[情報] 友人David Gest懷念MJ

看板KingofPop作者ulcer (someone in the dark... )時間14年前 (2009/12/15 16:00)推噓16(16推 0噓 2→)

留言18則, 17人參與討論串1/1

友人 David Gest 懷念MJ Obituaries 2009: Michael Jackson The TV personality, a childhood neighbour of the Jackson family, remembers his close friend the King of Pop, who died of an overdose on 25 June at the age of 50 David Gest The Observer, Sunday 13 December 2009 http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/dec/13/michael-jackson-david-gest-obituary The first time I met Michael he was 11 and already really famous – the Jackson Five were the hottest act in the world. I lived down the block from them in Encino. I became close friends with Tito and Michael after I was introduced to them by my friend Mike Merkow at Walton School in Panorama City. Michael was making a pâpier-maché giraffe when I first met him. We talked about art and he told me how he loved painting and being creative. Right away I knew we had something in common – and it was not painting! 我第一次遇見Michael時他11歲，已經很出名─當時Jackson 5在世界上正火紅。我住在Encino離他們家不遠處。經朋友Mike Merkow介紹，我與Tito和Michael變成了親密的朋友。我第一次見他時，Michael正在做一個紙模型的長頸鹿。我們談論藝術，他告訴我他是如何熱愛繪畫和成為有創意的人。我立即知道我們是有共同點的─而這一點並不是繪畫！ I started dating his sister, La Toya. It was puppy love, nothing serious. One day she was sick and Michael asked me if I could take him to a memorabilia show in Glendale. I said, "What's memorabilia?" and he said, "You've got to get into it, David, you'll love it." So I drove him to a show where they were selling lots of old rock and soul posters, gold records, Beatles items and signed items by Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison and the Doors. Michael loved the Doors and their music. He also loved anything Motown as well as real, heartfelt soul. To both of us, James Brown was a god and Jimi Hendrix was his brilliant pupil. After that, we started hanging out three or four times a week and it turned into a best friendship. We were inseparable for the next six years. 我開始和他的姊姊La Toya約會。少男少女的戀情，沒什麼大不了的。一天她病了， Michael問我，是否能帶他到Glendale的一個紀念展覽。我說︰“什麼紀念展？”，他說︰“你一定得去，David，你會喜歡它的。”所以我開車載他去，那裏賣很多老搖滾和靈魂樂的海報，金唱片，披頭四的東西，Jimi Hendrix、Jim Morrison、the Doors 簽名的東西。Michael喜歡the Doors和他們的音樂。他還喜歡Motown以及真正的、發自內心的靈魂樂。我們都覺得James Brown是神而Jimi Hendrix是他最傑出的徒弟。之後，我們開始一週出去三或四次，成為莫逆之交。在接下來的六年裡，我們幾乎分不開。 One night, when he was in his late teens, we went to The Roxy on the Sunset Strip to see the Four Tops. We went backstage with Stevie Wonder, and Michael says to the lead singer of the Four Tops, Levi Stubbs Jr, "I learned everything from you Levi, everything." Stevie picked Michael up, threw him against the wall and went, "Who did you learn everything from? Who's the greatest?" and Michael said, "You, Stevie! Stop! You!" It was so funny. It was also typical of the Michael and David friendship that would last more than four decades. We would take trips together every weekend just to get away from the house, our parents and be on our own. 一天晚上，當時他還不滿二十歲，我們去Sunset Strip上的Roxy看Four Tops。我們和 Stevie Wonder一起到後台，Michael對Four Tops的主唱Levi Stubbs Jr,說︰ “Levi，我從你身上學會了好多，好多事情。”Stevie把Michael抓起來，把他甩到牆上，說：“你從誰身上學會了好多事情？誰最偉大？”Michael說︰“你，Stevie！別這樣！是你！”這真的太有趣了。這也是典型的Michael和David的友誼，而這友誼持續超過了四十個年頭。我們週末會一起去旅行，只為了離開家裡、離開父母，只做我們自己。 We'd get in the car and sing songs together. He used to tell me I was the worst singer he'd ever heard! He always made me laugh. Michael had a great sense of humour which most people never saw. We loved to go antiquing for furniture and paintings as well as memorabilia. Our favourite thing to do was walk into a store and go, "Do you have any John LeCockah paintings?" The antique dealer would respond, "We've just sold the last one for $100,000." I'd say to Michael, "Oh no, he's just sold the last John LeCockah painting." We would plead for him to get another in and he'd respond, "They are just too hard to find." We'd walk out and go, "We'll never buy from that dealer because there's no such painter!" Michael would be laughing so hard. He had a laugh that was like a cackle: Hhk hhk hhk hhk hhk. 我們會在車上一起唱歌。他總是告訴我，我是他所聽過的唱得最爛的歌手！他總是讓我發笑。Michael很有幽默感，而大多數人從不知道這一點。我們喜歡去逛古董傢俱和繪畫，以及紀念展。我們最喜歡的事是走進一家商店，然後說，“你有John LeCockah 的畫嗎？”古董畫商會回說︰“我們剛賣掉最後一張，賣了10萬元。”我會跟Michael說， “哦，不，他剛把最後一張John LeCockah的畫賣掉了。“我們會拜託他找另一張，而他會說，“這真的很難找耶。”我們走出去然後說，“我們以後別跟這個人買畫，因為根本就沒有這一個畫家！” Michael會笑得很用力。他會咯咯笑得像︰科科科科科。 We'd do very normal things. We went to KFC a lot. Michael believed that if you took off the skin of the chicken, it was organic. I never quite got what that meant. We'd go out for pancakes and French toast and I'd drive his Rolls-Royce. When we stopped for gas, I'd ask him to fill the tank. He'd say, "I'm the star here. I can't believe you're making me put gas in the car." And I'd tell him, "When we're together, there's only one star." That was the reason our friendship was so good. I never treated him like he was a big deal. 我們會做些很普通的事情。我們很常去KFC。Michael相信如果把雞皮剝下，它就是有機的。我永遠不太了解這是什麼意思。我們也會出去買煎餅和法式吐司，我會開他的勞斯萊斯。當我們停下來加油時，我會讓他出來把油箱加滿。他會說，“我是這裡的明星耶。我不敢相信你會要我來幫車子加油。”而我會告訴他，“當我們在一起時，只有一個明星。”這就是為什麼我們的感情這麼好。我永遠不會把他當成一個大明星。 Once, in the 80s, he dressed up as a sheikh and we went to Disneyland to see Captain Eo, this 3D film he was starring in. I watched him doing the Moonwalk, and on the way out I said, "You know, you are really good." He was like, "Are you just figuring it out?" 有一次，80年代時，他扮成一個阿拉伯酋長和我去狄斯奈樂園看 Captain Eo，他主演的 3D 電影。我看著他表演 Moonwalk，出去的時候我說︰“你知道，你真的是太棒了。” 他說，“你現在才知道嗎？” He was never one to mince words. In the early days, he ran his own career and was in total control. He'd call up the president of Sony and say, "I want a billboard here. In Chicago. In New York in Times Square." He was on top of everything from the marketing to the promotion of every one of his releases and he was sharp. He wouldn't be one to hold back when he got mad. Also, he never talked in that high-toned voice. He was always very masculine, very much a man. 他這人不是三言兩語可以講完的。早期的時候，他管理他自己的事業，而且掌控全局。他會打電話給SONY的總裁說︰“我要在芝加哥、紐約、時代廣場都要有廣告看板。”他管理一切事情，從市場到行銷發行的一切事情，而且他很精明。當他生氣的時候，其他人是拉不住他的。還有，他不會用尖細的聲音說話。他總是很陽剛，很男性化。（以下貼上原文，看有沒有人要接力翻譯，沒空翻全部了，請見諒。） It all changed after the fire incident in 1984. He was doing a commercial for Pepsi and his head caught fire when a stunt went wrong. He was never the same after that. When you have a concussion and are constantly in pain everything in your world changes. Trust me, I know this from personal experience. It's not surprising that he got addicted to pills. I just wish he'd had the right people around him. The truth is that some of the doctors around him were more interested in being his friend than making sure he was OK medically. Michael was also so concerned with looking good. He had great looks to start with and never needed to do anything, but the plastic surgery was an obsession. He took it too far, and I think he realised that later in life. The surgeon should never have done any more after the second nose-job but people wanted to keep him in the fold, and that was one of the big problems in his life. When the trial came up in 1993, I was one of the few people who went on every TV show in the USA and said he was innocent. I knew he was innocent. Was it the smartest thing to have all these children on your bed watching TV? No, and I said that to him. But did he do anything wrong? No. Michael wouldn't harm a fly. He wasn't into that. Michael had a heart of gold. I wish people could know all the kids he helped. Kids who needed prosthetic arms and legs, but whose families couldn't afford them. He paid for hundreds of cancer treatments, but he didn't go around boasting about it. Nobody realised just how wonderful he was until after he died. He was a very strict father. He believed his kids should be highly educated and have respect for adults. He wouldn't put up with any crap, but he also gave them so much love because he'd been very hurt as a child, not by his mother whom he loved very much, but he was never close with Joseph. He was afraid of him. I've never been much of a crier, but I cried when I heard the news about Michael's death. I'll remember Michael as one of the funniest people I've ever met and as someone who looked for the good in everyone. What a great quality to have. He was never one to put anyone down. He always made you feel like a million dollars. I really believe he was the greatest entertainer of all time. I am glad that together we formed a company and I produced the highest rated television music special of all time at Madison Square Garden in New York in 2001, Michael Jackson – 30th Anniversary Celebration. This was our crowning achievement as best friends. They were the two highest-grossing concerts, "non-charity", of all time. His death has brought people together to remember what great music he gave us, what great dancing he gave us and how versatile he was as an artist. He was able to change with every decade and still be contemporary. He could sing anything, but the song I always made him sing in the car was "Man In The Mirror". For me, that was his greatest. Not only could I deeply relate to that song, but also for Michael it was more than a reflection. -- ※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 218.166.219.8

推

halulu

12/15 16:15, , 1^F

12/15 16:15, 1^F

推

july24

12/15 17:50, , 2^F

12/15 17:50, 2^F

→

july24

12/15 17:51, , 3^F

12/15 17:51, 3^F