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HE KNEW WHY THEY DIDN'T COME

 

Bill Whitfield: ..there was one memory that kept running through my mind, a conversation I’d had with Grace back at the Monte Cristo house when I first started working there. She and I were in the garage. I was putting together some of the security equipment, and Grace was at the little workstation she’d set up. Mr Jackson had told her to try and get in touch with somebody.

She was getting frustrated and she said, The boss wants me to get in touch with this person, and I keep leaving messages, but nobody’s calling me back. It’s like he forgets sometimes that people don’t want anything to do with him after all this mess.I said, “What mess? What are you talking about?

The trial,” she said. ” Since the trial, a lot of people just don’t call back anymore.”

She was giving me the heads up, filling me in on how things worked, like she often did. She started telling me about the days right after the trial was over. “After he was acquitted," she said, "we had a party at Neverland for him to celebrate, and nobody came.

Nobody?”

A few people," she said, "but not many”.

She said they’d put together a guest list of all these friends and people Mr. Jackson had worked with over the years. They invited close to three hundred people. Maybe fifty showed up. And a lot of people who did come were people that worked for him. People that worked the grounds at Neverland. People from his lawyer’s office. People who were paid to be there. Everyone else called and said they couldn’t make it or they had other things planned.

And he knew," Grace said, "He knew why they didn’t come. People called him and told that they loved him and that they were praying for him, but very few people would go public and say that they believed him. A lot of people act like his friends but not they’re not really his friends. If he’s not making money, they’re not really around.
 
~ Remember the time: Protecting Michael Jackson in his final days

SNICKERING

  
  
 
Out of sheer boredom, Michael use to dial room service knowing full well the kitchen didn’t have what he was about to order. "I’ll have some collard greens… some cornbread… and some black-eyed peas," he’d say, as if reading the items off a menu. "Send ‘em up right now!" Then he’d hang up snickering. And when no knock at the door came, he’d call again. "I’m waiting for my collard greens…"

WALKING IN WIEN

I större format: bild 1, bild 2.
 
”Photographer Sam Emerson has taken some of my fave pics of Michael and though we have seen these a hundred times, I just love the ‘fun’ behind these 2 pics ~ Sam explains “We were walking in Wien [Austria] and I saw these two old ladies sitting on a bench and told Michael to sit next to them. They had no idea who he was. They had about 80 years! It was fun!”
 

'Iconic' Magazine August 2013

LOVEY DOVEY

 
"Michael was living full time at Neverland Ranch. And all of a sudden, here comes Lisa Marie on the stairs in a bathrobe. We thought, 'Well, hey, what's up here? She spent the night up here? With Michael?' And then here comes Michael down the stairs in his Mickey Mouse pajamas with a big grin on his face. The two were lovey dovey at breakfast and she hasn't left his side by then." ~ The Magic and the Madness (januari 1994), J. Randy Taraborrelli

IMPRESSIVE

 
“Although it never made any of his greatest hits collections, 'Stranger In Moscow' is one of Michael Jackson’s most impressive artistic achievements and, over time, will no doubt be recognized as such.” ~ Joe Vogel

SAKE

 

Michael and Isao Tomita - Tokyo, September 24, 1987

 

"When Michael toured Japan in ‘87, he was invited to dinner at a famous composer’s house, where he was offered a cup of Sake. The translator had told Michael before the meal that the Japanese tradition states that you should continue to eat and drink until there is nothing left on your plate or in your glass. Michael heard that the rice wine is made from 100% rice and very pure, so he wanted to try a few drops. The cup was so small that he soon emptied it, and the composer poured him some more. Michael, not wanting to ignore the tradition or to offend, drank this second glass of wine too. This continued again…and again…and again, until Michael realized that he simply couldn’t drink any more. So he took the little cup and passed it under the table to the translator, who drank the wine and passed it back in its original place. The translator drank the wine again and again for his boss."

HE WAS A VERY JOYFUL PERSON

 
“I asked him up in Denver, ‘Do you work out?’ and he said ‘No, I should, shouldn’t I?’ He was really guilty about it. I said, ‘Hey, whatever you’re doing is working”. He was so much fun to be around. It wasn’t all darkness. We’d laugh so much. He had a great sense of humor, loved practical jokes….We’d be walking along and he’d break out into song. But not like Michael Jackson. He would sing like it was a man in the shower, just singing. I hated to see that joy go out of his life because he was a very joyful person. He was a happy person and just great fun to be around. […] [When I first met him,], he had a red corduroy shirt and black pants on and loafers that were kind of broken down in back. That’s the way he dressed most of the time when I knew him. When he wasn’t in public. He lived so simply. Michael never wore any jewelry, no rings, no belts, no watches, nothing, ever. The only time he wore those things were onstage. I was just so impressed with how simply he lived.” ~ David Nordahl

THEY'D SIT AND WAIT; HE'D SIT AND WATCH

 

“Whenever I got into it like that, Mr. Jackson would always talk me down. ‘Bill, be nice to my fans,’ he’d say. ‘They’re not going to let anything happen to me. They’re harmless.’

 

Part of our apprehension was that at first we didn’t understand what his relationship with his fans was. We were surprised to learn that he stayed in touch with some of them, would correspond with them. They would call his manager and send messages through her. When he talked to them, there were a lot of exchanges of ‘I love you’ and ‘I love you more.’ They were always bringing him presents, personal things. They’d say, ‘I made this for you’; ‘Here’s a stuffed animal’; ‘Here’s a Peter Pan trinket.’

 

His relationship with his fans—I’d never seen anything like it with other celebrities. Never. No matter how famous. With other celebrities, you see the groupies hanging around, but these were not groupies. Mr. Jackson actually knew a lot of them individually. He remembered what show he first met them at, how many years they’d known each other. He’d point out fans that he’d seen in other countries. Here we were in Las Vegas, and he was going, ‘That one there, I remember him from Germany.’

 

It was an interesting relationship, him and the fans. He loved them as much as they loved him. From his bedroom window upstairs, he could look directly out to the street where they were camped out. Sometimes we’d glance up and see him, looking out from behind the curtains, just watching them, observing them. They’d sit and wait; he’d sit and watch.”

 

~ Remember the time: Protecting Michael Jackson in his final days

GENUINE SWEETNESS

 
“He was very sweet. He came to our apartment. My mother cooked dinner. He was very easy to be with. There was a genuine sweetness about him. And treating everybody the same way. Didn’t matter who it was — my family, the crew. The only time he expressed [a production demand], and again it was out of compassion — the older man is getting mugged and gets pushed at one point. And we did it a couple of takes and he was nervous about that. He didn’t want anyone to get hurt. We didn’t know if we had it on film and we said, Let’s do it again. And he begged me not to do it again. He said, ‘Please, this shouldn’t be violent.’ So I didn’t do it.” ~ Martin Scorsese

STRIPPED OF ALL DIGNITY

 

Stripped of all dignity

 

"...There was nothing more humiliating for Michael Jackson than when police strip-searched him while investigating the allegations that he had molested 13-year-old Jordie Chandler.

 

The boy had given a detailed description of the star’s body and the detectives needed to check if it was true. Jackson was warned that if he refused to cooperate, he’d be arrested and taken away in handcuffs.

 

After the police arrived at Neverland, it took lawyers an hour to persuade him to leave his bedroom. Finally, he came into the living room clearly agitated, wearing a brown dressing gown. He blocked his face with his hands, as if thwarting the paparazzi.

 

He was told to stand on a platform in the middle of the room. 'Please don't make me do this,' he said, his doe-like eyes watery. 'This is terrible. Don't make me.' 'Sir, we have no choice,’ said one of the detectives.

 

Staring at a picture of Elizabeth Taylor on the wall, Jackson removed the dressing gown, to reveal a bathing suit. ‘You’ll have to take that off, too, sir,’ said the detective. Michael slipped off the bathing suit … under which he was wearing boxers. ‘Sir, please,’ the detective said.

 

Crying softly now, Michael took off the boxers and stood, naked, stripped not only of his clothes, but of all his dignity. All eyes peered at him to see if he was circumcised, as Jordie had claimed (he wasn’t). ‘Oh my God,’ Michael whimpered. He looked as if he was about to faint.

 

The police circled him slowly, making notes about his body, the colour of his buttocks and private parts. A photographer took pictures before Jackson jumped off the platform. ‘That’s enough,’ he said, before fleeing the room.

 

He was persuaded to return by his lawyers after 15 minutes of cries, shrieks and pleas. A plaintive wail resonated through the house. Michael Jackson had been broken. He pounded his feet against the floor.

 

Again, he stood naked. More pictures. Then videotape. ‘Please, can we stop now?’ Michael pleaded.

 

One of the doctors produced a ruler, at which point Jackson’s doctor intervened. ‘That’s it,’ he said firmly. ‘Mike, get dressed. This is a joke. I can’t believe it myself’. Jackson ran from the room, shaking and screaming: ‘How could this happen to me?’ Observers said it looked as if he was about to have a melt-down. ‘How could this happen to me?’ he kept repeating…”

 

~ The magic and madness, J.R. Taraborelli

DEPTH

 
"I will always love Michael from the depth of my being and nothing can separate us."
~ Elizabeth Taylor

I PAUSED

 
I hugged him and asked him to give each of his children a big hug for me and get a good nights rest. I told him I Ioved him and I would see him tomorrow. As he got into the cart, he said ‘I love you more’…it was just what we always said. I paused and watched the cart drive off. 5 years ago, that was the last time I ever saw Michael alive ~ Karen Faye

BLAST AND DANCE

 
Five years ago today we all lost the most INCREDIBLE father, brother, son and the most talented performer this world has ever known! If Michael were here today he would tell us all to celebrate his life and not to mourn his death. Michael was all about love and peace and in honor of my brother I ask you to please do something kind for someone today, and, BLAST and DANCE to all the beautiful music he left us all. I will spend this day celebrating his life by listening to his music, looking through old home photos, watching his videos and concerts. MICHAEL I LOVE YOU FOREVER and if you were here today I know you would say, “I LOVE YOU MORE!” ~ LaToya Jackson (till ABC idag)

THEY MEANT MORE TO HIM THAN HE DID TO THEM

 
"They should take all these fake ass people (the celebrities at Michael's memorial) and put them out in the streets, open up the doors and let his fans in. They're the ones who deserve to be here for this. His fans were the only ones who never deserted him. Whenever the fans said 'We love you, Michael' he'd always say 'I love you more'. And he meant it. They meant more to him than he did to them. He cared for them so deeply that in some ways they constituted the only sustained, committed relationship in his life – the only real love affair." ~ Bill Whitfield (f.d. livvakt till Michael)

THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS

 
Our thoughts and prayers are with Michael's loved ones today as we remember the kind, gentle and giving spirit who generously shared his amazing artistic gifts with the world along with a limitless empathy for those in need. Time has shown that with each passing year the world's appreciation deepens not just for Michael's talent but also for his lifelong passion to spread peace, unity, love and hope across every culture and society. Michael's friendship, kindness, humor and joyful warmth will always be missed. The world is a far better place for having known him.
 
~ John Branca & John McClain (skrivet idag)

IT'S NOT FAIR

 

"I’m very privileged. I’m very lucky to have collaborated with an artist like that, someone so amazing… and it’s not fair, you know? He was only fifty. It’s not fair, I’m very upset. I feel stupid, I’m sorry." ~ John Landis

A GOOD LAUGH

 
”One time, we were driving and Blanket started to say something, and Mr. Jackson kinda shushed him. The kids kept giggling and Mr. Jackson kept going, ‘Shhh! No, I didn’t! No, I didn’t!’ Blanket said, ‘Yes, you did, Daddy. You said that Bill looked like..’ ‘Shhh! ‘
So now I was curious. I said, ‘Bill looks like what?’ I looked in the rearview mirror. Blanket and Mr. Jackson were both staring at each other like, Who’s gonna tell him?
Blanket looked at me and said, ‘Bill, Daddy says you look like the Thing!”
“The Thing? What’s the Thing?’
'You know,' Blanket said, 'the guy from the Fantastic Four! Daddy said you look like the Thing from the Fantastic Four.'
And I was like, Wow. Okay. The brother’s got jokes. Then Blanket said, ‘And Javon looks like Frozone from The Incredibles!’
We all had a good laugh about it.”
 
~ Bill Whitfield and Javon Beard (livvakter)

HE HELPED ME

 
We would always talk about how he prepared to make his music, how he prepared for concerts. He would teach me what he did: How to make a ‘Thriller’ album, a ‘Bad’ album, all the details that went into it. It was all the validation that I needed – to know that I had to focus on my craft and never waver. Because what he did – and how he did it – was psychotic. He helped me get to a level where I was able to win three titles playing with Shaq because of my preparation, my study. And it’s only all grown. That’s the mentality that I have – it’s not an athletic one. It’s not from Michael Jordan. It’s not from other athletes. It’s from Michael Jackson. ~ Kobe Bryant

BILL WHITFIELD AND JAVON BEARD

 

What Michael Jackson Would Have Felt About Xscape

 

by Bill Whitfield and Javon Beard

 

Michael Jackson’s bodyguards Bill Whitfield and Javon Beard imagine how the King of Pop would have reacted to a remixed album of unreleased tracks.

 

Ever since Michael Jackson died, there have been many arguments over how his estate has handled his musical legacy. The latest one erupted last month with the release of Xscape, the album of Michael Jackson’s unfinished demos, updated and polished by LA Reid, Timbaland, Rodney Jerkins and others. Last week, we even got a hologram of Mr. Jackson, singing and dancing from beyond the grave. Some fans are overjoyed just to have his music back in the spotlight. Others are calling it a terrible violation of what Jackson would have wanted if he were alive.

 

In the studio, Jackson was a perfectionist, carefully obsessing over every detail of his songs before releasing them to the public, and it was well-established in his lifetime that he didn’t like his record label remixing and changing his music. But whenever you’re dealing with the legacy of a great artist, things are going to get complicated. Having worked as Mr. Jackson’s personal security team for two-and-a-half years, spending days and weeks at his side, going to and from the recording studio and listening to him work at home, we feel we can offer some unique insight on how he might feel about this album and the controversy it’s created.

 

We were with Mr. Jackson during the time he was working on the remixes for the 25th anniversary release of Thriller. Those remixes were Sony’s idea, not his. We’d hear him on the phone all the time, arguing with his manager about not wanting to do them. Whenever the subject of the remixes came up, he’d say, “There are some things you should never touch.” We must have heard him say it a dozen times. As far as he was concerned, that album was perfect. You don’t go back and add hip-hop beats to Thriller. It’s a classic, and you don’t touch it. But Sony told him he had to. They told him he had to get in the studio and do these remixes to make himself new and hip again.

 

We first started taking him to the studio to do work on the tracks around February of 2007, and from there the process just dragged on forever. At that point, the anniversary of the release date was ten months off, in November. That came and went, and the album still wasn’t done. He kept putting it off and putting it off and the remixes kept taking longer and longer to finish. All sorts of stuff had been planned, TV specials, appearances—none of it happened. He wasn’t cool with it. By January of 2008, Jackson was living at the Palms resort in Las Vegas, using the recording studio there. One of us was with him in the studio nearly 24/7 while he worked, trying to catch up and finish these songs he was contractually obligated to do, but that he didn’t want to do. He wasn’t going in there with enthusiasm. You could tell that. Once the album came out there was all this hype in the media, but inside his camp it barely registered. He never talked about it like it was a big deal. We heard more excitement in his voice talking about going to the movies than we ever heard when he was talking about Thriller 25.

 

So, yes, he hated remixes. But we saw another side of Jackson, too. There was one night when we were staying at the Palms, at the same time he was working on these remixes for Thriller 25. He told us he wanted to go to the club downstairs. He didn’t want to make an appearance; he just wanted to hang out and do some people watching. This club had a VIP balcony that overlooked the crowd, so we set it up for him to go down there. We were in the club for maybe two to three minutes when all of sudden the deejay started playing one of his songs; they were mixing it, cutting it together with a bunch of other tunes. Mr. Jackson was bopping his head along to it, and he said, “Wow, I didn’t know that they still played my music.”

 

We were like, “What?!” We told him, “Sir, they still play your music all the time. In bars, clubs, everywhere.”

 

He said, “Really?”

 

He seemed surprised. He’d been out of the spotlight and beaten up by the tabloids for so long at that point that he really felt like maybe the world had moved on, that he wasn’t as popular anymore. It really made him happy to hear his songs in the club like that. He wanted his music to be remembered. Other artists often reached out for permission to sample his songs. Jackson’s attorney would call and say, “Tell Michael that Kanye West wants to sample such-and-such. What does he want to charge?”

 

We’d relay the message to Jackson, and he’d say, “Nothing. Tell them it’s fine if they just use it. The more they use my music, that means my music stays alive.” He could have charged a fortune, but he didn’t. He just wanted his music to be out there in the world. He wanted to be an inspiration, to be connected to this younger generation of artists and producers who were following in his footsteps. He wanted them to build on his legacy.

 

Jackson believed there are some things you should never touch, but he also wanted his music to be used and kept alive. So what would he have thought of Xscape? Honestly, he probably would enjoyed some aspects of it, and other aspects not so much. If he were here and he listened to the album and he heard even one wrong note, he’d be furious. He’d obsess over it for days, not stopping until he found a way to make it right. But if he saw young people in the club, dancing to this new single “Love Never Felt So Good”? That would have filled his heart with joy like you couldn’t imagine. To hear all these young producers talking about his genius in the studio? To have the #1 album in over 50 different countries? To know that he was still the King of Pop? That was important to him, too.

 

Michael Jackson’s final years took a heavy toll on him. He was hunted by the paparazzi, run down by the tabloids, beset by legal and financial problems. That we witnessed, only two things brought him real happiness during that difficult time: the love of his three children and the dedication of his fans, the people who never forgot about the music while the media was only obsessed with scandals and rumors. Those fans may never agree on whether the Jackson estate is doing the right thing or the wrong thing. We may never agree about the best way to honor his legacy, and we will all make our own choices about what albums to buy and what projects to support. But we can all agree on one thing Michael Jackson would have wanted: he’d want us to keep the music alive—in the club, on the dance floor, and in our hearts.

BED HAIR

 

 

Marlo Henderson played guitar on Michael’s Off the Wall and HIStory albums. He also worked on some J5 albums.

 

Marlo needed a photo for his resume so called the studio for permission, then went to the studio where they were mixing Thriller where he found Michael asleep as he had been up all night. He shook and woke Michael up to ask him for the pics. Michael was gracious but said “What!!” He did not want to wake up! However he came out front and took the photo and then went back to sleep.

 

Of the pic, Marlo said Michael is looking at me as if to say “I can not believe this guy actually woke me up to take a picture,” but posed for the pic along with his “bed hair”. Marlo recalls Michael was really “nice about it”.

 

Marlo, who lived near Michael, met him in 1971 and then again at a local car wash that Michael used to go to every week in Encino. They would meet every Thursday at 2pm for 5 months and chat for hours in a local donut shop whilst the cars were cleaned. Marlo remembers Michael as unpretentious, serious, wanting to break barriers, curious and a prankster. He cherishes the picture as it is so raw.

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