E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (album) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Soundtrack album by John Williams / Michael Jackson
Released	November 7, 1982
Length	39:31
Label	MCA
Producer	Quincy Jones
John Williams chronology
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) Return of the Jedi (1983)
Michael Jackson chronology
One Day in Your Life (1981) E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) Thriller (1982)

The E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial album is a special audiobook and soundtrack from the famous 1982 movie, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, directed by Steven Spielberg. The music was created by John Williams, and the story was narrated by the amazing singer Michael Jackson. Quincy Jones produced the album, which was released by MCA Records. John Williams, Michael Jackson, Rod Temperton, Freddy DeMann, and Bruce Swedien all worked together to make this audiobook.

MCA Records released the E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial audiobook on November 7, 1982. This was the same month that Michael Jackson's very popular album Thriller came out. However, Jackson's record label, Epic Records, had said the E.T. album should not be released until Thriller was already out. Because of this, Epic Records sued MCA, and the E.T. album had to be taken off the market. Even with its short release time, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial reached number 37 on the Billboard 200 chart and number 82 on the UK Albums Chart. Critics liked the album, and Michael Jackson won a Grammy Award for Best Recording for Children for his work on it.

What's Inside the Album?

The E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial album comes with a special storybook. This book lets you read along with Michael Jackson as he tells the story of E.T. and the alien's visit to Earth. The book includes a picture of E.T. with his hands on Jackson's shoulders, and one of E.T.'s fingers is glowing. This picture also came as a big 22 inches (56 cm) by 22 inches (56 cm) poster in the album package. The 20-page storybook also has pictures from the movie and the words to the song "Someone in the Dark." Michael Jackson sings this song on the audiobook. The recording is on a 12-inch vinyl record and features original music by John Williams, sound effects from the movie, and even E.T.'s voice in the background.

How the Album Was Made

Michael Jackson started working on the E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial album around the same time he recorded Thriller.

Michael Jackson started working on the E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial audiobook in June 1982. This was around the same time he began recording his famous album Thriller. Quincy Jones was the producer for both projects. He also helped write the story for the audiobook.

During the recording, Michael Jackson became so sad when E.T. died in the story that he cried. Quincy Jones and Steven Spielberg decided to keep Jackson's crying in the final recording. They knew that trying to record it again wouldn't change his strong feelings. Jackson's biographer, Lisa D. Campbell, wrote that Jones had seen this before when Jackson cried while recording the song "She's Out of My Life" for his Off the Wall album.

Many people who worked on the E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial storybook album had worked with Michael Jackson before. Rod Temperton, who wrote songs for Off the Wall and Thriller, wrote the music for "Someone in the Dark." Freddy DeMann and Ron Weisner, who used to manage The Jacksons, helped coordinate the album's production. Bruce Swedien was the sound engineer for E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, just as he had been for Off the Wall and Thriller. Dick Zimmerman, who took the photo for the Thriller album cover, also took the picture of Jackson and E.T. for the album's poster.

After the recording was finished, MCA Records, the company that distributed the album, made over a million copies. In 1982, a journalist for Billboard magazine said it was one of the "most ambitious" projects MCA Records had ever done.

Michael Jackson's Connection to E.T.

According to the book Michael Jackson: The Magic and the Madness, Michael Jackson felt a strong connection to the story of E.T. early on. After a photo shoot for the album where an animatronic robot of E.T. hugged Jackson, the singer said, "He was so real that I was talking to him. I kissed him before I left. The next day, I missed him."

In the December 1982 issue of Ebony magazine, where both he and E.T. were on the cover, Jackson explained why he felt so close to the character:

"He's in a strange place and wants to be accepted—which 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"

Release and Legal Problems

Epic Records allowed Michael Jackson to record the E.T. album with two main rules:

• MCA Records could not release E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial until after Christmas 1982. This was to make sure the audiobook didn't compete with Jackson's new album, Thriller.
• The song "Someone in the Dark" could not be released as a single.

However, MCA Records broke both of these rules. They released the storybook in November 1982 and gave 7-inch promotional copies of "Someone in the Dark" to radio stations. Because of this, Epic Records filed a $2 million lawsuit. MCA Records then had to take the album off the market and was not allowed to release "Someone in the Dark" as a single. Epic executives felt that MCA was tricking people into thinking that the song "The Girl Is Mine" (which had just come out) was on the E.T. storybook album. Epic also asked that MCA Records be stopped from working with Jackson in the future and that any other media MCA owned featuring the singer be blocked from release.

Because "Someone in the Dark" could not be released as a single, the promotional copies that were made are now very rare and sought after by collectors. Some have sold for over $1,600! The song was later included as a bonus track on the 2001 special edition of Thriller, and also in the box set Michael Jackson: The Ultimate Collection.

Song List

Chart Performance

Album Team

Sources:

• George, Nelson (2004). Michael Jackson: The Ultimate Collection booklet. Sony BMG.

See also

In Spanish: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (álbum) para niños