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“Soul" Magazine Interview

“Soul” magazine (August 6, 1973), from Chris Cadman’s “Michael Jackson the Maestro” (article summary/quotes)

Michael confessed in 1970, as the Jackson 5 began like a whirlwind on the charts and with their stage shows, that he thought his biggest problem would be to make sure he didn’t get a big head with the success they were having. Three years later Naomi Rubine met up with Michael to see if that had happened.

“People used to say, ‘don’t get married, don’t get a big head – and just stick to it. They were right.”

At this time of his young life, Michael said he had no interest in having a girlfriend. In fact the only thing he wished for was a golf cart, even though he didn’t play the game.

Rubine half expected Michael to be loud, arrogant and giving it the big ‘look at me I’m a superstar’, but surprisingly found quite the opposite. Away from the stage, that saw a showman that oozed the presence of someone beyond his years and who expressed himself assuredly on stage was a shy, reserved young man who spoke quietly, but efficiently. One thing had changed though it was now Marlon who was teased by the brothers, instead of Michael.

“Probably” Michael confessed, “because he’s the one who’s always teasing everybody else.”

Despite coming across as reserved and shy, Michael doesn’t hesitate to state that being on stage doesn’t haunt him. In fact he felt he was meant to do it from a very young age.

“Nothin’ scares me. You can do anything if you work hard enough at it.”

Michael had always wished to visit Japan and that came true in April when the Jackson visited for a few days.

Breaking records was something Michael enjoyed as a recording and stage performer:

“In the Astrodome, we did two shows. In the first one, we broke all the records, even the Rolling Stones and Elvis. In the second show, the same night, we broke our own record from the first show.”

In Europe the Paris and Amsterdam concerts were filmed for TV.