morinen
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It seems that Ron Weisner's book is already out, and I found a review on the MJ part. I was going to buy the book, but now I'm not sure if it's worth the money. If somebody has read it, please post your summary/opinion.
"DO I think Michael Jackson was a normal person?"
"Absolutely not."
"Do I think he was a pedophile?"
"No."
"Do I think he had issues?"
"No question."
"Do I think he was an unhappy guy?"
"In many respects, yes."
"Do I think he would have been happier if someone were looking out for him from the moment he left the Jackson Five until he died?"
"Emphatically, yes."
THE ABOVE are a series of questions music industry manager Ron Weisner asks himself at the beginning of his chapter on Michael Jackson, solo performer, in Weisner's new book, "Listen Out Loud: A Life in Music -- Managing McCartney, Madonna and Michael Jackson."
This is not a big book, size-wise, coming in at a brisk 234 pages, but that's quite enough, considering the names he packs in. Ron also managed Gladys Knight, Steve Winwood, Curtis Mayfield, Bill Withers and that group of very strange and combative guys, Sha Na Na. And Ron has his say about everybody, much of it caustic, to say the least. (He is exceptionally close to and fond of Gladys Knight, so it's only love there, and vice versa. She contributes an affectionate foreword and comments throughout the book.)
IT IS Weisner's relationship with Michael Jackson, the youngest (and by far the most talented) of the Jackson Five, and later an increasingly isolated and strange solo artist, that is the most compelling and tragic aspect of this book.
Much of it we already know -- Jackson's addiction to pills began after the accident on the set of the Pepsi commercial in 1983, his controlling father, Joe Jackson, whom no one wanted to deal with, or respected, or liked and the basic use of Michael as a money machine.
Weisner's first-hand accounts of all this, replete with scathing judgments and expletives, are fairly riveting, along with the author's observations of super-professional Michael plunged into work, his out-of-control eccentricities, insistence on whitening his skin, the super-smart man under the fey exterior (partly real, partly a self-protective performance).
Reading it all, knowing how Michael's life and career devolved and ended, it's a tragic runaway train, a train that Weisner says was still more or less in control, on the rails, until "Joe Jackson got Michael to fire me."
There's also some pleasant revisionist history on LaToya Jackson: "A nice lady whose horrible reputation was, to me exaggerated ... the only person in the family who consistently tried to help Michael." (Weisner and LaToya almost succeeded in placing Michael in a proper facility, but the plan fell apart at the last moment.) Well, I always thought of LaToya as the Cassandra of the Jacksons, telling the truth but never believed. Her image undermined her good intentions.
Reading the Jackson chapters, you know that this genius never had a chance. Not with that family.
WEISNER got along well with and admired Paul McCartney, and states that the late, oft-maligned Linda McCartney was "one of the most misunderstood people in the world." (He says he was terrified of her so-called aggressive reputation before they met. Then found her utterly charming and nonintrusive.)
However, the manager did not get along with Madonna, whom he knew during the frantic early years of her career -- up from the clubs, an MTV sensation, and suddenly on the cusp of international fame. "Madonna would do anything to succeed. Anything she had to. It seemed at times she was working on getting meaner."
Unlike the chapters on Michael Jackson, there's nothing tragic about Madonna. Ron's recollections of her are knife-like, but a lot of fun. (Primarily because Madonna, whatever one might think of her, has never self-destructed, never been arrested, never been in rehab, never been involved in scandals outside her "shocking" -- now rather boring -- professional displays, maybe there is something to be said for being "mean"?)
As much as Weisner disliked her, he writes: "Two hours into our first meeting, I knew Madonna would succeed. H--l, if you spent two minutes around her and you had any sense of pop culture, you knew she'd succeed!" There is a lot of interesting info on how MTV and the music industry was changing at that point and how Madonna -- abrasive and eerily confident -- fit so neatly, quickly and perfectly into that era.
Other than that, what do we learn? It's much in the vein of brother Christopher Ciccone's tell-all. Madonna is tight with a penny, complains a lot and doesn't appear to ever be grateful. ("That word was not in her vocabulary.")
Eventually, claims Weisner, Madonna's little ways became too much, and he "gave" her to Freddy DeMann, who guided the icon through her best years, along with the monumental effort of Warner Bros. press rep Liz Rosenberg. Without Liz R., I firmly believe Madonna, for all her drive and -- yes! -- talent -- would have imploded in some way, years ago.)
"Listen Out Loud" is a quick, hot read, as much for music fans as for those who just want a little -- OK a lot -- of dish.
But the fragile specter of Michael Jackson hangs over the book. Weisner doesn't claim Michael wouldn't have ended up in the same way, even if he'd stayed on the team, but as he notes, it might have helped, a little.
Oh, one must also note, all this is Ron Weisner's version of life in music's fast lane. Others might recall things differently. Although, truthfully, Madonna spends little time thinking about the past. That's why she's still here.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/enter...zsmittr--x-a20140522-20140522,0,2491950.story