Wanna be Startin’ Somethin’…
It’s always been my nature to just keep moving forward – I’ve never been one to look back from whence I came, nor to slow down and reflect. Occasionally in moments of clarity I realize that these avenues are not mutually exclusive – that I can in fact slow down, look back, and keep moving (though preferably not all at the same time…)
I talk very little about my 30 years in the music and radio business. I had several lifetimes’-worth of amazing times over those years, and absolutely loved it. I have so mentally moved on from those days that it seems like another lifetime altogether, but much of it remains close to the surface – or at least bubbles up from time to time. One of the great opportunities that came my way was the privilege to work with Michael Jackson.
It has taken a few months since his death, and last week’s DVD release of the amazing “This Is It” rehearsal footage, for it all to sink in. Only Elvis and The Beatles were ever at his level in terms of worldwide superstardom and cultural impact (and of course Michael was obsessed with Elvis and The Beatles.) We are not likely to ever again see the complete entertainer that Michael was. At age 50, and not in shall we say robust health, he still looked the most captivating and compelling live performer one could ever imagine seeing. He was a genius on so many levels, and at the same time a strange, very very different human being. I, and I imagine history, will ultimately focus on the genius and his legacy of great songs and performances. Like nobody else on the planet, the guy just knew how to put on a show!
For a time I was the Sr. Director of National Promotion for Michael’s record company, Epic Records, and being part of the incredible world of Michael Jackson was nothing like anything I’ve ever experienced before or since. Just the pride and passion that we all took in knowing that we were working with the biggest artist in the world – it was an amazing feeling, and it permeated everything we did and drove us on to do more than we’d ever done before. It was just understood that Michael deserved, and in fact demanded it. It was an atmosphere of extreme pressure at times. It was never spoken, but we just knew that anything less than the best that had ever been achieved would be a failure. Pressure? What pressure…
I remember in excruciating detail the launch of Michael’s single “Black or White” in 1991. Never before in recorded history had every single major Top 40 radio station in America added the same record to each of their playlists in the same week. So, that became our goal. Somehow, we pulled it off. I will never forget getting the confirmation that the 214th out of 214 stations had indeed added the record on that Tuesday (for some bizarre reason, Tuesdays have always been the day radio stations report their new playlist additions for the week.) At any rate, it’s a record that still stands, as far as I know. The single went straight to #1 and stayed there for seven weeks. Though we didn’t know it at the time, this was probably the beginning of the end of his commercial peak.
I remember video (excuse me – “short films”) shoots where we did endless take after take after take – he was a total perfectionist, and always knew exactly what he wanted. He would never quit until he got exactly what he had in his mind. Sometimes it took a while for everyone else to understand exactly what that was – but no one ever seemed to get exasperated or impatient with him.
When I was the afternoon DJ on New York’s top-rated WHTZ/Z-100 in the mid-1980s – “Thriller” was at its peak and Michael-mania ruled the world. He was in New York, staying at the Helmsley Palace – and I remember his manager Frank DiLeo calling us and offering us the sheets off of Michael’s bed to give away in a contest. Michael signed the sheets with a Sharpie, and Frank brought them over to the station. This drew perhaps the biggest reaction to a radio contest I’ve ever seen – it got more action than giving away $25,000 cash! What exactly did the winner do with the sheets, I have always wondered…
Ultimately, we are left with an amazing body of music that has touched millions of lives. In the end, he was and is an inspiration. The stirring tribute to Michael on last night’s Grammy Awards telecast inspired me once again, and led me to sit down and share a few memories. I am blessed to have been a tiny part of that world.
