Michael Jackson may get his belongings back after a decision was made in court Monday. A judge ruled that the business, Universal Express, was in contempt of court and must return the items.

Universal Express held an auction in May for a collection of Jackson family materials it had previously purchased, but the company held some items back.

Jackson now faces another court date with Universal Express Friday in New Jersey. If the judge rules in favor of Jackson, he will get his belongings back next week.

Source: Las Vegas Now

Actor/Comedian Chris Tucker has conducted a candid interview with Playboy Magazine. Here’s a short transcript of segments on Michael Jackson:

Playboy: In his Playboy Interview, Jamie Foxx admitted he was losing his edge after he started making money. He said he was humbled into working harder when a young Chris Tucker followed him onstage and whipped a lethargic crowd into a frenzy. Other comics have lost their edge when they became successful. Could it happen to you?

Tucker: I don’t think so. I’ve experienced so much unbelievable stuff since I became famous. Hanging out with Michael Jackson. Michael and Barry Gibb singing songs together while we were watching the Oscars. Then I went with Michael to watch Prince perform. Michael Jackson is saying [high voice], “Well, what do you think?” What do I think? I’m sitting here with the king, watching Prince! This is off the hook! Or I’m hanging out with Bill Clinton on Air Force One when he was president.

Playboy: How Often do you hang with royalty?

Tucker: I went to the house of the crown prince of Bahrain. He was another fun guy. Michael Jackson and I went to Dubai together and hung out at the palace there, too. Even Michael was blown away by the place. They had to kick me out.

Playboy: You’ve used your friendship with Michael Jackson as stand up material and have done impersonations of him. Do you worry about offending him? Do you run them by him first?

Tucker: With him or anyone, I never say something that will be like, “Hey, that’s messed up,” when they hear it. If I’m going to say something, it won’ be mean. I don’t want them saying, “Damn, I thought he was my friend!”

Playboy: Does being nice restrict you as a comedian?

Tucker: I still say stuff nobody else could say. Nobody else could talk about going to the movies with Michael Jackson and hanging out with Bill Clinton. No other comedian could say they’ve done that.

Playboy: What’s it like to go to a movie with Jackson?

Tucker: You sit there quietly because if people in the theater know Michael is there, the whole place will erupt.

Playboy: How does he avoid being recognized?

Tucker: Most of the time he has some kind of disguise on or a hood over his head. Otherwise his fans always trip out.

Playboy: You testified in court when he was charged with child molestation. Did you have qualms about testifying?

Tucker: I knew that family and was subpoenaed. I just went up and said what I had to say. It wasn’t as if I was on anybody’s side. They made me come to court.

Playboy: But you testified that you had warned Jackson about the boy’s family. You told him, “Be careful. I don’t like the vibe here.” Because of the multimillion dollar payout Jackson made to a child years before, a lot of America would say your advice should have been to cut kids out of his circle completely.

Tucker: I really don’t want to talk about it. All I had to do was go to court when they asked me to come. They asked, “How did you know the family?” That was it.

Playboy: After the beating his image has taken, does Jackson seem depressed?

Tucker: He’s doing good. Michael is a genius, a creative being in a whole other reality. He’s been famous so long that he’s on a different level. We’re going to see a lot more from Michael.

Source: Playboy Magazine

By Joe Queenan

There are four kinds of pop stars: the ones that work hard at remaining cool and stylish and vaguely hip long after their careers have plateaued (David Bowie, James Brown, John Lennon, Cher); the ones that gracefully enter middle age and assume the role of living legend/elder statesman (Neil Young, Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan); the ones who never understand that it is time to get off the stage (Paul McCartney, Rod Stewart); and the ones who simply lose their grip and drift off into the void (Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson). Members of the latter group often become so strange, so pathetic, so self-destructive that it is hard for people who come after them to believe that they were once colossi who ruled the world. But Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson were indeed colossi, and they did once rule the world.

For around seven years, Michael Jackson was the most luminous, powerful, influential star in the music business, and no one else was even close. During that period, before his bizarre antics and legal problems turned the public against him, Jackson enjoyed the kind of international fame experienced only by the likes of Muhammad Ali, Greta Garbo and Lord Byron. He was so famous that if you cut his fame in half he would still have been eight times as famous as the next most famous person, whoever that may have been. It may have been Tom Cruise.

All this began with the 1983 hit single Billie Jean. Though it may not sound like it today, Billie Jean is one of the most revolutionary songs in the history of popular music. This is not, however, because its lyrics tell the story of a well-meaning paranoid being stalked by a woman who claims that he has impregnated her, although that in itself was certainly an unusual theme for a pop song at the time. No, Billie Jean was groundbreaking because it introduced the idea that a single must be accompanied by a high-production video - preferably by someone who is a bit of a hoofer - thereby transforming a run-of-the-mill song release into an “event”. Billie Jean transformed MTV from a mere diversion for young people into a cultural institution that society at large paid attention to. It introduced the pasty-faced number-crunchers who ran MTV to the concept that white viewers would respond enthusiastically to videos featuring a black performer, something they had not previously believed. Back in those days, a lot of people in the entertainment business were still racists. Thank goodness that’s over.

Billie Jean’s greatest importance is that it launched the Michael Jackson era, a period in which the entire population of the planet made a group decision to follow the career of one star and one star only. This was an era in which a fabulously gifted performer like Prince was forced into a distant second-fiddle role, because even though Prince could dance, he couldn’t dance like Michael Jackson. Jackson’s all-encompassing appeal was something that had never happened before in the history of pop music: Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley and the Beatles were preposterously famous in their time, but their appeal was still basically limited to white people. Michael Jackson, during his Thriller LP era, had everybody talking about him.

Cute and cuddly as front man/child for the Jackson Five, Jackson had been trying for several years to reintroduce himself to a public that was ill prepared to view him as anything other than a charming has-been. To shatter this perception, Jackson created the flashy, enigmatic, vaguely dangerous persona who appeared in Billie Jean, Beat It and Bad. At a time when most music videos were either primitive or stupid, Jackson made a video that was clever, original, visually opulent and mysterious.

This was the first time that a song had been upstaged by the performance of a song, creating a peculiar situation where no one really had any interest in hearing the song unless they could simultaneously watch the song being performed. Other bands - ZZ Top, the Police, Cyndie Lauper, the Bangles - were putting out amusing, entertaining videos at the time, but no one was watching them because of Sting’s dancing. Michael Jackson’s footwork was the central conversational theme of Planet Earth throughout the 1980’s. Not until the Berlin Wall came down in 1989 did mankind move on to another topic.

Billie Jean, which has nothing to do with the tennis legend Billie Jean King, was recorded on a specially designed set to capture the muted sound of the snare drum that Jackson insisted upon. It was produced by the legendary Quincy Jones, who wanted Jackson to change the name of the song and also to shorten the improbably lengthy 29-second introduction, during which Jackson does not actually sing. More thought went into the production of this single than would go into the entire recording careers of Axl Rose, Coldplay, Shania Twain or Gwen Stefani. The song stayed at the top of the charts for more than two months and propelled the album Thriller to its iconic status as the biggest-selling record of all time. Because no one buys albums anymore, and because high-concept music videos are a thing of the past, and because low-key, hybrid songs like Billie Jean sound anachronistic in the coarse hip-hop era, Michael Jackson’s achievements now seem as remote and inexplicable as those of the pharaohs. But, if you’re in the myth-making line of trade, the pharaohs are good company to be in.

Source: Guardian Unlimited

He’s not a household name yet, but up and coming producer Syience is getting calls from the biggest names in the business, including Jay-Z and Michael Jackson.

When Flint, MI producer Syience (born Reggie Perry) arrived in New York two years ago he never imagined he’d soon be making beats for Jay-Z’s comeback album Kingdom Come. Fortunately fate joined the young musician with Def Jam singer/songwriter Ne-Yo and the rest is history.

“The first time my managers took me to Sony, they were working on Omarion and they said ‘we gotta put him and Ne-Yo together.’ People knew our sound together would be something unique,” Syience told SOHH.

While working on new material the two wrote “Hollywood,” a track initially intended for Ne-Yo.

“I remember Ne-Yo coming to the studio like ‘Jay-Z wants to use Hollywood for one of his singles,’” Syience recalled. “My first reaction was ‘Jay Z out of retirement!’ I’m so much a fan, before I could realize that he wanted to use my track I was just excited he was doing another album. Ne-Yo was like ‘Did you hear what I said?’ I didn’t believe it until I actually heard the vocals when I went to track the song out.”

After hearing Jay’s vocals, Syience made some additional changes to the song, further impressing the Def Jam mogul, who also used the session to dispense some advice.

“Jay came in toward the end of the process like, ‘What are you doing?’” basically like, ‘the song was already a hit, why are y’all letting him make changes?’ They played the track and Jay stopped it where it was breaking down like ‘Yo, you really are the truth,’” Syience remembered. “Jay talked to me about a lot of things that probably would happen…just the business, the way it comes so fast and the way things can change, and how it can have you pretty much crazy.”

Fans of nearly every music genre can look forward to hearing more from Syience via his music production company Stay Fresh. He is currently working with Alicia Keys, Cee-Lo Green, Keyshia Cole, Chrisette Michele, Daniel Mayweather, Lupe Fiasco, Amy Winehouse and Wynter Gordon.

“Hopefully, I can be on the Gnarl’s Barkley project,” Syience said, before revealing a reluctance to go into detail. “I hate speaking on things before they happen. I’ve been a part of a lot of projects and spoke on them and then at the last minute the label will say ‘this ain’t coming out until next year. We don’t even know if we’re releasing this album.’ So I just wait until the album is ready to drop.”

However, Syience did confirm that a new Janet Jackson album is in the works and he’s vying to work with the King of Pop as well.

“I’m actually working on music for him now,” he said. “I always wanted to be a part of anything he ever did. Nobody really knows what Michael Jackson is going to do. Even the biggest producers and writers are not sure what’s going to happen with that, but we are all sitting back and still creating and trying to get on the project. They asked me to work on the project so we’re working on it. We’re working on Janet Jackson as well. She’s coming back. Pretty much everybody is a potential Syience track getter.”

Source: SOHH.com

KING OF POP – THE U.K. MICHAEL JACKSON FANCLUB

OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT
RE: LONDON EVENT TICKETS

Date: Monday 9th July 2007

Dear M.J. Fans & King of Pop Members…

I am delighted to now be able to decalre tickets to our Launch Party on sale now!

We have received a remarkable amount of enquiries, emails and PM’s on our forum regarding information about tickets and the event as a whole; All OFFICIAL information relating to the King of Pop Fanclub Launch Party Event can now be read and viewed on our dedicated ‘Events‘ page.

This will be updated with further details of our event and the act list of performers scheduled to perform at the event, as details are released and performers confirmed.

The only place for Official information on our Launch Party is here;
Online at KingofPop.info

Regards,

Admin
King of Pop

25 years ago, a music video transformed the face of pop. The video is of course Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ and its director John Landis recently talked about it celebrating its anniversary. He gives an interesting insight on what it was like shooting on of the best videos ever.

Although Jackson was only 24 when he released his fourth solo album ‘Thriller’ in 1982. It sold more than 50 million copies and spent 37 weeks at number one in the American charts, where it remained for more than two years. 7 of its 9 tracks were hit singles. But it was the 14-minute mini-film for the song `Thriller` which rewrote the rules for the music video. It became the bestselling music video ever, and still today it is a hit on the iTunes video chart.

At the time the video was shot young film-maker John Landis was at the peak of his career in Hollywood. He had directed excellent movies such as ‘The Blues Brothers’ and ‘An American Werewolf in London’. And it was after seeing the latter that Michael Jackson called him:

“I want to turn into a monster. Can I do that?”

John Landis recounts:

“It (Thriller) created MTV really. And it created the whole making-of business. It had a huge impact on the business. And all of it was accidental. All that happened was that Michael called me up after watching American Werewolf.

So I went to see him with Rick Baker, who had done the special effects make-up on that film, and we took along a big book of monsters for him to look at. He hadn’t seen many horror films: he was scared of that stuff.

After The Blues Brothers, I wanted to do a good musical number with real dancers and shoot it correctly. And I tried to exploit Michael’s celebrity to reinvent the theatrical short. That’s why it’s 14 minutes: it’s a two-reeler, the same length as a Laurel and Hardy short or a Bugs Bunny cartoon.”

However, his script wasn’t liked that much by CBS, Michael Jackson’s record label at that time. They refused to pay for it. So Landis did a deal with the new cable network Showtime, who handed over $300,000 for the video and the making-of. The rest of the budget came from MTV. The 45-minute `Making of Thriller` established the genre, anticipating the “extras” that now accompany almost every DVD release.

However, at the time, says Landis,

“…we used to call it ‘The Making of Filler’. It turned out very well, but the truth is that it’s filled with scenes from American Werewolf because I owned them, and anything else we could find to fill up the time.

When we found we were still six minutes short, we decided to put in pieces of the video itself. In fact, it’s very effective, but at the time I thought, ‘This is shameless.’ ”

Landis also recounts how great it was working with Michael:

“Michael was terrific to work with. He was in his mid-twenties, but he was like a gifted 10-year-old. He was emotionally damaged but so sweet and so talented.”

In Landis’ mind, the purpose of `Thriller`was…

“to give Michael some balls..(…)… so I said I want to get a pretty girl, and I want you to relate to each other sexually. And he went, ‘OK.’

He was agreeable to everything, even when I wrote that line where he says to the girl, ‘I’m not like other guys.’ I warned him, ‘Mike, this is a laugh line.’ He said, ‘Why?’ And I said, ‘Because, Michael, you are… unusual, and people will laugh and interpret it any way they want to.’”

The next potential problem arose with Ola Ray, the actress Landis wanted to play his girlfriend:

“We found out she had been a Playboy playmate. Oh, Jesus Christ! I went to Michael and told him and said, ‘Can I hire her?’ He said, ‘Sure’, though I don’t think he even knew what I was talking about.”

The premiere of the video was a big event and attended by lots of big stars of that time:

“Marlon Brando was there, Elizabeth Taylor, Diana Ross, Cher - I’d never seen anything like it.”

But a big difficulty occurred when members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses church, of which Jackson was a member, started to kick up a fuss:

“Michael was told, ‘This is evil. It endorses Satanism. You can’t release it.’ So I had to negotiate this bullshit statement and put it on the beginning of the video. It was such a bizarre opening, but it actually had a positive influence because it created so much talk, so much controversy. And, by the way, Michael didn’t write it; I did.”

When the video was released, the album went straight back to #1 on the US charts and tripled its sales, while MTV increased its viewer-ship a thousand-fold.

Landis still has the highest regard for Michael Jackson and they remain friends - although, acoording to Landis, he owes him a lot of money.

“Listen,” he says smiling, “Michael probably owes me $10 million because he’s in hock to Sony so deeply. All the monies from the Thriller video, which I own 50 per cent, are collected by Sony. My deal is with Michael’s company, and he owes Sony so much that they keep the money. So I will never get the money, and if I want to sue Michael, it’s like, ‘Get in line.’ ”

But Landis bears no resentment towards Michael. He last spoke to him a few months ago:

“When I talk to him, he’s very friendly and funny. I’m upset at what he’s done to himself physically; it’s quite creepy. But he’s still a gigantic talent, and I really believe he’ll make a comeback. There’s talk of him doing one of those big shows in Las Vegas, like Elton John or Celine Dion. Why not - he still has millions of fans.”

Source: Telegraph

Although EUR is just the messenger, Raymone K. Bain is too through with their passing along what she has described as “misinformation” from Fox.com columnist Roger Friedman regarding her client, Michael Jackson.

On Wednesday, EUR mentioned Friedman’s column about Jackson’s invitation to attend the recent BET Award ceremony for a special “Thriller” album tribute and to present his mentor Diana Ross with her Lifetime Achievement Award.

Friedman said plans fell through because Jackson was “too incapacitated to appear.”

In a letter to EUR’s Lee Bailey, Bain says Jackson had conversations with the network about attending the ceremony, but the information “being disseminated in the media with regards to Mr. Jackson’s invitation …is false. We cannot understand why anyone affiliated with the program would deliberately misrepresent the facts or attempt to defame Mr. Jackson.”

“Mr. Jackson spoke personally to BET CEO Debra Lee regarding his invitation to attend the ceremony,” Bain tells EUR. “Mr. Jackson respects BET and was one of the first recording artists to DEMAND that his record company cooperate with, at the time, a newly established network.”

As for Friedman’s reports that Jackson is moving to a rental home in Virginia, Bain says: “Mr. Jackson is not “relocating” to the East Coast, he is merely looking for a vacation home; and, as I have indicated, his search is not limited to a particular region at this time.”

The Washington Post reported Wednesday that the King of Pop and his three kids spent about “24 hours” on Maryland’s Eastern Shore last week scouting rental properties.

“He’s always admired the properties on the East Coast because they have a lot of land,” Bain explained to the Post. “Neverland has 3,000 acres—he likes privacy. You can’t find as many properties like that on the West Coast.”

Bain also confirmed to the Post Friedman’s notion that Jackson was headed east to be closer to the majority of his advisers and attorneys. But she also said what she later reaffirmed to EUR – that any new home in the area would be strictly a vacation spot for Jackson.

Source: EURweb.com

KING OF POP – THE U.K. MICHAEL JACKSON FANCLUB

OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT
RE: LONDON EVENT

Date: Tuesday 2nd July 2007

Dear M.J. Fans & King of Pop Members…

We are proud and very happy to now be able to announce…

The Official KINGof POP Fanclub Launch Party!

This launch party will be our first event and believe us when we say: it is going to be OFF the wall!

We invite all King of Pop Fanclub members and Michael Jackson Fans alike from around the world to join us on this, Michael’s 49th Birthday weekend on Sunday 26th August 2007. At this event we celebrate the launch of the UK’s newest and most dynamic Michael Jackson Fanclub along with the King of Pop’s birthday weekend.

Amidst the speculation, rumours, and predictions currently consuming the MJ community, we are happy to be able to officially reveal the following details regarding this event;

The King of Pop Fanclub Launch Party will take place on: Sunday 26th August 2007.
(This is a Bank Holiday weekend.)

Our venue is the superb: Hippodrome in London’s Leicester Square.

Tickets will be available for ordering and more details will be released in an official announcement on our New EVENTS page in the next 48 hours. For the latest updates and information please check online at www.kingofpop.info - Our dedicated event page will be fully updated with details of performers and other event details as they are released!

Additioanlly Members of the King of Pop Forum will receive updates in advance of future official statements and announcements being released. To ensure you get the latest information first please sign up at www.kingofpop.info/forum/register.php

Thank you for reading, and Keep Michael’ing!

Admin
King of Pop

Sony is in talks with Michael Jackson to renegotiate the terms of their music publishing joint-venture, which would allow Sony BMG, the sister company, to sign songwriters for the first time.

A clause in the existing agreement between the Thriller singer and the Japanese electronics giant prevents Sony backing a music publisher to rival their Sony/ATV venture, which has the copyrights to all 252 Beatles songs in its catalogue.

If Sony can persuade the King of Pop to relax or even erase the clause as part of the negotiations, that would allow Sony BMG, the recorded music concern, to become a part-competitor.

Sony BMG is desperate to enter the music publishing market because it would help to offset the collapse in recorded music and would allow the record label behind Justin Timberlake and Bob Dylan to sign up songwriters in tandem with acts.

Recorded music sales are expected to be off by as much as 11 per cent this year, but publishing has been more stable because it generates income from growing areas, such as radio airplay and use of music in advertising as well as CD and download sales.

Rolf Schmidt-Holz, Sony BMG’s chief executive, said in May that “we will do everything to re-enter the market for music publishing”. His remarks surprised rival executives, who knew that a decision to go into publishing was not within his power. However, the existence of the previously unknown discussions explains his confidence.

Discussions between Sony and Jackson are at an early stage and could collapse. Relations between the two have been strained in the past. Sony/ATV has faced problems making acquisitions because contacting the pop star quickly enough to agree bids has been difficult.

Jackson recently agreed to allow Sony/ATV to expand aggressively under Marty Bandier, the newly appointed chief executive. The company now also has an option, which it has so far declined to exercise, to buy a further 25 per cent of the business from its partner.

It is unclear how far the shareholder agreement between the two parties will be relaxed. There are hopes that Jackson will not have to be paid, although if that is the case he is likely to insist that Sony BMG can only sign up a handful of songwriters.

Half-owned by Sony and Bertlesmann, of Germany, Sony BMG is the second-largest recorded music company in the world, but it is unique because the company does not include a publishing arm.

The music business is traditionally split into two halves. Recorded music operations find, develop and promote artists, while music publishing units handle and manage songwriter copyrights. Its rivals Universal, EMI and Warner Music all conduct both activities.

Sony and Sony BMG declined to comment.

Source: Times Online

Michael Jackson’s Washington D.C.-based publicist, Raymone K. Bain, called the Washington Post last Monday to talk about recent press reports again. She confirmed that Michael did visit the Eastern Shore last week “for about 24 hours,” and that he did scout out some summer houses. However, she didn`t specify where her client stayed.

Bain also stressed that Michael hasn’t made a purchase yet and that he’s not limiting his search to the Chesapeake region but has since “gone up the coast” to look elsewhere for a vacation place. She said Michael Jackson came with his children about 10 days ago for meetings because “the majority of his advisers and attorneys are on the East Coast.” Asked what the purpose of his meetings were Bain answered:

“A laundry list” of issues. “He’s head of a vast corporation.”

Bain also said:

“He’s always admired the properties on the East Coast because they have a lot of land. Neverland has 3,000 acres — he likes privacy. You can’t find as many properties like that on the West Coast.”

On the phone Bain also used the opportunity to bring up some other lingering rumors: She said that Michael is not looking to move permanently to the East Coast but just to buy a vacation place. And she stated that he didn’t come to the east coast for a kidney transplant. She added:

“It’s so much chaos and confusion.”

Source: Raymone K. Bain, Washington Post