http://www.mjjcn.com/mjjcnforum/thread-93418-1-3.html
A few weeks ago, I was at a staff meeting for new employees where everyone in the room was asked to mention one interesting thing about themselves that nobody else would know. I waited patiently 'til my turn came around, and then calmly explained how Michael Jackson once sent me to J.C. Penney to buy him underwear.
几周前，我在我们的新雇员会议上的即兴发言引起了巨大反响，我给大家讲了我为MJ工作的期间，有一次MJ派我去J.C. Penney百货公司为他买内裤的事情。
Since I have told my friends this story countless times, I was a little surprised by the strong reaction people had to my off-the-cuff comment. I guess I shouldn't have been. Like him or not, there is no denying that Michael Jackson is still a force of nature. Even my 5th graders are aware of him, and they were all of three years old when his last record came out! So to set the record straight, here is the account of my years with the so-called King of Pop.
引起如此强烈的反响我颇为吃惊，其实我本不该吃惊的，想想看，不管喜欢他还是不喜欢，谁也无法否认，MJ仍然称得上是大自然的一大奇迹。
Back in 1989, I was a fresh-faced college grad in Los Angeles searching for my first job. Since I was one of the six people that year who actually went to college just to learn how to work in a recording studio, I had no problem landing a position at one of the major studios in Hollywood. Of course, even with an expensive college degree, you couldn't just expect to start off working with bands inside the building, because that required actual EXPERIENCE, which of course was what everyone else was out getting while I was pursuing my worthless degree.
1989年，我从大专毕业，开始找工作，我学是关于如何在录音棚工作的专业，当年学这个专业的只有六个人。那年头哪有谁会去大学学习如何在录音棚工作呢？
Instead, they stuck me out in the parking shack across the street for two months. Strangely enough, I had some experience in this area, as I had spent the summer working as a valet in a garage near Fenway Park.
Parking cars for rock stars certainly had its moments. Iggy Pop once drove up in a Hyundai with no windshield. Either Milli or Vanilli tipped me a dollar for parking their Jeep. The Beastie Boys all sped off laughing one day in their rented Escort, and then drove straight up to Mulholland Drive and pushed it over the cliff. And once a week during lunch, David Crosby handed me a twenty-dollar bill to take his brand-new BMW 750 to the car wash, which really only set me back like three bucks. Once when I brought it back to him, he handed me another twenty for a tip.
一开始我只能当门童，在录音棚外为明星们泊车，后来晋升为门卫，情况也好不到哪去。于是，我开始寻找其他工作。
Nevertheless, a promotion was inevitable, and in the winter of '89. I was promoted to the midnight to eight janitorial position. At least I was happy to be inside the building, as it was getting cold in the unheated parking shack. But I knew absolutely nothing about cleaning toilets and mopping floors, as evidenced by the huge cloud of noxious smoke that spewed from the cleaning bucket on my first night when I mixed the bleach and ammonia together.
Washing David Crosby's car for twenty bucks was one thing. But cleaning the studio bathroom after David Crosby had been in there for twenty minutes was a different deal entirely. For starters, I was supposed to stay awake all night, but after six hours of cleaning the entire building, this was easier said then done. Finally, one morning as I was leaving, the studio manager asked me to take two small brass elephant bookends home and polish them up before my next shift. I spent the day looking for another job instead, and found one right away at a studio down the street on Sunset Blvd.
我找到的新工作是当跑腿的，两个月之后，他们把我派往一个录音棚，参与一个秘密的项目，后来我发现我参与的这个项目竟是MICHAEL JACKSON的新专集DANGEROUS。
At my new job, I was hired on as a "runner," which meant I got to run errands all over LA in my trusty '84 VW Rabbit. A couple months later, they moved me out to a studio in the San Fernando Valley for a "special" project.
This project would eventually become Michael Jackson's "Dangerous" album. When I first started, Michael was working with three different groups of producers all trying to take the place of Quincy Jones, who had not been chosen to work on this project. I think Michael wanted to go out on his own for this one, but the problem was that he had no idea what he wanted! One day, Slash from Guns N' Roses would be recording a searing guitar solo, while the next day, a chorus of thirty children would be singing a nursery rhyme or something.
我刚开始这项工作时，MJ正和三伙音乐制作人合作，他们都想取代Quincy Jones的位置。我觉得MJ是想自己当这张专集的制作人。刚开始他看起来有些没确定专集的风格。前面一天，他请SLASH来录吉他独奏，后头一天，他又让30个孩子来唱旋律轻柔的儿歌。
Michael didn't say much to me at first, until one day he ran in screaming that there was a "vagabond" sitting in the alley behind the studio. I took a look, expecting Charlie Chaplin to pop out or something, but there was just some homeless guy sipping malt liquor out of a bag on the back steps.
一开始MJ不怎么和我说话，直到有一天他尖叫着跑进录音棚说小巷里坐着个“流浪汉”，我跑出去看，以为会看到“查理•卓别林”那样的人物呢，结果只看到一个无家可归者坐在台阶上喝酒。
Eventually, Michael warmed up to me, and even started talking to me once in a while if he was in the mood. Once, he asked if I was going to have to go fight in the (Gulf) war. I told him I was probably too old to be drafted, and he responded by saying that he was relieved, because "if you went to the war, you could die."
后来MJ开始和我熟识起来，当他有闲情逸致的时候，还会和我聊上一会儿。有一次他问我是否会去参加海湾战争。我告诉他我可能年龄太大了点儿，根本不会被征去，他松了口气说：“你如果去参战，可能会死的。”
He also started sending me out on errands, like going out with his credit card one afternoon to fill his huge Blazer up with gasoline. If I remember correctly, he had an auxiliary gas tank mounted, so he could get up to his ranch without having to get out and fill up along the way.
后来他开始把我派出去为他办点儿跑腿的事儿，比如带上他的信用卡去给他的巨型越野车加油。我没记错的话，他有个备用油箱也要加到满得不能再满，这样他就可以一路开回他的庄园而不用中途下来再加油了。
I guess I should mention at this point that Michael is an awful driver. He hit everyone's car in the studio lot at least once, including mine. One time, he rear-ended a guy on the 101 freeway, and just left the scene because the guy got out of his car and started screaming at him. Eventually, he gave up and got someone to drive him in to work every day.
此时我得提一下，迈克尔是位极其糟糕的司机。录音棚停车场里所有人的车都被他给撞过，包括我的车。一次，他开车在101高速上和一个人的车追尾了，因为那家伙从车里出来就冲他大嚷大叫，于是他就“肇事逃逸”了。最后，他只好放弃自己开车而让别人每天开车送他来工作。
Other memorable experiences include calling Tower Records (RIP) an hour before they closed, and having them shut down early so that Michael and I could go shopping. Even though it was just up the road, I was glad to get out of MJ's car and into the safety of the store! I think he dropped about $1500 on CDs that night.
还有其他记忆深刻的经历，比如，让双塔唱片店提前一个小时关门，这样迈克尔和我就可以去选购了。尽管唱片店很近，和录音棚都在同一条街上，但是能安全地从MJ开的车里跳出来还是让我感到十分高兴。我记得他当天花了1500美圆购买CD唱片。
Anyway, one day Michael shyly asked me if I could do him a special favor. I'm pretty sure this was after he stopped driving, so I guess he really didn't have any other way to get stuff during the day. Of course I agreed, which was when he told me flat-out that he had just run out of underwear.
一天，迈克尔有些难为情地问我是否能帮他个特别的忙。我确信这是在他放弃自己开车之后的事，他没有办法自己出去购物了。我当然一口答应，于是他直截了当地告诉我他的内裤短缺了。
For pretty much the whole two years that I worked with him, Michael came in every day wearing black dress pants and a red button-down shirt. He had a whole rack of just these two items in his office, which I assume he either had cleaned and returned to him, or just threw away at the end of the day. But on this particular day, I guess he was running low on drawers.
和他工作的两年中，大部分时间迈克尔都穿着黑裤子和红色单排扣衬衫。他有一大衣架子这两样的搭配放在他的办公室里，我想他每天不是让人送去洗了又送回来就是直接扔掉。不过，在这一天，他是内衣匮乏了。
At first, he just said that he wanted underwear. When I asked him what kind, he just repeated "Underwear!" When I told him I wasn't his mother and didn't know what to get, he kind of laughed, and then said "Hanes thirty please." When I was almost out the door however, he came running up and yelled "make them thirty-twos, I don't want them to be too tight!" So there it is folks. The King of Pop wears tightie-whities!
（The type of undergarment I am describing is just a plain white pair of men's cotton briefs. Many men continue to wear these into adulthood, though most switch to boxer shorts at some point.）
开始，他就说了他需要内衣。我问他要什么样的，他只是重复“内衣！”我告诉他我又不是他妈，不知道买什么样的，他笑起来，然后告诉我说“请买汉尼斯30号的。”当我快要出门的时候，他跑过来喊道“买32号的吧，我不想穿着太紧！”伙计们，流行乐天王穿的是白色棉布三角内裤。
Other than that, I never saw any funny business going on for the two years I worked with him. I really enjoyed this experience, and even got my name on the CD! Michael was always polite and reserved in the studio, but he had his silly moments as well.
除此之外，在为他工作的两年当中，我从来没见任何滑稽荒唐的事情发生。我非常珍惜这段经历，这甚至让我的名字得以印到了CD唱片上！迈克在录音棚里总是礼貌、含蓄的，不过他有时也做点儿傻事。
He was also really concerned about doing anything that would inadvertently upset anybody around him. Even though he was spending five thousand bucks a day on studio time, Michael left me this note one day on my desk. I kept it as a souvenir, and pull it out now and then if people ever question my story. It pretty much tells you everything you need to know about him as a person and an artist.
他做任何事都会考虑到别人，生怕给他人引起不便。一天，他从我桌子上拿了根儿笔，还给我留了张条子，尽管他租用录音棚每天要花5000美圆。我把那张条子作为纪念留了下来，每当人们怀疑我讲的故事的真实性时，我就把它拿出来给他们看。这张小纸条充分地向世人说明了他的为人，他是一位怎样的艺术家。
More Musings on Michael...
更多关于迈克尔的回忆
Just a few more random stories that I didn't manage to include in my original article...
--Once, Michael asked me to run down the street to McDonalds to grab some lunch for him. This was a pretty rare request, as he usually had a personal chef come in every day to prepare his meals. Anyway, when I asked him what he wanted, he admitted that he had no idea what they served, and that he had just heard from people that the food was good there!
一次，迈克尔要我到街上的麦当劳去给他买点儿午餐。这可是个稀罕指示，因为通常他的私人厨师每天过来给做饭。不管怎样，当我问他想吃什么的时候，他只好坦白告知他根本不知道麦当劳到底卖些什么，他只是听人说那儿的吃的挺不错的。
I ended up getting him one sample of nearly every item from the menu. He took a small bite of each, and then told me what he liked and what he didn't. If I remember correctly, he really liked their fish sandwich.
我最后差不多每样儿给他买了一份回去。他每一种尝了一小口，然后告诉我他喜欢什么，不喜欢什么。如果我没记错的话，他非常喜欢鱼肉三明治。
--When the title track "Dangerous" was being recorded, Michael was injured in the studio and had to be rushed to the hospital! A temporary recording booth that we had built for him collapsed and knocked him on the head just as he started singing.
录制《危险》这首歌的时候，迈克尔在录音棚里受了伤，而且还被火速送到了医院！一个我们为他搭建的临时录音亭倒塌了，他刚一开始唱就被砸中了头部。
He ended up being just fine, and for a long time, we used to play an early mix of the song which started with a sample of him screaming in pain as the walls came tumbling down!
还好他没事儿，之后挺长一段时间里，我们放的《危险》混音版是以MJ在墙壁倒塌时发出的痛苦尖叫声为开场的。
--He was amazing in the studio. He has the equivalent of a photographic memory for music. He could sing something 40 different ways, and then two weeks later, remember that takes # 6 and 27 were the best ones.
在录音棚里，MJ简直让人叹为观止。他对音乐有极其精确的记忆力。他可以用40多种不同的方法唱一段歌曲，两个星期之后，他还记得第6和第27回录的是最好的。
--We recorded so much music for Dangerous, that it was nearly impossible for MJ to pick out what was going to end up on the album. At once point, it was going to be a double album, as he had well over two hours of music chosen for the release.
我们为《危险》专集录了太多的歌曲，MJ几乎无法决定最终该把哪些歌挑出来收录在专集里了。MJ曾经计划将《危险》作为双碟专集发行，因为他选出了两个多小时的歌曲。
When Sony decided they wanted it all to fit on a single CD, Michael kept coming back with lists of his "final" selections, but they almost always added up to over 74 minutes--the maximum running time for the disc. I remember them going back and forth on this for weeks.
但是SONY决定他们要让全部歌曲压缩到一张CD上发行，迈克尔只好反复推敲他的最终的入选歌曲名单，最后，超过74分钟的歌曲被选了出来，那是一张CD唱片的最大容量。为此，他们花了数周时间才选定。
--Madonna visited MJ in the studio exactly one time. They spent a little while in his "private" room in the back, and then she left. When I asked Micheal later about her visit, he said that she "scared" him.
麦当娜曾到录音棚来拜访过MJ一次。他们在录音棚后面的MJ“私人”房间里呆了一小会儿，然后她就走了。后来我问迈克尔她的来访如何，他说她把他“吓”着了。
I think we all speculated that she tried to make a "move" on him, but Michael never said. In any event, we never saw her again after that...
我想我们都会猜测一定是她挑逗迈克尔来的，但是他从没这么说过。之后我们也没在任何场合中再见到过她……
--Brooke Shields used to call him on the phone a lot. This was the pre-cell phone era, so I would usually answer his calls and then have to go find him in the studio. She was always really nice to me.
波姬•小丝常常给他打电话。那时还是没有手机的时代呢，所以我经常接到她打给迈克尔的电话，然后我就去给她找迈克尔，叫他接电话。波姬待我一向很友好。
The Backstreet Boys came by one day, too. And, in the whole time I worked there, Janet only stopped by once as well.
后街男孩也来过一次。我在那儿工作的两年时间里，珍妮特也只来过一次。
--There were originally three production teams working in our studio. After working up about a half a dozen songs with one of them, Michael decided he didn't like any of the stuff they had come up with, and fired them. I think some of these songs eventually came out in later releases...
一开始录音棚里有三个制作团队，和其中一组合作了五六首歌，迈克尔就决定把他们炒鱿鱼了，因为他不喜欢他们制作的东西。不过我觉得其中一些歌曲被收录在以后发行的专集中了。
--When Teddy Riley was brought on board, he didn't want to work in our studio. So for three months, our studio sat empty, and my whole job consisted of driving tapes back and forth between our place and Teddy's.
当Teddy Riley加入进来之后，他不愿意在我们的录音棚里工作。所以有3个月的时间，我们的录音棚处于闲置状态，我的全部工作就是开车在两地之间来回运送录音带。
--MJ was very concerned about the Gulf War. Once, he asked me if I was going to have to go fight with the Army. When I told him I was planning on staying right where I was, he said "that's good--because if you go to the war, you could die.
--Michale had some $900 remote-controlled motorcycles delivered to the studio one day. He asked me to come out to the parking lot to try them out, and when we were messing around with them, he drove his motorcycle out of the lot and into the alley, when a car came by and ran it over!
有一天，迈克儿订购的几辆遥控摩托车被送到了录音棚来，每辆价值900美圆。他叫我和他到外面的停车场一块儿玩儿。我们玩儿得不亦乐乎，他操纵着他的摩托开出了停车场，进了小巷，一辆汽车正好开了过来，一下把它给压扁了。
He thought that was really funny. I couldn't believe that he could laugh so much at losing a thousand-dollar toy.
他觉得这非常好笑。我简直不敢相信，损失了一辆1000美圆的玩意儿他还笑得那么开心。
--He still has my ink pin!
对了，他还没还我便笺插台呢！
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