The Grammy Awards - 1984

If one takes a look at the history of the Grammys, it will reveal that Grammy winners are not always the true preeminent artists and recordings of their time. The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences started the awards in the late fifties, to be music's equivalent to the Oscars. But many whom you would think have won in the past, never did.

Elvis Presley never won a Grammy for any of his major pop vocal performances, but he is considered to be at the time, the most influential pop vocal artist. Presley won three times for gospel recordings. Chuck Berry has been overlooked. The Beatles only received four Grammys, strange seeing that their music virtually changed pop music and culture. The Rolling Stones, Sly Stone, and Diana Ross have never received Grammy awards. The six or more thousand people who make up the Academy, are so conservative, the usually are not hip enough to recognize the importance of new artists.

It has been long rumored that the Grammy Awards are dominated by by major record companies, which in turn, has turned the award as a sham. Two powers in the record industry - WMG, which contains Warner Brothers, Elektra,Atlantic, and Rhino records, and the Columbia/ Epic group (CBS). It has been difficult for anyone outside of these companies to win. Motown artists, up to this point, with the exception of Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie, and Smokey Robinson, were hardly ever in the running.

Now as far as Michael Jackson, the politics couldn't take over the fact that he could not be ignored. He was so popular, EVERYONE agreed he was the most important pop and rock hero. Plus he was a CBS artist. He had been nominated for twelve awards, the highest number for a single performer, up to that time, in Grammy history. Impressive to note, Thriller was up against the Police's Synchronicity, the Flashdance soundtrack, Billy Joel's An Innocent Man, and David Bowie's Let's Dance albums for album of the year.

His date for the evening was Brooke Shields. Michael apparently did not want to go with Brooke. She came by the Encino home expectantly to ask him if he would consider taking her to the show. It is not known if Brooke, who had been a friend of Michael's was genuinely interested in him, or if it was for public relations on her part.

However, he did ask LaToya and Janet what they thought of her request.

"I don't want to take her," LaToya remembered Michael saying. "I really, really don't."

Well then tell her, Michael," she instructed. "Tell her no if you don't want to take her."

"But I can't."

"Why not?" Janet wondered.

"Because I don't want to hurt her feelings, " Michael protested.

After agonizing over the situation, he came back a few minutes later. Decided to take her after all.

This was the famous Michael, Brooke, and Emmanuel Lewis appearance at the Grammys. Brooke protested, and heard saying to Michael "Let's get out of here. People are making fun of us."

It was definitely Michael's night. With the Pepsi commercials premering, he won eight awards.

Winning the Best Album award was particularly sweet, because Thriiler by that time , had sold 27 million albums, and was still number one on the Billboard charts.

Upon winning his seventh Grammy, he took off his sunglasses. Katherine Hepburn, "my dear friend," had told him to he should take off the glasses "for the girls in the balcony."

He accepted one award with the comment, "I have something very important to say... really," and paid tribute to legendary rhythm-blues star Jackie Wilson, who died recently.

Of course, he was the talk of Hollywood that night, and everyone who is everyone wanted everyone to know THEY knew Michael. However, Michael, who hosted a private party at the Rex restaurant in downtown L.A., was uncomfortable being around so many people. After recognizing guest that included Bob Dylan, Tony Curtis, Neil Diamond, Eddie Murphy, Cyndi Lauper, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and others, he and Brooke ducked out and left about 11:30pm.

Michael accompanied Brooke and her mother back to the L'Ermitage Hotel in Beverly Hills, where the women were staying.

Michael escorted them out of the white Rolls Royce, kissed Brooke on the cheek, shook Mrs. Shields' hand, and got back in the car. "Congratulations Michael, Brooke said with a sad smile. "Must you go?"

"Yeah, I do," he replied. He rolled up the window, and the driver drove off into the night.

My opinion about Michael and Brooke. I believe she was far more interested in him than she would let on, and he, after time , grew to like her back. But as far a romantic relationship, it depends on what Michael perceived as romantic. Remember, he did not have a history with women or girls, but, apparently, he made a great companion once you got to know him. Reflecting on her memorial speech, Brooke had a wonderful relationship with him, the kind any young woman would want with someone of Michael's stature. Perhaps, she, upon looking back, regretted denying publicly just how close they were. Not that it was anything to be embarrassed about, but she could have helped the public understand the kind of man he was better.

Thank you, J. Randy Taraborelli, "Michael Jackson - The Music and the Madness pg. 341-347

From A Distance, He Seems Weird, But He's Really A Nice Guy

Singer Mickey Free, who was once with the group Shalamar, was invited by Diana Ross to dinner to meet Michael Jackson. "So I had dinner with Michael , Diana, and Gene [Simmons, Diana's boyfriend then]. I was freaking out because I always wanted to meet Michael, and he was so nice. So it came time for me to go home. Diana's car had brought me there, and she said, 'Okay, I'll call the driver to come and get you.' Michael very softly said, 'Oh, that's okay, I'll take Mickey home.' "

Diana and Gene were astonished. "Are you sure you want to do this, Michael?" Diana asked, concerned. "I mean, are you sure you can handle it? Driving him home and all?"

"Yeah, I can do it, Diane," Michael said confidently.

Mickey got into Michael's Silver Shadow Rolls-Royce, and the two drove off into the night.

"This was really a big deal for him," Mickey said. "Driving me home and all."

Fifteen minutes later, they arrived at Mickey's apartment, but Michael drove around the block a few times, He finally confessed, "You know what? I can drive this thing, but I don't know how to parallel park it. Can you park this for me?"

"Heck, yeah, I can," Mickey replied.

"I rode around the block ten times trying to find a parking place so people could see me driving Michael Jackson around in this fabulous car," Mickey Free recalled. "Michael was nice. We went up to my apartment, looked at pictures. He stayed about fifteen minutes, and I walked him back to his car. He drove off. Didn't crash into anybody or anything."

Michel began to socialize away from his family. He had met Jane Fonda two years prior and visited her on the set of On Golden Pond in 1980, and stayed with her in a private cabin.

"A lot of people thought that was very strange," said publicist Sarah Holiday. "But Jane just thought that Michael was a fascinating person. She made it clear that if anyone were to ever gossip about her and Michael, that person would be in serious trouble. 'He's too delicate to handle gossip,' she would say. She had been in the business for so long, she said it was nice to talk to someone who seemed unjaded by it all."

"We were all alone there on the water, " Michael said of his night with Jane Fonda, "and we just talked, talked, talked about everything. It was the greatest education for me: she'd learn, and I'd learn, and we'd just play off of each other. We talked about all kinds of things, you name it- politics, philosophy, racism, Vietnam, acting, all kinds of things. It was magic."

Michael was intimidated, at first, by Henry Fonda, but soon the two of them struck up a friendship. The two spent two hours fishing, and talking about theater. "Yes, he's strange," Henry said of Michael. "So what?"

We just sat and talked for a long time," Michael would recall. "He was such a wise man. He gave me a lot of tips about acting, and about stardom. How he handled it, and all."

"Dad was also painfully self-conscious and shy in life. He really only felt comfortable when he was behind the mask of a character. He could liberate himself when he was being someone else. That's a lot like Michael. Michael reminds me of the walking wounded. He's an extremely fragile person. I think that just getting on with life, making contact with people, is hard enough for him, much less having to be worried about whither goes the world."

After Henry Fonda died after a bout from heart disease on August 11,1983, Michael telephoned Jane at her family's home to see if he could come by.

Michael also met Katherine Hepburn on the set of On Golden Pond, but their initial meeting did not go so well. She thought he was odd, and was suspicious of him. She shook his hand and said nice to meet you, and walked away. "She doesn't like me," Michael complained to Jane. "And she's an idol of mine. I hate it when my idols don't like me."

"What is it with him?" Katherine asked someone on the set. "First of all , why is he here? That's what I don't understand. And why does he talk like that, with that whisper? What is he trying to pull?"

"There are a lot of people she doesn't like," Michael said of Hepburn. "She'll tell you right away if she doesn't like you. When I first met her, it was a little shaky because you hear things about her. Jane filled me in. I was kind of scared."

Later that afternoon, Michael sat alone in a corner watching a rehearsal. Katherine Hepburn came from behind him and tapped him on the shoulder.

"You and I are having dinner tonight, young man," she said.

"We are? Michael gasped.

That night, Michael and Katherine had dinner and became great friends. "We call each other on the phone, and she sends me letters. She's just wonderful. I went to her house in New York and she showed me Spencer Tracy's favorite chair and his private things in his closet, his little knickknacks," Michael would recall.

Now that is cool. But can you imagine Michael Jackson and Gene Simmons having dinner, and what would they be discussing? I wish I was there. That just goes to show the interesting people who have encountered Michael in his life.

Thank you J.Randy Taraborrelli, "MICHAEL JACKSON- THE MAGIC AND THE MADNESS"

pages 268-280.