I'm A Man Now, Worth Something, Don't Forget That

On August 29,1979, Michael Jackson turned twenty-one. He was known to say, "When I become twenty-one, things will be different. I really feel that being a man is doing exactly what you want to do in this life and to do it successfully and conquer a goal. That's the whole thing in life, I guess, to do what you want to do. And is it's great, to share it. To me, Walt Disney is a real man. Charlie Chaplin, a real man. Fred Astaire, a real man. Bill Robinson, a real man. Because not only have they conquered goals, how many people have they influenced. Other people looked up to them. They made paths."
Michael and Joe had some words when Michael said that he wanted more control over his career. Joe did not think that Michael would follow through with his plans. Michael set up an meeting with a new attorney, not using attorneys that Joe used, to look over his affairs and follow where his money was going.
Michael's accountant at the time, Michael Mesnick, recommended John Branca, an entertainment attorney, to Michael. Michael and Mesnick did their studying before the meeting with Branca, and were ready for any line of questions.
Michael stated that he wanted to distance himself from his family. To be independent, especially from his father. He wanted his business , publishing and record sales reviewed.
After the meeting, Michael knew he had found his man, and let him know what he wanted to accomplish, one, to be the biggest star in show business. Second, to be the wealthiest. Branca was impressed by Michael's belief in himself, and he started to feel the same . It was time to go to work.
John Branca wold become, over the next eleven years, the most influential person in Michael's career. Many of Michael's associates would say if not for Branca, Michael would not be as successful as he had become. He negotiated every every business deal for him, became a friend and adviser.
One thing that Branca did was renegotiated his contract with CBS. Branca got Michael the highest royalty rate at that time, thirty-seven percent of hundred percent of wholesale. People like Neil Diamond and Bob Dylan were making that. In addition, an agreement was made with Yetnikoff and the Jackson's legal adviser, that Michael could leave the Jacksons anytime he wanted. He didn't have to record another record with his brothers if he didn't want to. Of course, the brothers were none too happy about this arrangement.
Michael wanted to be a cover story with Rolling Stone magazine. But, according to a letter sent by publisher Jann Wenner to Michael's publicist, Norman Winter, "We would very much like to do a major piece on Michael Jackson, but feel it is not a cover story."
"I've been told over and over again that black people on the cover of magazines don't sell copies," Michael said angrily. "Just wait. Someday those magazines are going to be begging me for an interview. Maybe I'll give them one. And maybe I won't."

Thank you J.Randy Taraborrelli, MICHAEL JACKSON -The Magic and the Madness pages 233-236.

No Wonder, He IS Like A Kid !!

Michael had an interview with J.Randy Taraborrelli on August 22, 1978, at the Jackson's estate. The comments and actions seem to show the stunted growth of Michael socially, and educationally. One would start to think that they were conversing with a fourteen-year-old rather than a twenty-year-old. He wore a Jaws t-shirt, black jeans, safari hat, and bare feet. He was very thin, and spoke with a falsetto whisper. He had to be reminded by his mother to offer his guests something to drink. She was bothered that she found it difficult to get him to eat. But she did reveal that his favorite foods were hot apple turnovers and sweet- potato pies.
Michael seemed to be uninformed about the current events at the time, which showed the isolation he had from the world. "I don't know much about politics," Michael admitted. "Nothing , I guess. Someone told me recently that Gerald Ford was president. I remember when he was vice-president. But president? That I missed." He laughed at that, but he was serious.
Taraborrelli asked, "How do you keep up with current events? Do you read newspapers? Watch T.V.?"
"I watch cartoons, I love cartoons," he said as his eyes lit up. "I love Disney so much. The Magic Kingdom. Disneyland. It's such a magical place. Walt Disney was a dreamer,like me. And he made his dreams come true, like me. I hope."
He said that he did not read newspapers. "See, I like show business. I listen to music all the time. I watch old movies. Fred Astaire movies. Gene Kelly, I love. And Sammy [Davis]. I can watch these guys all day., twenty-four hours a day. That's what I love the most. Show business, you know?"
He finds that his biggest challenge professionally is to live up to his father's expectations. But, his professional and personal challenges are the same because,"I just want to entertain."
He expressed that he really didn't have any friends to confide in. However, it was clear that he did have a crush on one person in particular. Miss. Diana Ross. "...I can tell my deepest, darkest secrets to [her] because I know she won't tell anyone, not another living soul." Whether that was true or not, anyone who has had a crush on someone knows fantasy can be a replacement for reality.
When joined by his brothers, Michael talked about the strange incidents that have occurred on the property. Girls getting cut just to get a glimpse of the superstars , fans jumping over the gate and coming into the house. One did this and sat down in the den, where the the brothers found her, and said that God had sent her.
Once an entire family got into the house and took a tour of the house. Helping themselves to looking at their private things.
But then the interview took a turn to becoming uncomfortable for Michael, when nicknames came up.
"Mike has a nickname, Jackie mentioned. "It's a real good one."
"Don't, Jackie, " Michael warned.
"We call him....Big Nose!" The brothers all laughed, uncaring that Michael was embarrassed.
"Yeah, Big Nose," Marlon repeated. "What's happenin', Big Nose?" Michael seemed to curl up inside and hardly said anything for the rest of the afternoon.
But the brothers weren't the only family members clueless about the devastating effect that name calling does to a person. Joseph was just as brutal, though he didn't , on this occasion , say it to Michael to his face.
"Marlon told me about what happened. You're not gonna write about Michael's nickname, are you?" he asked. "He doesn't like that nickname they gave him. Liver Lips."
"Liver Lips? They told me his nickname is Big Nose," Taraborreli replied. He said he didn't know how he was going to handle the situation.
"Oh, yeah," Joe said "That boy's so sensitive about his nose. Do you see anything wrong with his nose?"
"No., not at all."
"Me neither," Joe said. "But that's all he ever talks about. His damn nose. Threatened to have it fixed. What can he do with it? I told I'd break his face if he ever had it fixed." he laughed. "You don't fix something that ain't broke. He's got a great nose. It looks like mine."
Michael summed up his life later with these revealing words. He was talking about his character the Scarecrow in The Wiz.
"What I like about my character is his, I guess you can call it, his confusion. He knows he has these, uh, these problems, I guess you can call them. But he doesn't exactly know why he has them or how he got that way. And he understands that he see things differently from the way everyone else does., but he can't put his finger on why. He's not like other people. No one understands him. So he goes through his whole life with this, uh..." he paused, "confusion."
"Everybody thinks he's very special," he concluded thoughtfully. "But, really, he's very sad, He's so so sad. Do you understand? He asked urgently, "Do you understand his sadness?"

Thank you, J.Randy Taraborrelli - "Michael Jackson -The Magic and the Madness" pages 215-222.