of practice,
to tornado speed – and then, immediately, he was up on his toes. Nobody but Michael Jackson could dance like that, and the audience
went wild.

Michael hadn't invented any of these moves; the poses were modified versions of ‘locking’, a street dance from the 1970s.
The moonwalk was a move TV's
Soul Train
dancers had discarded almost three years earlier. Sammy Davis, Jr., James Brown and Jackie Wilson all used to execute that
same spin, and going up on the toes is a touch Michael saw Fred Astaire use in his classic films of the 1930s. To combine
all those moves, from all of those eras – to take different styles and make them his own –
that's
Michael Jackson's genius as a dancer and creator.

Since he was a child and lead singer of The Jackson 5, Michael had possessed a magical ability to move an audience with his
singing and dancing. However, somehow tonight, something was different. Tonight, his audience was just as exhilarated by the
force of his personality as they were by his voice and footwork. Videotapes of Michael's performance do not begin to capture
the pandemonium his act generated that evening. The few minutes Michael spent onstage alone at the Pasadena Civic Center would
add up to
the
performance of his career. After this evening, his life – both personally and professionally – would never again be the same.

When it was over, Michael appeared surprised; he took one more step before he realized that the music had stopped – or, perhaps,
it was just his own momentum carrying him. A standing ovation rocked the hall. Michael bowed, then straightened and raised
his arm. His doe eyes looked straight ahead, his body motionless. He didn't smile or acknowledge the moment which, of course,
was part of the act.

He would later remember that he was disappointed in the performance. He had planned to execute a spin and stop on his toes,
suspended. The spin worked, but he didn't stay on his toes as long as he had planned to when he rehearsed in the privacy of
his kitchen. Always the perfectionist, he wished he could do it over again. And if this had been a video – not television – he
could have. It wasn't such a hot performance, he would remember thinking to himself, despite the crowd's approval.

Backstage, his brothers awaited him. All five – Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon and Randy – embraced him as he exited the stage.

‘What a job, Mike,’ Jackie exclaimed.

‘I've never seen anything like it,’ Jermaine added.

They were all talking at once. They had had no idea what Michael was going to do during his solo spot; he had decided not
to tell them.

Jermaine kissed him on the cheek. Then Jackie, then the others. It was an unusual display; the brothers, following Joseph's
example, were usually not affectionate or effusive with one another. However, Michael had shown them what he was capable of,
they respected him for it and couldn't contain themselves. Maybe it really was a good performance, after all.

However, it wasn't long before the moment was shattered. The brothers were soon talking about what Michael's glory might mean
for
them
– the possibility of taking the group back out on the road and making more money than ever before. ‘The Jackson 5 are back,’
Jackie kept repeating, and the others agreed, enthusiastically. ‘This is gonna be great.’

Michael didn't want any part of that idea. He turned and began walking away from them. ‘Hey, man, we're family,’ one of his
brothers reminded him. Michael, an inscrutable expression on his face, just shook his head and kept walking.

As Michael continued down the hall, a young boy in a tuxedo followed him. ‘Hey, Michael,’ the youngster called out. ‘Wait
up.’

Michael stopped.

‘Man, who ever taught you to dance like that?’ The kid looked up at his idol with adoring eyes.

‘Practice, I guess,’ Michael said.

‘You were amazing,’ the fan told him.