E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (album)

In June 1982, the Steven Spielberg-directed science fiction feature film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial was released to cinemas. Created by Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment and distributed by Universal Pictures (then a subsidiary of MCA Inc.), it starred Henry Thomas, Dee Wallace, Robert MacNaughton, Drew Barrymore and Peter Coyote. The film tells the story of Elliott, a boy who befriends a good-natured extraterrestrial he calls E.T., who is stranded on Earth. Upon its release, the film became a blockbuster and surpassed Star Wars to become the highest-grossing film released to that point. Critics lauded it as a timeless story of friendship, and the American Film Institute ranks it as the third greatest science fiction film ever produced in the United States. Prior to the recording of the E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial album, Jackson released four solo studio albums with Motown Records between 1972 and 1975 (Got to Be There, Ben, Music & Me and Forever, Michael), and several with his brothers as part of The Jackson 5/Jacksons between 1969 and 1981. In 1975, he and his brothers (except Jermaine) moved to Epic Records and in 1979, Michael released his fifth solo album, Off the Wall, to critical and commercial success. ==Production==

Jackson began work on the audiobook E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial in June 1982about two months after he began recording his sixth studio album Thriller. Quincy Jones served as the producer for both projects, in addition to working as the narrative writer for the audiobook. During the recording of the narration, Jackson became so upset when E.T. died in the story that he wept. Jones and Spielberg both felt that trying to record the part again would not change the pop star's emotional reaction and decided to leave Jackson's crying in the finished recording. Jackson biographer Lisa D. Campbell wrote that Jones had learned this during the recording of "She's Out of My Life" (from the Off the Wall album), where the singer also broke down in tears. Speaking about the character, Jackson commented the following: "He's in a strange place and wants to be acceptedwhich is a situation that I have found myself in many times when travelling from city to city all over the world. He's most comfortable with children, and I have a great love for kids. He gives love and wants love in return, which is me. And he has that super power which lets him lift off and fly whenever he wants to get away from things on Earth, and I can identify with that. He and I are alike in many ways." Several of the contributors to the E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial storybook album had worked with Jackson in the past. Rod Temperton, who had written several songs featured on Off the Wall and Thriller, wrote the music for "Someone in the Dark". Freddy DeMann and Ron Weisner, former managers of the Jacksons, served as the production coordinators for the album. Bruce Swedien engineered E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, a task he had performed on Off the Wall and Thriller and would go on to perform for the next albums of Jackson. Dick Zimmerman photographed Jackson for the Thriller album cover, before again capturing the singer for the accompanying poster to the E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial album. Once the recording and engineering aspects of production had been completed, MCA Records (the distributor of the album) pressed more than a million copies of the audiobook. In 1982 a journalist for Billboard wrote that it was one of the "most ambitious" projects MCA Records had taken on to date. ==Content==

The E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial album package contains a storybook, which allows listeners to read along with Jackson as he narrates the tale of E.T. and the alien's visit to planet Earth. The book contains a photograph of E.T. placing his hands on Jackson's shoulders, while one of the extraterrestrial's fingers glows. This picture is included in the album package as a × full-color poster. The 20-page storybook include stills from the movie and the lyrics to the song "Someone in the Dark" (written by Alan and Marilyn Bergman), which Jackson sings on the audiobook. The recording, on a 12-inch vinyl LP, features original music by John Williams, integrated sound effects from the movie, as well as the voice of E.T. in the background. ==Release and legal issues==

Epic Records allowed Jackson to record the album on two conditions: • MCA Records was not to release E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial until after Christmas 1982. (This was to avoid the audiobook's competing with Jackson's new album, Thriller.) • The song "Someone in the Dark" was not to be released as a single. Epic executives had felt that MCA was misleading members of the public into believing the then-recently released single "The Girl Is Mine" was featured on the storybook album. The plaintiffs further requested that MCA Records be banned from working with Jackson in the future and that any other media owned by MCA featuring the singer be prohibited from release. By the time the court order was issued against MCA, more than 450,000 copies were already sold in the United States. According to John Branca in the Thriller 40 documentary, Jackson was upset at Walter Yetnikoff, President of Epic Records. Yetnikoff asked what he should do to make the situation better. Michael Jackson owned all of his masters as a result of the lawsuit starting from Off the Wall until the future releases that followed. The song's opening version was later included as a bonus track on the 2001 special edition of Thriller, as well as the box set Michael Jackson: The Ultimate Collection. ==Reception==

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial reached number 82 on the UK Albums Chart, which was considered high for a storybook album. The audiobook won Jackson a Grammy Award in 1984 for Best Recording for Children. Jackson won a record eight Grammys from twelve nominations, the singer said that of all the awards he had received that night, he was "most proud of this one". E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial was also well-received critically. Charles L. Sanders of Ebony magazine described it as an "extraordinary album". Mark Bego of the Toledo Blade asserted that the song "Someone in the Dark" was "one of the most beautiful ballads" Jackson had ever recorded. A journalist for the Lexington Herald-Leader concluded that it was a "delightful" storybook album. ==Track listing==

• Narration and vocals by Michael Jackson • Produced by Quincy Jones for Quincy Jones Productions • Original music for E.T. composed and conducted by John Williams • Narrative written by William Kotzwinkle, Steven Spielberg, Quincy Jones and Peggy Lipton Jones • Lyrics to "Someone in the Dark" written by Alan and Marilyn Bergman • Music to "Someone in the Dark" written by Rod Temperton • Arranged and conducted by Jeremy Lubbock • Synthesizer Solo by Craig Huxley • Album concept: Kathy "Leen" Carey • Executive producers: Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy • Assistant to executive producers: Kate Barker • Production coordinators: Freddy DeMann and Ron Weisner • Editor: Bruce Cannon • Production assistants: Pam Crocetti, Madeline Randolph, Corinne Alicia and Bonnie Sachs • Supervising sound editor: Charles L. Campbell • Sound effects editors: David A. Pettijohn, Louis L. Edemann, Richard C. Franklin, Jr and Samuel C. Crutcher • Re-recording mixers: Buzz Knudson, Robert Glass and Don Digirolamo • Storybook album engineer: Bruce Swedien • Assistant engineer: Matt Forger • Project coordinator: Nancy Cushing-Jones • Designer: Michael Brock • Photographers: Bruce McBroom and Terry Chostner • Photographer for poster of Michael Jackson and E.T.: Dick Zimmerman • Cover illustration of booklet: Drew Struzan • Art direction: George Osaki ==Charts==