Making Michael: Inside the Career of Michael Jackson

by Mike Smallcombe

Making Michael delves deep inside the career of one of the most successful, enigmatic and controversial entertainers of all time: Michael Jackson.

Side-stepping sensationalism, journalist Mike Smallcombe enters uncharted territory as he takes you behind the scenes to reveal the real Jackson, a man few people ever got to know.

Interviewing over sixty of Jackson's associates including managers, lawyers, music executives, producers, musicians and engineers - many of whom are speaking about their experiences publicly for the first time - he provides exclusive access to one of the biggest-selling recording artists in history.

Featuring a foreword by Matt Forger, one of Jackson's longest serving and most loyal collaborators, Making Michael takes readers into the studio with the King of Pop, charting the creation of record-breaking albums including Thriller, Bad, Dangerous and HIStory and the twists and turns that occurred along the way. Untold stories, revelations and secrets finally see the light of day as Jackson's career outside the studio is also examined.

Smallcombe remains objective and doesn't shy away from exploring the fall outs, Jackson's relentless pursuit of perfectionism and a cutthroat shrewdness and competitiveness few knew existed.

Genres: Nonfiction, Music

448 pages, Paperback

First published April 5, 2016

About the author

Mike Smallcombe is a journalist who currently resides in England.

He spent his youth living in both Germany and Cornwall, graduating from the University of Exeter with a degree in English before completing his journalist training with the Press Association in London. Mike then returned to the South West, where he joined the staff at Devon and Cornwall Media, now owned by Reach plc.

In his 20s, Mike dedicated around five years of his life to write his first book, Making Michael, an unprecedented account of Michael Jackson’s career. It was published in April 2016, when Mike was 27.

He currently works for Cornwall, Devon and Plymouth Live. As well as numerous other Reach plc titles, Mike has contributed to publications including Mirror Online, Mail Online, the Express, Metro, The Daily Record and more.

Reviews

[NON · Rating 4 out of 5]

It has taken me more than five years to research and write this book, much longer than I anticipated. I was always seeking to discover new information and to take different paths in an attempt to make the most complete anthology possible. Although costly, I chose to self-publish this work rather than seek a traditional publisher, for one simple reason: control. I wanted to fully realize my creative vision and not that of somebody else; to have the final say on everything from the title to the content, the length of the book, the layout, the front cover design and the photos inside. My hope is that I have created an account of Michael Jackson's career that has been missing for far too long. Now Michael has passed, more and more people are fascinated by the man who changed the course of music history rather than the eccentric side show, and appreciate that there will never be another performer like him.
-Mike Smallcombe

If you're an MJ fan you probably already know how hard it is to find a proper biography on Michael that focuses on facts rather than sensationalism. Making Michael is probably the most comprehensive biography on Michael Jackson to date. It's not perfect but given the limited number of proper biographies, this one is good and worth reading.

I took my time reading this one -although I usually finish any book on Michael within two days- but I wanted to observe and absorb every word that was written. The most positive element is that Smallcombe eliminated almost all the tabloids junk expect a fleeting speculation here or there. He doesn't dive into every tiny detail when discussing any important events; straightforward and right to the point. Although there are some sad stories/events (e.g. the false allegations and Invincible battles), there are even more chucklesome ones which add a balance in the composition of the book.

Let me list the other positive elements:
1- The way of writing is incomplex which makes it a perfect choice to new fans or non-fans.
2- Smallcombe brilliantly briefed the false allegations (+the trial).
3- in a world that is filled with books that detail the J5 years, Off The Wall, Thriller and Bad; I'm glad Making Michael focuses more on Dangerous, HIStory and Invincible.
Note: don't get me wrong, there are plenty of infos on the first albums but Mr. Smallcombe focuses more on the latter albums.
4- Making Michael does not focus only on the musical career; it briefly focuses on his business career too. There are descriptions and stories on many shelved projects that Michael wanted to achieve but wasn't giving the chance -- for obvious reasons.
5- One of the most respectful element of Making Michael is that when Smallcombe mentioned the prescription medication that Michael took, he didn't forget to mention his medical history (briefly). Unlike many other authors who write about the drugs but (purposely) avoid to mention the reason why -- which is due to his illness(es).
6- Smallcombe made sure in certain parts of the book to put two-side stories and let you decide which part you rather to believe. This could be provoking at times to knowledgable fans because some statements are vague, and could be interrupted in a negative light*.
7-The book's title + the cover + the size + the font + the order & the naming of each chapter are beautiful and well-done. I, personally, had no expectations for the book but the book's cover is what made me purchase it. The content impressed me later on but it's the gorgeous cover that sealed the deal at first.

In conclusion:
Making Michael is worth to be added to your collection. It's safe to spend your money on it, not worrying because sensationalism is non-existent. If you are interested in Michael's creative work then Making Michael is one of the good books. It would also make a good introductory into Michael Jackson's career.

*Michael Jackson's account on the events are very limited. Making Michael focuses mostly on a various accounts from people who worked or associated with Michael which is good and bad at the same time. It's good if you will read it while using your common sense + further research, and bad if you'll take every thing you read at face value-especially that Michael Jackson's take on event is not presented in depth and as much as the accounts of others.

[Livia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This bio was excellent...what I read of it that is. It was obvious to me that this author really cared about communicating MJ's career and life in a non-biased manner.

My biggest problem with finishing this MJ bio was that I received it as an eARC in exchange of an honest opinion, but I don't own a Kindle device. Reading it on my Android Kindle app has been almost impossible for boring reasons I won't go into.

My second problem was that I just haven't been in a biography e-book reading head space. But if this bio had been released right after MJ died, I would have inhaled it within 24 hours easily. That's how obsessed I was then about learning everything I could about his life and career. So I've added a proper Kindle e-book copy to my Amazon wishlist and will grab it the next time I receive a gift card so I can read this bio in its entirety on my Kindle Cloud app, my preferred reading app.

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think Michael Jackson has always been a part of my life to some degree, as a child I recall dancing with my siblings when he was that ‘irritating caterwauling kid’ on Top of the Pops! I confess I didn’t like or appreciate him at that point. But as he and I matured and we got to the Thriller or Bad era then I was hooked.

Now I am a bit of a music junkie and have seen more bands/musicians/gigs than I can possibly count but sadly Michael isn’t one of them. Perhaps it is fitting though that when news of his death broke in June 2009 I was at the greatest music festival on earth, Glastonbury, and you can imagine how word flew around the site, it couldn’t possibly be true could it!?

So I went into Making Michael with many preconceived ideas, thought I knew this icon pretty well but there is so much more to learn. The book is broken into sections with an incredible amount of detail. While there has certainly been plenty of controversy around Michael’s life, family, children etc the whole of this is written with sensitivity and unbiased. This can’t have been easy for the author when so many folk have varying opinions on the guy.

Whether you are a die hard fan or just someone picking this up out of curiosity I can assure you there is ample content to keep you flicking through the pages and entertained. I found myself nodding in agreement or shaking my head and saying ‘REALLY’. The info about all the music is staggering. When it got to the inevitable part where Michael passes on I did stop and ask myself whether he had a happy life.

A really well produced book. My thanks to the author, publisher and Rachel at Authoright for including me on this tour.

[Alexandra Martins · Rating 5 out of 5]

A perfect book that focuses on presenting a panorama on Michael's career achievements and endeavors. You can also get a glimpse of his personality, his dreams, who he was as a person. It also contains some insights on businesses matters. As with all things Michael, I caught myself getting emotional and crying during some parts. Yikes, I really miss him! Well, it’s a fantastical book! Highly recommend it!

[L · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're looking for an un-biased and thorough account of Michael Jackson's incredible career spanning from Off the Wall to Invincible then this book is definitely worth picking up.
I was extremely impressed by the wonderful research Smallcombe has done, and I'm especially happy that he didn't rely on tabloids whatsoever like so many before him did. Refreshing.

[Brice Najar · Rating 5 out of 5]

New books about Michael Jackson have been frequent in recent years, and given the extent of the King of Pop’s world, it is not always easy for fans to find the book that meets their expectations. It is true that elements of his private life can please a large number of his fans but for me, the musical aspect shall influence my reading choice first.

With this in mind, my interest was tickled last spring by the publication of Making Michael by British author Mike Smallcombe. The latter had just spent the past five years fully involving himself into his project and getting eventually 65 interviews with MJ collaborative partners in order to completely document his book. This perseverance into work to obtain a finalized result could only draw my attention. Quite frankly I must admit that at that time, I was in the final stretch of my Let’s Make HIStory project containing interviews with the protagonists of the 1995 double album. So I wished our respective projects would not be of too much similarity, which would have been a coincidence mixed with bad luck. It is true that a total of nine collaborators (out of my 25 participants) appear in both books but their interviews are not used through the same concept. Mike Smallcombe’s approach and content illustrate a biography of Michael’s career while I mainly focus on the HIStory album. I shall not dwell any longer on this comparison – which it is not really, but rather a desire to make that clear to our potential readers – and go on and develop my opinion on Making Michael.

The first inevitable conclusion after reading it is to have finished the book and that really shows the interest it deserves. Indeed, it took me great concentration to read nearly 400 pages in the language of Shakespeare since the book has not been translated into French. I’m not fluent in English but the content of Making Michael, all along its pages, encouraged me to go to the end because I found it all exciting.

Yet it was not easy to achieve such a result by choosing to address this issue through a biography summarizing the King of Pop’s 40-year long career.

The trap would have been to do it conventionally, at the risk of repeating previous works and, ultimately, have no originality. This is however not the case because the author has followed his wishes and desires to bring a personal touch and stand out from other books.

He deliberately chose not to deepen his topic before the release of the Off the Wall album in 1979, preventing his work to get influenced by established codes. The priority was to discuss Michael’s solo and adult career and it proved successful since the result has been supported by Matt Forger, one of the superstar’s technicians, through his writing of a preface. It is true that the different accounts and extensive research the author made give a total immersion in the studio for the various King of Pop’s records, and that’s what interested me most in this book. As it might be expected by reading the list of participants, this work focuses on music and that should be acknowledged.

Still, Making Michael remains a biography and does not only deal with the studio work but also with the tours and the scandals that started in 1993 and in 2003.

As for me, although the latter topic may always resurface, I have always chosen to evoke it in the least possible way, not to bury my head in the sand but so that music remains the central topic. After reading Making Michael I have to admit that these terrible events had their influence on Michael’s career, like the elaboration of Stranger In Moscow started in September 1993 during the Dangerous Tour shows. I was not unaware of this fact, far from it, but I tended to eclipse and minimize those ordeals experienced by our idol.

I have no intention to spoil and give too much information related to Mike Smallcombe’s book but still I would like to add that emotion was present in the last pages. Up to this point, I have never managed to write about June 25th, 2009 and I am not sure to be able to do so one day. This is not easy but the author managed to go to the end of his biography, mentioning Michael still repeating on stage before his tragic death. I had not dived into the circumstances of this tragedy for a long time but I jumped back seven years, asking the same question again : why?

Looking back on this reading, it proves more than positive and everybody should support that type of work. The author has chosen self-publishing in order to keep his total freedom and that should be recognized as well. However, in this context, it is not necessarily easy to see one’s book translated into another language. For instance, Frank Cascio’s book was supported by a major publishing company and got a French version released. That’s one of the reasons that motivated me to write this review and give my contribution so that it shall get a positive response in France.

Félicitations, Mike !

[Kerry Hennigan · Rating 2 out of 5]

The overwhelming feeling I had on reading this book was that I've read so much of it (almost word for word, in some instances) before. It seems to be predominantly based on blogs and articles by or quoting the people referenced, rather than fresh interviews. There were a couple of incidents of going for something that could be turned into a headline by the tabloids, which were unnecessary and casts the book in a bit of a self-promotional light for the author. That's just my feeling though, but his habit of appearing to take credit for other people's research (as in the date the Neverland main train station was built, per the LN debunking) seems to bear this out. My apologies to Mr. Smallcombe if I've misjudged his motives. If people view his collection of other people's experiences as positive and original, who am I to disabuse them of their opinions?

[Jaime Estrada · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lo que hace que este libro destaque respecto a otros relativos a este artista, es que por fin dedica un espacio importante a analizar el proceso de creación de los discos Dangerous, History e Invincible, ya que la mayoría de otros libros pasan muy de puntillas sobre este tema.

Además, se nota que el autor ha dedicado mucho esfuerzo a investigar y a documentarse. Ha conseguido información muy relevante de gran cantidad de colaboradores y de personas que de una manera u otra coincidieron con Michael. No se centra en el morbo ni en los rumores, prefiere dedicarse al proceso de creación artística, lo que se agradece.

Creo que merece la pena para aquellos que quieran profundizar en la música de este gran músico, sin quedarse en la superficie.

[Allison Li · Rating 3 out of 5]

I called my good friend Sting. He said, ‘Krusty, when do you need me?’ I said, ‘Thursday.’ He said, ‘I'm busy Thursday.’ I said, ‘What about Friday?’ He said, ‘Friday's worse than Thursday.’ Then he said, ‘How about Saturday?’ I said, ‘Fine.’ True story!”

If you get the joke, you get the joke.

That's ALL this book is. Ad nauseum. Anecdotes about how people got together to make Michael Jackson albums, who played what instruments, who made the final call over what songs would be on which album, what Michael wanted and hated, etc. It got boring after a while.

Although I did find out the weird noise before Eddie Van Halen's solo in Beat It was actually Eddie knocking on his guitar, which is cool.

*Stopped reading at 31%*

[Vanita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mike Smallcombe did years of amazing research, interviewed so many people who used to be at Michael Jackson's side, and he quotes them directly. I am so glad he made this book.

But I can't say that it was easy to read, because it is very repetitive (every quotation is paraphrased in the text just before or after it), linking words don't seem to be a thing to the author, and neither is the past perfect tense. Those seemingly small aspects could make the experience so much smoother, in addition to some proper proof-reading (some sentences are missing words, or misspelled words change the meaning).

This is why it took me three months to get through the book. But I will forever be thankful for its existence.

[Desiree Goree · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good books comes every now again.

I found this book to be very informative. I have read a lot of books about the King of Pop. And this by far is the best one, it tells a lot about the music industry the ups and downs of being a music icon. Every fan of Michael Jackson needs to read this book.

[Tracy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still looking for more detail in any Michael Jackson book, not just this one. More insight about his feelings, thoughts, emotions, his drive to be the best, the choices he made.

[Reidun · Rating 2 out of 5]

Organization and timeline is fantastic; however author seriously needs to invest in developmental editing for pacing and structure. A star removed for author's inability to handle criticism.

[John Gatling · Rating 1 out of 5]

One sided sycophantic garbage

[Jung Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

simply the greatest artist to have ever lived

[Al · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're interested in Michael Jackson as a fan or due to a general curiosity about the life of a creative genius or celebrity, Making Michael should do the trick. I found the insights into Jackson's life and accomplishments interesting. Even more so the different view, more complete and nuanced, I gained into Michael's approach to creative tasks.

**Originally written for "Books and Pals" book blog. May have received a free review copy. **

[Rebecca Markus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Author Mike Smallcombe spent five years researching and interviewing to bring readers a look inside the music and videos that Michael Jackson created. Making Michael paints a story of each artistic endeavor from start to finish. It's a great read for those interested in the creative process of music, but doesn't go into much technical detail.

If you're hoping for a biography of the King of Pop, this isn't it. Smallcombe briefly mentions Michael's legal troubles and personal life, but for the most part he focuses on his career. I appreciated that about this book. There's no sensationalism here or tabloid-style writing.

That being said, Making Michael can be very tedious if you're expecting a story to be told. I enjoyed the anecdotes about Michael's playful behavior in the studio and especially every account of what a terrible driver he was. But those were sprinkled conservatively throughout the book. However, being that I have a performance background, I did appreciate the meticulous detail with which the author described the creative process.

Making Michael is definitely a book that any true Michael fan should have in their library.

[Julia Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is written very well, albeit a couple of things were repeated it nonetheless offers an insight into the creation of songs and albums that no other book has ever touched upon.

Interviews with those who worked so closely with Michael Jackson are informative and having read many books on MJ I discovered so much that's new. This book has you hooked right from the very start as you follow the superstar's career from start right through to his tragic early death with no stone unturned.

A must read for any MJ fan and for those who have an admiration for a man so complex through his genius and perfectionism.

Not so many photos and with such a detailed book there doesn't need to be. Great front cover image and the book has a great feel to it, good choice of stock.

[Elsa Hoffmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Michael Jackson was a complicated and very talented man. The author took his time to research and write this comprehensive book, and gives readers a glimpse into Michael Jackson, warts and all. Yes, there were allegations of child molestation and even at that time many people wondered if settling out of court was the right decision. Then came the period of hiding, and after reading this, I understand why. He hated to be called Wacko Jacko, and all he ever wanted to do was to make perfect music. What I took from this book was that MJ was never quite prepared for the harsh reality of Making Michael, he was a very kind soul, and he was manipulated by many people, until his death. Very well researched and a good read for fans and non fans.

[Marbea Logan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally finally finished this wonderful book of "FACTS". Everything I knew to be true in my heart and plain common sense was true true true. Something's aren't meant to be understood, and This book and Michael Jackson's life journey are a few at the top of my list. Everybody has there trials and tribulations. Everyone has demons to cast out or bury beneath hidden insecurities. No one is above God and his judgment. I enjoyed reading about his music career and personal struggles. I really respect the author for his thorough research, word of truth interviews, and pure personal passion behind the man and not the myth. Bravo and respect Rest Eternally in Love Michael Joseph Jackson "The King of Pop

[Virginia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I was not a big fan of MJ prior to reading it, but I have much better feelings toward him now. Why do talented people get stuck with "friends" who don't help them.

[Paz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tan bien documentado que la lectura se vuelve farragosa.

[Susan Robertson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This biography delves into the creation of Michael Jackson's music. The book explains his relationships with his musical collaborators and the process he used for selecting songs for his albums. Jackson's songwriting process is described and is unique as he did not play any musical instruments.