"Michael had remarkably good hearing when I worked with him, all things considered, but he loved having his headphones painfully loud. If you have never worked in a recording studio, the reason singers and musicians use headphones is so they can hear the song, their voice, etc., but the microphone only hears their voice, or the instrument they are playing. It became a bit of a challenge for us, because Michael would crank his headphones louder and louder during a session, then he would call out, "Brad… my headphones don’t sound right… can I get another pair?" I would bring him another pair, only to discover he had blown the previous ones. Now, you can’t really tell Michael he needs to turn his headphones down, so the challenge was to find a set that would please his ears and be comfortable to wear, and be loud enough for his liking. 

We tried several models from AKG and Sennheiser, only to send them to the shop with smoke coming out of them after an MJ vocal session. Finally we discovered the solution: The Fostex T20. Michael tried them and reached for the volume control. Now, I like loud music, I really do – but the volume that Michael would listen to and sing along with on those T20’s was mindblowing! He loved them, and they became our must-have in every studio we worked in. 

So, if you want to listen to Michael’s music through the same headphones that he was listening to when he created it, skip the Beat’s By Dre and pick up a pair of Fostex T20’s. (They cost 1/3 as much!) You may not look like everyone else, but you’ll know the back-story – these were the headphones that Michael used). Michael always marched to his own drumbeat – shouldn’t you?” ~ Brad Sundberg

"I was dressed to go out one day when I got the idea to play a practical joke on him. I snuck into my father’s room and on a second phone line called my brother. In my best New York accent, I said, ‘’Hello, Michael?’’

‘’Yes?’’

‘’This is Sidney Lumet’s secretary.’’

‘’Oh, hi!’’ Michael, having admired the director since working with him on The Wiz, was thrilled.

‘’Mr. Lumet’s in town and would like to see you.’’

‘’Really?’’ I heard the phone drop and then Michael’s footsteps as he ran toward my room, shouting, ‘’La Toya! La Toya!’’

I hid the receiver under a pillow. ‘’I’m in here!’’

His head popped in the doorway. ‘’Guess who’s on the phone! Sidney Lumet’s secretary! And guess what?’’ Michael was so beside himself with excitement I almost fell out laughing right then. ‘’Sidney Lumet wants to see me!’’

‘’He does?’’

‘’Yes. I gotta go back. She’s waiting for me.’’ A few seconds later I heard a breathless ‘’Hello?’’

‘’Yes, Michael,’’ I said in the New York accent, ‘’Mr. Lumet would like to see you at your home. In fact, he’s not too far from there right now. May he come over?’’

‘’You’re kidding! Hold on!’’

Michael rushed back to Joseph’s room. ‘’La Toya, what are we gonna do? He’s on his way over now! I wanna see him but…’’ My brother surveyed the house, which was always immaculate. ‘’Clean the house!’’ he cried, then ran back and told the ‘’secretary’’ he’d be ready. I couldn’t resist laying it on thick. ‘’You know, Michael,’’ I said, ‘’Mr. Lumet really thinks you’re incredibly talented, and he always talks about what a wonderful job you did on The Wiz.’’

‘’Oh, that’s very nice. But I’ve got to go and get ready. Bye!’’

‘’Mother!’’ Michael shouted. ‘’Sidney Lumet’s on his way over! Sidney Lumet’s on his way over! Everybody hurry up! Close the garage! Clean the house!’’ He was barking orders like a staff sergeant.

Michael was frantic, pulling out clothes and asking, ‘’But what should I wear? How should I fix my hair?’’ I played along, even as he stood out by the gate waiting for his esteemed guest. Finally, unable to bear it any longer, I strolled out to the driveway and casually inquired, ‘’So, Mike, are you camping out here?’’

‘’I don’t understand, La Toya,’’ he replied distractedly, peering through the gate.

‘’Well, what did his secretary say to you?” I asked coyly, ‘’Did she tawk like this?’’

Michael spun around. ‘’Yeah…’’

‘’Did she say, ‘Mr. Lumet thinks yawr incredibly talented’?’’

‘’Yeah!’’ He thought for a moment. ‘’Wait a minute,’’ he said suspiciously, ‘’you were listening to my phone call!’’

‘’No I wasn’t, Mike,’’ I replied innocently.

‘’Yeah? Then how do you know what she said?’’

‘’Because it was me!’’

His jaw dropped. ‘’Now you’re going to get it!’’ I laughed so hard I didn’t realize he’d picked up the garden hose. My brother drenched my suede outfit, laughing vengefully, while I screamed for Mother to rescue me."

_{Breaking Bad’s Aaron Paul is quite the charmer—so much so, in fact, that he once made friends with Michael Jackson! In an interview with Details’ February issue, the 34-year-old actor recounts the time when, while partying at the home of Prince Azim of Brunei, he and the late King of Pop connected instantly and had a heartfelt conversation about family and forgiveness.}

 

_{"It was the Prince of Brunei’s 25th-birthday party," he recalls. "Six years ago, outside London."}

 

_{After Aaron, a plus one at the fête, suggested chasing “all these sheep, like a thousand sheep surrounding the castle,” he quickly fell into favor with the royal prince and princesses Azemah and Fadzilah. And despite breaking the Prince of Brunei’s hovercraft (as he says, “If I have a chance to hovercraft around a castle, I’m going to hovercraft around a castle.”), he was still quite the popular party guest.}  

 

_{"I was going back up to my room, and this guy grabs me and says, ‘Hey, Prince Azim wants to see you in the library,’" he says. "So I go down there, and he’s sitting on the couch with Michael Jackson, and me and Michael Jackson end up having this hour-long heart-to-heart about family and upbringings, and I remember, he just put his arm around my shoulder and said, ‘You know, if you’ve had a rough childhood or not, it’s all about forgiveness. Once you realize that, it’s fine. Everything’s fine.’ "And I’m like, ‘Michael, you are absolutely right,’" he says. "And then I go, ‘Do you want to do a shot?’ And he goes, ‘Sure!’ And I was like, ‘Okay, Michael, let’s do this.’"}

 

Källa: UKOnline.