“I met Michael on the first day of rehearsal, and I was stunned — even though, obviously, I knew his image very well — at how incredibly sweet and how modest and how innocent he was. And fragile too. In person you felt he was almost breakable. But then this thing happened when he would start to work: your heart would beat faster and the hair on your arms and the back of your neck would stick up as he literally took your breath away. I think he was the most electrifying performer I’ve ever seen.
I think it was very hard for Michael to express anger. He was, I have to say, one of the most polite people I have ever met in my life. I never heard Michael say a swear word, even when he was upset. He had the most beautiful manners. And I think music was really the only way in which his passion could come through unguarded. It was immense. He was on fire as a performer — I’ve never seen a talent like it. I think, actually, there was a lot of the otherworldly in Michael. He had this talent that I’ve never encountered before, and I’ve seen a lot of extraordinary people perform. He was, I think, very misunderstood. I never believed any of the allegations or insinuations against him. We had lunch together about a month ago, and he talked about his ordeal. He felt like he had really been put through the ringer. He said they wanted blood. I felt so bad for him, and I felt that he was really broken-hearted from what had been done. He was a meteor: his flame burned incredibly bright, and not for long but mightily.” ~Anjelica Huston
Actress Anjelica Huston met Michael Jackson working on the set of Captain EO, a sci-fi action, 3D musical short movie that debuted at the height of Michael’s fame in 1986 at Disney theme parks. The movie is a mini-StarWars starring Michael Jackson as Captain EO, the hero. Ms. Huston played a wicked, alien witch Queen called the evil Supreme Leader.
Captain EO was produced by George Lucas, and directed by Francis Ford Coppola, and ran as an attraction at Disneyland until 1997. The 17-minute film cost a record $17 million in 1986, a cost of about one million dollars per minute of film. This was, minute for minute, the most expensive motion picture of all time. If you adjust that number for inflation, it rises to almost $35 million. The action on the screen was recreated for the live audience using lasers, laser impacts, smoke effects, and starfields that filled the theater.
As of February 2010, Captain EO has returned to Anaheim Disneyland’s Tomorrowland Theater after having been removed for many years, though fans had been petitioning the company to show the film again long before Michael’s death.
BEHIND THE SCENES: Original 1986 rehearsals and interviews with creators and stars of Captain EO ~ George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola
I love this song! MJ wrote lyrics from the heart. He inspired millions of fans worldwide with his humility and sincere intention to embrace a life of challenge and struggle with resolve to:
Look at yourself and what your doin’ right nowStand back a minute just to check yourself outStraighten up your life and how your livin’ each dayGet yourself together cuz you gotta keep the faith
Keep The Faith was written by Michael Jackson with Siedah Garrett and Glen Ballard, recorded for his Dangerous album, and released in November 1991. The song was produced by Michael, and co-produced by Bruce Swedien
Bruce Swedien remembers that, during the recording of Keep The Faith, Michael tried singing the first and second verses, but in the wrong key. He then disappeared. “I found him standing in the corner of his office, crying his eyes out,” recalls Bruce Swedien. “He was absolutely heartbroken – cut to the quick.” [When Michael pulled himself together] “We went in the studio,” said Swedien, “cut a whole new demo and recorded a scratch vocal all the way through… we didn’t leave the studio until dawn.”
“I think he’s an incredible singer,” said co-writer Ballard. “He’ll spend two years making a record, then go out and sing all the lead vocals in a week. He’s got such confidence and ability. I’ve worked with him sitting at a piano and having him sing, and it’s just a religious experience. The guy is amazing… he’s expressive, has great pitch and does incredible backgrounds. His backgrounds are probably as good as anybody I’ve ever heard. They’re textures unto themselves.”
“I really admire the work that went into this track. Anything Michael does, I can admire. It doesn’t really remind you of any of his other songs; this one’s a bit different to his usual tracks but it stands out. Michael’s always innovative. With this track, I just think he went another way due to the structure of the track and the instruments used. Well, that and him working with Glen Ballard with the writing on it – they kind of went head-on with that track.” ~Teddy Riley co-produced Dangerous album
Be not afraid of greatness: some men are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them. ~William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night Act II Scene V
“I love ET ‘cos it reminds me of me. Someone from another world coming down and you becoming friends with them and this person is, like, 800 years old and he’s filling you with all kinds of wisdom and he can teach you to fly. That whole fantasy thing which I think is great. I mean, who don’t wanna fly?”
~ MJ interview for Smash Hits 1/20/83
And who didn’t love ET? The following is an excerpt from Wikipedia:
“Epic Records allowed Jackson to record the album [E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial] for MCA Records on two conditions:
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial was not to be released until after Christmas 1982. (This was to avoid the audiobook competing with Jackson’s new album, Thriller.)
The song “Someone In the Dark” was not to be released as a single.
Both of the conditions were breached by MCA Records; they released the storybook in November 1982 and gave promo copies of “Someone In the Dark” to radio stations. MCA Records were forced to withdraw the album and were prohibited from releasing “Someone In the Dark” as a single after court action was taken by Epic against them in a $2 million lawsuit.The copies of the Jackson song have become one of the singer’s rarest and most sought after promo singles as a result of the legal restriction; some have changed hands for over £1000.”
“E.T. The Extraterrestrial Storybook Album” 1984 Grammy Best Recording For Children
Someone In The Dark by Michael Jackson
All alone wishing on stars
Waiting for you to find me
One sweet night I knew I would see
A stranger who’d be my friend
When someone in the dark reaches out to you
And touches off a spark that comes shining through
It tells you never be afraid
Then somewhere in your heart you can feel the glow
A light to keep you warm when the night winds blow
Like it was written in the stars I knew
My friend, my someone in the dark was you
Promise me we’ll always be
Walking the world together
Hand in hand where dreams never end
My star secret friend and me
When someone in the dark reaches out to you
And touches off a spark that comes shining through
It tells you never be afraid
Then somewhere in your heart you can feel the glow
A light to keep you warm when the night winds blow
Look for the rainbow in the sky
I believe you and I
Could never really say goodbye
Wherever you may be
I’ll look up and see
Someone in the dark for me
Wherever you may be
I’ll look up and see
Someone in the dark for me
Though you’re gone star far away
Each time I see a rainbow
I’ll remember being with you
Smiles coming through my tears
When someone in the dark reaches out for you
And touches off a spark that comes shining through
It tells you never be afraid
Then somewhere in your heart you can feel the glow
A light to keep you warm when the night winds blow
Look for the rainbow in the sky
I believe you and I
Could never really say goodbye
Wherever you may be
I’ll look up and see
Someone in the dark for me
Wherever you may be
I’ll look up and see
Someone in the dark for me!
Classic clip from the archives of Motown. Jackson5 audition in 1968 performing James Brown funk. What a boy!
“Because I think every child star suffers through this period because you’re not the cute and charming child that you were. You start to grow, and they want to keep you little forever.” ~Michael Jackson Oprah Winfrey interview 1993
Video thanks to ramss70 on YouTube with accompaniment ~ “Clair De Lune” by Claude Debussy
Dance of Life
I cannot escape the moon. Its soft beams push aside the curtains at night. I don’t even have to see it — a cool blue energy falls across my bed and I am up. I race down the dark hall and swing open the door, not to leave home but to go back into it.
“Moon, I’m here!” I shout.
“Good,” she replies. “Now give us a little dance.”
But my body has started moving long before she says anything. When did it start? I can’t remember — my body has always been moving. Since childhood I have reacted to the moon this way, as her favorite lunatic, and not just hers. The stars draw me near, close enough so that I see through their twinkling act. They’re dancing, too, doing a soft molecular jiggle that makes my carbon atoms jump in time.
With my arms flung wide, I head for the sea, which brings out another dance in me. Moon dancing is slow inside, and soft as blue shadows on the lawn. When the surf booms, I hear the heart of the earth, and the tempo picks up. I feel the dolphins leaping in the white foam, trying to fly, and almost flying when the waves curl high to the heavens. Their tails leave arcs of light as plankton glow in the waves. A school of minnows rises up, flashing silver in the moonlight like a new constellation.
“Ah!” the sea says, “Now we’re gathering a crowd.”
I run along the beach, catching waves with one foot and dodging them with the other. I hear faint popping sounds — a hundred panicky sand crabs are ducking into their holes, just in case. But I’m racing now, sometimes on my toes, sometimes running flat-out. I throw my head back and a swirling nebula says, “Fast now, twirl!”
Grinning, ducking my head for balance, I start to spin as wildly as I can. This is my favorite dance, because it contains a secret. The faster I twirl, the more I am still inside. My dance is all motion without, all silence within. As much as I love to make music, it’s the unheard music that never dies. And silence is my real dance, though it never moves. It stands aside, my choreographer of grace, and blesses each finger and toe.
I have forgotten the moon now and the sea and the dolphins, but I am in their joy more than ever. As far away as a star, as near as a grain of sand, the presence rises, shimmering with light. I could be in it forever, it is so loving and warm. But touch it once, and light shoots forth from the stillness. It quivers and thrills me, and I know my fate is to show others that this silence, this light, this blessing is my dance. I take this gift only to give it again.
“Quick, give!” says the light.
As never before, I try to obey, inventing new steps, new gestures of joy. All at once I sense where I am, running back up the hill. The light in my bedroom is on. Seeing it brings me back down. I begin to feel my pounding heart, the drowsiness in my arms, the warm blood in my legs. My cells want to dance slower. “Can we walk a little?” they ask. “It’s been kind of wild.” “Sure.” I laugh, slowing to an easy amble.
I turn the doorknob, panting lightly, glad to be tired. Crawling back into bed, I remember something that I always wonder at. They say that some of the stars that we see overhead aren’t really there. Their light takes millions of years to reach us, and all we are doing is looking into the past, into a bygone moment when those stars could still shine.
“So what does a star do after it quits shining?” I ask myself. “Maybe it dies.”
“Oh, no,” a voice in my head says. “A star can never die. It just turns into a smile and melts back into the cosmic music, the dance of life.” I like that thought, the last one I have before my eyes close. With a smile, I melt back into the music myself.
~excerpt from Dancing the Dream: Poems and Reflections(published 1992) Michael Joseph Jackson
Jackson concert promoter, financial adviser and family friend for decades, Leonard Rowe, reports: “Michael always felt he would be killed for his catalogue. When he was speaking about it, I paid him no attention but as the latest events have unfolded, I couldn’t help but think about his statement – and it still haunts me today.”
The causes and repercussions of Michael Jackson’s death are multi-faceted. I believe that the root cause of his final demise was, in fact, MONEY, and that the beginning of the end started years ago. It will be very interesting to see what information is revealed during Conrad Murray’s trial for which he has been charged with involuntary manslaughter. I am initially wary of books that try to sensationalize MJ’s persona and circumstances both in life and in death. I expect that the trial will open an inflammatory can of worms that few of us are anticipating. Hopefully the media will report more fairly in this case than they did previously with regard to Michael Jackson’s business.
Promo statements describe this book to be an “up close look at the evil side of the entertainment industry. This book is an eye opening, page turner, that will reveal the truth about all of the corruption, conspiracy, and greed behind the death of Michael Jackson. It will make the public aware of what really goes on behind the curtain. A close friend of Michael Jackson, author Leonard Rowe has become a crusader for justice for Michael, who he believes fell victim to the evils of the entertainment industry. He has written a tell all book, “What Really Happened to Michael Jackson The King of Pop.” The book is a must read bombshell with shocking evidence about the greed, corruption and underhanded dealings surrounding the needless and untimely death of the Pop star. “Michael was a dear friend of mine,” said Rowe. “Now finally on the anniversary of his death, the truth about what really happened to Michael Jackson will be told.”
(The entry date of this posting says June 15th. However, I started this blog on June 13th 2010, and encountered two days of technical difficulties.)
What an auspicious day to initiate this blog! Michael Jackson is remembered with compassion and L*O*V*E on this fifth anniversary of: One of the Most Shameful Episodes In Journalistic History, written by Charles Thomson, award-winning journalist, was published today at Huffington Post
“Reading the court transcripts and comparing them to the newspaper cuttings, the trial that was relayed to us didn’t even resemble the trial that was going on inside the courtroom…Personally, I think it will be remembered as one of the most shameful episodes in journalistic history. ” ~Charles Thomson, journalist
People vs. Jackson This infamous 2005 trial pinpointed recording artist Michael Jackson. His accuser was a boy, Gavin Arvizo, who was 13 years old at the time of the alleged crimes. Michael was indicted for four counts of molesting a minor, four counts of intoxicating a minor, one count of abduction, and one count of conspiring to hold the boy and his family captive at his 2,700-acre Neverland Ranch.
On June 13, 2005, the jury found Michael Jackson not guilty on all charges. Michael had been the victim of a failed extortion attempt.
Uploaded on YouTube by “itnsource” on Jul 16, 2007
Beautiful, inspiring images…Michael kept the faith!
Uploaded on YouTube in 2008 by “daphnieas”
