Dan Beck

"You've Got Michael": Living through HIStory Dan Beck

“You've Got Michael” tells the inside story of the high-stakes battle to save Michael Jackson's career and market his 1995 greatest hits album, HIStory, as documented by the record executive closest to him. While detailing the inner workings of the music business at its mega-platinum peak, “You've Got Michael” is also a gripping drama about working with a global talent through the most difficult time in his career. In 1991, Dan Beck -- a senior marketing executive at Epic Records in New York -- became Michael Jackson's product manager, with direct responsibility for the artist's record packaging, publicity, videos, retail strategy and contact with the label. The story he tells here is of the five years in that role, dealing with Jackson's unchecked ambition, surprising need for reassurance and increasing challenges to his career, many of them self-induced.

Beck recounts his often surprising (if sometimes dismaying) experiences with clear-eyed objectivity, seeing Jackson as both a superstar and a real person. “If you thought there was nothing more to learn about Michael Jackson, Dan Beck has news for you. Beck worked as a product manager for Jackson's HIStory project and has gripping tales to tell.

Not the sordid revelations you already know, but the day-to-day agonies and occasional ecstasies of being on the front lines as the career of the biggest pop star in the world goes up in flames. His torn professional and personal loyalties are so easy to relate to — uncomfortably so. Beck writes with honesty, clarity and force; the only sensationalism comes from your own memories of Jackson's highly public self-incineration.” —Anthony DeCurtis, author of Lou Reed: A Life