Jan. 27 in history

18 Years Ago --- The Awards Podium Los Angeles Times January 27, 1988 You had to feel sorry for country singer Randy Travis. He won twice as many awards (four) as anyone else at Monday night's 15th annual American Music Awards ceremony at Shrine Auditorium, but he didn't seem to be having any fun. Though Travis dominates country music more than anyone since Willie Nelson in the '70s, he doesn't relish the spotlight-except when he's singing. The ex-dishwasher is the perfect stereotype of the shy country boy who suddenly made good... Paul Simon was the only other multiple winner of the evening. Simon was cited as favorite pop male singer and for favorite album ("Graceland"). Luther Vandross, Reba McEntire, Janet Jackson, Michael Jackson, the country band Alabama and hard rockers Bon Jovi were also winners-though neither of the Jacksons nor Vandross nor Simon were on hand... There wasn't as much excitement as usual this year, because few of pop music's most colorful superstars-such as Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen or Prince-were on hand... --- --- Still BAD Tri State Defender January 27, 1988 Michael Jackson's Bad LP surged past the eleven million sales mark worldwide (4.5 million in America alone) as 1987 drew to a close. Released on August 31, 1987, Bad has already been to the top of the charts in 23 different countries around the world. And despite the fact that it was only in release for four months of 1987, Bad was the largest worldwide seller in the record industry for the entire year. Dubbed 'Typhoon Michael' and 'Crocodile Jackson' by the local media during tours of Japan (September/October) and Australia (November), respectively, Michael Jackson played 19 sellout concerts in these countries in front of 570,000 fans in his first ever solo appearances as a concert performer. The figures in Japan -- 14 sellouts, 450,000 fans -- shattered all existing records. Previously, no performer -- Japanese or international -- had played to more than 200,000 fans in a tour of Japan. 1988 will be a year of touring for Michael Jackson. First up will be America, with a late February kickoff, followed by a late spring and summer tour of Europe. --- 17 Years Ago --- The Almanac Austin American Statesman January 27, 1989 Five years ago: Singer Michael Jackson suffered second-degree burns to his scalp after his hair caught fire when a smoke-bomb canister exploded as he was filming a TV commercial for Pepsi-Cola at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. --- --- A New Stage For Michael Jackson Los Angeles Times January 27, 1989 Michael Jackson has come to the end of the road. When the 30-year-old superstar leaves the stage after his performance tonight at the Los Angeles Sports Arena, he'll not only end a marathon, 16-month "Bad" world tour but also bid farewell to touring-so he says. Having set records for the largest grossing tour in history ($125 million) and the largest paid attendance (4.4 million), Jackson plans to focus on recordings and films. "I'm not saying he's not going to perform live again, but I don't think we'll ever go out on tour like this," Jackson's manager, Frank Dileo, said during an interview in Beverly Hills this week. Jackson and Dileo now intend to take a couple of months off to rest and make plans. They tentatively plan to release a double album of Jackson's greatest hits, complete with three new songs, this fall. Jackson's next studio album isn't expected before 1991. "He may do a show here or there, but I don't see him ever going out on the road again with 12 semis and 137 people. It's a very hard tour. It's 2 hours and 8 minutes and he's working constantly. It's exhausting." Why is Jackson, one of the most celebrated stage performers of the modern pop era, retiring from concerts? "He's accomplished everything he has to accomplish as far as touring," said Dileo. "He's got the biggest gross and has played to the the most people. What are we going to do next time? Play for two years? That would kill me." Another factor: Jackson is known to prefer film and recordings because performances in those media-unlike concerts-are preserved for posterity. The interview-shy Jackson has said for years that he wants to break into films, but Dileo said it's more of a priority now than ever before. "Before, he was concentrating on doing a solo career and eventually a solo tour," Dileo said. "He's accomplished that now, so it's time to pursue this in earnest." The two hope to develop a film musical for Jackson to star in. Jackson's only theatrical role to date was in the 1978 film version of "The Wiz." "We have stacks and stacks of scripts and proposals," said Dileo. "We'll sort through them and see what's right for Michael." Finding the right property for a specialized talent like Jackson has proved to be a challenge. Even multimedia producer David Geffen was unable to find the right project when he was retained by the singer around the time of the Jacksons' 1984 "Victory" tour. "I couldn't come up with anything," Geffen acknowledged in a separate interview Thursday. "It's my failure, not his. I just wasn't interested in doing a bad movie. "I think it will take a special project. You can't cast him in just anything. I don't think you'd cast him as a dramatic actor, or that you could have believably cast him in 'Coming to America.' It would have to be something created for him." But Geffen added: "I don't think they could cast Fred Astaire in just any picture either. I think they had to develop special pictures for him too." Geffen suggested that the main challenge in translating Jackson's super-stardom to the big screen is Jackson's man-child persona, not the fact that he is black. "It has nothing to do with black/white issues in his case," Geffen said. "People don't relate to him in terms of color. He's just a unique human being: He's not like any other 30-year-old you know." "Don't bet against him," Geffen cautioned. "He's very single-minded and he's a very hard worker. He'll get it done." Jeffrey Katzenberg, chairman of Walt Disney Studios, is among the top producers who is reportedly trying to develop a film project for Jackson. Meanwhile, Dileo said he and Jackson are prepared to wait until a suitable film comes along. "There are a lot of artists who have chosen to do scripts that they shouldn't have done," Dileo said. "It's like a good poker game. You can afford to wait it out 'til it's right." Relaxing over a pot of coffee in a hotel suite, the soft-spoken Dileo said that the "Bad" tour, which encompassed 123 shows in 15 countries, is still something of a blur to him. "We know we've set a lot of records and that we've been to a lot of great places, but we've been on such a fast track that we haven't been able to sit down and reflect back on it," he said. The tour may well be the most expensive ever mounted, in large part because of Jackson's insistence on playing only three shows a week and resting the other four days. Dileo kept all the musicians and crew members on salary for the entire week, resulting in a weekly "nut" of between $500,000 and $650,000. The tour drew especially well in Japan, England and Germany, but early ticket sales were slow in Australia, where radio stations and fans were said to be put off Jackson by media reports of his "eccentricities." Dileo responded by flying top Australian DJs to Japan, where they could see Jackson's show first-hand. "Why not?," said Dileo. "I told them, 'I think we're getting a bum rap. Come over and see for yourself.' They met Michael afterwards and then went back to Australia and everything was fine. That turned the tide." The "Bad" album has sold more than 6 million copies in this country, and is the only album in pop history to generate five No. 1 singles. And the project isn't over yet: Dileo said that he may well authorize the release of an eighth single from the album, "Leave Me Alone," next week. The album has reportedly sold 20 million copies worldwide, about half as many as Jackson's previous album, "Thriller," and about one-fifth as many as Jackson's reported goal for the album. "We're happy with the results of 'Bad,' " Dileo said. "And next time out we'll try to do as good or even better. "Americans like to build 'em up and tear 'em down. They're like that not only with artists, but with Presidents too. I'm sure that affected us. But we did the best we could. We made the best album and the best videos we could. We don't have anything to be ashamed of." --- 13 Years Ago --- More On Liz Buffalo News January 27, 1993 Michael Jackson's biggest fan? None other than Elizabeth Taylor. Taylor, who has been suffering from a respiratory infection, made her first public appearance in nearly three months Monday to present Jackson with a trophy for career achievement at the American Music Awards. "Besides being a friend of tonight's honoree, I'm also his greatest fan," she said. "He's just the best, basically." In November, doctors ordered the 60-year-old actress to cancel appearances and stay home in Bel-Air. In 1990, respiratory problems nearly killed her. --- --- Michael Jackson Top Winner In American Music Awards The Plain Dealer January 27, 1993 Michael Jackson won the pop-rock album trophy for "Dangerous" and the soul-rhythm & blues single award for "Remember the Time" at the American Music Awards ceremony. He also was presented a new honor, which in the future will bear his name, for his global performances and humanitarian concerns. --- --- Heal The Kids Los Angeles Times January 27, 1993 Pop superstar Michael Jackson on Jan 26, 1993 announced a $1.25 million program to provide drug prevention, health and counseling services to thousands of inner-city Los Angeles children who were among those most deeply stricken by the 1992 riots. --- 12 Years Ago --- Settlement Is Best Move For Jackson, Insiders Say Chicago Sun Times January 27, 1994 Now that the Michael Jackson child molestation civil suit has been settled without any admission of guilt on Jackson's part, will the singer be able to put the nastiness behind him and get on with his career? That is what the Jackson camp is hoping. A statement issued by his lawyers, Johnnie Cochran and Howard Weitzman, insisted that "The resolution of this case is in no way an admission of guilt by Michael Jackson." It added that the singer "is an innocent man who does not intend to have his career and his life destroyed by rumors and innuendo." Many industry observers agree that the settlement is definitely to Jackson's advantage. "He's still a viable act," said Rolling Stone senior features editor Anthony DeCurtis. "There's still an audience there for him, and barring the possibility of a criminal proceeding - which now seems unlikely - he will have a career." DeCurtis said the cash settlement probably will work to Jackson's advantage, since it casts doubt on the motives of the 14-year-old boy whose parents brought the lawsuit. "If somebody really molested your child, would you take a cash settlement?" he asked. "Wouldn't you want to follow through on bringing this person to justice, if only to prevent some future occurrence of this kind of thing?" "It makes the kid look bad," agreed rock critic Robert Christgau, a senior editor at The Village Voice. "It makes him look bad to me, and I basically thought his story was credible." "I suppose that some cynics will say that it proves that, in the United States, everything's for sale," said Bill Flanagan, editor of Musician magazine. "But some other cynics might say that this whole thing might only have been about money in the first place, and that if big money were not an issue, no one ever would have made the allegations against Jackson." --- 11 Years Ago --- Back to the real McCoy News & Observer January 27, 1995 It's been a rough two weeks for Neal McCoy. First, strep throat, now a cold. And a concert every night. But McCoy's not complaining. In fact, he's more upbeat about his career than he has been at any time since he signed with Atlantic Records in 1989. After two albums failed to produce the hit single McCoy had hoped for, he finally made gold last year with "No Doubt About It," a career record that produced two No. 1 singles, the groove-centered title track and "Wink," an up-tempo good-timer that perched in the top spot on the country chart for a solid month. Now McCoy finds himself in the fast lane, and he's more than a little on fire. Still, Atlantic Records stood by their man, and for "No Doubt About It" assigned Barry Beckett, a veteran producer whose work in the studios of Muscle Shoals, Ala., provided him with a background in R&B that seemed to fit McCoy's style better than the traditional country persona that the label had cultivated with little success. After all, someone whose earliest influence was 5-year-old Michael Jackson and who was raised on Ronnie Milsap and disco is naturally more at home with country soul than with hard-core honky-tonk. Together, McCoy and Beckett found the key to McCoy's success. --- 9 Years Ago --- Jackson Memorabilia Raises Funds For Children Buffalo News January 27, 1997 Michael Jackson slept here -- and left behind memorabilia that raised $18,000 for a children's charity. A mirror, pillowcase and towel from the room where Jackson stayed in November were auctioned Saturday at Oberoi Towers Hotel, Press Trust of India reported. The proceeds were donated to the Akanksha Foundation, which runs schools for street children. The pop star is said to have written messages on the items. The message on the full-length mirror, displayed for a few days in the hotel's lobby, included a misspelling: "Idia, I love you. In your children I have seen the face of God. You are my special love. I truly adore you with all my heart." --- 7 Years Ago --- Michael Jackson Treated For Broken Wrist In Miami Series St. Petersburg Time January 27, 1999 Michael Jackson was treated in Miami Tuesday for a broken wrist during a stopover from South Africa, his publicist said. Jackson had X-rays taken at Cedars Medical Center and left the hospital about 1 1/2 hours after he arrived. "He's fine. He checked in and checked out," said Bob Jones, Jackson's spokesman. "He was treated for a small fracture in his right wrist and it won't hamper his activities." Jones didn't know what caused the fracture. --- 4 Years Ago --- Review: Screen The Observer January 27, 2002 After her press conference at the Dorchester, I asked about the progress of a film project revealed in this column last year - a preposterous sounding thing co-starring Michael Jackson, about two alien dancers. 'Oh yeah darling,' she said, before lapsing into a few bars of 'Mister Saturday Night', complete with hand shimmy and wink. 'It's the most exciting thing, dontcha think? It'll be the best because Michael's such a dear and we're such good friends. We can't wait.' And she burst back into song, leaving her husband-to-be to tell me from behind his dark glasses: 'We are currently looking at several film ideas for Liza and Michael and are confident one of them will make it to the screen.' I wish them the very best of luck. --- 3 Years Ago --- Thriller Killer The Times UK January 27, 2003 Michael Jackson's 1983 Thriller video is too graphic to be shown before the 9pm watershed, according to the Independent Television Commission. Yet Professor Gunther von Hagens's public autopsy, which aired at 11.45pm, was within the limits of what is publicly acceptable. --- --- Tv Producers Unethical? We're Shocked Spokesman Review January 27, 2003 Jermaine Jackson claims NBC producers told a "vicious and blatant lie" to lure Michael Jackson's family onto an episode of "Dateline" that dealt with Jackson's cosmetic surgery. Jermaine said in a statement that producers claimed the show would be about "the family's legacy and that they later learned the program had an insulting, degrading and insensitive story line about his face." An NBC spokeswoman says "Dateline" producers still plans to air "Michael Jackson Unmasked" on Feb. 17 and "hope Jermaine Jackson rethinks his position and grants us an interview." --- 1 Years Ago --- Mesereau vs. Dimond New York Daily News January 27, 2005 ...Mesereau was apparently so upset when Court TV's resident Jackson case expert, Diane Dimond, publicly questioned his credentials and experience in child-molestation litigation that he complained about her alleged inaccuracies to Court TV honcho Henry Schleiff. Mesereau sent an elaborate letter heaping florid praise on every Court TV anchor but Dimond - who, Mesereau argued, was woefully misinformed about his erudition and experience. To prove his qualifications, Mesereau sent Schleiff an impressive rsum. "It was, like, four pages long," an amazed Schleiff told me, adding that he responded to Mesereau as though he were a job applicant. "I wrote him back thanking him for his rsum," he said... ---