Post Bad Tour
The Bad Tour wound up in January 1989 and the group disbanded. In
later years Sheryl Crow, a backing singer on the tour, would make
several disparaging remarks about Jackson during interviews publicizing
her own material. She said he was a diva, never bothering to learn
people's names.
Batten refutes this. "I think singers in general are just nuts
and ultra-sensitive. One night Michael called Sheryl 'Jennifer'," she
giggles, "and I know that pissed her off. But it's like, so what? I
mean, you got the biggest gig in the world and it's not like Michael was
unaware of who was onstage with him. We were with him for a friggin'
year and a half."
When the Bad Tour ended, Jackson retreated to the studio to begin
work on the Dangerous album. Batten used this time to capitalize on the
exposure that Jackson had given her, beginning work on her debut album.
Produced by Stevie Wonder alumnus Michael Sembello, 'Above, Below
and Beyond' was released in 1992.
Dangerous Tour
In the same year, Batten was called back to work on Jackson's
Dangerous Tour, giving her a perfect platform to market her solo work.
Despite widespread debate about his appearance and wellbeing,
Batten says Jackson seemed like 'the same Michael', if slightly more
fatigued.
"I noticed that he was busier and I remember that one time he
came to rehearsals and just apologized for not having been there the
last few days. He said, 'I was just showered with meetings' and he just
repeated it with emotion, 'meeting after meeting after meeting'."
Jackson's heavy schedule dictated that he was 'limited in his
rehearsal time', meaning that much of the set list was simply carried
over from the Bad Tour. This was 'kind of disappointing' says Batten,
because 'we all wanted to play the new stuff'. One of the few new tracks
- Remember The Time - was cut from the show after a wardrobe
malfunction.
"They had Egyptian costumes and the male dancers had these skirt
kind of things. The first time we did it one of the dancers' costumes
fell off," she cackles. "That was a little disturbing to Michael."
Michael
Jackson and Jennifer Batten performing during the Dangerous Tour. Photo
Credit: Sawf News
The wardrobe malfunctions weren't limited to rehearsals, either. On
tour Batten would appear every night wearing an enormous fibre-optic
headdress. "At the end of Beat It everybody would run out on the stage,"
she remembers. "Invariably, I would be running at full force and
somebody would step on my fibre-optic cable - it would pretty much knock
my head off. That was kind of a drag."
At the end of each show, Jackson would exit the stage on a jet
pack, floating over the audience's heads.
"He wanted to come out with the biggest show on earth," says
Batten. "He wanted it to be like Christmas for people. His imagination
was like a creative tornado. He would come up with his wildest dreams
and then hire people to carry it out. It was really amazing to be a part
of that."
Super Bowl performance
In January 1993 Batten accompanied Jackson for his legendary Super
Bowl performance, which was watched by 1.5 billion people.
"I'll tell you, it was the only time I ever saw Michael nervous.
It's live and there's only the time of a couple of potato chip
commercials to get the stage out into the field. There's one scene where
I'm on the corner of the stage with Michael and there's so much fog
coming out that we both get lost for a second, but that's the beauty of
live gigs. You never know what's going to happen. That was one of my
favorite times because it was a one-off special thing that will never be
repeated."
