Despite their close friendship, Jones admits that Michael's pathological modesty can be a formidable obstacle.
“He can sing in front of 90,000 people, but in front of three it's very difficult for him,” he explains. “We've sat in my studio when he was going to sing me a new song, and I've had to close my eyes and turn my back.”
Not this time, though.
Jones had been pushing Michael hard lately. Only a few weeks earlier, the album was thought by everyone involved to have been completed. Michael had composed "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin", a holdover from the previous LP, and a slew of other originals.
Rod Temperton contributed three songs: “Baby Be Mine" “The Lady in My Life” and “Thriller” Toto's Steve Porcaro and John Bettis wrote the lush, beautiful ballad, “Human Nature”.
Soul crooner James Ingram and Jones penned “P.Y.T.” (Pretty Young Thing). And if these names weren't enough, Paul McCartney shared a co-writing credit with Jackson on “The Girl is Mine”.
It certainly looked nice on paper. Yet when the producer played the record, he didn't get the sense that this was a finished project. It didn't move him. Even though the record company was clamouring for another Michael Jackson product, Q told them it wasn't ready.
“We had everything in the can for Thriller, and we were about to leave the studio," says Jones. “I played the tapes a few more times, and I didn't get that feeling. I told Michael that he had to write some stronger material. Everyone thought I was crazy…”
Except for Michael, the pernickety perfectionist, who never believed a project, be it a song or an entire album, was finished to its ultimate level.
Jones' pronouncement was exactly what Michael wanted to hear before any mistakes were made. To claim success, Michael was convinced that this album needed to surpass of the Wall, which had produced four top ten singles and sold more than seven million copies. It was a tough act to follow. But it was also a matter of necessity.
From day one, the hyper-motivated superstar had brought an obsessive vision to the making of this album. The LP was his personal mission, the Mount Everest he had to climb. No distance was too far for him to travel in order to make the absolute perfect album.
In a statement reflecting the superhuman expectations he sets for himself, Michael says, “Just doing as well as you did last time is not good enough.”
That should've been clear to everyone, but it wasn't.
One day, Michael was playing a pinball game during a break. Songwriter Rod Temperton and Jones were in the studio with him, and one of them offhandedly asked,
“If this album doesn't do as well as Off the Wall, will you be disappointed?”
Michael was suddenly confused. Good God, didn't they understand? He was crushed that they even needed to make such an inquiry. Couldn't they see?
"I told them Thriller had to do better than Off the Wall," Michael recalls.
“I admitted that I wanted this album to be the biggest selling album of all time.”
They laughed. Michael didn't.
It wasn't the first time during the project that Michael was distressed that the people working with him didn't seem to understand his ultimate goal, and it wasn't the last time either.
Except from “MICHAEL JACKSON—THE MAN IN THE MIRROR“ by Todd Gold. Published 1989.
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