As we prepared to make our next album, Creatures of the Night, not a lot of A-list producers were knocking at our door. In fact, people weren’t even returning our phone calls. Finally, in the summer of 1982, I scheduled a lunch in L.A., where we planned to record the album, with a guy named Michael James Jackson. We met at a restaurant called the Melting Pot, on the corner of La Cienega Boulevard and Melrose. Michael, it turned out, had no real experience with rock and roll bands, though he had just worked with Jesse Colin Young, the founder of the band the Youngbloods, who had some hits in the 1960s. When we started chatting, Michael said, “What you guys need to do is write some hit songs.” Gee, why didn’t I think of that? Fucking brilliant. But I liked him despite being momentarily thrown by that “insight.” He was very introspective and intellectual, and we began to hit it off. Also, even though I wasn’t sure what he had to offer musically, we needed someone. I knew that Gene and I weren’t at a point where we could be productive together because neither of us wanted to compromise our respective musical ideas.
What do You think about Face The Music: A Life Exposed?
