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"Off the Wall" Album Release

Mike Salisbury, “Off the Wall” album cover designer, “PRWeb” (July 8, 2009) (archived)

Despite having worked with a multitude of celebrities as both a designer and photographer, Salisbury had never worked with Michael Jackson but after seeing him in the movie, The Wiz, he contacted his agent. "I knew his agent and called him to say that Michael Jackson was going to be the biggest star ever and I would be anxious to work on something with him," said Salisbury. "Michael's agent called me in to his office and showed me an album cover mock up for his solo album and asked me what I thought. I told him that it looked like a cheap ad for the children's department at Macy's. 'I know,' he said. 'It sucks.' I thought Michael Jackson had the potential to be huge--the biggest, so I suggested he let me develop some ideas."

Salisbury returned to the agent's office with several variations of his concept, which only seemed to perplex the agent. "I explained that I was creating a metaphor. I told him that Michael was just a kid out from under his dad so I think the album cover should make a statement that his solo debut is as big as Sinatra coming on stage in Vegas."

According to Salisbury, at that time, young Michael was gangly and had an Afro. "I explained the concept by pointing to the fashion type drawing and saying, I put him in a tuxedo. That says big deal!"

"The agent hemmed and hawed and was just about to dismiss the whole nutty idea when a little, high-pitched voice softly squeaked, 'I like it,' and Michael stepped out from behind the drape covering the large office window. 'Let's just do it,' he said, and so we did," explained Salisbury.

Jackson liked everything about Salisbury's concept from the get-go and only requested one change. "'I want to wear white socks,' Michael whispered to me. They have to be über socks then…really glamorous," remembered Salisbury.

The photo shoot was taken at the Griffith Observatory at the Hollywood Planetarium. Salisbury's wife at the time found an Yves St. Laurent woman's tux in Beverly Hills that fit Michael. "I also told him to get loafers like Gene Kelly wore in An American in Paris. When we went to shoot the photo, I instructed him, to roll up his pant legs, put his fingers in his pockets and pull his pants up like Gene Kelly--to show off the socks. The loafers really made the white socks work. By the way, the socks were custom-made for Michael by famous Hollywood costume designer Bob Mackie.

"Michael drove up the hill to where we were at in the front of the building, the same location where they shot the knife fight in the movie, Rebel Without a Cause," Salisbury continued. "He was just 21 and had a new Rolls Royce. It was smashed up a bit and he was driving badly."

There was no place for Jackson to change and Salisbury and his team were under a time constraint because they had no permit to shoot there. "Fortunately for us, the women's restroom was open and like a real trouper he ran in there and put on the tux," Salisbury noted.

After reviewing his first shot for the album cover, Salisbury didn't think it showed the real Michael. "We were rushed and Michael was just not that into it," he said. "I thought he was a little too serious. We needed to shoot this differently. I mean, this album cover was just for him, not him and four other brothers. I suggested we re-shoot it and when we did, I directed him to be more animated. I suggested he smile and exaggerate the pulling up of his pants and get into it like he was dancing. He was a great sport and agreed to do the re-shoot. We did the second photo shoot against a wall and voilá! There was our cover for 'Off the Wall.'"

The white socks were so successful in drawing attention to Michael and his dance moves, there was a conversation about doing gloves, too. "I felt that would start looking literally Mickey Mouse (and of course Michael was a big Mickey Mouse fan). Between the agent and Michael and me, we got it down to one white glitzy glove. Another great move for attention," Salisbury concluded.

“MJ Data Bank” (July 2009) (archived)

MJ data bank: Mike, you created the image of Michael Jackson for the cover of his first hugely successful solo album  Off the Wall.  How did it all happen?

Having just seen Michael Jackson in the movie  The Wiz -I was more than blown away. I knew his agent and called him to say that Michael was going to be huge—the biggest– and I wanted to work on something with him.  Anything. The agent told me to come to his office immediately. I ran to Beverly Hills. He   showed me an album cover mock up.  This is to be his solo debut album. What do you think?   I said that it looked like a cheap ad for the children’s department of Macy’s.  I know  the agent agreed.  It sucks.  I said,  Michael Jackson is going to be a phenomenal star and must be introduced to the world with an exciting image that would be an iconic of him as a star and a star on his own. Let me come back with some ideas.

MJ data bank: What was the creative process for you?

Marketing recording stars like George Harrison, James Taylor, Ike and Tina, Rickie Lee Jones and art directing Rolling Stone magazine -I had experience in the music business. And I had an idea to market Michael. But, It needed to be sold with a presentation. I did not want to get shot down because my concept could not be visualized if I simply just verbalized it. This was the major turning point in a young artist’s life and I wanted to create for him a new image, a brand. Most music marketing  elements–covers, photography, artist logos—all the elements are usually created  in verbal sessions with the artist. But I had one really good idea and had no idea who I would be presenting to and if not Michael , I needed something that he would get If it was delivered to him by anyone but me. My concept must tangible. It involved creating not just an album cover—it was a look for Michael.

MJ data bank: How did your concept become visually tangible?

Because I was not only designing, creating a cover I was also styling a person so I had my concept sketched in several variations by a fashion illustrator who was not only good at  fashion but also could draw an accurate likeness of a person. This had to express the concept and look like our star.

MJ data bank: Did your presentation work?

I returned to the agent’s office and presented the concepts.  He looked, looked again, perplexed like a cross eyed-chicken checking out a worm.  I knew I had to sell and sell now.  It’s a metaphor,  I probably yelled,  It’s a metaphor!! .  He’s a kid just out from under his dad, just stepping away from his big brothers.  I want it to make a statement:  this is his debut as a man and it’s as big as Sinatra coming on stage in Vegas. This is a new emblematic symbol created by combining two symbols not  usually associated together—a visual metaphor.

MJ data bank: What symbols did you combine to create you visual metaphor and just what is the metaphor?

At that time, young Michael was gangly and had an Afro.  A kid. Pointing to the fashion type drawing I said,  I put a kid in a tuxedo –a tuxedo like Sinatra walking into the spotlight to the applause of a sold out Vegas performance.  Black and white.  Simple. Dramatic.   That says: big deal!   The agent hemmed and hawed and was just about to dismiss the whole nutty idea when a little high-pitched voice softly squeaked,  I like it.   And Michael stepped out from behind the tall heavy drape covering the large office window.  Let’s do it.

MJ data bank: Where did the white socks he continued to wear with black pants and shoes his entire career come from?

Michael bought my idea with glee but he wanted to make one change:  I want to wear white socks,  Michael whispered.   Then they have to be glamorous socks.  I said.  They were custom made for Michael by famous Hollywood costume designer Bob Mackie. My wife at the time found an Yves St. Laurent woman’s tux in Beverly Hills that fit Michael and when we shot the cover I said,  Roll up your pant legs and put your fingers in your pockets and pull your pants up like Gene Kelly – to show off the socks.   To really carry of the Gene Kelley thing I had Michael get loafers like Kelley wore with his white socks under rolled up pant legs in the film  An American in Paris .

MJ data bank: Well it worked.

Not at first.  The first shoot for me simply did not work. It had no energy. No literal wall imagery. And, as they say in music— No announcement value . Michael was a good sport  and we reshot it in an urban alley against a old real wall made of brick and  voilà!   Off the Wall  perhaps after the Great Wall and the Berlin Wall—one of the most famous walls in the world. I also added the window and the sky in the window in Michael’s wall. There was just too much brick and it was dark. And the window added just a bit of Magritte surrealism. And that first cover had something really special about it.  A fan wrote recently and remarked that he liked that particular shot because it captured Michael in his natural state, so yes, it worked.

MJ data bank: Let’s talk about the glove…it is, after all, the ultimate Michael symbol.

Basically it was just further development of  the look.   The white socks were so successful at drawing attention to Michael and his dance moves, a conversation started about doing gloves too.  White gloves.  I felt that would start looking literally Mickey Mouse (and of course Michael was a big Mickey Mouse fan) so between the agent and Michael and me, we got it down to one white glitzy glove.  Another great move for attention.   There’s all this talk recently about the glove being an attempt to hide his skin condition, but I was there when the look was created and it was all about making a distinct creative statement and getting attention.  And it worked!

MJ data bank: MJ data bank : Of course, another iconic element of the look was the hat.

I know where the socks, shoes, tux and glove came from but the hat was after my involvement.  I had thought that since I turned Michael onto Gene Kelly, perhaps he was the inspiration for the hat (or Sinatra).  Then I recalled between cover shoots going to the townhouse Michael had at the time out in the valley.  In the foyer was a replica of Donatello’s David; David wears a hat.  Michael liked the look. I also recall the strong graphics of the statue’s body positioning and that influenced me to push Michael further to get to that iconic pose that is the original cover of   Off the Wall.  The whole look we created at that time was a graphic metaphor of Michael’s coming of age, of his stepping out as a man on his own.  Those images, the black and white palette, the socks and glove and all the other trademark elements we came up with, were kept in some form as the symbol of Michael Jackson throughout his career. Progression is seen in the video for  Billie Jean : the walls are now dimensional, the jacket more glitzy and the socks twinkle and sparkle.

MJ data bank: Where exactly was the cover shot taken?

The first attempt  was  at the Hollywood Planetarium, the Griffith Observatory. Michael drove up the hill, stopped at the spot in front of the building that was the location for the knife fight in  Rebel Without a Cause  and that’s where we shot. He was just 21 and  came roaring  up in a new Rolls Royce.  Never really driving himself most of his life, he was a pretty crazy driver and it was smashed up a bit. There was no place to change and we were under the gun because we had no permit to shoot there. But the women’s restroom was open and like a real trouper he ran in there and put on the tux. I didn’t want him to be overpowered in the photo by the building and he agreed so we shot closer in to him.  Later he was a good enough sport to realize those observatory shots wouldn’t work and he agreed to a re-shoot.  I redid it with photographer Steve Harvey with Michael standing against that wall.

MJ data bank: MJ data bank : Any concluding thoughts on Michael’s story?

There’s a famous Artie Shaw quote:   Failure was easy to deal with. You always knew where to go:  UP.  You would keep on trying.  But success was confusing.  It was like a drug.  Most people are conditioned and used to failure.  Not many are conditioned and trained for what happens once you succeed.  It’s very, very, confusing…   I think it all just became confusing for Michael.  He had so much success and from a very young age.  I don’t think too many people can understand what it was like to be him, to continually have to reinvent himself to stay on top. But my graphic black and white elements are always there. Just like Michael’s standards.

“One Hell of an Eye” personal blog (April 8, 2011) (archived)

Richard [Lecocq] interviewed me regarding the creation of Michael Jackson’s image for the cover of his first hugely successful solo album, Off the Wall. The look Michael and I created together at that time was a graphic metaphor of his coming of age, of his stepping out as a man on his own.  Those images, the black and white palette, the socks and glove and all the other trademark elements we came up with, were kept in some form as the symbol of Michael Jackson throughout his career. His branding.

Michel always used  the look we created for Off the Wall as a logo.  A brand icon.

Until The Wiz I had only thought of Michael as the kid in The Jacksons and The Jackson Five. In The Wiz he was  grown up and a person of his own.  He out-danced, out-sang and out-performed the rest of the cast and with a personality bigger than the screen. I was struck by lightning–I knew the look for Michael. I  begged his agent to let me to create the cover for Off the Wall!

At that time, young Michael was a gangly kid with an Afro. Literally a kid. But I wanted to put that kid in a tuxedo – a tuxedo and white dress shirt, looking like Sinatra walking into the spotlight to the applause of a sold-out Vegas performance.

I was not only designing and creating a cover; I was branding a person.

We tried several times to get the shots for the cover.  After a shoot at the Griffith Park Observatory under the Hollywood sign that didn’t work for me , we tried a re-shoot in photographer Steve Harvey’s Hollywood studio.  Nothing was happening. The photograph in the theatrical tuxedo, with the Gene Kelley white sox and loafers, needed something more than just a white background.

I needed a background to support the metaphorical symbolism of the tuxedo and the young kid with the big talent.

In an urban alley against an old wall of real brick, I directed Michael to be more animated in his pose. And I told him to smile. Voila!…Off the Wall.  Perhaps after the Great Wall and the Berlin Wall, one of the most famous walls in the world.  A wall I picked to be  our backstage alley door of a Broadway theatre.

I added the white glow to the socks for emphasis before the album cover was printed. Those, along with the black tuxedo pant cuffs and the black penny loafers, are the most iconic parts of the brand image and when the album was reduced to CD size, that was the most indelible visual, particularly in that smaller size.

The printing of the original cover sucked.  The glow of the white socks was not handled to be as soft and cloudlike as I intended. Michael’s likeness suffered. Worse I was never asked to proof the printing.

And until an interview I did after Michael’s passing, one focused on my involvement in creating his look and the cover of Off the Wall, I never understood exactly what I didn’t like about the title lettering.  Looking at the CD back cover there was another –  newer – photo of Michael, still in a tux but in front of a faux brick wall.  He is holding a pre-school style chalk holder with a big piece of chalk in it as he affected a visibly awkward “Michael Jackson pose.”

Kindergarten chalk lettering on the original Off the Wall cover of mine? That’s what bothered me: another denial that Michael Jackson was not a child but a major entertainer.

Discussing this with Richard Lecocq I emphasized that I felt this lettering was as big a mistake as the printing quality of the original cover…and I wanted to redesign that title lettering in present time, for Michael Jackson KING.

So I decided I would. The kiddie school chalk was infantile and wrong but what would work? Graffiti? Wrong message at the time.

I discovered  Toril Bækmark, a  Danish illustrator. She created new lettering for me and, as a place holder, created this wonderful drawing of Michael, in that same pose he made for me for Off the Wall.

Michael would like it.

Chris Cadman’s “Michael Jackson the Maestro”

I added the glow to the socks on the cover art and he later got Bob Mackie to make sparkly socks to match the glow effect and that black and white look with the socks and hat would become his brand mark.

Steve Harvey, “Off the Wall” album cover photographer, “MJ Data Bank” interview, from Chris Cadman’s “Michael Jackson the Maestro”

“I had worked with MJ before and photographed him at his house for the Hollywood Reporter magazine. I got to hear some of Off the Wall on his tape, which was a work in progress at that time. MJ was very shy and soft spoken and very gracious. When we met again for the cover shoot he was the same, but as soon as I started shooting he was magical! He was really performing for me, and giving me more than I could ask for.”

There was a funny story on the day of shooting at the Griffith Observatory when police arrived and asked for Harvey’s permit.

“While I was shooting MJ, the police came and asked for my "permit" which I had none, because we didn’t have the two days notice. I told the police officer that the permit was in my equipment van and sent my beautiful Italian assistant with him to show him. When she stalled in the van saying she couldn't find it the police officer figured it out and shut us down. But by that time MJ and I had the shot!”

And Harvey’s memories were very fond when he looks back on the shoot.

“I was privileged to have met and worked with MJ. The Off The Wall cover shoot was not your normal session, but it was so much fun and is now a great story, the music on it is still played in my studio when I need to get some energy going. Every model starts dancing or moving better thanks to Michael Jackson, King of Pop!”