I also remember, I was editing on a KEM, this was pre-digital editing. And Michael was sitting behind me with his two bodyguards, looking at the film. And I felt a slight pressure on my back. And I turned around and Michael was wearing his surgical mask, and a hat, and dark glasses. And he laughed. I didn't think anything more about it. And then, I felt the pressure again. And turned around, and then thought, I wonder... And I reached around, and sure enough there was a piece of paper taped to my back. And I pulled it out. And it said, in Michael's handwriting, 'Kick my butt', which he found very funny, and I found funny. I wish I had kept that piece of paper. I wish he had signed that piece of paper, and I'd kept that piece of paper because it would be worth a certain amount of money today.
But it put into sharp relief the kind of person that he seemed to be, which is a very astute business man. Because at the same time that he was writing 'Kick my butt', and putting it on his editor's back, he was also making the deal to bid $60 million for The Beatles' catalogue, outbidding Paul McCartney by $30 million, or something.
After having asked Paul, disingenuously, in retrospect, he said, 'Paul, I'm such a mess. You guys have your act together. What's the secret?' 'Well, Michael', said Paul, 'the thing is don't lose your catalogue. We made the mistake of losing our catalogue. And we're now trying to buy it back.' 'Oh, really, how much are you paying?' '$30 million.' '$30 million that's... oh my God.' 'Yes, so keep in mind, Michael. Don't lose your catalogue.' 'Thank you, Paul.' I'm inventing dialogue here, but essentially, the door closes. And Michael gets on the phone, give the bid of $60 million for the catalogue. So at the same time that they were doing Ebony and Ivory, and playing together, there was this other thing going on in the background. So the most hard headed kind of business aspect. And yet, ten-year-old behaviour, he said, 'Kick my butt.' And he was, I think, a child who was never allowed to grow up, the whole Peter Pan syndrome. But also, and simultaneously, he was an adult that never had a childhood. He was plunged at age four or five, however when he started singing, into a world of really adult shenanigans, and values, and everything. And so the Peter Pan aspect of him was an attempt, probably, to claw back some of the childhood that his life had never allowed him to have. And in dealing with him, you saw both aspects of this flickering back and forth.