Duets Gone ‘Bad’
At twenty-seven years of age, Michael Jackson faced the challenge of recording an album that would top the tremendous success of
Thriller
. Could he do it? Could
anyone
? In the summer of 1986, when he began working on the follow-up album, which would be called
Bad
, Michael put himself under enormous pressure. Extremely competitive, even against himself and his own achievements, he felt that if he did not top
Thriller's
record sales of nearly 38.5 million, he would be perceived as a failure. Moreover, he needed to have success with the single releases. Once, he discussed the phenomenon of the four hit singles from the
Off the Wall
album, which had preceded
Thriller
in 1979. He told writer Gerri Hirshey, ‘Nobody broke my record yet, thank God. Hall and Oates tried, but they didn't.’ Eventually he matched his own record with the
Thriller
album, the final US tally being: ‘This Girl is Mine', number two; ‘Billie Jean’, number one; ‘Beat It’, number one; ‘Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'’, number five; ‘Human Nature’, number seven; ‘PYT (Pretty Young Thing)’, number ten, and ‘Thriller’, number four. He needed to do better than that with
Bad
.
When he began working on the album, he taped a piece of paper that said ‘100 million’ to his bathroom mirror. He wanted
Bad to
be, as he put it, ‘as perfect as is humanly possible’. Before they started to record the album in August 1986, Michael and Quincy Jones chose from sixty-two songs Michael had written. ‘Fifty per cent of the battle is trying to figure out which songs to record,’ Quincy said. ‘It's total instinct. You have to go with the songs that touch you, that get the goose bumps going.’ In the end, eight of the ten songs on
Bad
would be written by Michael. Interestingly, Michael cannot read music. He writes his songs in his head, sings them on to a tape, and then hires musicians to put them down on paper. He is an incredibly musical person, however. The notes he imagines, and the way he hears them composed in song, often astound the most trained of musicians.
One song planned for the album was a rhythm-and-blues-tinged number intended as a duet, ‘I Just Can't Stop Loving You’. Michael had wanted Barbra Streisand to record the song with him, but she turned him down. ‘I can't believe she would turn me down,’ he said. ‘Doesn't she know that this is going to be the biggest album in history?’ Michael suggested that ‘my people’ get back in touch with ‘her people’ and ‘tell her she's about to make a big mistake’. Barbra explained she wasn't interested because she was worried that the age difference between them would make the lyrics seem unbelievable, plus she didn't like the song. Frank Dileo was unfazed. ‘I knew the song was a hit – with or without Barbra Streisand,’ he said.
‘Forget her,’ Michael reasoned. ‘Let's get Whitney Houston.’ However, Whitney wasn't interested either. ‘Believe me, I didn't lose any sleep over it,’ Frank Dileo said of Houston's decision. Someone suggested Diana Ross. ‘No way. Bad idea,’ Michael responded, straightaway.
Michael didn't explain that Diana was angry with him for a recent misunderstanding. He had made plans to go to dinner with her at a Hollywood restaurant called Le Dome. However, Elizabeth Taylor telephoned and invited him to a meal that same evening. Wanting the best of both worlds, Michael asked her if she would like to join him and Diana. Elizabeth, who must be the centre of attention, accepted his offer, as long as Diana met them at the restaurant. In other words, Elizabeth did not want to join Diana's party. She wanted a party of her own. Michael didn't understand the ego game involved in her decision; he just thought she was being friendly. Anyway, the only thing on his mind was how ‘magical’ it would be to have Diana Ross and Elizabeth Taylor sitting at the same table with him.
Once he and Elizabeth arrived at Le Dome, Michael telephoned Diana to ask her to join them there. Diana was not pleased. She had been under the impression that
she
was supposed to be his date that evening. ‘This is not the way to do things, Michael,’ she scolded. She told him that the two of them would have to dine some other time, and
not
with Elizabeth Taylor. She was angry, and Michael knew it; she wouldn't return his calls. It wasn't the right time to ask Diana to record a duet with him. Instead, Quincy recruited singer Siedah Garrett to do the song with Michael, and it would end up the first single release from
Bad
.
(A few years later, in 1990, Michael did the same thing to Elizabeth Taylor that he had done to Diana Ross. He was scheduled to have dinner with Elizabeth at the Hotel Bel Air restaurant in Bel Air, California. However, he left her waiting for more than an hour. She ate
Sevruga
caviar, drank Cristal champagne, waited and became increasingly infuriated. When Michael finally showed up, he explained that he had been in the parking lot in his Rolls, talking on his cellular telephone to Jackie Kennedy Onassis. According to the maître d' who had escorted Michael to her table and was still standing beside him, Elizabeth said, ‘I will not play second fiddle to any woman, not even
that
woman. How dare you do this to me, Michael?’ Michael protested. ‘But, Elizabeth, I have a gift,’ he offered in his own defence. From his vest pocket, he pulled out a pair of earrings that appeared to be two ovals of turquoise embellished with diamonds. They weren't even in a box. Without a word, Elizabeth grabbed the earrings. She then donned her fur wrap and sunglasses (at night!) and flounced out of the restaurant, leaving Michael standing there with the maître d'. He couldn't help but break out into laughter; it had been one of the best exits he'd ever seen. ‘Oh my God! I can't believe she just did that,’ Michael exclaimed, his face lit with delight. ‘Did you see that? Wow.’)
*
For some reason, Michael had his heart set on recording duets for the
Bad
album, but the plans never seemed to work out for him. While writing the album's title track, he decided he wanted Prince to join him on the recording of it.
A couple of years earlier, Warner Bros, had sponsored an afternoon screening of the Prince movie
Purple Rain
for company personnel and film critics. The word in Hollywood was that the film, a drama with music, was so riveting, it would make Prince a major movie star. Michael was deeply disappointed that he had not been able to make a strong impression in films. Being so competitive, he had to see
Purple Rain
before it was distributed to the public; he arranged to attend the Warner Bros, screening.
When the house lights dimmed, Michael slipped into the small theatre on the Warner Bros. Burbank lot, wearing a sequined jacket and sunglasses. He looked as if he were about to go on stage to accept an award. He sat in the last row and watched the film, never once taking off his shades. About ten minutes before the movie was to end, he rose and walked out. Later, a member of his entourage asked Michael what he thought of the film. ‘The music's okay, I guess,’ Michael asked. ‘But I don't like Prince. He looks mean, and I don't like the way he treats women. He reminds me of my relatives. And not only that,’ Michael concluded, ‘that guy can't act. He's not good.’ Then, Michael let out a sigh of relief.
Though he didn't seem to appreciate Prince's talent, Michael realized that singing a duet with him could generate interest not only in the title track, ‘Bad’, but in the entire album. His concept for himself and Prince was actually ingenious.
The plan was that a month before the single release of ‘Bad’ was to be issued, Frank Dileo would plant stories in the tabloid press suggesting that Michael and Prince were bitter rivals. Michael's representatives would criticize Prince, and then Prince's friends, a few of whom would be let in on the hoax, would condemn Michael. To then confound the public, Frank would then tell a
Rolling Stone
reporter that the rivalry did not exist and that his client was disgusted with the rumours since he and Prince were great friends, ‘and who believes the tabloids, anyway?’
In a month, rumours about him and Prince would be flying – are they friends or aren't they? – with the general consensus, hopefully, being that they were not. At the height of such controversy, the ‘Bad’ single and video would be released. In the video, as Michael planned it, he and Prince would square off against one another, taking turns vocalizing and dancing, in order to determine, once and for all, who was ‘
bad
’.
Quincy arranged for Michael to meet him, feeling that the two were creative geniuses and should know one another, whether they ever sang together or not. According to writer Quincy Troupe, ‘It was a strange summit. They're so competitive with each other that neither would give anything up. They kind of sat there, checking each other out, but saying very little. It was a fascinating stalemate between two very powerful dudes.’
However, when Michael telephoned Prince and told him about his idea, Prince was not enthusiastic. He said he wanted to hear a tape of the song. Michael sent him one. After hearing it, Prince decided that he didn't like the tune and wanted nothing to do with the hoax. That was the end of it. When word got back from Prince's representatives that he was not going to cooperate, Michael was disappointed, but not really angry. ‘What do you think about this guy turning you down?’ Frank Dileo asked him.
‘Figures,’ was all Michael would say, shaking his head in disgust.