Jacko Before He Went Wacko: Giving Orders to Mick Jagger, What Depressed Him Most

Exclusive: Jacko Before He Went Wacko: Giving Orders to Mick Jagger, What Depressed Him the Most | MJ’s Cause Of Death: Why Is It Taking So Long? | Lauren Conrad: It Wasn’t Hard to Leave 'the Hills'

Michael Jackson’s life has certainly been clouded in controversy — with his tragic and mysterious death, child molestation trials and career meltdown it’s easy to forget he was once the biggest star in the world, if not in history. But amid the ever-growing media storm MJ’s former sound engineer, Bruce Swedien (who worked alongside Quincy Jones) is spreading the word in his new anecdotal narrative "In the Studio With Michael Jackson" as too why he truly was the one and only King of Pop.

"Michael never came late to the studio, if anything he was early," Swedien told Tarts. "And he never recorded with the lyrics, he would instead be up all night memorizing every line. He was just so polite and easy-to-please, something you don’t see too often in this industry. His motto was ‘the quality goes in before the name goes on’. He lived by that."

Speaking of his artistry, Jackson even had orders for Mick Jagger while recording "State of Shock" in 1984.

"He had Mick doing scales for over an hour to warm-up before he would even start," said Swedien.

So was the "Rolling Stones" bad boy too happy about it?

"Let’s just say he did it," Swedien responded.

And just days before his sudden death, that perfectionism was still pumping.

"Michael knew what he was doing, he wasn’t insecure," said Swedien. "He didn’t respond to the pressure (of the "comeback tour") and wasn’t afraid at all."

However when it came to Jackson’s dark side, there were two things that caused him pain: his father and the press.

"There were times when Quincy (Jones) and I would have to escort Joe Jackson out of the studio because he would come and start bothering Michael," said Swedien, adding that he used to get quite depressed over the press’ perception of him. "Michael always used to say ‘how can they say that about me? They don’t know me’ … I miss him."

MJ’s Cause Of Death: Why Is It Taking So Long?

It has been almost three weeks since Jackson died and we still don’t officially know what caused his premature passing. So what is taking so long?

"The reason it takes so long is that the tissues such as the brain needs to be "fixed" in formalin or other preservatives for a period of time to harden the tissue to it can be grossly and microscopically examined. Some tissue such as the brain cannot be examined or test closely in the fresh state because the tissue is too friable and would break apart without fixing in formalin," explained Gary Brazina, M.D., FACS, board certified Orthopedic surgeon in Marina del Rey, Ca. "Chemical tests can be performed such as chromatography to find metabolic by products of drugs and this is time consuming."

So what is it that the doctor’s are examining?

"They are looking for tissue levels of any of a myriad of drugs such as opiates, benzodiazapenes, cocaine, barbiturates," Brazina said. "They look for these drugs and their concentration in different tissues. Some medications are cardio toxic, liver toxic and toxic to kidneys. Different medications metabolize at different rates and are metabolized or are broken down in different tissues, at different times. The tissue can then be sliced to microscopic sections for close cellular examination, sometimes even using an electron microscope."

Lauren Conrad: It Wasn’t Hard to Leave 'The Hills'

After making an estimated $80,000 an episode just to go on dates, fight with your friends and go to the beach one would think leaving it all behind would kinda be a tough decision. However former reality star Lauren Conrad said she had no qualms in heading out of "The Hills."

"It was a big change but it wasn't a hard decision. I knew that I had done it for a really long time," Conrad told Tarts while promoting her new novel series "LA Candy." "I was ready to move on I was ready to have kind of a personal life again."

And even though the 23-year-old is away from the "reality" drama she’s still defending long-running rumors that most of the show is actually scripted.

"You can't fake losing a friend. You can't fake heart break, you can’t fake fights," Conrad said. "Those are all real things we go through. People get the impression that it’s fake but those situations and those relationships we’re in, those are our real relationships."

Speaking of scripted "reality" television, an inside source from the set of Giuliana Rancic’s new E! reality show with her hubby Bill told us that this one is well, scripted too.

"They’re told do this and that," adds our snitch. "If they say no, another option is given."