Rolling Stone Magazine editor Jason Fine, who edited Michael, which goes on sale November 11, answers questions about the book about the late King of Pop:
There are a ton of insta-books on Michael Jackson and other MJ books in the pipeline. How is Rolling Stone's book different from the others?
This book will be the definitive look at Jackson's life and music. We will tell the full story of his career, in a fascinating essay by Mikal Gilmore, who has been writing about Jackson since the early days, and we will delve deep into his music--examining in detail the early years at Motown, his move to become a solo artist in the '70s, and his key blockbuster solo albums: Off the Wall, Thriller and Bad. We will also draw on deep reporting into Jackson's private life for a piece that looks at what went wrong in his later years, and we will provide sharp, authoritative critical guides to his songs, videos and other work. It will also contain intimate tributes from artists who knew and worked with Jackson. Unlike the insta-books flooding the market, this book is the ultimate guide to Michael Jackson, with beautiful photographs and elegant design, in classic Rolling Stone style.
The music industry has obviously changed dramatically since the '80s and the media in general is much more fragmented. Does the death of Michael Jackson represent the death of a certain kind of popular culture?
Not really. Michael Jackson was a one-of-a-kind icon, on par with Elvis and Sinatra. His music is alive in so many different styles of R&B, rap and hip-hop--from the Black Eyed Peas to Justin Timberlake to Ne-Yo and Usher.
Someone who is not a Jackson fan said recently that Thriller has the sound of a TV commercial. What do you make of that? I instantly disagreed but have been thinking about how pivotal that Pepsi commercial was in his career.
Jackson was such a huge artist that his music was everywhere--on the radio, MTV, in TV commercials. Thriller sold more albums than any other in history, and for a time it became so big it was like the white noise of our pop culture, and globally too. My wife tells a story of going to Egypt on tour in the '90s, and people came up to her in small villages and asked if she knew Michael Jackson. He was that big. For some people, perhaps, the ubiquity diminished the value of the music. But go listen to "Billie Jean" or "Beat It" now and tell me it's not amazing.
Where did Jackson learn to dance? (Did he get the pulled up pants from Fred Astaire?)
Complicated question. He learned from all over--breakdancing, old movies.
Some people feel Jackson's later albums are interesting musically. Do you agree?
Absolutely! Especially Bad and Dangerous, but Invincible and History have very interesting elements to them too that were often overlooked at the time. We will have a piece specifically addressing these later albums.
We've been talking a lot about the cover of Michael. Why aren't there more quality portraits of Jackson?
Michael wasn't photographed a lot in his later years, and he was rarely photographed casually. He was very concerned about how he looked and his image, so there aren't a lot of photographers he was comfortable with. Also, Michael bought up many of the photos that do exist so they are not on the market.
What is your favorite Jackson song?
"Rock with You" and "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" are probably my all-time favorites. There's something about that album [Off the Wall] that's just so exuberant, like he's breaking loose for the first time, it's impossible to resist.
