Michael Jackson Interview on Steve Harvey Radio Show March 08, 2002

Michael Jackson Interview on Steve Harvey Radio Show
March 08, 2002.

On March 8, 2002, Michael called in to an LA radio Station, 100.3 The Beat LA, in Los Angeles, California.

Steve Harvey: This is the single best call ever on this radio station. This one is bigger than president Clinton calling. Ladies and Gentlemen, on the phone, put your hands together and show your love. For the King of Pop, Michael Jackson. You don't hear me...you don't hear me...you think I'm lying....you don't feel me...watch what I'm saying...hey Mike?

Michael: Steve?

Steve: How you doin' playa?

Michael: Wow...how are you?

Steve: What's up playa. How you feelin' man?

Michael: I went to bed early so I could wake up and speak to you. I'm a really big fan of yours.

Steve: Hey man.

Michael: I told you, I saw your show 'The Kings of Comedy' and you did a skit about the Titanic, and I thought that was one of the funniest things I've ever seen in my life....incredible.

Steve: [laughs]. Um, Michael and I met, uh...

Michael: Yea, in my trailer.

Steve: On the set of Rock my World.

Michael: Yeah

Steve: Yea, this year....he invited me. And I didn't come on the air and tell anybody, because I considered that a private thing just between us, you know. I'm not goin' yea I was in Michael Jackson's trailer....you know, the brotha invited me to his trailer, and I met his kids. Great kids man...Michael, great kids man.

Michael: Thank you very much

Steve: Can I pay you this compliment? Your kids didn't act like little rich kids.

Michael: Ok...[laughs embarrassed]

Steve: You know what I mean? They have manners they were real nice. I was playing ball with your little boy. He didn't want to stop, man. He just kept throwing me the ball. After a while I just got right in to it. I said alright little Prince here you go.

Michael: [laughs]

Steve: I'm goin' throw you a hot one - catch it!...Mike?

Michael: Yes…

Steve: Man, I can't tell you how big this is man, for us here at The Beat, man.

Michael: Well, God bless you, you're just a great talent. You're really incredible...you're very funny. Gosh, seriously, you have me screaming when I watch your thing man, I watch it all the time...

Steve: [laughs]

Michael: [Laughs]

Steve:...This dude is funny man, when we were in his trailer... Really really nice people in this business man, really nice people in this business....and I tell you what, I got something for you. I talked to your personal assistant, and I got this new DVD out, and I'm sending you that. You have that today.

Michael: Wow! Cool! Thank you.

Steve: ...Playa, playa....thank you Mike. Mike Jackson on the phone! I don't even know what to ask.... Hey, Mike I got another one for you!

Michael: Yea?

Steve: Hey man, let me ask you this question. When you were performing on the 30th anniversary special. Did you have an emotional moment when you and your brothers was on stage? Cause there was a moment when you were performing and you kneeled down and you stayed there and your brothers were looking at you like, OK Mike, come on. Was that real, dog?

Michael: It's always real...and I take that moment and I try not to cry, and I usually do. But it all goes back for me, you know, to conception, you know, when we were really little babies and children. And we see all the adulation and notoriety...and it just…it's a work from God, and it all goes through me really fast.

Steve: Oh yea.

Michael: And it all goes through me....it's a real blessing. I just break down and I cry at that moment...I try not to show it to the audience, but I can't help it. You know?

Steve: Yea. Well, I saw it and I thought that was real you know. I think, uh, I think people, when they see those things in you brotha, when you let them see a glimpse of the real Michael Jackson that oftentimes your closest friends only get to see...I thought that was my favorite part of the show. I always said if I get a chance to talk to this bro' I'm going to ask him about it.

Michael: Yea.

Steve: That was hot man, that was real hot. Hey man, there's so much man, that we can talk about. Your career and everything….Your sister called the radio station.

Michael: Oh yah?

Steve: Janet called. About a few months ago, Janet called...First of all Michael, let me introduce you to uh, my co-hosts on the show; Shirley Strawbery and Dominique De'Creme, cause they are busting to say hi.

Shirley/Dominique: [laugh] Good morning Michael!

Michael: Good morning!

Shirley/Dominique: Hi Michael!

Michael: How are you?

Shirley/Dominique: Great! Oh, we are such big fans of yours.

Michael: Oh! Thank you so much.

Shirley/Dominique: Huge fans. Oh, I love your album. I really, really do love your album.

Michael: Thank you so much.

Steve: The new album Mike!

Shirley/Dominique: We really love it, seriously!

Michael: Thank you so much.

Shirley/Dominique: Break of Dawn...I keep playing Break of Dawn over and over and over again.

Michael: Oh, thanks!

Shirley/Dominique: It's so sexy....ah!

Steve: Hey Mike, listen to this. We had the O'Jays on the show on Monday, and we were talking about your album.

Michael: Uh huh.

Steve: And the O'Jays...this is Eddie Levert's take on your album. He said, "Mike threw 'Rock My World' out there at 'em. Then, just said hold up, you ain't seen nothin' yet. Then you drop 'Butterflies'..."

Shirley/Dominique: Oh! Ah!

Steve: ...and Butterflies man, I'm telling you, on this station right here, I play Butterflies at least twice a morning, and in 4 hours that ain't right on the radio.

Michael: [laughs] Thanks!

Shirley/Dominique: Sounds right to me!

Steve: [laughs] Hey Mike, where did you get Butterflies from?

Michael: Well, Butterflies is um...it was these 2 girls named Floetry, and they came with the song, and uh, we kinda worked together. Uh, it's mainly these other 2 girls who mainly composed that one.

Steve: Wow.

Michael: And um, I think they're British. Yea, they're British girls...They're black British girls, and they were just phenomenal. And I thought it was something that I just really, really liked and we did some kind of counter hooks and lines, and just kinda painted it with different sounds and everything, different colors, and so we produced it, and I produced it, and just created something that was just acceptable and it ended up going on the album. 'Cause I'll do at least over 100 songs, until I come up with about 20 or 30 that I like.

Steve: No doubt...

Michael: And I'll decipher it down...

Steve: Wow, 100 songs, dog, before you come up with 20 or 30 you like?

Michael: Yea, it was more this time, actually, than 100.

Steve: Gee.

Shirley/Dominique: Well, he is Michael Jackson, you know....he's Bad...he's Dangerous....he's working day and night, that's what he is...Yes he is!

Steve: Wow! [laughs] Yea....hey man, Mike, I know you ain't this kind of bro' but I am, so I'm just going to put it out there real like that....ever since you came back, I told Usher and Sisquo that they gotta go put their shirt back on!

Michael: [laughing]

Steve: [laughs] Put your shirt back on....Mike is back!! You take that glove off your elbow, and all that man, the King is back, baby!! [laughs] That's how we be rockin' that one. Hey man, we have gotten over the years, all of us...your true fans, Michael...

Michael: Aw...

Steve: ...are still out there in the streets man, and I can't even tell you, um, I speak at prisons across the country often times, and I was at Pritchard's Detention Centre out here, and one of the brothas that was locked away said 'Steve, the love that you be givin' Michael Jackson on the air...he said, if you ever, ever talk to him, tell him that we up in here, man, we been feeling his music for a long time'.

Michael: Wow, that's beautiful.

Steve: Yea man, that's a great compliment, man. For what you've been to people, Mike, for all these years, man...I mean, brotha, I don't know if any body's ever said thank you to you for the way you put it down, for all of the music that you gave us that's still in our hearts, man, and I don't know if nobody ever said thank you to you man.

Michael: Well god bless you, that's so beautiful...I appreciate it. It's not easy being in my position because; you create so much sensationalism and tabloids...people lie.

Steve: Come on man...

Michael: They create rumors and stories and none of it's true.

Steve: Yeah.

Michael: And it's very, very difficult, you know....it's not easy, it's very hard. And you end up, you hurt sometimes, and you try to be as resilient as possible...

Steve: Right.

Michael: But it's very, very difficult because there's tabloids and lies...they hate....they're very jealous.

Steve: Yea, I dig it.

Michael: They just...when you read this stuff, it's a lie, don't believe it. Burn it. We should have a tabloid burning...

Steve/Shirley/Dominique: [laugh]...Yea, dig it.

Michael: We should have a tabloid burning. Make a mountain of them and just throw the match....cause they...

Steve: Yea, man!

Michael: …'cause they just hate to see us grow and build and build, and there's nothing wrong with that. They can, but that's OK. But, what can I do but to reinforce the talent God gave us, and that's all I wanted to do.

Steve: Yea...

Michael: Just share the love and gifts of entertainment. That's all I want to do. I don't want to hurt anybody.

Steve: No. That's real, and man, you know what man....um, I'm just going to say this man, um, I talked with your mom off the air before hrough Jermaine...he and I had a conversation on the air, and then he called me off the air and I was talking to you mother, Mrs. Jackson, off the air...

Michael: She's wonderful.

Steve: Aw, man, your mother is....and I gave her her propers too. I told Ms. Jackson, I said a phenomenal job you've done in raising as many talented children that you have and still maintain them as a family. And she was uh, thanking me because I had came forward on your behalf on more than one occasion, concerning several issues, man, and they were just totally false about you. And I prompted everybody to go get a copy
of the GQ article, from 1994.

Shirley/Dominique: Oh, yea...

Steve: And uh, GQ had a lot of back issues re-ordered because of this. And um, a lot of people read the article and found out the real truth behind a lot of things that were so false man, and um, your mom was thanking me for saying that on the radio. And I just wanted to say man, that there are a lot of people out here man, that really feel you playa, and wish that they could just feel you some more, and a phone call like this Mike. I gotta tell you playa, it goes a long way, man.

Michael: Well thank you so much. I don't do it often at all. I never do it, I never do it.

Steve: Thank you Mike.

Micahel: This is a first.

Steve: [laughs] Yea!

Shirley/Dominique: It is the first and thank you! Wow!

Michael: Well, I'm happy to do it for you. And it's from the bottom of my heart. You're just so kind, and wonderful to me. Somebody...people used to tell me different places; there's this guy who talks about you everyday!

Steve/Shirley/Dominique: [laugh]

Michael: And he uh...and I'd go, 'Who is it', and they'd go, 'His name is Steve'. I'd go 'Steve'...and then I saw the Kings of Comedy show, and I go 'This is the guy?'

Steve/Shirley/Dominique: [laugh]

Michael: And I said, Oh my god, I said, I'm a fan of him now!

Steve: Yea, and it was...and you gave me a call and it was like really crazy. Cause you know going to see Mike ain't no...you don't just walk up and go 'Hey, Mike, how's it going'. No, you gotta go through some channels. But it was great, man, and you helped me out. Hey Mike, listen man, um, can you tell us exactly what is Never, Never land. Can you clear that up for the listeners?

Shirley/Dominique: NEVERland!

Michael: Sure, sure...

Steve: Oh, I thought it was Never, Neverland...but that ain't right, no...

Michael: That's OK too if you want to call it Never, Neverland. It's just a serene and tranquil place, to just relax and enjoy yourself and leave your troubled mind and those things that irritate you in your heart and your soul, behind. And once you enter the gates, you're just in a very wonderful, quiet, loving place. And there's lakes, and you know, rolling hills and grass and trees and, you know, rides and trains, and....

Steve: How big is it Mike?

Michael: It's 3000 acres.

Shirley/Dominique: Woo hoo...sounds like paradise!

Michael: Yes, well...

Steve: Yo, 3000 acres...

Michael: Yes.

Steve: I got 70 acres in Texas, and I thought I was king!

Michael: [laughs]

Steve: I got 70 acres, you got 3000!

Michael: Well, I get to compensate for the loss, you know in my childhood that I never got to enjoy those child-like things, but it's...it's for everybody. And we have handicapped, kids with cancer, terminally ill children, leukemia kids...Make A Wish Foundation, Dream Street...we've been doing for like over 9, 10, uh...11 years!

Steve: Wow!

Michael: Yea, and uh, I did it before at my mother's house in Encino. We never wave a flag, we never try to get press for it. I do it quietly.

Steve: Right, absolutely.

Michael: We have....by the busloads they come. We don't allow cameras or videos. I do it quietly. 'Cause real charity is from the heart, you know.

Steve: Yea.

Michael: Not to say, look at me, look what I'm doing. But I do it quietly from the heart.

Steve: Oh, yea, that's real.

Michael: And uh, I've done this for years. Many, many years. And uh, one day maybe you can meet me there and we can say hello.

Steve: You know, that would be great. You know what Mike. I've got a....for everybody who's just tuning in, we're interviewing live on the radio Michael Jackson. I mean this is like, this is the bomb, this is the bomb interview, this tops it for me! You know Mike, I've had President Clinton call me from Air Force One before, and uh, it did not have this impact! Believe me, cause Clinton cool and everything, but....

Michael: I really like him.

Steve: Yea, he ain't Michael though. He ain't one bit Billie Jean, and Beat It and ABC.

Michael: [laughs]

Steve: [singing] ..."looking through the windows, window..." wow!

Michael: [laughs]

Steve: That was my jam....[singing] "I'll be there....come on everybody...I'll be there...."

Michael: [laughing]

Steve: That was my jam, Mike!

Shirley/Dominique: Aw, man.

Steve: [still in the background, singing] ..."Man in the Mirror"...ow!

Michael: [laughing loudly on top of Steve's singing]

Steve: [singing]..."I'm asking him to change his ways”....ow!..."and no message could have been any clearer"..."if you wanna make a change, da da da da da...."

Michael: [laughing loudly]

Steve: ...Man, I got the King of pop on the floor....no, I am the king! Hey Mike man, you invite me out to Neverland but let me ask you this.
My wife and I, we got a foundation, it's called the Steve and Muriel Harvey Foundation, and we been trying to put together man, you know there are so many children out here in the LA school districts that just don't have books. They just do not have a book, man...

Michael: Wow.

Steve: ...and they, with all these budget cuts that goin' down. Most of these uh, schools that's in, uh, really, really impoverished neighborhoods and they just not getting the education. We, for example, Mike, I walked into classrooms with children in it, where they had 38 children, 23 books...no, 23 desks, and 8 books. With 38 kids, 23 desks and just 8 books, and it broke my heart man. So I took some news cameras down there. So, instead of having me come to Neverland, because I know it would be great for me, but, if my foundation got together a bus of really, really, uh, inner-city kids, man, that were real young and had never been out of their neighborhood and never saw anything great, if I could arrange it through your people man, if I paid for the bus and everything...If we could get a bus load of kids man....

Michael: You got it, we'll do it. That's what we do.

Shirley/Dominique: Oh! Wow! [clapping]

Steve: Thanks, man.

Michael: I would be more than pleased and happy to do that.

Steve: Yea, so...

Michael: That's what we do.

Steve: Mike, what I will do is, I'll put a little contest together on the radio and we'll go to the schools that have the least and we'll....because if these children man, if they could get a chance to see something outside of their neighborhood, something - some of these kids have never been to the beach out here. Some of these kids never been to Beverly Hills out here. If we could get that worked out man, at the top of the year, my foundation would happily pay for the busses and the lunches, but I know you'd take care of them out there.

Michael: Of course!

Steve: I think that would be great...

Michael: Wow, I'd love to do it.

Steve: Cool that's what I mean man.

Michael: I'd love to do it!

Steve: That's the bomb deal right there. Hey Mike, hey man, if you could say...um, the new album's out, and it's called Invincible for those of you who are listening...

Shirley/Dominique: It really is good!

Michael: Thank you.

Steve: ...and he didn't call in to promote the album, that's not what the call is about....it's just playa to playa...

Michael: Mmmhmmm..

Steve: ...brotha to brotha....dog to dog...

Michael: [laughs]

Steve: ...Steve to King.....king to king...

Shirley/Dominique: We just want him to know we appreciate it, that's all. I mean the good music, he's still as good as he was years and years ago, we just love it!

Michael: Thank you so much.

Shirley/Dominique: We're big fans of you Michael, big fans.

Michael: Thank you, thank you, God bless you...thank you so much.

Steve: Hey man, that's the one thing, man that I want to get across to people, that the brotha on the phone has been a real brotha the whole time. Regardless as to what you hear in the media, or what you read about...the tabloids, they're garbage, they print stuff about everybody false all the time.

Michael: False, false.

Steve: They just...this cat right here is one of the nicest people in this business, and been that way a long time. And has not harmed a hair on anyone's head, but people have gone after him for monetary gains, just to get money, man....

Michael: That's right.

Steve: If you read the GQ article in 1994 get a copy, and send off, and read the article...with the cover, with Michael Jackson on the cover, it will tell you this whole story and exactly what happened. And I mean man, it was very revealing, and I was stunned, but then not really, cause I know how people are. 'Cause I only get a taste of it, and I ain't even, I ain't even Michael Jackson...I mean, I'm dangerous. When you come in here, I cuss, spit, and do all kinds of things....

Michael: [laughs]

Steve: I got, friends in low places....hey Mike, if you need a couple of them friends, roll out some hammers and fight....but no, real Michael, the tabloids they really on your nerves, we can get the tabloid building burnt down!

Shirley/Dominique: You are such a thug.

Michael: Good...We need to...we need to do it.

Steve: Let's be real Mike, let's be real...

Michael: We need to do it!

Steve: I've got some boys that can get over there dog, I'm talking from low places...

Michael: Yea, they're disgusting. Then there are those that disguise themselves as legitimate, and they're just as tabloid, no they're worse!

Steve: Yea! I've read a couple of 'em newspapers, too!

Michael: Yea, they're worse!

Steve: Yea, I bet them that! Hey man, I think it's great for the masses to hear you, and man every now and then Mike, just give me a call. My interview with you is always this way. The morning show is motivational and always uplifting. We're not here to tear nobody down...

Michael: Wow!

Steve: ...to poke fun, I got about a million jokes, I can do about anything else, but I know I don't get off on any body's personal lives, but you brotha, you have meant a lot to people man.

Michael: Well, thank you so much.

Steve: And I want to say something special to you too man, cause a lot of people don't give this one to you. But I gotta tell you somethin’' you mean something to black people, man. Don't ever think you don't and you haven't.

Michael: Wow!

Steve: Cause you have made a difference for a lot of minorities across this country, and you remember that about your music, man, you remember that about your videos. You touch us that way. And I'm giving you something man, just from one brotha to another that the mainstream American can't give to you. That is, what you have done in representing black people...

Michael: I'm proud of my heritage.

Steve: Go on and say it...

Michael: I'm proud to be black, I'm honored to be black. And I just hope that one day that they will be fair, and portraying me the way I really, really am; just a loving, peaceful guy, wanting to make a wonderful, unprecedented entertainment in songs and music and film, uh, for the world.

Steve: Yea.

Michael: You know, and that's all I want to do. No threat, I just want to do that, you know? That's all I want to do, bring joy to the world.

Steve: You been doing it man, you been doing it for a long, long time....

Michael: Thank you.

Steve: ...Usher, put your shirt on! Mike is back...the King of Pop is back!

Michael: [laughing]

Steve: ...put your shirt on, and let's put your hair back on...

Shirley/Dominique: He's crazy, Michael, he's crazy!

Steve: ....put your hair in a bun, and put your hat back on....cause the King is back! Michael Jackson, Steve Harvey and the morning show....We've got big love for you playa.

Michael: I love you more.

Steve: Big love brotha, call us again.

Michael: I love you all, thanks...

Steve: You all show your love for the one and only King of Pop...

Shirley/Dominique: Michael Jackson!! [screams]

Michael: I love you!

Steve: We love you too, man.