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May 1984 - Ebony Magazine

There’s nothing as purposeful as a mind made up. When he was only five years old two decades ago, Michael Jackson told a kindergarten teacher in Gary, Ind., that he knew what he wanted when he grew up because his mind was set.
She asked him what three things he wished would happen and his response was written on a sheet of paper. His three wishes: "I would like to be a great entertainer ... I want peace for the world and I'd like to own a mansion one day." The teacher then showed the paper to him, but would not let him have the written reply.
Today, 20 years later, Michael Joseph Jackson, seventh of nine children and the son whose middle name is his father's first, is the world's greatest entertainer. Peace in the world is yet to come, but he lives with his parents and two of his sisters in a $1 million-plus mansion that was purchased out of his show business net earnings, conservatively estimated at $40 million in Ebony's April issue.
Michael grew up believing that some day he would be rich and famous, but he really didn't know how rich or how famous until last February when CBS Records hosted a $1.4 milhon party in New York's Metropolitan Museum of Natural History to announce: "Michael Jackson sets a world record: the biggest selling album of all time."
Standing onstage before the capacity celebrity crowd of 1,500 guests at the black-tie tribute, the slender (5 ft. 10 in., 125 lbs.) superstar heard a litany of praise about his achievements.
"Michael is surely the best artist in the world,'' exclaimed Walter Yetnikoff, president of CBS Records. "Michael just got a presentation for the best solo performer of all time," he continued. "I'm reading from the Guinness Book of Records. The best-selling album of all time is Saturday Night Fever with 25 million copies globally. I have news for you. Today, we surpassed 25 million copies for Thriller! Michael Jackson — the number one artist in the world!"
Allen Davis, president of CBS Records International, next addresses the crowd: "Tonight, Michael . . . your international milestones for the album Thriller are a total of 67 gold awards, 58 platinum awards in 28 countries on six continents. And the single with 9 million sales have earned 15 more awards, bringing the total to 140 gold and platinum awards. "
Without taking into account that the sensational singer-songwriter and perfectionist performer has won an unprecedented eight American Music Awards and shattered Paul Simon's Grammy mark by winning a record-setting eight Grammys, Davis pointed up other achievements around the world in which Michael won honors equivalent to the nation's top industry awards.
"So far, Thriller and Michael Jackson have been named Best Artist, Best Male Vocalist, Album of the Year in Japan; Album of the Year, Single of the Year in Australia; Artist of the Year in Italy; Record of the Year in Greece; Album of the Year in Holland; Most Important Foreign Album of the Year in Spain; the International Artist of the Year in Brazil, where the newest dance craze is called "The Funk Jackson," Davis concluded with adulation.
The chubby child star who grew up to be a slender superstar stood smiling onstage and responded to the accolades with modesty: "I've always wanted to do great things and achieve many things, but for the first time in my entire career I feel like I have accomplished something because I'm in The Guinness Book of World Records."
As he stood at music's mountaintop basking under the spotlight, all of his fans could now attest to his greatness, but few really knew Michael Jackson, the man behind the superstar.
The pop, rock and rhythm n' blues idol was born on August 29, 1958, in the steel mill city of Gary, where his father Joseph worked as a crane operator and his mother Katherine worked part-time at Sears. A Virgo's horoscope advises, "Objectivity is the key word in business. You can accomplish much, especially in financial deals, if you keep personal feelings outside the office." (In heeding this advice in the Thriller album project, Michael has pocketed more than $66 million in worldwide royalties from the LP).
He is the fifth son of the now famous Jackson vocal group — Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon and Randy. His oldest sister is Maureen (Rebbie), and he lives with his parents and two sisters, Janet and LaToya, in Encino, a suburb of Los Angeles.
As a five-year-old member of the budding Jackson 5, Michael was a chip off^ the musical block of his musician father who once played lead guitar in the Falcons, a five-piece band. A child prodigy, Michael was outgoing, outspoken, outfront and outstanding. He was mischievous and mannish.
After 20 years of show business in which he has criss-crossed the country, performed on four continents — North America, Europe, Asia and Africa — rubbed elbows with royalty, cuddled celebrities and caucused with VIPs who carry cash and clout, Michael is as mystical offstage as he is magical onstage. He projects a private personality that is shy, sensitive and celibate. He is pious without pontificating and cloaks himself in his religious beliefs as a Jehovah's Witness as if it were his only reason for being.
He doesn't wear his religion on his sleeves, only in his heart, and he does it for good reason. God, he says, is composer of his best-selling songs. "I really don't write anything, to tell you the honest truth. I can say 'me' but I really don't think it's from me. I think it's from a much higher source than me . . . The natural gift is there, " he observes, "but 1 don't write songs — I write them but the songs work through me.
He explains: "I can say to myself, I want to write the most beautiful this or that and the next thing I know there it is. . . from the lyrics to everything." An example is his composition. Beat It, one of the seven hit singles from his Thriller album. "I wanted to write a song, the type of song that I would buy if 1 were to buy a rock song. . . That is how I approached it and I wanted the kids to really enjoy it — the school kids as well as the college kids." And the next thing he knew, the song was there, he remembers.
The feeling from the response to Beat It is perhaps rivaled only by that of the heady experience of his first public performance. He recalls:
"I was in the kindergarten and I sang Climb Every Mountain ... I put my heart, soul and teeth in it and I got such an ovation. My teacher was crying, people were standing up applauding and I felt so good . . . and mother was there and she was crying. . . It moved everybody. I sang this song and I felt real good about the future and everything. . . I'll never forget that. It was a magic moment in my career."
Saying that his schooling and his playground were on the stage, the superstar reflects further upon proud moments he spent backstage at the Regal Theatre in Chicago and Harlem's Apollo, as a boy standing in the wings watching and learning. He watched and learned from stars like Jackie Wilson and James Brown. It was the raw passion of Wilson and the fancy footwork of Brown that he remembers most. "I knew every turn, every move, every spin, " he says of Brown. Scrutinizing Brown, he notes: "Something is going on inside of him when he's up there. Something is happening and you can't imitate that. It's only natural talent . . . It's magic and when I'm up there, I feel the same way. "
A lasting influence which Michael gleaned from the great singers since the late '60s is how to focus on a song and tell the story lyrically. Although the melody is important, too, he says, "the song is more important than the artist . . . The song is more important than I am." He had that in mind when he penned Billie Jean because he didn't forget what his mother told him as he was growing up. "Be careful what you do, I mean watch who you become connected with, " she admonished him.
While he is grateful for some of the influence and the inspiration of people in his show business circle, Michael draws his greatest inspiration from his parents, brothers, and sisters. Contrary to rumors, gossip and some salacious stories recounted in some tabloid publications and unauthorized books, his worldwide acclaim and mind-boggling stardom have not diminished his feelings and love of his family. He told Ebony that he loves them all very much in special ways and that he feels the same now as he did during a taped interview he gave this writer months before he announced after the Grammy Awards show that he would not grant any more interviews, prompting a pop music critic to write "he is not particularly articulate and would come off poorly in an interview situation."
It was during a visit to the Jackson family mansion which was being renovated when Michael sat in the recording studio at their home and revealed his unique relationship with each member of his family. Here's what he said:

Maureen (Rebbie), 33: "Maureen is now coming out of her shell. I think she tried for a long time to go in another direction than the family, but she's beginning to learn that her roots and her talents are in music. That's her gift and she's showing it. She sings and she dances like a cat. She moves and she's got an album coming out that I'm doing and I think people are going to see some great stuff from her ..."
Jackie, 32: "I think Jackie, as far as the family is concerned, has always been the protection on the road for the brothers and keeping everybody together when my father's not there. He's a good element and chemistry for the group. I really feel that God gave each one of us characters and personalities accordingly to make everything work as a whole . . . Jackie always worries about are we going to be on time, are we going to have the show ready in time, why haven't we signed the contract? He's the only one in the group like that . . . and because of him being like that, it gets things done . . . and that's his perfect role."
Tito, 30: "When my father is not around, Tito plays kind of a father figure. He's very quiet until he feels he should speak and he's very humble, really . . . He can be soft and he can be real strong and real helpful. He comes in just when we need him in meetings. We'll be quarreling about something and he'll say the perfect thing that will brighten everything like the sun coming through the clouds ..."
Jermaine, 29: "I think Jermaine is an island. Everybody can say, as a group, we feel the majority rules. We feel we're right and he'll say, 'Well, I'm sorry. I feel different.' I admire him for that because he stands up for the way he feels . . . He's a great believer in himself; he has belief and faith in the way he feels and he stands up for that because he's stubborn. . . I admire him for that integrity. That's how he is."
LaToya, 28: "I feel that LaToya, seriously, is wonderful to look at. She's very smart. I think that she's still searching and finding herself. .. I always told her that she would be a great actress, but she knows. She listens to me and I think she knows that I'm right, but she still wants to try other areas. She would make a marvelous, strong actress, especially because she's real emotional. She has the talent."
Marlon, 27: "I think out of everybody in the family, Marlon tries harder than anybody ... I try very hard doing what I do and it comes easy for me . . . but I think he has the most integrity, probably myself and him. When Jermaine left the group, Marlon had the courage to step into his spot on stage, sing the songs and fill in the gap with the harmony. . . He's writing songs that are so good. I'm real proud, really. . . . On the next album listen to his lead vocals. "
Randy, 22: "I think Randy is multi-talented. At times, I think he is like a flower, the kind of flower that opens up and at night closes again. That's how Randy is. That's a perfect example of what he's like. He can play any instrument. He writes songs and his [automobile] accident [in 1980] has handicapped him a bit [he uses a walking cane], but he's holding on. He's strong but I still think that he's deciding on what he really wants to do and how he's going to deliver himself. But he opens and closes. He has so many beautiful colors to show, but at night it's like he closes, like kind of undecided and a little touch of doubt."
Janet, 18: "We are kind of close because we often act silly, but she is a talented singer and serious actress. It seems that I'm trying to say something great about everybody, but everybody has their personality. I think Janet is going to come through and be a very special contribution to life, to the world with her talent. People are going to see something that they didn't know was there. She's a great actress, great dancer, great singer, really. "
Mrs. Katharine Jackson, his mother: "Well, God, I can't even explain. . . You can't put it in words. She's like a bird that holds the babies and the chickens under the wings. She keeps them together. She keeps us real close, and if there is any problem she is there . . . You can't find that in lots of mothers. God, she's everything — of course, everybody thinks their mother is the greatest, but she is."
Joseph Jackson, father: "He's a lion. Like the jungle, every culture has its king. He's like a lion, Like king of the jungle and nobody crosses him. He's like a barricade for our protection. "
After revealing his feelings about his family, the shy superstar offers a dichotomous disclosure: he loves most what he fears most — his fans.
"My main love for what I do is the fans. I love the fans," he says. "When I'm out there doing a show and I see the fans out there dancing and screaming, excited — and we're bringing that joy to them — that's what I love most. And it's just the greatest feeling in the world."
As much as he loves his fans, which is the main reason he looks forward to the upcoming Victory Tour of The Jacksons, he has some disquieting fears of them.
"You wouldn't believe the mail I get. I mean some of its gets real vulgar. Some of it is real nice." He adds: "A lot of girls are real educated ladies with wisdom and everything. But some get real funky. Real funky, not polite at all . . . They tell you the stuff they want to do to you and everything . . . and how they're gonna do it."
The handsome bachelor broods over some of his fan mail. "I get so many letters saying they would like to marry and that's serious stuff," he says of "a room full of mail" he had received. He doesn't read all the letters but he responds to marriage proposals. "I'll say something like, 'Thank you for your beautiful letter. It's very nice. And we will always love you. Love, Michael Jackson and The Jacksons.'" He writes that because "I don't like to break hearts. I don't really know these people and gosh, it's a weird thing." He explains:
"You portray an image. And those people are into you so long, buying your records. You're all over their walls, your posters. They go to sleep thinking about you, wake up thinking about you and you're totally on their mind . . . It's an awful thing and I don't know how to handle it . . .
"It gets very serious. I know. That's why you have to be careful because sometimes love can reverse on you. They feel they can't get you and they'll go to the point of plotting and planning terrible things on you or do terrible things to hurt you, and saying smart things. That's why it's important to be nice, but sincerely nice."
Although he is profusely proud to hold a world record as having the biggest selling album of all time, the Michael behind the superstar is busy planning his next moves in records, video, films, TV, business deals and personal relationships. He won't rest on his laurels because, he vows: "I'm interested in making a path instead of following a trail . . . "