The Invisible Man Returns

But just why Jackson finds it necessary to endure an experience like this is another question. According to one associate, who like most people around Jackson prefers not to be quoted for attribution, high–profile media–directed galas like this — or tomorrow night's Grammy program — have a special significance for the singer.

"You have to keep in mind," the associate says, "what happened to Michael during the 1980 Grammy Awards. His album Off the Wall had sold over 6 million copies. In effect, Michael was the biggest black artist America had ever produced. He fully expected to be nominated for the Album of the Year and Record of the Year awards, and he deserved to. But instead he won only one award — best male R&B vocal.

"That experience hurt Michael, and it also taught him a lesson. You could be the biggest black entertainer in history, and yet to much of the music industry and media, you were an invisible man. That's why he aimed to make Thriller the biggest record of all time, and that's why he has aligned himself with Pepsi. Pepsi gave him the biggest commercial–endorsement contract that anybody has ever received, and to Michael, the more accomplishments you have to your name, the more people have to recognize you. That's what an event like this is all about. Michael still wants the world to acknowledge him."

"As far as I'm concerned, we need to win album of the year," says Frank Dileo, Michael Jackson's manager. "That's the big one."

It is the morning of the Grammy Awards telecast, and Dileo is sitting in his hotel suite, chewing on one of his ever–present cigars. He is a short, rotund, ponytailed man with a well–earned reputation for talking tough, and yet despite his demeanor — and his wariness of reporters — Dileo can prove both personable and candid when the spirit moves him. Mainly, though, he seems to possess a genuine affection for the controversial man–child who is his client.

"Sure," Dileo says, in a whisper–soft, sandpapery voice, "I think it's important that Michael be recognized by his peers."

On the surface, Dileo's hope doesn't seem that farfetched. After all, only five years ago, Michael Jackson established himself as the biggest pop star the world had witnessed since Elvis Presley. Indeed, more than any other figure of the modern era, Jackson helped break down some of the racial barriers that had beset the pop world for a decade or more, and such videos as "Billie Jean" and "Beat It" helped define the emotional and thematic range of that new art form. As a result, Jackson did more than merely assure his own successes; he assisted in the rejuvenation of the long–ailing music industry, and for this achievement — as well as for his trans–fixing power as an entertainer — the music industry awarded him with nearly every prize it had to offer, including an unprecedented eight Grammy Awards in 1984.