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Lisa Robinson Interview
Lisa Robinson, “There Goes Gravity: A Life in Rock and Roll”, autobiography
On February 5, 1975, we met at the Warwick Hotel in New York City. He was, by then,
sixteen, but it’s possible I still thought he was fourteen. He was self-conscious about his
acne, and admitted that his brothers teased him about it. We talked about Dancing
Machine, the first album that Motown had allowed the brothers to produce themselves.
“I got to sing free,” Michael said. “It was the first time I got to do my own thing. Our
persistence in continually telling the record company we didn’t want other writers, was what finally changed their mind. You’ve got to remember,” he said, “I’ve been around
studios since I was a child, and I just picked it up.” He talked about Stevie Wonder; he
admired him because he was always able to “sing free” and insisted on recording where
he wanted to record, rather than the Motown studios. “Only a producer-singer knows
what he’s doing,” Michael said, “because he sings also. When you’re being told what to
do, it’s not free.” What had he previously been told to do? “Sing this word this way, this
line this way, go up and down like that,” he said. “It’s not being ‘you,’ and you’re
trying to get the ‘you’ out. Like Gladys Knight; she sings freely and look how great she
is.” He talked about the Jacksons’ concerts and said, “There’s no reason why we can’t
do anything we want to do onstage. We really would like to do something like Emerson,
Lake and Palmer or some of those rock groups do--like when the piano turns around in
the air. We have lots of ideas like that and we intend to do them in future shows.”
Once again I asked him what he did in his “spare” time. He said because they
traveled so much for their shows, he liked to stay at home and read. “The dictionary,
adventure books, all sorts of things,” he said. “I had four weeks off and stayed home.”
He told me he hated parties, unless it was a party where you could just talk. “And when
there are other entertainers there, it’s even better.” We talked about whether or not he
could go out to concerts, and he said whenever he went out, there was always a
problem. “But,” he added, “that’s the only way you can really tell what’s happening.”
He said he always wanted to work with Barbra Streisand, and that he wrote a ballad he
thought would be perfect for her. “Ballads are more special,” he said. “You can have a
pop song that will be known for three weeks and after that you hear nothing about it.
But if you do a good ballad, it’ll be in the world forever. Like Stevie’s ‘Living in the
City’—it’s a great song and I love it, it opens up the minds of a lot of people. But it
won’t be around as long as a song like ‘My Cherie Amour’ or ‘You Are the Sunshine of
My Life.”’
The Warwick Hotel, New York City, February 5, 1975: The entire Jackson family is in town for the Jackson Five’s concert at Radio City Music Hall. Michael is alternately fun and his usual outgoing self and more quiet, thoughtful. His skin has broken out; he confides to me that his brothers have been teasing him.
Interview tape (3:10 - 4:10), transcript
Michael Jackson: I got to sing free, the way I wanted to sing it. I wasn’t told what to do. And it came out fabulous, everybody likes it… I didn’t get a chance to do my own thing, and it’s the first time, like on [sings] “just one more step” and all that stuff, and One Day in Your Life… I had to put up a couple of little fusses, but-
Lisa Robinson: Really?
MJ: Just a little.
LR: Well, do you think now that they’re paying more attention to you, they don’t think you’re a kid anymore or something, and you’ll be able to do more of that kind of stuff?
MJ: Well, I always still wanted to do - be free all the time, but nobody would ever listen. Now they see I know what sounds good. It always comes out good.
L.R.What was different for you on this latest album [Dancing Machine]?
M.J. I got to sing free. For the first time I got to do my own thing.
L.R.What do you mean “free”?
M.J. Well, when you’re being told, it’s not you.
L.R.What were you being told?
M.J. Told to sing this word this way, this line this way, go up and down, and this and that. It’s not being “you.” And you’re trying to get the “you” out. Like Gladys Knight—she sings freely and look how great she is and that’s the best way.
L.R.And how was it working with Stevie Wonder?
M.J. It was really fun because he lets you sing freely. Only a singer and a producer-singer knows what he’s doing, because he sings also.
L.R.Have you been going out lately?
M.J. No . . . I like staying home, just under the fireplace, reading . . .
L.R.What sort of things are you reading?
M.J. All kinds of things . . . the dictionary, adventure books. I had four weeks off and I just stayed home. I don’t really like going to parties . . . Well, I like parties where you can talk—a fireplace and a piano, and when there’s entertainers [there] it’s even better. You go to a lot of concerts, don’t you? You get in for free? What was the last concert you went to?
L.R. Led Zeppelin.
M.J. Good concert?
L.R.Yes. Loud. Rock. You don’t get a chance to go to many? You don’t want to?
M.J. I want to, but whenever I go out, there’s always problems. But that’s how you could tell what [else is] happening.