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"Stark Raving Dad" (“The Simpsons” Episode)

Matt Groening, “The Simpsons” director, “The Weekly with Charlie Pickering” (August 29, 2018)

I was sitting in the office late at night. The phone rings, and I pick it up. "Hello"? "Hi, this is Michael Jackson."... And I said [motions hanging up phone] click, right? And he called me, "No, it really is, don't hang up!", because he has a voice that sounds like somebody doing a Michael Jackson bit. And he said that he loved Bart, and wanted to be on the show. Now, how is it that he—the rumors that he didn't do the show? He did do the show, he didn't want credit for it, there was some kind of deal with his record company or whatever. So, when it came time to sing the songs, he had a sound-a-like singer, and he stood there and watched the guy, who was so nervous, who had to sound like Michael Jackson. And then he giggled.

Yeardley Smith on Michael Jackson, EmmyTVLegends.org interview (Full)

Yeardley Smith: I remember he wore his fedora and he wore his high water pants and his white socks. And he was very very soft-spoken. He was very very quiet. Very polite, very respectful. I also remember, he turned his light off... This is at the time actually where we were recording in the basement of the Zanuck Theater and so- and it wasn't very well lit, it wasn't setup for that, we were just sort of the interlopers for ten years or whatever... So you have a little light on your music stand, we still have 'em. And he turned his off. And I remember thinking, "How can you see that? How you can see? How can you see?"... You know, he worked on "Do the Bartman". And so he worked quite closely with Nancy [Cartwright (voice of "Bart Simpson")] on that.

EmmyTVLegends: But he wasn't allowed to sing, I read, because of his label or something?

Smith: Yeah, it was weird. So, get this. So there was a guy, who on that day, had been hand-picked by Michael Jackson to sing like Michael Jackson in front of Michael Jackson for this record. And he's this little- at that time, quite young, small white man named Kipp [Lennon]... But he came and reprised his "Lisa, It's Your Birthday" at the Hollywood Bowl... Can you imagine the pressure, the anxiety of being in the room with Michael Jackson to sing as Michael Jackson. I just like- blew my mind. He nailed it.

EmmyTVLegends: It was a legal thing he couldn't do?

Smith: I believe so. That's what we heard, that his label said. I don't know, it sounds like a bunch of hooey to me, but, for whatever reason, he didn't sing "Lisa, It's Your Birthday".

Kipp Lennon, Michael sound-alike, From Chris Cadman’s “Michael Jackson the Maestro”

“This is kind of weird,’ said Lennon at the time, “[Michael’s] right next to me and I have to do him in front of everyone, on command!”