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Q: Another big moment was the Motown 25 performance …
A: I was at the studio editing “Beat It”, and for some reason I happened to be at Motown Studios doing it–I had long left the company. So they were getting ready to do something with the Motown anniversary, and Berry Gordy came by and asked me did I want to do the show, and I told him ‘NO.’ I told him no. I said no because the Thriller thing, I was building and creating something I was planning to do, and he said, ‘But it’s the anniversary …’ So this is what I said to him. I said, ‘I will do it, but the only way I’ll do it is if you let me do one song that’s not a Motown song.’ He said, ‘What is it?’ I said, ‘Billie Jean’. He said, ‘OK, fine.’ I said, ‘You’ll really let me do “Billie Jean?” He said, ‘Yeah.’
So I rehearsed and choreographed and dressed my brothers, and picked the songs, and picked the medley. And not only that, you have to work out all the camera angles. I direct and edit everything I do. Every shot you see is my shot. Let me tell you why I have to do it that way. I have five, no, six cameras. When you’re performing–and I don’t care what kind of performance you are giving–if you don’t capture it properly, the people will never see it. It’s the most selfish medium in the world. You’re filming WHAT you want people to see, WHEN you want them to see it, HOW you want them to see it, what JUXTAPOSITION you want them to see. You’re creating the totality of the whole feeling of what’s being presented, in your angle and your shots. ‘Cause I know what I want to see. I know what I want to go to the audience. I know what I want to come back. I know the emotion that I felt when I performed it, and I try to recapture that same emotion when I cut and edit and direct.
Q: How long have you been creating all of those elements?
A: Since I was a little boy, with my brothers. My father used to say, ‘Show ‘em Michael, show ‘em.’
Q: Did they ever get jealous of that?
A: They never showed it at the time, but it must have been hard, because I would never get spanked during rehearsals or practice. [Laughter] But afterwards was when I got in trouble. [Laughter]. It’s true, that’s when I would get it. My father would rehearse with a belt in his hand. You couldn’t mess up. My father was a genius when it comes to the way he taught us, staging, how to work an audience, anticipating what to do next, or never let the audience know if you are suffering, or if something’s going wrong. He was amazing like that.
Q: Is that where you think you got not just a lot of your business sense, but how to control the whole package?
A: Absolutely. My father, experience; but I learned a lot from my father. He had a group when he was a young person called the Falcons. They came over and they played music, all the time, so we always had music and dancing. It’s that cultural thing that Black people do. You clear out all the furniture, turn up the music … when company comes, everybody gets out in the middle of the floor, you gotta do something. I loved that.
Q: Do your kids do that now?
A: They do, but they get shy. But they do it for me, sometimes.
Q: Speaking of showmanship: MTV, they didn’t play Black folks. How hard was that for you?
A: They said they don’t play [Black artists]. It broke my heart, but at the same time it lit something. I was saying to myself, ‘I have to do something where they … I just refuse to be ignored.’ So yeah, “Billie Jean,” they said, ‘We won’t play it.’
But when they played it, it set the all-time record. Then they were asking me for EVERYTHING we had. They were knocking our door down. Then Prince came, it opened the door for Prince and all the other Black artists. It was 24-hour heavy metal, just a potpourri of crazy images …
They came to me so many times in the past and said, ‘Michael, if it wasn’t for you, there would be no MTV.’ They told me that, over and over, personally. I guess they didn’t hear it at the time … but I’m sure they didn’t mean any pure malice [Laughter].
Q: That really gave birth to the modern video age …
A: I used to look at MTV. My brother [Jackie], I’ll never forget, he’d say, ‘Michael, you gotta see this channel. Oh, my God, it’s the best idea. They show music 24 hours a day … 24 Hours A Day!’ So I said, ‘Let me see this.’ And I’m watching it, I’m seeing all this stuff going on and saying ‘If only they could give this stuff some more entertainment value, more story, a little more dance, I’m sure people would love it more.’ So I said, when I do something, it’s gotta have a story–an opening, a middle and a closing–so you could follow a linear thread; there’s got to be a thread through it. So while you are watching the entertainment value of it, you’re wondering what is going to happen. So that’s when I started to experiment with Thriller, The Way You Make Me Feel and Bad and Smooth Criminal and directing and writing.
Q: What do you think about the state of music videos and music today?
A: [The industry], it’s at a crossroads. There’s a transformation going on. People are confused, what’s going to happen, how to distribute and sell music. I think the Internet kind of threw everybody for a real loop. ‘Cause it’s so powerful, kids love it so much. The whole world is at their fingertips, on their lap. Anything they want to know, anyone they want to communicate with, any music, any movies … This thing, it just took everybody for a loop. Right now, all these Starbucks deals and Wal-Mart deals, direct to artist, I don’t know if that’s the answer. I think the answer is just phenomenal, great music. Just reaching the masses. I think people are still searching. There’s not a real musical revolution going on right now, either. But when it’s there, people will break a wall down to get to it. I mean, ’cause before Thriller, it was the same kind of thing. People were NOT buying music. It helped to bring everybody back into the stores. So, when it happens, it happens.
Q: Who impresses you?
A: As far as artistry, I think Ne-Yo is doing wonderful. But he has a very Michael Jackson feel, too. But that’s what I like about him. I can tell that he’s a guy who understands writing.
Q: Do you work with these young artists?
A: Sure. I’ve always been the type where, I don’t care if it’s the mailman or the guy sweeping the floor. If it’s a great song, it’s a great song. Some of the most ingenious ideas come from everyday people, who just go, ‘Why don’t you try this, or do this.’ It’ll be a wonderful idea, so you should just try it. Chris Brown is wonderful. Akon, he’s a wonderful artist.
I always want to do music that inspires or influences another generation. You want what you create to live, be it sculpture or painting or music. Like Michelangelo, he said, “I know the creator will go, but his work survives. That is why to escape death, I attempt to bind my soul to my work.’ And that’s how I feel. I give my all to my work. I want it to just live.
PART THREE COMING TOMORROW
REMOVE THAT SCARF! YOUR HANDSOME!
Awww…
