Jacko, His Rise and Fall: The Social and Sexual History of Michael Jackson (18 page)

Gordy had hoped for a breakthrough single on the album-perhaps the
solo version, "Moving Violation" itself-or else "All I Do Is Think of You."
But no such luck.

That September, Gordy, exercising the rights of his contract, demanded
that Joe bring the brothers back to Motown for another recording session. Joe
adamantly refused, calling Gordy "a bastard," "an asshole," and a "son of a
bitch." Wiser than his father this time, Michael urged caution. "A contract is a
contract," he told Joe.

Michael was right. It would take years for Motown's lawsuit to be
resolved, but it finally was, when Gordy got $600,000-not $20 million-in
damages he'd legally sought.

Gordy later said, "At that time, I didn't know the full extent of what losing an act like The Jackson 5 would mean. I also did not know that in the
industry it was hunting season, and Motown was the biggest game in town. They were all after us."

Joe had been savvy about moving over to Epic. Their first Jackson single,
"Enjoy Yourself," sold a million copies. Their second recording, "Show You
the Way to Go," topped the charts in Britain, the first time the brothers had
ever accomplished that. Randy, by this time, had joined the group, playing the
bongos.

Billed as The Jacksons, the brothers released their first album for Epic in
1976. To introduce America to the group's new name, the album was entitled
simply The Jacksons. "Enjoy Yourself," a rollicking disco-style song, was the
number one single on the album. The album only reached number 36 on
Billboard's charts. And as if he wanted to intentionally sabotage sales,
Motown released Joyful Jukebox Music, another Jackson album compiled
from previously recorded songs. Despite the fact that the competing album
failed, it nonetheless diluted the allure of Epic's release. Meanwhile, on his
own, Jermaine recorded his first Motown release, My Name Is Jermaine. It
never got beyond number 164 on the charts.

Without Jermaine, Papa Joe moved ahead with what he thought would
become "a big deal" for his sons.

Over Michael's objections, Joe signed his sons to star in their own TV
series for CBS. Michael called it "that stupid summer replacement," fearing
that overexposure on the tube would damage sales of their recordings. He
protested the "ridiculous outfits" he and his brothers wore and the "silly comedy routines" played to canned laughter.

In spite of Michael's complaints, the four-week series of 30-minute programs was a groundbreaker for black entertainers, as no African-American
family had ever starred in a series for TV.

The funniest moments on the show involved Janet's impersonations of
Mae West. She stole all the lines West, with her hourglass figure, had made
famous: "When I'm good, I'm very good. But when I'm bad, I'm better."
After watching Janet on TV, producer Norman Lear cast her in the sitcom
Good Times. A new star had emerged in the Jackson family.

After an initial flurry of success, CBS canceled the Jackson TV series in
January of 1977. It had landed at the bottom of the Nielsen chart, ending up
in 70th position. Michael later claimed that the show was canceled because he
wouldn't agree to a new contract, but that was not true. The Jacksons weren't
the only series booted. Variety show after variety show was canceled, including Sonny and Cher.

In New York the Jackson brothers performed at the Nassau Coliseum, setting box office records there. In spite of their hit-and-miss career so far, plenty of fans, often black teenagers, were willing to shell out big bucks to get a
look at the Jackson brothers.

With the obvious sex symbol of the group, the more studly Jermaine, out
of the picture, the girls began to fantasize about a date with Michael, in spite
of his impossibly thin figure and fey manner.

Michael had seen The Wiz on Broadway an astonishing five times, little
knowing that he'd eventually co-star in the movie version. Backstage he'd
been introduced to Stephanie Mills, a small package of talent with a voice that
was sometimes compared to that of the Broadway legend, Ethel Merman.

Promoters for Michael had been advising him to invite a girl out on a date
to combat rumors of homosexuality, but Michael had steadfastly refused.
Under growing pressure, he decided to give in and pop the question-a
request for a date, that is-to the petite Mills, considering her harmless
enough.

Stephanie was only fifteen when she starred as Dorothy in The Wiz, and
was very disappointed when she lost the film role to Diana Ross, who was "far
too old to play Dorothy." As a performer, Stephanie had been discovered by
Michael's brother, Jermaine, and she had signed with Motown in 1974. Even
after her eventual break from Motown, Michael continued to listen to
Stephanie's songs, as, for example, when she recorded the highly danceable
"Put Your Body In It" and "What Cha Gonna Do With My Lovin'?" Before
their date was over that night, she'd told Michael: "God touched my soul and
told me he was going to make me a star!"

Amazingly, perhaps to protect himself in case Mills got "too familiar" on
their date, Michael also invited a most unlikely guest, Andy Warhol.

It's not exactly clear how Michael met the pop artist. The introduction perhaps had occurred through their mutual friend, Liza Minnelli, but there have
been other claims as well.

The setting for the late-night outing of this "threesome" was Regine's on
Park Avenue, then the most sophisticated nightclub in New York.

Of Sephardic North African descent, Regine was already of "a certain
age" as she greeted Mills, Warhol, and Michael at the door of her club.
Warhol had already kept Michael waiting for one hour. In front of Regine,
Warhol explained why he was so late and thanked her for holding their table.
"When I went to take a shower, I thought I detected crabs. And it took some
time to get rid of them. I have a special solution. All gay men who sleep
around know about it."

Dubbed La reine de la Nuit Parisienne, Regine seemed enchanted by
Michael, although most of her attention was directed to a table of Brazilian
millionaires who were demanding her presence. They had paid one-million
dollars for five people to fly from Rio to New York for a glorious weekend.
One busty, blonde American movie star, whose career was fading, had agreed
to fly in from Los Angeles and fuck all five millionaires for a fee of $100,000 per customer.

Michael seemed entranced to watch Regine "work the room," as she mingled with the famous and the infamous, including both American and British
"royalty." She seemed as comfortable with titans of industry as she was with
upscale hookers, the idle and bored, the terminally jaded, and the socially
ambitious.

To Michael's dazzled eyes, the setting was a gathering of the glitterati on
New York's apres-midnight scene.

"It's all style without substance," Warhol told Michael. "A viper's nest of
roiling ambition. All of it horrendously snobbish and artfully arch, and how I
love it! A feeding frenzy for the tabloids."

On the way into Regine's, Michael had passed the demimondaines of
Europe (later known as Euro-Trash), shivering in gossamer dresses for the signal that would let them come inside.

At table, Mills made several obvious plays for Michael, but as Warhol
would later tell Bianca Jagger, "The boy showed no interest at all."

At one point in the evening, Warhol startled Michael by saying, "I understand you Jackson brothers have to work like niggers in the cotton fields
because you have no real money."

Michael politely asked him not to use the word "nigger."

"Please, this is no civil rights rally," Warhol said. "I am using the word as
a form of endearment. You see, I'm always in the avant-garde. One day the
word `nigger' will be perfectly acceptable. Right now queer is a bad word. But
one day gays themselves will refer to themselves as queer. I know about such
things."

Andy Warhol

When Mills got up to go to the ladies
room, Warhol leaned toward Michael to
whisper something confidential. "I want
you to star in my next movie."

Michael's eyes lit up. The idea of
making an Andy Warhol movie intrigued
him. He wanted to know more.

"It's very experimental," Warhol
said. "My film will show only your face
in close-up for twenty minutes."

"And what am Ito do for that long?"
a perplexed Michael asked.

"Forgive me, but I understand you're
a virgin. I mean, I was told that your rectum has never been penetrated. In my
film, I want to photograph only your face as a young and wellendowed model penetrates you for the first
time. I also want to record
every sound coming from
your throat, including
your cries of pain as you
lose your cherry."

Stephanie Mills

Michael was rescued
by Regine herself, who
appeared in a stylish but
old Chanel gown and
asked him to step with her
onto the dance floor. As
she whirled around, she still greeted both friends and acquaintances. She even
managed to continue dancing with Michael when one of her very handsome
and blond French waiters handed her a crystal glass of champagne.

"No one can play the night as well as Regine herself," she whispered into
Michael's ear.

Later, after Michael saw to it that Mills was delivered safely back to her
room, Andy pressed an invitation onto him.

"It's a very special event I've been invited to, and I want you to go with
me. Arnold Schwarzenegger is in town. He's German, maybe Austrian. He's
got the world's most gorgeous body. He was Mr. Universe or something.
Absolutely gorgeous. Tonight he's going to take off his posing pouch and
appear nude in a number of poses for wealthy fans of body builders. It'll be
thrilling. Tonight you'll get to see exactly what Mr. Universe is packing in that
posing pouch. He's tantalized us long enough. I hear it's a thick, uncut
Teutonic sausage."

"No, thank you!" Michael said abruptly. "I really must go. It's long past
my bedtime."

Months later, Warhol would neither confirm nor deny if such a party for
bodybuilder fans ever took place.

In the wake of Mills, Michael would soon be linked to another "girlfriend."

He may have brushed past actress Tatum O'Neal at a party Paul
McCartney tossed in 1975 aboard the Queen Mary in Long Beach, California.
She would have been only twelve years old at the time. Michael was seven-
teen-"and ripe for plucking, darling-that's plucking with a P," said a gay
friend of Cher's who had unsuccessfully tried to seduce Michael. "I wanted to
be the first, but, alas, I got a lecture on morality instead."

Michael's relationship with the famous Beatle, and with Tatum herself,
lay in the future.

It wasn't until April of 1977 that Michael and Tatum launched a much
misunderstood friendship. It began at Jack Nicholson's On the Rox Club on
Sunset Strip when Tatum showed up with her handsome, sandy-haired father,
actor Ryan O'Neal, still remembered for his portrayal in that drippy 1970 film,
Love Story. Tatum's father was one of the great womanizers of Hollywood.
His seductions had included Mia Farrow, Melanie Griffith, Anjelica Huston,
Bianca Jagger, Ali MacGraw, Liza Minnelli, Joan Collins, Oona Chaplin
(widow of Charlie), and even Margaret Trudeau, wife of the Canadian prime
minister. His most famous affair was with Farrah Fawcett. Both Berry Gordy
and O'Neal had competed for the favors of Diana Ross. Gordy claimed that
O'Neal had "the whitest damn teeth I have ever seen in my life."

Michael and Ryan were talking confidentially about the need for privacy.
O'Neal told Michael, "I'm as moody and complex and private as anyone I
ever knew-except you!"

In Moonwalk, Michael recalled, "I was sitting at this table and all of a sudden I felt this soft hand reach over and grab mine. It was Tatum. She touched
me." He later claimed "I fell in love with her" and made the preposterous
statement, "and she with me." Once again, as with Ross, Michael invented a
love relationship that didn't really exist. Call his so-called "affair" with Tatum
a friendship. She certainly characterized it as that.