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Diane Collins Interview

Date range assessed by the fact that Diane Collins brings up the 1983 report (archived) of Michael slated to portray Peter Pan, and Michael mentions a tentative date for their tour after “this summer”

Michael Jackson, Diane Collins interview (Summer 1983)

Diane: Diane Collins with Michael Jackson. Michael, I understand that you’re a lover of animals. Is that true?

Michael: Yes, very true. We’d tour in the past. We’d go to different countries and different states and I’d go to the different zoos all over the world to see the different animals… I can relate to them and I love them better than I can name.

Diane: Like people?

Michael: Yeah.

Diane: Is it also true, is there a mini Michael Jackson zoo on the grounds of your house?

Michael: Well, I wouldn’t say ‘zoo’ but I have several animals here. I’m still collecting animals.

Diane: What kinds of animals?

Michael: Do I have?

Diane: Uh huh.

Michael: Well, I have a llama which is a beautiful animal. He’s taller than I am, he’s from Peru, South America, yeah and he was in the circus. His name is Louie. He’s really sweet and loves people and he does tricks and I have a mouflon sheep. He looks just like a ram. Most people think he’s a ram but he isn’t. He was also in the circus, they were raised together. His name is Mr. Tibbs. I have an almost six foot boa-constrictor. His name is Muscles and I take him to the studio. Diana Ross was just here and we were both peeling his skin off, you know, cause he peels like three times a month. And… she was a little afraid of him but then she got relaxed with him and…

Diane: She touched him?

Michael: Oh, yeah!

Diane: Oh, really?

Michael: Yeah. And I have two deer. Their name is Prince and Princess. They’re really sweet, they’re the North American white-tailed deer and… I raised them from the bottle. They’re really sweet. And I’ve got several, all kind of different birds and stuff like that.

Diane: Do you have a favorite?

Michael: Animal?

Diane: Uh huh.

Michael: Umm… probably Louie and Prince and Princess.

Diane: Ok. You’re considered the number one artist in the world. What’s your secret, Michael?

Michael: Umm… just loving what I do and speaking from the heart, being honest, really. Umm… I can’t quite form it down to a special formula or anything. It’s uh…It’s just wanting to do great work, you know, and doing it.

Diane: And I guess loving what you do has a lot to do with it too…

Michael: Yeah, caring and loving and putting your heart in your work.

Diane: Honesty, is that very important to you?

Michael: Oh, yeah, very important. I mean there is nothing like writing a song that you feel good about like “Billie Jean” and “Beat It” and “Startin’ Somethin’”, stuff like that… And you feel like you have a great prize, you know, when it’s done ‘cause you had to work hard on them…

Diane: Ok. So there… I guess you’re talking about the honesty I would know would be like honesty in everyday life, but you’re talking about honesty in musical terms, being true to yourself and trying to get that out on the album

Michael: Yes.

Diane: Your audiences expect new and exciting things from you each time you release an album. Do the high standards get harder or easier to live up to?

Michael: Well, they get harder, because no matter what your do, it’s… you’re competing against your previous product and everybody’s expecting more. It’s like with a motion picture. You go to see “Star Wars”, then “Empire Strikes Back”, you expect more than… Jedi, you expect more than that so you’re really trying to top yourself all the time. And it’s hard. I mean with the Bee Gees with ‘Saturday Night Fever’ they… and then they came out with ‘Spirits Having Flown’, and it’s really hard, you know. But I believe in doing better work. As you grow you should get better, you know. It’s like that saying: “When I’m getting older, I’m getting better”.

Diane: Well, trying to top, you know, your albums, is it draining, personally and physically?

Michael: No, it’s a challenge. It’s fun. It’s like a big… I shouldn’t say ‘game’ but I have a lot of fun doing it. It’s really… to get paid for something you love to do is really a treat ‘cause a lot of people are employed and they hate their work, it’s terrible. But I’m getting paid for something that I love to do. So it’s a lot of fun, I’m just having a ball.

Diane: Now, you stated that you feel more comfortable on the stage than any other time. What do you do for excitement once you are off that stage?

Michael: Dream about the stage – play with my animals, stuff like that. I don’t really go any places at all. I don’t think you’d find me at the disco or nightclub. All these places are fun if that’s what you like to do. It’s just when I go to places like that it becomes work instead of pleasure. They announce that I’m there over the loudspeakers and they play all my records and I’m signing autographs and….

Diane: … and again you are on stage!

Michael: Yeah, so it’s not fun. I’ve done disguises and all kinds of things and it just doesn’t work. But it’s, you know, it’s all right, I don’t mind it.

Diane: Well for me, to mellow out, I call it mellowing out, I read or play Bid Whist. For you is it the animals again as you were saying?

Michael: Yeah, probably the animals or.. being with children which I love a lot. I love kids, the young ones and I play with them, swim and stuff like that.

Diane: You’ve been in the music business since age 5 or 6. What do you think your life would have been like if you hadn’t had the talent to sing?

Michael: Boy, I can’t imagine, really. I have no idea what I’d be doing. Because this is… seems so right for me and I’m here to do this and… it’s my contribution to life, to do what I’m doing and I put my heart in it. And whatever good I can do, I do it ‘cause I love people and I love making them happy. There’s nothing like seeing your record number one not for the ego ‘cause I… I hate ego. It’s for the fact that I know people bought it and they loved it and they enjoy it and that’s good. And I think all those people who… I mean I can turn out great music but it takes the people behind a tour, the disc jockeys and the program directors, all the independent people to really make it happen and I appreciate it.

Diane: So are you saying: Michael Jackson aged 60 still on stage?

Michael: Umm… Yes…Umm… I’d probably be doing writing and film, probably directing and stuff like that. Still active but a little more behind the scenes, developing other people and showing them which direction to go in.

Diane: With success in show-business, you stated earlier that your privacy is almost lost. How do you deal with going out? Have you just stopped going out altogether afraid of having your picture taken or people asking for autographs? Have you found a way to beat all of that and still maintain a private life outside of your home?

Michael: Umm… Well, the best privacy is kinda within yourself and to be independent at home or something… ‘cause everything I wanna do is here. I can do whatever I want here, you know. It’s loose and free. But if I go out somewhere it’s different. You get swarmed by lots of autographs and people, which… I don’t mind signing autographs, it’s fine. It’s… you know, part of the work that I do.

Diane: Are you considering taking off for a few years, maybe a year. Just smell the roses, just be totally selfish as far as taking time out from Michael Jackson with no recording , movies, or any such show-business related things – will you ever do that?

Michael: I’m the kind of person if I take a week off I feel I’m loafin’, you know, I feel like I’m getting behind. I… I like being active. I like to create. I’m constantly coming up with different songs and different ideas, looking and prying into the future, the sound of tomorrow. And uh… ‘cause the music is constantly changing, minute by minute, and it’s important not be became old hat, it’s an old expression.

Diane: Yeah, but some of your recordings are considered classics. Will they ever became old hat?

Michael: No, because to me a great melody will never become old. The most important thing is great melodies, some of the old Motown or the old Beatles songs are just phenomenal and they’ll never became old hat. But the sounds and the music change and that will become old – the sound like the instruments. Like in the Sixties there was a lot of electric guitar and acoustic guitar and now it’s all computerized, synthesized sound, which has completely taken over and that’s different. But the melodies are still there, but the music has changed.

Diane: Oh I see what you’re saying. You said you love kids. You qualified it by saying very young kids. But what about marriage and then maybe some kids? How far down the line is it, Michael?

Michael: I have no idea. I have no idea. I can’t answer that.

Diane: Ok. I won’t bother you on that. Any TV specials on the work? Say, something you’d like to do on television?

Michael: Umm… None that I know of. I get all kinds of different offers all the time from specials to my own series, to doing cameos to pilots, to cartoon series and all kinds of things. And I’m mainly concerned with doing movies right now and that’s what I’m interested in.

Diane: What kind of movie?

Michael: Umm… something that’s really different and exciting. Uhh… Something that hasn’t been seen before. I mean it’s like what “Star Wars” was to the whole picture industry. All of a sudden there was a whole another look, a whole new type of movie making, creatures that walk in space instead of on earth and… it’s kind a taking it to a whole another way of… to where it is now…

Diane: Is “Star Wars” one of your favorite movies?

Michael: Yes, and E.T.

Diane: E.T?

Michael: Yes.

Diane: All right. Call home, E.T. To Michael.

Michael: Yeah, Steven Spielberg is just brilliant.

Diane: Your creativity it seems is carried out like in all aspects of your life. In music, you’re very futuristic, you’re really looking to the future and planning for that. And even in movies you want something that has never been before.

Michael: Uh huh.

Diane: And, I was trying, in my mind, trying to think of what kind of movie would that be. It would be… I don’t know. Could you sort of paint me a picture of something that would be the first of its kinds for movies?

Michael: Umm… I’d sure would love to do that. There’s tons of scripts that are coming… Since I did “The Wiz”. It’s been tons of scripts come in and… With a movie, you know. It’s so important to be selective, to do the right vehicle that’s perfect for you. And I really enjoy surprising the public, going in a whole another direction to what they thought and there’s several different projects that I’m really interested in but I’d really hate to say what it’s about ‘cause I really wanna take a different turn and surprise people.

Diane: Not just one glimpse, or one peek…

Michael: It’ll be some… guys, futuristic and… it’ll be very different. That’s all I can say.

Diane: Ok. So basically that’s the key word ‘different’ for Michael Jackson?

Michael: Yeah.

Diane: You stated "The Eagles" is a favorite group of yours. Did the group’s "Hotel California" inspire your "Heartbreak Hotel" or "Thriller"?

Michael: No. "Heartbreak Hotel" was a stimulant for Rod Temperton to write Thriller. ‘Cause he told me how much he loved "Heartbreak Hotel", with all the sounds, and the falling, and the sound effects. I was trying to step into the future with that “Heartbreak Hotel”, trying something different, integrating drama and sound effects with music. And it worked. ‘Cause a lot of people are trying that whole thing, like Pink Floyd and even Rod Temperton with Thriller. And so many other people are coming out with sounds in their records now.. different effects, that’s fine.

Diane: So it was like a pilot and also a prototype of what’s happening now.

Michael: Uh huh.

Diane: Has a tentative date been set for a Jacksons tour with Jermaine and Janet?

Michael: Well we’re… probably sometime after this summer. But we really, really haven’t pinpointed any dates yet. So we’re really not sure, and the other… as far as Janet and Jermaine are concerned… we haven’t really talked about that yet. We have talked about Jermaine, but if we do it, it’ll be a surprise so I can’t really answer yes or no. And sometimes he’s unpredictable, so he may say “well I decided to go and take it easy and rest somewhere,” ‘cause he changes his mind so quickly. Last time I heard , he said he was moving on an island, which he was going to buy, and now he moved somewhere else. And then, he was into boats and then he changed, so he's always changing. So I really can’t answer for him.

Diane: Do the accolades gold and platinum records and awards still excite and inspire Michael Jackson to keep going on?

Michael: They’ll always excite me, the gold and the platinum. It’s just important not to take it too serious and not to reflect too much on the past and too much on the gold and too much… because you’ll get bogged down… with your achievements instead of pulling out great work. Instead of your past work… you can get lost in that, really. Sometime I put all of my gold and platinum records out and I’ll look at them, and then I try not to take it too serious. Because there’s so much more I have to do. You kind of forget about that.

Diane: Is it hard to forget about that though? About the spotlight, the superstardom. I mean your name probably is up there with Muhammad Ali, or higher. You’re known everywhere. As you said, you can’t go outside. Everybody knows Michael Jackson. Is it hard not to take yourself seriously?

Michael: Umm…no, it’s pretty easy for me because uh, so many things I block out. I so much see myself like you or like the people in this room. I’m human just like you are. I’m no better than you are. I maybe have a certain talent, with my art and songwriting and dancing and the drama and the whole thing… the show business thing, but as far as human, I’m just like you.

Diane: An average person?

Michael: Yeah, so it’s no right for me to think I’m better than you, or have an ego, or to walk on air, because there are lots of people in my field who are like that, and most of those people, they fall. They really do, because they begin to treat the people who helped them badly, and to forget where they came from, and to forget about those who helped them get where they are, and that’s real important. That’s why I thank all of those. I thank everybody.

Diane: So in reality you’re protecting yourself from that fall by just being average and human.

Michael: Yeah, I don’t believe in failure actually, so I just don’t even think about it. I take that completely out of my vocabulary, the word ‘fail’, because I don’t believe in it.

Diane: Is that part of the upbringing? To be goal-oriented and also not to believe or even say the word ‘failure’? Is that something you were taught by your mom and dad?

Michael: Well I’ve been taught a lot by them – my father, my mother – how to train and to be determined and to do this and that, but it’s just something I strongly believe in.

Diane: Alright. We said five or six years old in the business, in show business. Do you sometime feel that you wish you could return maybe and take your childhood and look at it and treat it a little bit differently? Because basically, did you pass childhood, and did you feel you were thrust into an adult world?

Michael: Um, well it was pretty different being brought up on stage and on tour and it’s not like the ordinary child life. So it is different. I mean I enjoyed doing it, it was nothing like I had stage parents who shoved me into something I didn’t want to do. It wasn’t that. If it was that, I don’t think I could’ve made it this long. I would’ve probably overdosed or something. But I enjoy it, no I… it’s a love that I have. It’s nothing like being on stage, it’s… you can’t put it in words. When the lights hit you, it’s a certain spirit you feel, and uh, I just don’t like coming off. That’s the truth.

Diane: 24 hours on stage…

Michael: Uh huh.

Diane: You’d take 24 hours on stage if you could get it, huh?

Michael: Uh huh, uh huh.

Diane: So you don’t regret one…

Michael: Not one minute. Not one minute.

Diane: You’ve been slated to portray Peter Pan. When’s the projected movie release date?

Michael: Uh, that’s being developed right now and that is a project I’m interested in. And I’ve been approached by different people to do the film, and I haven’t really said ‘yes’ yet. I haven’t seen the script yet. So they’re going ahead, and I’m waiting.

Diane: And you’ll let me know, right?

Michael: Yes.

Diane: Ok. I identify you as strictly a black musical genius. However you have much broader appeal than that. Do you find it hard to appeal to both black and white audiences at the same time while performing, or do you even consider the black or white aspect?

Michael: No. I don’t think in terms of color or race. Or… I don’t say when I write a song “this is for the blacks and this one’s for the whites…” I just write and it comes out, and I’m influenced by what I hear. And it just comes out that way, I guess since I was small up to now. It’s a total sum musically of what I’ve been raised on. And I don’t think in terms of color. Because I don’t believe in that, I really don’t.

Diane: So you’re saying music is colorless.

Michael: It’s colorless, it’s for everybody. It’s for the world. It’s for everybody to enjoy.

Diane: As an entertainer, Michael, and also a superstar, you’re always in the limelight, but is it hard to keep a ‘black’ perspective, and this is not on a musical level, but on a Michael Jackson private level. Is it hard to look back and remember your roots?

Michael: No… never hard. All I have to do is look in the mirror. That’s all I have to do, or look at my hands.

Diane: Ok. You have the opportunity at this point to, I guess to say anything you would like to your fans. What would you say if you have the opportunity?

Michael: Well, I’d like to say uh… there’s only one word I could say, thank you, and I love you. This is Michael Jackson, and you’re listening to:

Diane: Diane Collins with Michael Jackson.