Michael Jackson's "Dangerous" Mind

This latest controversy arrived in time to overshadow the attack Jackson had recently suffered from his brother Jermaine. In November, shortly after Jermaine's latest album was released, and just as "Black or White" hit the airwaves, Jermaine's song "Word to the Badd!!," with lyrics different from those that appear on his album, was leaked to radio. This version was directed right at Jermaine's superstar brother: "Reconstructed/Been abducted/Don't know who you are.... Once you were made/You changed your shade/Was your color wrong."

Jermaine quickly claimed he didn't know how the song had gotten to radio. And although he said it was written as a way of personally dealing with frustration he felt when his brother didn't return his calls for "eight or nine months," the altered version was formally released on CD to radio and critics by the end of the month.

Jermaine refused to elaborate on the lyrics, saying only that "the overall message is to help mend our relationship." He also said that Michael had "lost touch with reality" but that they had talked recently and that "I love my brother."

But Teddy Riley — who coproduced half the songs on Dangerous and is also the leader of the New Jack Swing group Guy — says that, contrary to what Jermaine has said: "Michael does call his family. All this rumor about him not calling anybody, him not answering the calls — come on. I've been there plenty of times when Michael was talking to his mom, and I've spoken to his mom and I've spoken to Janet. It's a bunch of crap. That record ("Word to the Badd!!") was a desperate attempt for fame.

"We anticipated a lot of people saying a lot of stuff about Michael," says Riley. "Hammer going after Michael and Jermaine going after Michael. We anticipated that. That's why we wrote songs like 'Trippin' {'Why You Wanna Trip on Me'} and 'Jam.' We know that people are after him, people are talking about him. But we didn't get too direct, we didn't say anybody's name. 'Cause when you're too direct, it gets boring."

Despite Jermaine's denials, it seems clear that the whole thing was calculated to borrow some thunder from Michael.

Certainly, Michael Jackson couldn't have imagined kicking off this round of career activity with a bigger bang. And yet a question remains: No matter how much hype is generated, can Jackson ever surpass his previous sales records? In the headline of a story that ran the week before the "Black or White" video aired, the New York Times asked the question on every Jackson watcher's mind: 'THRILLER' — CAN MICHAEL JACKSON BEAT IT?

That is the challenge that Jackson is up against. His biggest album, Thriller, sold over 40 million copies worldwide and 21 million in the U.S., while his last album, Bad, sold in excess of 20 million, with only 7 million selling in the U.S. Roughly two-thirds of Jackson's audience is located outside North America. In countries such as England and Japan, Michael Jackson is a very hot item. Clearly, he hopes to regain his audience here. And yet Jackson's own expectations seem impossible for any artist to achieve: He is hoping to sell 100 million copies of Dangerous. "If it sold 100 million, I don't think he'd be totally satisfied," says Bruce Swedien, one of the coproducers of the album. "But he'd hold still for that."

"With Michael, as with any superstar, reality and fantasy are totally confused," says John Landis. "It's very difficult to remain sane. I think he's doing the right thing by cutting himself off from the press, because the press tends to write what it wants anyway. But I tell you, I really like him a lot. He's very smart; he's a very nice man."

So in the four years since Bad was released, Jackson has, in his own way, attempted to take complete control of his life. He stopped working with Quincy Jones, the man who produced or coproduced Off the Wall, Thriller and Bad. He fired his manager, Frank Dileo — a former Epic Records promotion man, who deserves much of the credit for keeping singles from Thriller and Bad at the top of the charts — and hired Sandy Gallin, who has worked with Dolly Parton and Neil Diamond, among others. He also replaced his business manager and, more significanty, attorney, John Branca, who had not only handled numerous complex legal cases and acted as interim manager at various critical points in Jackson's ascent but had also negotiated Jackson's purchase of the Beatles song catalog, now worth more than $120 million, three times what Jackson paid for it. Finally, Jackson left home, moving into Neverland and, according to several sources, distancing himself from at least some members of his family.