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Michael Jackson Ebony Article/Interview

Transcript

They call him “Mr. Jackson.”

Dressed in black, a confident, mature Michael Jackson directs his staff, guides his child

and peers over the reading glasses perched on the edge of his finely chiseled nose.

Reading glasses? Yes, Michael Jackson, now a twice-divorced father of three, will be 50

next year, more than a quarter century after the boyish impresario moonwalked onto the

world stage. And even though he still has the trim body and the dancer moves of the

Michael Jackson of Thriller days, those glasses confirm the passage of time.

In his first U.S. magazine interview and cover story in a decade, the King of Pop sat

down in a New York City hotel suite with Ebony magazine and offered a rare glimpse

into the life of an icon. The commander of a multimillion-dollar empire and arguably the

single-most talented entertainer of a generation has not spoken publicly since his 2005

trial and acquittal. But today, he reflects on Thriller and struggles that put him on the

world stage, and wonders aloud, where did the time go?

On this unseasonably warm fall day, Jackson contemplated his past—this is his seventh

solo Ebony cover; he also had five Ebony covers with his brothers as a member of the

Jackson 5, the first one in 1970. He talked about what went into the creation of Thriller–

the first demos were done in his home studio in early 1982, with his sister Janet and

brother Randy singing background––and questioned the state of the music industry today.

When Thriller dropped in the U.S. on November 30, 1982, America––and the world––

were in transition. Ronald Reagan was president, E.T. was stunning movie crowds and

Justin Timberlake was almost 2 years old. The United Kingdom and Argentina were

sparring in the Falkland Islands, the Dow Industrial Average hit a record high of

1,065.49, and Olivia Newton-John’s album Physical was No. 1 on the charts.

And Michael Joseph Jackson was quietly working in the studio with Quincy Jones, about

to make history.

Michael Jackson has been an international star since he was 6 years old. While most kids

were watching Scooby-Doo, Michael was choreographing the patented stage moves for

himself and his brothers, the Jackson 5.

“In some ways, Michael was like a child. And in some ways, he was very sophisticated,”

remembers Walter Yetnikoff, then head of CBS Records. “He was a very smart

businessman, would read contracts as good as lawyers could. But in some ways, back

then, he was like a baby.”

Today that whispery, high-pitched voice has more bass in it. Those soft features have

become more defined. Traces of that “baby” in Michael Jackson appear to have faded.

Today, his musical genius and influence still dominate the music world, 25 years after

Thriller came out and went on to become the best-selling album of all time––selling more

than 104 million copies worldwide, 54 million copies in the U.S., and spawning no less

than seven Top 10 hits and two No. 1 singles.

But that complicated transition from youth to adulthood has left the star with many life

lessons, a few scars and even a bit of wisdom.

On this day, as Michael’s youngest child, Prince Michael Jackson II, 5––whom he

affectionately calls “Blanket”––sits nearby watching cartoons and oblivious to the fuss

everyone is making over his dad, Michael’s life appears to have come full circle.

(Jackson also has two other children, Paris Michael Katherine Jackson, 9, and Michael

Joseph Jackson Jr. 10.)

As Jackson introduces his son, he instructs him about proper etiquette to greet his guests.

“No, stand up and use THAT hand,” he shows the boy, who is reluctant to put down his

fistful of LifeSavers candy and shake hands.

In many ways, it is a very “normal” moment between a father and a son. And for Michael

Jackson, after all his records and all the drama, that sense of normalcy––and maturity––

seems to punctuate this phase of his life.

With nearly a dozen solo albums, and more than a dozen more No. 1 singles, 13

Grammys and more than 750 million records sold worldwide in his career to date,

Michael is humble about and proud of his influence on music history and the current

music scene.

“I always want to do music that influences and inspires each generation,” he says. “Let’s

face it, who wants mortality?”

“You want what you create to live, and I give my all in my work because I want it to

live.”

Today, it’s virtually impossible to watch a music video without seeing a Michael

Jackson-influenced dance step, music or theme. Justin Timberlake and Usher imitate his

moves. Akon and Ne-Yo admire his sound.

Photography by Matthew Rolston at The Brooklyn Museum

Styling by phillip bloch

Greg Phillinganes, a veteran arranger and keyboard player and key musician on Thriller

and many other Jackson projects, remembers working on the album.

“It was always special working with Quincy and Michael,” he says. “Those two bring out

the best in everybody. You know going in that this is the A-Team so you have to bring

the ‘A’ game.” Michael had strong musical goals and a strong sense of what he wanted to

achieve artistically, he says, but the making of Thriller was also a very enjoyable

experience. “Quincy always brought fun into the room. He understands how to cast—like

a casting director for a movie—he gets the right people for the right job, and Quincy does

the same thing for music. It was a brilliant time. I just remember the fun of layering all

the parts together, the bass and the strings and listening to Michael’s vocals. We never

saw the big sales coming. It was really very special, and Michael’s performances speak

for themselves.”

James Ingram, a veteran singer and another protege of Jones, says, “Quincy is ruthless

when it comes to music, he either thinks it’s a hit or it’s not, and he doesn’t care who you

are,” says James Ingram, who, with Quincy Jones, wrote “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing),”

a Top 10 hit from Thriller.

“Quincy’s wife Peggy [Lipton] brought home some lingerie called ‘Pretty Young Things’

and Quincy, being the genius that he is, said that would be a good title,” Ingram recalls.

Michael “just killed the song” in the studio recording, Ingram says, adding that he has

never seen a performer dance through a recording session like Michael Jackson.

“Everybody I’ve ever seen when they go into the studio, they put all of their energy into

the microphone––but here was Michael in there singing his butt off and dancing at the

same time. That blew my mind,” Ingram says now. “See, Quincy is not from this planet–

–he’s a genius, and that’s why he attracts all these geniuses [like Michael Jackson].”

Jackson also credits Jones for creating the magical moments that fueled Thriller, Off the

Wall and influenced the rest of his musical career. “When I was 8 years old, Sammy

Davis Jr. introduced me to Quincy Jones; I’ll never forget it,” Jackson says now. “And I

overheard him say to Quincy, ‘This guy is something; he’s amazing. I tucked it away

subconsciously.”

Years later he asked Jones to work with him on his albums. Their chemistry on the set of

the 1978 film The Wiz sparked a golden collaboration. “What’s great about working with

Quincy is he lets you do your thing…” Deliberate about the creative process, Jackson,

who is a huge classical music fan, says, “Once the right chemistry gets in the room,

magic has to happen.”

During the production of The Wiz, Jones saw something in Jackson he had never seen

before. “In the process, I got to see a side of him that was never exposed to the public

before,” Jones tells Ebony. “I saw how smart he was, how sensitive, and that had never

been represented on a record before.”

But Jones almost didn’t do the project. “You know Epic [Records, part of CBS] didn’t

want to use me… They said, ‘No way, Quincy’s too jazzy.’”

But Michael pushed for the maestro, and, as they say, the rest is history.

Nearly every day, Jones sees the impact of the project across the globe. “Look, I’ve been

around the world at least three times this year––Angkor Wat, Vietnam, Seoul, Rwanda,

Cairo, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Moscow––and, man, you cannot tell what city you are in

because at 12 o’clock, they start kickin’ that music, and you will hear ‘Wanna Be Startin’

Something’ or ‘Don’t Stop ’Til You Get Enough’ or ‘Billie Jean.’ It blows my mind, like

it was 25 years ago. I’ve said it before: The ’80s were ours!”

Jackson is a product of diverse creative forces, from Bach to Bo Diddley.

“Classical music, in truth, is really my real first love,” Jackson reveals, and then adds

“that, and real Southern ‘gutbucket,’ as my uncle calls it; you feel it in your backbone.”

Not surprisingly, Michael has a very intimate relationship with his music. For him, it’s all

about the melody, and he does a rough “template” of all his songs. “Getting the character

of the riff like you want it takes a lot of work and a lot of time.” He talks about the music

as a protagonist, a story line. “Music is tapestry, it’s different layers, it’s weaving in and

out, and if you look at it in layers, you understand it better.”

The King of Pop says working with Jones was so wonderful because “he’s genius enough

to stay out of the way of the music. If something needs to be added, he would add it––like

a nice riff. He would say, ‘Smelly [a nickname Jones gave to Jackson], let the song talk to

you. If a song needs strings, it will tell you. Get out of the way and leave room so that

God can walk in.’”

Jones agrees. “That was my motto. You’ve got to leave space for God to walk through

the room. It’s not about us. The older I get, the more I see how little we all have to do

with anything, really.”

Jackson’s spirituality is another source of his creativity.

“I believe strongly in a higher force, and I’m really thankful for all the blessings,” he

says. When he writes something that he knows is right, Jackson shares, he “gets down on

his knees” and gives thanks.

On August 29 of next year, Michael Jackson will be 50. He admits that, while still in

excellent shape––he doesn’t have any special diet and rarely works out––and more

creative than ever, he is a different man than he was at 24. “I always had this tug in the

back of my head, the things I wanted to do, to raise children, have children. I’m enjoying

it very much.”

He says he travels with his three kids quite a bit, recently visiting South Africa and Sun

City. He also takes them shopping and visits museums around the world.

Today’s Michael is maturing. And those who know him best can see it. The Rev. Jesse

Jackson has known Michael for most of his life; since the early Jackson 5 days. In 2005,

he was in daily contact with Michael during the California trial, and today he serves as a

private adviser to the superstar.

“I think Michael is comfortable with himself,” Rev. Jackson says. “He knows he has a

special genius and talent, and he knows he has a special responsibility. And he knows he

is a superstar. He seems to have a great sense of self-control, but like any great star he’s

like an enigma to many people. But underneath all of that he is devoted to his mother and

father and brothers and sisters. In all that, he’s a Jackson.”

Thirty years from now, will Michael Jackson still be moon-walking at 80? No, he says,

sternly. He doesn’t want to grow old doing concert after concert, flying from one megastadium

to the next. He just doesn’t want to go out like that. “Not the way James Brown

did or Jackie Wilson did,” he says. “They just kept going, running, killing themselves.

In my opinion, I wish [Brown] could have slowed down and relaxed and enjoyed his hard

work.”

Michael has other plans for his next 25 years. “More in film, not on stage. I see myself

more productive in film, and directing, and directing myself in film. Not so much [on

stage] all over the world. Because [on stage] you’re not capturing anything––it’s

fleeting. A concert is the most fleeting thing in the world. It’s excellent to look at, but

you can’t capture it. With film you stop time.”

For Michael Jackson, time has never stopped. With each year, each challenge, each child

and each success, he grows a little bit wiser.

Michael Jackson has met the man in his mirror. And he likes him.

Michael Jackson: In His Own Words

(Interview)

Sitting on the sofa next to Michael Jackson, you quickly look past the enigmatic icon's light, almost translucent skin and realize that this African-American legend is more than just skin deep. More than an entertainer, more than a singer or dancer, the grown-up father of three reveals a confident, controlled and mature man who has a lot of creativity left inside him.

Michael Joseph Jackson rocked the world in December 1982, when he exploded on the pop music scene with Thriller, the rich, rhythmic, infectious album that introduced many Whites to a talent that most Blacks had known for decades, and shattered nearly every industry record on the planet. The historic project was yet another, albeit giant, step in a musical career that began 18 years earlier, at age 6, with his brothers in the Jackson 5.

In his first major U.S. magazine interview in a decade and on the 25th anniversary of Thriller, Jackson sat down with EBONY magazine for a rare, intimate and exclusive conversation about the creation of Thriller, the historic Motown 25 performance, being a father, the state of the music industry and the force behind his creativity.

Here is Michael Jackson, in his own words...

EBONY: Thriller: How did it all start?

MICHAEL: Motown was preparing to do this movie called The Wiz and Quincy Jones happened to be the man who was doing the music. Now, I had heard of Quincy before. When I was in Indiana as a child, my father used to buy jazz albums, so I knew him as a jazz musician.

So after we had made this movie – we had gotten pretty close on the film, too; he helped me understand certain words, he was really fatherlike – I called him after the movie, out of complete sincerity ‘cause I’m a shy person, ESPECIALLY then. I used to not even look at people when they were talking to me, I’m not joking, and I said, “I’m ready to do an album. Could you recommend anybody who would be interested in producing it with me or working with me?” He paused and said, “Why don’t you let ME do it?” I said to myself, ‘I don’t know why I didn’t think of that.’ Probably because I was thinking that he was more my father, kind of jazzy. So after he said that, I said, “WOW, that would be great.” What’s great about working with Quincy is he lets you do your thing. He doesn’t get in the way.

The first thing I came to him with was from Off the Wall, our first album, and Rod Temperton came in the studio, and he came with this killer – he’s this little German guy from Worms, Germany – he comes with this “doop, dakka dakka doop, dakka dakka dakka doop,” this whole melody and chorus, “rock with you.” When I heard that, I said, “OK, I really have to work now.” So every time Rod would present something, I would present something, and we’d form a little friendly competition. I love working like that. I used to read how Walt Disney used to, if they were working on Bambi or an animated show, put a deer in the middle of the floor and make the animators kind of compete with different styles of drawing. Whoever had the most stylized effect that Walt liked, he would pick that. They would kind of compete, it was like a friendly thing, but it was competition, ‘cause it breeds higher effort. So whenever Rod would bring something, I would bring something, then he would bring something, then I would bring something else. We created this wonderful thing.

EBONY: So, after Off the Wall, in the spring of ’82, you went back in the studio to work on Thriller.

MICHAEL: After Off the Wall, we had all these No. 1 hits from it – “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough,” “Rock With You,” “She’s Out of My Life,” “Workin’ Day and Night” – and we were nominated for a Grammy award, but I was just not happy with how the whole thing happened because I wanted to do much more, present much more, put more of my soul and heart in it.

EBONY: Was it a transition point for you?

MICHAEL: A COMPLETE transition. Ever since I was a little boy, I would study composition. And it was Tchaikovsky that influenced me most. If you take an album like Nutcracker Suite, every song is a killer, every one. People used to do an album where you’d one good song and the rest were like B-sides. They'd call them “album songs,” and I would say to myself, ‘Why can’t every one be like a hit song? Why can’t every song be so great that people would want to buy it if you could release it as a single?’ So I always tried to strive for that. That was my purpose for the next album. That was the whole idea. I wanted to just put any one out that we wanted. I worked hard for it.

EBONY: The creative process, were you deliberate about that, or did it just kind of happen?

MICHAEL: No, I was pretty deliberate. Even though it all came together some kind of way, consciously, it was created in this universe, but once the right chemistry gets in the room, magic has to happen. It has to. It’s like putting certain elements in one hemisphere and it produces this magic in the other. It’s science. And getting in there with some of the great people, it’s just wonderful.

But yeah, working with Quincy was such a wonderful thing. He lets you experiment, do the thing. He’s genius enough to stay out of the way of the music, and if there’s an element to be added, he’ll add it.

We would work on a track and then we’d meet at his house, play what we worked on, and he would say, “If the song needs something, it’ll tell you. Let it talk to you.” I’ve learned to do that. The key to being a wonderful writer is not to write. You just get out of the way. Leave room for God to walk in the room. And when I write something that I know is right, I get on my knees and say thank you. Thank you, Jehovah!

EBONY: When’s the last time you had that feeling?

MICHAEL: Well, recently. I’m always writing. When you know it’s right, sometimes you feel like something’s coming, a gestation, almost like a pregnancy or something. You get emotional, and you start to feel something gestating and, magic, there it is! It’s an explosion or something that’s so beautiful, you go, WOW! There it is. That’s how it works through you. It’s a beautiful thing. It’s a universe of where you can go with those 12 notes.

[He’s now listening to an early version of “Billie Jean” playing on an iPhone.]

What I do when I write is that I’ll do a raggedy, rough version just to hear the chorus, just to see how much I like the chorus. If it works for me that way when it’s raggedy, then I know it’ll work.

Listen to that, that’s at home. Randy, Janet and I are going, “whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo.” I do that, the same process, with every song. The melody is most important. If the melody can sell me, if I like the rough, then I’ll go to the next step. If it sounds good in my head, it’s usually good when I do it. The idea is to transcribe from what’s in your mentality onto tape.

EBONY: Another big moment was the Motown 25 performance.

MICHAEL: I was at the studio editing “Beat It,” and for some reason I happened to be at Motown Studios doing it – I had long left the company. So they were getting ready to do something with the Motown anniversary, and Berry Gordy came by and asked me did I want to do the show I told him NO. I said no because the Thriller thing, I was building and creating something I was planning to do, and he said, “But it’s the anniversary.” I said, “I will do it, but the only way I’ll do it is if you let me do one song that’s not a Motown song.” He said, “What is it?” I said, “’Billie Jean.’” He said, “OK, fine.” I said, “You’ll really let me do ‘Billie Jean?’” He said, “Yeah.”

So I rehearsed and choreographed and dressed my brothers, and picked the songs and the medley. And not only that, you have to work out all the camera angles.

I direct and edit everything I do. Every shot you see is my shot. Let me tell you why I have to do it that way. I have five, no, six cameras. When you’re performing – and I don’t care what kind of performance you are giving – if you don’t capture it properly, the people will never see it. It’s the most selfish medium in the world. You’re filming WHAT you want people to see, WHEN you want them to see it, HOW you want them to see it and what JUXTAPOSITION you want them to see.

EBONY: How long have you been creating all of those elements?

MICHAEL: Since I was a little boy, with my brothers. My father used to say, “Show ‘em, Michael, show ‘em.”

EBONY: Did they ever get jealous of that?

MICHAEL: They never showed it at the time, but it must have been hard, because I would never get spanked during rehearsals or practice [laughter]. But afterwards was when I got in trouble [laughter]. It's true, that's when I would get it. My father would rehearse with a belt in his hand. You couldn't mess up. My father was a genius when it came to the way he taught us staging, how to work an audience, anticipating what to do next, or never [to] let the audience know if you are suffering or if something's going wrong. He was amazing like that.

EBONY: Is that where you think you got not just a lot of your business sense but how to control the whole package?

MICHAEL: Absolutely. My father, experience; but I learned a lot from my father. He had a group when he was a young person called the Falcons. They came over and they played music all the time, so we always had music and dancing. It's that cultural thing that Black people do. You clear out all the furniture, turn up the music. When company comes, everybody gets out in the middle of the floor [and] you gotta do something. I loved that.

EBONY: Do your kids do that now?

MICHAEL: They do, but they get shy: But they do it for me, sometimes.

EBONY: Speaking of showmanship: MTV didn't play Black folks. How hard was that for you?

MICHAEL: They said they don't play [Black artists]. It broke my heart, but at the same time it lit something. I was saying to myself, 'I have to do something... I just refuse to be ignored.' So yeah, '"Billie Jean,'" they said, "We won't play it."

But when they played it, it set the all-time record. Then they were asking me for EVERYTHING we had. They were knocking our door down. Then Prince came; it opened the door for Prince and all the other Black artists. It was 24-hour heavy metal, just a pot¬pourri of crazy images. They came to me so many times in the past and said, "Michael, if it wasn't for you. there would be no MTV." They told me that over and over, personally. I guess they didn't hear it at the time, but I'm sure they didn't mean any pure malice [laughter].

EBONY: That really gave birth to the modern video age.

MICHAEL: I used to look at MTV. My brother [Jackie], I'll never forget, he'd say, "Michael, you gotta see this channel. Oh my God, it's the best idea. They show music 24 hours a day!" So I said, "Let me see this." And I'm watching it, I'm seeing all this stuff going on and saying, "If only they could give this stuff some more entertainment value, more story, a little more dance, I'm sure people would love it more." I said, "When I do something, it's gotta have a story – an opening, a middle and a closing—so you can follow a linear thread; there's got to be a thread through it. So while you are watching the entertainment value of it, you're wondering what is going to happen." That's when I started to experiment with "Thriller," "The Way You Make Me Feel," "Bad" and "Smooth Criminal" and directing and writing.

EBONY: What do you think about the state of music videos and music today?

MICHAEL: [The industry], it's at a crossroads. There's a transformation going on. People are confused, what's going to happen, how to distribute and sell music. I think the Internet kind of threw everybody for a real loop, 'cause it's so powerful, kids love it so much. The whole world is at their fingertips, on their lap. Anything they want to know, anyone they want to communicate with, any music, any movies. This thing, it just took everybody for a loop. Right now, all these Starbucks deals and Wal-Mart deals, direct to artist, I don’t know if that's the answer. I think the answer is just phenomenal, great music. Just reaching the masses. I think people are still searching. There's not a real musical revolution going on right now either. But when it's there, people will break a wall down to get to it. I mean, before Thriller, it was the same kind of thing. People were NOT buying music. It helped to bring everybody back into the stores. So, when it happens, it happens.

EBONY: How does it feel to know you have changed history? Do you think about that a lot?

MICHAEL: Yeah, I do, I really do. I'm very proud that we opened doors, that we helped tear down a lot. Going around the world, doing tours, in stadiums, you see the influence of the music. When you just look out over the stage, as far as the naked eye [can] see, you see people. And it's a wonderful feeling, but it came with a lot of pain, a lot of pain.

EBONY: How so?

MICHAEL: When you're on top of your game, when you're a pioneer, people come at you. But I feel grateful, all those record-breaking things, to the biggest albums, to those No. 1s, I still feel grateful.

I'm a guy who used to sit in my living room and listen to my father play Ray Charles. My mother used to wake me up at 3 o'clock in the morning, "Michael, he's on TV, he's on TV!" I'd run to the TV and James Brown would be on TV. I said, "That's what I want to do."

EBONY: You're almost 50 now. Do you think you'll be doing this at 80?

MICHAEL: The truth is, umm, no. Not the way James Brown did, or Jackie Wilson did, where they just ran it out, they killed themselves. In my opinion, I wish [Brown] could have slowed down and been more relaxed and enjoyed his hard work.

EBONY: Will you tour again?

MICHAEL: I don't care about long tours. But what I love about touring is that it sharpens one's craft beautifully. That's what I love about Broadway, that's why actors turn to Broadway, to sharpen their skills. It does do that. 'Cause it takes years to become a great entertainer. Years. You can't just grab some guy out of obscurity and throw 'em out there and expect for this person to compete with that person. It'll never work. And the audience knows it; they can see it. They can see it right away.

Now, Stevie Wonder, he's a musical prophet: He's another guy I have to credit. I used to say to myself, 'I want to write more.' I used to watch [producers] Gamble and Huff, and Hal Davis and the Corporation write all those hits for the Jackson 5, and I really wanted to study the anatomy. What they used to do, they used to have us come in and sing after they did the track. I used to get upset 'cause I would want to see them make the track. So they would give me "ABC" after the track was done, or "I Want You Back" or "The Love You Save." I wanted to experience it all.

Stevie Wonder used to literally let me sit like a fly on the wall. I got to see Songs in the Key of Life get made, some of the most golden things. I would sit with Marvin Gaye. And these would be the people who would just come over to our house and hang out and play basketball with my brothers on the weekend. We always had these people around. So when you really can see the science, the anatomy and the structure of how it all works, it's just so wonderful.

EBONY: What do you think about the presidential race? Hillary, Barack?

MICHAEL: To tell you the truth, I don't follow that stuff. We were raised to not look to man to fix the problems of the world. They can't do it. That's how I see it. It's beyond us. Look, we don't have control over the grounds, they can shake. We don't have control over the seas, they can have tsunamis. We don't have control over the skies, there are storms. We're all in God's hands. I think that man has to take that into consideration. I just wish they would do more for the babies and children, help them more. That would be great, wouldn't it?

EBONY: Speaking of babies, as a father now, rewind [to] 25 years ago. What is the difference between that Michael and the Michael today?

MICHAEL: That Michael is probably the same Michael here. I just wanted to get certain things accomplished first. But I always had this tug in the back of my head, the things I wanted to do, to raise children, have children. I'm enjoying it very much.

EBONY: What do you think about all the stuff that's out there about you, all the things you read? How do you feel about that?

MICHAEL: I don't pay attention to that. In my opinion, it's ignorance. It's usually not based on fact. It's based on, you know, myth. The guy who you don't get to see. Every neighborhood has the guy who you don't see, so you gossip about him. You see those stories about him, there's the myth that he did this or he did that. People are crazy!

I'm just about wanting to do wonderful music.

But back to Motown 25. One of the things that touched me the most about doing that was, after I did the performance—I'll never forget. There was Marvin Gaye in the wings, and the Temptations and Smokey Robinson and my brothers, they were hugging me and kissing me and holding me. Richard Pryor walked over to me and said [in a quiet voice], "Now that was the greatest performance I've ever seen." That was my reward. These were people who, when I was a little boy in Indiana, I used to listen to. Marvin Gaye, the Temptations, and to have them bestow that kind of appreciation on me, I was just honored. Then the next day, Fred Astaire called and said, "I watched it last night, and I taped it, and I watched it again this morning. You're a helluva mover. You put the audience on their ASS last night!" So later, when I saw Fred Astaire, he did this with his fingers [he makes a little Moonwalk gesture with his two fingers on his outstretched palm].

I remember doing the performance so clearly, and I remember that I was so upset with myself, 'cause it wasn't what I wanted. I wanted it to be more. But not until I finished. [There] was a little child, a little Jewish child backstage with a little tuxedo on. He looked at me and he said [in a stunned voice] "Who taught you to move like that?" [Laughter] And I said, "I guess God – and rehearsal."