JOHN DOTE' REMEMBERS MICHAEL JACKSON DEAD AT 50

  
        

       JOHN DOTE' REMEMBERS MICHAEL JACKSON DEAD AT 50

Watch the CBS live interview with John Dote' and Alyson McCarthy filmed at Dote's residence this Friday at 11PM on channel 8.
The world has lost an amazing talent. Michael Jackson never left his childhood. (CNN) -- Michael Jackson, the show-stopping singer whose best-selling albums -- including "Off the Wall," "Thriller" and "Bad" -- and electrifying stage presence made him one of the most popular artists of all time, died Wednesday, according to multiple sources, including the Los Angeles Times and The Associated Press. Recording producer John Dote' remembers the "king of pop" all to well. It was during the 80's when Dote' had produced t.v. themes including Dynasty and Dallas and struck a deal with Michael's father Joe Jackson to promote the "Bad" album on Epic Records. Michael and John became close friends. They spent quite a bit of time at the Jacksons residence in Encino, California. During that time on mothers day, John and Michael wanted to surprise Michael's mother. They went to Terry York Rolls Royce dealership in L.A. to purchase a brand new Rolls Royce which was white and they tied a bow and placed it on the hood of the car. They drove it back to Jackson's home and they invited Catherine Jackson out to the driveway to give her a mothers day gift. But she did not like the color. So they drove back to the dealership and picked out a red Rolls. When they presented it to mother Jackson she was "thrilled".

Jackson collapsed at his residence in the Holmby Hills section of Los Angeles, California, about noon Pacific time, suffering cardiac arrest, according to brother Randy Jackson. He died at UCLA Medical Center. Jackson's blazing rise to stardom -- and later fall from grace -- is among the most startling of show business tales. The son of a steelworker, he rose to fame as the lead singer of the Jackson 5, a band he formed with his brothers in the late 1960s. By the late '70s, as a solo artist, he was topping the charts with cuts from "Off the Wall," including "Rock With You" and "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough."

In 1982, he released "Thriller," an album that eventually produced seven hit singles. An appearance the next year on a Motown Records 25th-anniversary special cemented his status as the biggest star in the country. For the rest of the 1980s, they came no bigger. "Thriller's" follow-up, 1987's "Bad," sold almost as many copies. A new Jackson album -- a new Jackson appearance -- was a pop culture event. The pop music landscape was changing, however, opening up for rap, hip-hop and what came to be called "alternative" -- and Jackson was seen as out of step.

His next release, 1991's "Dangerous," debuted at No. 1 but "only" produced one top-ranking single -- "Black or White" -- and that song earned criticism for its inexplicably violent ending, in which Jackson was seen smashing car windows and clutching his crotch.
John Dote' singing WILDFLOWER on CBS NEWS with Alyson McCarthy ...

          
Alyson McCarthy of CBS News interviews John Dote' about the life and death Of Michael Jackson.

          

ALYSON MCCARTHY
GENERAL ASSIGNMENT REPORTER

Alyson McCarthy was born and raised in Modesto, California before moving with her family to the San Francisco bay area town of Danville, where she attended high school.

She got her bachelor's degree in journalism and a minor in political science at San Diego State University, where she was the outstanding graduating senior in the journalism department in 1985.

Her first big "scoop" was while writing for the college newspaper.  She busted a fraternity that was spying on women using a two-way mirror in a fraternity house restroom.

Before accepting an anchor and reporter position with the ABC affiliate in Las Vegas, Alyson was a reporter with television stations in Eldorado, Arkansas and Yuma, Arizona.

She earned numerous associate press and Emmy awards for her consumer investigative and advocacy reporting.

Her assignments have included testifying before U.S. Congress and the Nevada legislature and covering the Oklahoma City bombing.

Alyson accepted a position with KLASTV, Channel 8 in October 2002, as a morning and noon reporter.

She is married to Bill McCarthy, a Las Vegas certified public accountant, who has his own firm. They have three sons:  Nicholaus, 9, Matthew, 7, and Andrew Liam, who is 2.

             
                                       Dana Dote', John Dote' and Alyson McCarthy