The Never, Um, Ever Ending Story by Molly Meldrum

Author:Molly Meldrum
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Published: 2014-09-29T00:00:00+00:00

While Michael was working on The Wiz, I was in America on a Countdown trip with Grant Rule. Our major interview in New York was with Rod Stewart, but during our stay I was given the chance to hear a couple of tracks that Michael was working on. Impressed, I rang CBS Records and requested an interview, but was told he wasn’t a priority for the label and I should forget about it.

After much persuasion and persistence, however, it was finally arranged that I would meet Michael at Studio 54. The interview was locked in for 5 p.m. It was a cold, wet and windy day in New York, and, as usual, we were running behind schedule. Grant and I were nearly an hour late, and I remember saying to Grant and the crew, ‘Look, he’ll probably be gone by now, and I don’t blame him.’

Much to our surprise, when we finally pulled up outside Studio 54, we saw a little figure huddled in the doorway. Michael was there by himself—no security people, no minders, no one from the record company. He was absolutely freezing, but very jovial.

We went inside and started setting up to shoot the interview. Michael even helped the lighting guys plug in their lights, and set up the microphones.

The interview lasted about fifteen minutes. He was shy, but I’ll never forget the way he giggled when I asked about his ‘funky little sister’, Janet. ‘She is funky,’ he smiled. I ended our chat by thanking Michael for his patience and wishing him all the best for the film and a solo album he was planning to work on in 1978.

That album was Off The Wall, and Michael became a superstar.

Looking back, I consider that meeting with Michael one of the most important interviews I’ve ever done. And I wonder whatever happened to the CBS staffer who said Michael wasn’t a priority.

Off The Wall, produced by Quincy Jones, provided us with three fantastic clips that we flogged on Countdown—‘Don’t Stop ’Til You Get Enough’, ‘Rock With You’ and the title track. I even gave Michael a call during a Countdown episode in March 1980, when he promised he would return to Australia.

But the next Jackson to visit Australia wasn’t Michael, it was Jermaine, who was the special guest at the 1981 Countdown Awards. He arrived a week before the big night, and we went camping in the Grampians—literally. Jermaine wanted an Australian travel adventure, so we went on a horse-riding trip for three days. Jermaine was an absolute delight. Down to earth and friendly. Mind you, the trip to the Grampians was not without its drama because on the first day my horse got spooked and took off at a million miles an hour, throwing me off. The result was a sprained ankle. Jermaine was very understanding and patient—I was like a peg-legged Molly, hobbling around and trying to keep up.

The following weekend we all went to Sydney for the Countdown Awards. Much to my horror, I

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