Rare Michael Jackson interview with George Harrison restored by BBC

Pop star and the Beatle spoke for 90 minutes about new music, songwriting, and their own careers

A rare BBC interview with Michael Jackson and George Harrison has been found and restored, with excerpts to be broadcast in a special documentary over the weekend.

The programme was part of a long-running Radio 1 series called "Roundtable", which was presented in 1979 by David “Kid” Jensen.

“They were both lovely guys to talk to,” he told the BBC of Jackson and Harrison. “We knew we had a good show on our hands, just by the general vibe in the studio before the mics went live. It was like Juke Box Jury – people judging their peers. In the case of the Beatles and Michael Jackson, of course, it's not quite their peers but certainly [people] in the same line of business.”

Jackson and Harrison spent 90 minutes discussing singles by Foreigner, Nicolette Larson and The Blues Brothers, as well as explaining the stories behind their own songs and discussing their respective careers.

At one point, Jackson turns to the former Beatle and says: “Let me ask you a question, did you guys always write your own stuff from the beginning?”

Harrison replies: “Well, John and Paul wrote right from before we ever made a record.”

Jackson seems taken aback, asking: “How did you manage that?”

“I don't know,” Harrison says. “They were clever little fellows.”

Jackson's career is under fresh scrutiny after the controversial documentary Leaving Neverland, which addresses allegations of child sex abuse that surrounded the singer later in his career, premiered at Sundance Film Festival.

Both his estate and family have issued statements vehemently disputing the allegations that are made in the documentary, while the director recently spoke out over the "horrible" abuse he is receiving from the late pop star's fans.

“I’m getting horrible email messages from Michael Jackson fans,“ Dan Reed said. ”Several thousand emails in the past three weeks. Absolutely as disgusting as you could possibly invent.

“And why do people react that way? Why when two men have come forward saying they were sexually abused as a child, why do we want to shame them? Why do we want to shut them down? Why do we want to silence them? Why do we want to threaten them? I don’t understand.”

When George Met Michael will be broadcast on BBC Radio Solent at 11pm GMT on Saturday 9 February, after which it will be available for 30 days on BBC Sounds.