Michael Jackson (49 page)

As it happened, Motown had just released a collection of songs by Michael that he had recorded in the early seventies. The
album was called
Farewell My Summer Love 1984
, a misleading title since the songs were recorded more than ten years earlier. The record only sold about a hundred thousand
copies, a minuscule number considering the thirty-three million copies of
Thriller
that had by then been moved in record stores. Michael believed that Motown was trying to cash in on his fame, and he didn't
like it. ‘It's not fair,’ he said. ‘I had no control over that music. I don't even like some of those songs. I need someone
to stop things like that from happening in the future.’

Michael took meetings with a number of managers, including Colonel Tom Parker, Elvis Presley's Svengali, hoping to find the
most qualified person. When it came to choosing a manager, Michael was extremely cautious. He questioned everyone he knew
about certain people, trying to determine their worth in the entertainment industry. He would talk to his brothers to see
what gossip they had heard; he would check with record company executives. In the end, his choice would surprise many observers.

Seven months earlier, in August 1983, Michael had asked Epic Records head of promotion, Frank Dileo, if he would be interested
in managing him. The two were having a meeting about
Thriller
in a bungalow at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Michael firmly believed that Frank was largely responsible for
Thriller's
success, and also for the huge sales of all of its single releases. After his search, he again went back to Frank Dileo,
even though the man had virtually no experience as a manager. Many industry observers wondered, why Frank? (‘I asked Michael
the same question: why me?’ Dileo said.) Michael felt that the aggressive way Frank worked in the record industry could prove
an asset to him. In Frank Dileo, Michael knew he was hiring a terrific record promoter, who may or may not turn out to be
a good manager – but he was willing to take a chance.

At the time, Frank Dileo, whose nickname is ‘Tookie’ (Michael used to call him Uncle Tookie), was thirty-six, born and raised
in Pittsburgh. He had got his start in the record industry as an assistant to a record promoter in the Midwest, and in the
early seventies when he was twenty-one, landed a job with RCA Records in New York as national director of promotions. While
at RCA, he turned that label's promotion department into the record industry's finest. In 1979, Frank was named Epic's vice-president
of promotion. There, he developed a reputation at the label as being a confident man in complete charge of everything around
him – even matters that didn't concern him. A flashy character, he would wear a sweat suit to the office, along with an eight-thousand-dollar
Rolex watch given to him by the Epic recording group REO Speedwagon. He was largely responsible for successes by Meat Loaf,
Culture Club and Cyndi Lauper.

A few years after joining Epic, Frank was invited to the recording studio to watch as Michael recorded
Thriller
. It was then that he and Michael developed a rapport, though opposites in almost every way: Michael was shy and retiring,
Frank was loud and boisterous; Michael was a health-food junkie, Frank liked a good hoagie and a Budweiser with which to wash
it down; Michael never smoked, Frank loved cigars, the smellier the better; Michael weighed about 120 pounds; Frank weighed
twice that. Still, Michael admired the way Frank set goals for himself and then achieved them. ‘I'd like to be like Frank
Dileo,’ he said. ‘He gets the job done.’

Also, Frank was a close friend and confidant of Walter Yetnikoff, president of CBS Records, and socialized with attorney Nat
Weiss, one of Yetnikoff's trusted friends. Michael understood how politically valuable those relationships could be to him.
However, Michael told Frank that if he took the job as his manager, he would not be allowed to manage anyone else. He had
to be exclusive to Michael. Frank agreed.

By March, the Victory tour battle lines were drawn. Though the point of the tour was that the family presented a united front
to the public, the business behind the scenes was so fragmented, it was almost impossible to find any commonality among the
participants.

If Michael had to do the tour, he wanted more control of it. Not only was he exerting his independence at this time, he knew
that if the show flopped it could hurt his career. Whereas his brothers only wanted to make a decent living, that was the
least of Michael's concerns; he already had plenty of money. Still, since Michael now had his own manager, the brothers felt
they had to have one, too. Therefore, they hired Jack Nance, who had been the group's road manager during the early days at
Motown. So, now he had
his
manager, and they had
theirs
.

Making matters worse, Michael wanted nothing to do with Don King, especially when Frank filled Michael in on Don's reputation.
Frank told Michael that Don had been criticized for his handling of the defunct US Boxing Championships on ABC Television.
He also heard of charges, which King has denied, that he skimmed money from closed-circuit fights and sold five-hundred-dollar
tickets to boxing matches but did not report the sales. If Michael had to do this tour, he decided, he would do everything
in his power to distance himself from Don King. ‘I can tell you one thing,’ he told John Branca. ‘I don't want that guy telling
me
what to do, and I don't want him to touch
one single penny
of my money.’ Or, as Don King would later say, ‘With Michael, you're always on trial.’

Through John, Michael dispatched a series of instructions to Don stating:

1. King may not communicate with anyone on Michael's behalf without prior permission.

2. All monies will be collected by Michael's representatives and not by King.

3. King may not approach any promoters, sponsors or other people on Michael's behalf.

4. King may not hire any personnel or local promoters, book halls, or, for that matter, do anything at all without Michael's
prior approval.

Don appeared perplexed by Michael's demands but he had no choice but to abide by them. Still, Don felt that Michael was too
easily swayed by the opinions of his white manager, Frank Dileo, and white lawyer, John Branca. ‘I see that Michael has nobody
black around him,’ Don said to a reporter. ‘Nobody.’ That might have been true, but it was a mistake for Don to say it to
the press. ‘Fire him,’ Michael said, angrily. ‘Who does that guy think he is?’

But Don had a contract, and he wasn't going anywhere.

John and Don then had dinner at the Beverly Hills Hotel to try to work matters out. ‘Look, Johnny, there's no reason why you
and me gotta be on bad terms,’ King told Branca. ‘I like Michael. I like you. Let's work with one another.’

They agreed that they should try to work things out. However, by this time, the brothers were also ambivalent about Don King,
especially after that press conference.

At this time Chuck Sullivan, head of Stadium Management Corporation, of Foxboro, Massachusetts, and former owner of the New
England Patriots football team, was brought in to watch over Don King. He would be organizing the concerts. Michael was also
able to convince the brothers to allow Irving Azoff, head of MCA, to come aboard as a tour consultant. Meanwhile, in the background,
there was still Joseph Jackson, who did everything he could to stay involved and not allow Don to overshadow him. Then, there
was Katherine, watching and waiting until the next time she would have to speak to Michael in order to get him to do something
he didn't want to do.

‘I said the Pepsi accident was a bad omen,’ Michael told Frank Dileo one day as they sorted out all of the characters. ‘But
I didn't know what it meant. Now I know. Believe me when I say that trouble's ahead.’

In the spring of 1984, Michael arranged for Dr Steven Hoefflin, his plastic surgeon, to give him another rhinoplasty – a third
nose job. ‘He was determined that the last two weren't good enough,’ said a source who once worked in Hoefflin's office. ‘“It
has to be thinner,” he insisted. “Did you see the way it looked on the American Music Awards when I was standing next to Diana?”
he asked. “Hers was so thin and mine looked so fat. I hated it.” He didn't come out and say he wanted Diana Ross's nose, but
it was pretty obvious it was the shape he was after.’

‘I saw him after that third operation,’ Steve Howell recalled. ‘I was at the house dropping off some film and Mike was home.
He didn't know I was there and our paths crossed. He shrieked, “Oh no!” and ran off. It was like seeing a woman you don't
know in her underwear and without her makeup on, that was his reaction. His face was black and blue. There was a gauzy bandage
over his nose. He looked like a guy who'd been in a boxing match and forgot to put his hands up.

‘A couple of weeks later, we were talking and I was standing very close to him. I noticed what I thought were blemishes around
his nose. I thought, All those natural creams and other cosmetics he uses, and he still has blemishes? However, studying the
area on the other side of his nostril I realized those weren't blackheads, they were six small stitches around his nose. There
was more work in weeks to come: his skin looked like it was being stretched, or peeled, or something. The reason I'm vague
is that it was not something people around the house discussed.’

In May 1984, Michael hosted a birthday gathering with his brothers and sisters in honour of their mother, Katherine, at the
Bistro Garden restaurant in Beverly Hills. No matter what was going on in their lives, the Jacksons loved their mother. Among
her gifts, Katherine received a diamond ring and a rose-coloured, beige-topped Rolls-Royce. ‘The press later reported that
the Rolls was from Michael,’ said his sister-in-law, the late Enid Jackson. ‘Actually, we all chipped in on it. How do you
think that made the brothers feel, the fact that the world thought the gift was from Michael? But that's the kind of thing
they had to get used to over the years. Little things like this can be very hurtful. If, God forbid, they all got into an
airplane crash, it would all be about Michael dying in a crash… and the brothers were also there.’

Much of the extended Jackson family attended Katherine's party. Her children flew Katherine's father in from Indiana as a
special surprise. As a Jehovah's Witness, some of her friends thought it strange that she would agree to a birthday celebration.

Michael hired Steve Howell to videotape the proceedings. Not to be outdone, Jermaine had
his
videographer do the same thing.

Steve's video of the gathering is revealing. On it, the family did not appear to be close, though everyone seemed cordial
enough as they exchanged pleasantries in the formal setting. When Janet walked in with her date, a singer named James DeBarge,
everyone scattered. It was obvious that no one liked him.

The most emotional moment of the evening was between Michael and Katherine. Michael, wearing an expensive-looking, sparkly
silver suit and tie, walked up on to the stage and said to his mother, ‘This is one of your favourite songs. I'd like to do
it for you.’ He seemed nervous, even embarrassed. He can sing before thousands of people with no problem, but intimate gatherings
truly rattle him.

Michael was accompanied by country star Floyd Cramer, playing a Fender Rhodes piano. (Cramer had been flown in for the party
because Katherine is such a big fan of his.) As Cramer played, along with a three-piece band, Michael sang the Kris Kristofferson
country song ‘For the Good Times’ to Katherine, reading the lyrics from cue cards.

When Michael sang the first line – ‘Don't look so sad, I know it's over’ – Katherine's eyes immediately began to well up with
tears. Any observer might have thought that she was thinking of her marriage to Joseph, who was not even sitting with her
but, rather, elsewhere in the room. As Michael sang the song – his voice pure, his delivery eloquent – Katherine rocked back and
forth in her chair, looking as if her son's performance had completely swept her away. No mother had ever gazed upon her son
in a more loving manner, and Michael's expression was equally moving.