June 25, 2009 07:00 PM
Late Night Music Club - RIP Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson, the King of Pop, performer of the best-selling album of all time, and perhaps the best dancer of his entire generation, is dead at 50.
Videos above show The Jackson 5 on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1970, and at Madison Square Garden in 2001.
When I had you to myself
I didn't want you around
Those pretty faces always made you stand out in a crowd
But someone picked you from the bunch
One glance was all it took
Now it's much too late for me to take a second look
Oh baby give me one more chance
To show you that I love you
Won't you please let me
Back in your heart
Oh darlin' I was blind to let you go
But now since I see you in His arms
I want you back
...little toe than this guy had in his whole body." From capnmike
I guess his many peers(highly successful professional musicans)apparently don't know what you know.
I've read some ignorant, baseless, criminally stupid comments at many sites, but this one is the all-time dumbest fucking statement ever.
...Smokey Robinson, Barry Gordie, et al. You're not alone, "The Unabomber" Ted Kaczynski was also a frustrated, misunderstood genius .
many would have loved to be in the position to have the problems he had. Of course we would all say we'd do things differently. But would we then still be Michael Jackson?
Some stuff you can't make up!
Perhaps that's the difference. Maybe he was pushed onto the stage and therefore always regretted missing his childhood. Its gotta be different if you're the one who really wants it. No matter what though, he certainly didn't seem to have people around him who had his back. I'm in the medical profession and it seems unethical to do what they did to his face. At some point the doctors should have said no.
RIP to the greatest dancer of his generation.
The plastic surgeons who altered Michael's face into a grotesque abomination should have had their medical licences revoked. What Michael really needed was psychiatric help, not surgery, to help him resolve his personal issues.
How sad and tragic that Michael was never allowed to be a little boy. His parents will have to live with that for the rest of their lives.
Love him or hate him, Michael was musically gifted and he changed pop music forever. That cannot be denied.
May he rest in peace.
Stunning news.
Despite the scandals, Michael Jackson was the King of Pop for a reason. He was a music revolution whose fantastic dancing can never be duplicated.
It's a shame, though, that his scandals and controversial life will overshadow the music and dancing he brought us.
Sorry to say this, but his manipulation of young boys was more than a 'scandal', it was abuse. Yes Michael was manipulated since he was able to walk and talk, and that can be argued as abuse -he was robbed of his childhood as far as normalcy goes. But he robbed worse via what he did and he got away with it because of who he was. I do hope Saint Peter has compassion though, Michael is in a better place.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvWMLAWrEjU&fe...
Good video. Messages coming in from all over the planet there.
"If the US government enforced its banking laws like it did its park regulations, we wouldn't be
in this damn park in the first place." OCCUPY.!!
Dancing Machine
me-oww!
He started performing at 5?
All the haters have no idea what he had to put up with.
Fuck 'em
Rest now.
Rest in peace, Michael Jackson.
For days after James Brown passed, I found myself spending literally hours watching clips of his performances on YouTube. I guess I'll find myself doing the same for Michael. Fuck the tabloid bullshit! Michael Jackson owned the stage whenever he performed; very few performers could do that (James Brown, B.B. King, and Ray Charles come to mind) RIP Michael.
If you have selfish, ignorant citizens, you're gonna get selfish, ignorant leaders.
George Carlin
That one still hurts, but like Michael, we lost him a long time ago.
average lives, and usually the biggest problem child stars have to deal with is the loss of their fame. That wasn't MJ's problem. I suspect his biggest problems were Joe Jackson, too much money, and his sexuality.
who can imagine themselves going through what he went through to become what he became?
Some stuff you can't make up!
Madonna, Usher, his sister Janet, Spears, Timberlake, on and on and on, plagiarized Micheal's show, specifically his videos from the 80's...period.
My grandmother loved him in the Jackson 5, as did my parents. I was born in 77, so I was there for Thriller and I can fondly remember the "Prince v Michael Jackson" battles on the playground at school. My husband is a Scot who admired his music and he's 39; our 6 year old son knew who he was and loves the Thriller album.
RIP Mike, often imitated, never duplicated.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSqo17o2a1w&fe...
Sang this in Chorus, 2nd grade.
That they (his physicians/family/employees/nurses), would (as the news reports are claiming) ENABLE Michael Jackson to use/abuse PRESCRIPTION DRUGS.....
Instead of having done a loving INTERVENTION that might have saved his life.
Rather he should be at a "hoity-toity" (but REAL) drug rehab right now doing an intensive group therapy, (upcoming concerts be damned), than lying in the cold and lonely morgue of an L.A. medical center.....
Bye-bye Michael. Thanks for the memories.....
"The US has an army of 90,000 soldiers in Afghanistan and is spending $100bn a year, but has still been unable to defeat 20,000-25,000 Taliban who receive no pay at all." - Patrick Cockburn
Michael was one of a kind. A perfectionist and a workaholic. Due to many severe injuries he took painkillers. Early and often. Dirty little secret is that most superstars do. I worked in the music biz for 19 years and intervention isn't an option. It is either take the painkillers or stop performing. That simple. That real. Since he was so larger than life he did more than most perfomers and he did it with broken ribs, displaced vertebrae, sprained ankles and more.
Thanks BlueGal for the beautiful tribute. I want him back too. I just saw him last month in WeHo after a rehearsal & was thrilled to see him back in action, happy and ready for his sold out tour. He was kind to a fault, naive, sweet, generous to a fault and the best talent I've ever had the pleasure to see, meet and work around. For this I am grateful. He was the best.
in the first video?
i thought it was michael, until he started singing...
I was stunned when my son told me. And only 50 too.
Sure had some great music.
Rush Limbaugh is what a smart person thinks a stupid bigot sounds like.
RIP michael jackson you will always be one of the best. no one can ever take that away dude.
Man in the Mirror
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? - Juvenal
That was the one I was going to post as well. Such a poignant, simple message.
I'm just superstitious enough to hedge my bets.
And one of the best pop songs of all time imo.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXjrntGFFC0
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
it is sad his genius was obscured these last years...
can't not move when there's a jackson 5 or michael song playing...
sorry, "ben" should not have been... it was a RAT! aack!
is still one of the best arrangements I've ever heard on a pop 45. And then along came Quincy. My, my, was Michael ever surrounded by talent. But all that talent (his own especially), all that intelligence, all that fame, all that money... How very, very sad.
"Trust no one, Mr. Mulder." - Well-Manicured Man
RIP Michael.
Only when the last tree has died
and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught
will we realize we cannot eat money.
won't go hungry anytime soon.
I Want You Back sounded good on KATZ Saint Louis a long time ago but living in those burned out ghetto dwellings gave me scurvy.
...and equally stunned by my reaction to it. I was a headbanger in high school - Led Zep, Queen, Aerosmith and AC/DC were more my speed. But, along came 'Thriller' and it rocked my world. I have been teary-eyed off and on since hearing the news. As someone told me earlier this evening, what he became late in life was sadder than his death, frankly, but he has left a legacy nearly unequaled in modern pop music (someone on TV said he was greater than Elvis, which is certainly debatable, but he ranks up there). Tragic in so many ways - I'm still in shock.
I was and still am a fan of all those headbanger bands too, but I grew up being a Jackson 5 fan and continued to follow Michael's career as a solo artist. He is my generation's Elvis and will be remembered through his music and videos. And like Elvis there will always be a following and people who loved his music will remember where they were when they heard of his death. Yes he was eccentric but he was a fantastic artist no doubt about it. Today is a sad day. Rest in peace Michael.
What you said.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BlKDXmdiUQ
"To me, truth is not some vague, foggy notion. Truth is real. And,
at the same time, unreal. Fiction and fact and everything in between,
plus some things I can't remember, all rolled into one big "thing."
This is truth, to me. "
-Jack Handy
Yeah "Thriller" even made this hard core rock/blues afficianado a believer in pop music. Not before him and not much since.
The people of privilege will always risk their complete destruction rather than surrender any material part of their advantage." J.K. Galbraith
I feel a sense of relief for him. He had a hard life, constantly fluctuating between growth and innocence in so many different facets, and I think it eventually killed him. At least he no longer has to struggle.
Not gonna lie. I had to share a few tears for MJ.
His music was the soundtrack of my youth and some of my adult life through my early twenties. .
His songs bring back memories through my 39 years of life including my first day in Kindergarten.
When I danced in the Kitchen to Dancing Machine, I swear you could not tell me I was not Michael.
Afro and all.
I clearly remember my Mother laughing hysterically.
She leaned in quietly and said.
Son. You have no rhythm.
I thought I had a mean spin move.
Rest In Peace.
To the Greatest Entertainer of my Lifetime.
I wasn't a fan, but there was no denying his talent back in the day.
He was a big Fred Astaire fan, and Astaire was a fan of his.
Swing Time
Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxPgplMujzQ&fe...
Michael Jackson - Billie Jean (Live in New York 2001)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2nTSbHfJvk
[We get it. You hate the guy. It's spam at this point. Move on-Sitemonitor]
I watched a YouTube video the other day in color with Paul Joseph Goebbels in it. He was walking with his American serviceman interpreter/interrogator.
They look so friendly and harmless once their weapons and money and arrogance is taken away.
Like I said a few Halloweens ago on a Honda site -
You meet the nicest people on a tombstone.
Note: I was responding to a comment about politics from a now deleted Post.
Not about Michael Jackson.
Love song to a rat... when I had three pet rats.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmxT21uFRwM
The internet is full of bogus 'American patriots', posting from places like Latvia, Qatar, and Nigeria.
Whatever anyone thinks about Michael Jackson you have to admit he was a star like no other, spanning 4 decades in the spotlight.
RIP Micheal, this world didn't always treat you the best, good luck in the next one.
Hey, hey there. The 2001 Madison Square Garden clip left me wanting more.
Oh well, since it's free I guess I have no right to complain.
Thanks for the post. His death makes me sad. He was an unbelievably talented musician who brought a lot of joy to me and family.
May he rest in peace.
About someone you accuse of being a pedo? Huh. Interesting...
But hey! Good for you choosing the right time and place to air out your opinion on the recently deceased.
I'm just superstitious enough to hedge my bets.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xbv-5h_oXZw
Hasa Diga Eebowai
I wasn't the biggest fan of his music, but he had some serious talent, and it's hard to exaggerate how huge he was in the 80s and how influential he's been to pop. "I Want You Back" is a really catchy tune, and it's amazing to think how young he was. Ta-Nehisi Coates posted this live performance of "Billie Jean," and it really shows off his dance moves:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzYhacSjWEU
:-)
"If the US government enforced its banking laws like it did its park regulations, we wouldn't be
in this damn park in the first place." OCCUPY.!!
what a tribute .
every time you throw a little mud , you lose a little ground .
I still remember having a Jackson 5 coloring book. Those were the days...
The Jacksons did an interesting remake of Funkadelic's I'll Bet You: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PPepwqggmU .
(Here's the original http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTZjm4QsxzY)
MJ also opened the door for black artists on MTV. The tragic life of an incredible, barrier-breaking talent comes to an end...
Will always be best in Off the Wall.
Rest in Peace.
I'm not convinced he was ever guilty of any acts of pedophilia. All too many just looked at him, saw that he was different in some way, and cast their own superficial judgement. Bigotry takes many forms.
R.I.P. Michael
I agree. He may have done some odd things, but I never believed him to be a pedophile. He may have had odd relationships with young people, but I don't believe they were exactly as they got painted to be.
R.I.P. Michael.
"If the US government enforced its banking laws like it did its park regulations, we wouldn't be
in this damn park in the first place." OCCUPY.!!
I too think, those children were extorting money for their parents.
someone said ,
" goodbye RIP you tortured soul "
thats from the heart .
every time you throw a little mud , you lose a little ground .
I grew up listening to his music. This was truly a shock. Yesterday I got home from work and heard the news. My heart instantly sank.
R.I.P. Michael Joseph Jackson (1958-2009)
NOBODY 2012
His father abusive?I don't think I would make that trade.I'll keep my life as it is rather than to have been abused my my Dad in trade for fortune and fame.
So you have passed judgement on a person who was never convicted of any of the tabloid charges that plagued this person threw his life. People are so quick to pass judgement on someone, if they don't fit the norms of life that they hold. To call someone a child predator, when you have no facts or evidence to back up your claim, is sad. Rest in Peace MJ, you don't have to put up with hateful people like this poster anymore.
diamondmc
The guy showed no signs his entire life that he couldn't hurt a fly. Many of those "situations" were simply a pile on money grab.
Jesus.
I was a victim in my youth. This guy was a classic case with all the red flags, let alone the numerous accusers. Most of them never asked for a dime.
Does heresay ring a bell?
I've watched and read interviews with accusers that never went to court and were not looking for a "payday". Maybe they were just making up it for some unknown reason, like those thousands of kids who say their local priest or minister abused them. I don't know.
If you're a parent like me, imagine MJ is the guy living down the block. Would you let your kids play at his house, do overnight stays, because he's so talented?
I will ask you the same question. What about all the interviews by kids and parents who spent time with MJ at his ranch and have said that nothing wrong had happenend? That was my original point. People are so quick to judge, without real facts. None of us, including you know what the motives of these people were. The man was never convicted of anything, but some people have convicted him anyway. I don't know if he did what some accused him of, I do know that some of them were looking for a payday.
diamondmc
I'm sure some did want big money. I'm also sure if someone asked me about what might have been happening to me when I was being abused, I wouldn't have admitted it. I wasn't even sure it was wrong. And those parents weren't in the bedroom. It was off limits to them.
If it never happened to you (I hope that's true), you don't know what it's like.
How the hell do you know what I know? Are you just making another assumption and turning that into a fact? What you seem to be saying is, all those kids who said nothing happened are lying. Like I said earlier, some people have made up their minds, and convicted the man with really know evidence or facts to backup the claim. You also said you've seen interviews of kids and parent who claim he molested them. Do you have any links to those interviews?
diamondmc
Read my words, diamondmc.
I said "IF it never happened to you (I hope that's true), you don't know what it's like."
I said "I'm also sure if someone asked me about what might have been happening to me when I was being abused, I wouldn't have admitted it."
I don't know you or what you know. I only know what I know. Were you the victim of sexual molestation? It's a terrible thing to admit. You feel guilty and dirty, even though it's not your fault.
Even if I gave you links and sources, I don't think you'd believe it.
If it's never happened to you, you just have no idea.
I was sexually abused, as a toddler and young kid, so by your rules, I DO know.
MJ was never convicted. He's dead now, and can't defend himself. Give it a rest.
Really, as a survivor myself, I don't believe I have any special insight into the guy. I know the accusation is defamatory, w/o proof. If there had been any, there would have been lawsuits galore.
me-oww!
Odd-looking (after too many plastic surgeries), black, eccentric, strange second childhood and penchant for spending time with youngish boys, once reported to be worth $500,000,000, sets you up to be prime fodder for gossip rags.
In America, if you don't put forth the right image, you must be a nutcase/criminal/pedophile?
We already know we can't trust the media. Michael Jackson scandals, real or invented, sold products and generated big ad revenue for the MSM.
"If the US government enforced its banking laws like it did its park regulations, we wouldn't be
in this damn park in the first place." OCCUPY.!!
And finally, if it's all unproven BULLSHIT because he was a child-man who just loved all children, then
Where
Are
All
The
Little
Girls??
Aren't little girls pure innocent children too?
And girls were never invited to his ranch? Got any facts for that one? Once again, the trash that has been posted across the inter-net by people who have no facts or evidence but have taken rumor, other peoples opinions, and some cases pure fantasy and have passed judgement on this persons tragic life is a sad comment. When your passing comes, lets hope people aren't so judgemental.
diamondmc
Well, let me just tell you....Whooops, stopped caring.
Couldn't find any facts to backup your line about why not girls huh?
diamondmc
No, you just opened my eyes. I get it now. Through my own experience and prejudice, I was having issues with a 50 year old man hanging around with other people's children, inviting them into his bed for milk and cookie sleep-overs, building a giant amusement park for them all to play in, taking these kids on trips around the world where they all stayed in his hotel room.
I used to be concerned about his three kids, wondering where his 3 apparently caucasian children came from. I've since read that chemical skin peels to lighten your skin can affect your sperm and DNA.
Rest easy knowing you have turned me. I'm in the Michael Jackson camp now. He's not behind me, is he?
believe what you want. Make your judgements about someone's life with alot of rumors, inuendo, tabloid trash and very little facts. Untill I see some real facts that aren't tainted by money, I for one will hold my judgement and let the man rest in peaqce.
diamondmc
You don't get it. I'm on your side now. You have won!
If Michael Jackson was such a superstar and had such an "impact" on the world of music, it only shows how stupid and simple-minded the listening public is. His "music" sucked.
...favorite by any stretch, but when you have the number one selling album of all time, you can't just deny his talent because you didn't like it.
In reality, it shows how stupid and simple-minded YOU are. Ignorant, in fact.
If you don't like the guy or his music, then don't listen to or buy his music (obviously you don't).
However, in the end Michael was a human being, and had flaws like the rest of us, including you. And I guarantee you he was a hell of a lot more talented than you can ever dream of being.
After all, he sold millions of albums around the world, changed music forever, and influenced other entertainers, and you, well, didn't.
You know, it must really suck that Michael influenced you enough that you just had to make the effort to post negative comments about him.
Overshadowed by Jackson Fawcett, Sky Saxon's death yesterday hits home. I did a website for Sky many years ago and the first Seeds album remains a regular on my turntable after all the years. I was looking forward to his summer tour.
I posted this at Feministe:
Same as Elvis, he was surrounded by people who gave a fuck about nothing other than the money he could make them. I wonder if anyone who had his ear at all tried to tell him, regardless of what he actually did, that continuing to associate with children in the manner which got him into so much trouble in the 90’s was a Really Bad Idea. But if he couldn’t reach that conclusion on his own and act on it, without a publicist/manager/life coach/etc., then he was too arrogant, dumb, deluded, and/or ruled by desire to be helped.
I usually grit my teeth whenever I hear/read a variant of ‘tragic’ in news coverage of a death, because so few of the people who use it evince an understanding of what the word actually means. This qualifies LAMF.
While I had no wish for him to die and don't laugh at his death either, he is now as dead physically as was his career and his relevance. Jackson was another Howard Hughes - at one time he might have had something to contribute to the world, but became an irrelevant and pathetic recluse by his own self-inflicted dementia. Even if the child molestation charges weren't true, the charge of child endangerment certainly was.
As for the title, "king of pop" (king of pap is more like it), that was promoted by MTV upon payment from Jackson. It was a marketing and payola gimmick to increase record sales, with no musical validity at all.
At least when the public started calling Eric Clapton "god", Clapton had the decency to hate it and tried to dissuade people from saying it. Jackson paid people to say "king of pap" about himself. No one else would have had the arrogance or lack of taste to do that, except perhaps Madonna.
If people don't like hearing that, too bad. I'm not revelling in his death, nor am I making tasteless remarks. When someone dies, a fair accounting of his actions and legacy should be done, not a whitewash that covers up the dark parts (note the ingenious euphemism).
You absolutely have zero idea what the fuck you are talking about.
Complete revisionist bullshit.
So, in your ineffectual mind, nobody called Clapton "god"? And Jackson never hung his kid over a hotel balcony?
And you call me a "revisionist".
...clear that you can't think for yourself. "At one time he(Jackson) might have had something to contribute to the world". Not only revisionism, but slanderous lies from atop an invisible perch. Lol.
But without Jackson, MTV, with it's lock at that time ('82-'83) as the nation's arbiter of pop music taste (Lee Abram's hadn't quite programmed all of the radio stations in the country at the time), would have still become more huge than it was before Thriller came out, but I don't think Jackson would have sold half the copies of Thriller as he did if MTV wasn't playing something off the LP every hour for months on end.
Don't try to confuse the issue with half-truths and gorilla dust.
So big he overcame their pathetic bigotry.
This is getting close to the all too familiar Branch Rickey being more significant than Jackie Robinson argument...I guess it depends on who is telling the story.
nearly as big as he was with Thriller.
Don't get me wrong: I love Off The Wall, and I love it a lot more than Thriller. But it wasn't nearly the same type of popularity. A lot of that, imo, had to do with music video, which was something you (almost) only saw in a record shop before MTV hit the cables. It was a perfect storm.
Hey, L&L, I've gotta go back to work, and I'd love to continue this discussion. If you're around tonight, why don't we pick this up on tonight's LNMC (it's one of mine, and I don't care if we go off topic on it)?
Don't try to confuse the issue with half-truths and gorilla dust.
Thriller exploded worldwide. Not everyone had cable back then. MTV jumped aboard and rode the wave. I'm not speaking of you Andy, but parasiting credit from Black artist's achievements has a historical background in America. Ed Sullivan somehow gets minimal credit for the Beatles accomplishments.
threatened MTV with a boycott of all CBS artists and massive negative press in regards to the station's poor representation of black artists. No doubt it became win/win for both.
I've seen some stuff, man. And some thangs...
...part of the radio/music industry since its inception. That fails to explain his record sales, including the best selling album of all time, Thriller.
He had scheduled a world tour of 50 shows for which every single one sold out within a few days of their being announced.
Doesn't sound like someone whose career was "dead" to me.
The Scheisse Girls had big record sales. What's your point?
...record sales. If your point is to compare Micheal Jackson to Scheisse whoever the fuck cares, just give up and stop.
Use the mercy rule.
The Scheisse Girls are so damn popular that not even Google or Yahoo know who they are.
I lost interest in Michael Jackson after Off the Wall.
I was more into Bauhaus, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Lena Lovich, Nina Hagen, and Kate Bush at the time.
I like how Alice Cooper reacted when critics on occasion gushed about his "genius." He'd laugh and say he wrote his lyrics while watching game shows on TV.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzyU80kuGRY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szPQCvJ8MPg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouFywZwEmaA&fe...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5r5MBBRRn1Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ot3cVY1JESQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpMGWOAAKs4
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
...to have been a fan of his, but he was an amazing talent. It's a shame he never learned to be comfortable in his own skin (no pun or meanness intended).
Rest in peace Michael.
It's possible to separate the talent from the shady personal life, just as with Charlie Chaplin. Complex people can't be pigeonholed as all good or bad. Sad that there's been so many comments of that ilk all around the internets.
Michael and Stevie Wonder were such amazing talents at so young ages. There was so much there, like Mozarts. It is so regrettable that Michael's life ended too soon, and was so distorted those last years. I was not a big fan, but appreciate pure talent of any sort. Despite everything else, that was to be admired. He inspired so many people (look at the tributes!).
Rest in peace.
America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves. ~ Abraham Lincoln
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dXUesYlVLI
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
Beyond the desicated husk that's been floating around for the last 10 years called The King of Pop, is a musical and cultural auteur, someone who profoundly changed things. Off The Wall is a flawless record, probably his best. This man was an artist-f-ed up, self destructive, but an artist, and we should focus on the art, not the cult of personality.
I wonder at people who take this occasion to dis the artistry to take the piss because it isn't music they like, making specious claims about "musicians" or "musician-friends", as if somehow that gives their bullshit some legitimacy. It is possible to respect an artform even if you don't like it. I suppose, however, its like talking to post, as people like this are usually either reading Guitar World, or putting on the old leather vest for another sweaty night of Skynard covers, or still partying like its 1977. Indeed, anyone making any claims about "real music" asserting the legitimacy of one type of music over another, doesn't care about music at all.
Oh, and can we never mention Eric Clapton again. Seriously-he jumped the shark when he broke up The Cream. His ego, his "divinity", has been the bane of music and the boon to beer commercials ever since.
He joined Cream when they were essentially a blues band, but when they went rock he saw that as selling out and left.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
Baker and Bruce were jazzers. Clapton was the only blues player.
"reading Guitar World" - dis
"putting on the old leather vest for another sweaty night of Skynard covers" - diss
"still partying like its 1977" - dis
"Seriously-he jumped the shark when he broke up The Cream. His ego, his "divinity", has been the bane of music and the boon to beer commercials ever since." - dis
I see your point. Let's not dis the music.
Indeed, anyone making any claims about "real music" asserting the legitimacy of one type of music over another, doesn't care about music at all.
All my friends had "disco sucks" t-shirts in 1977 (but I never bought one-- felt there were enough of those t-shirts already). Does that mean they/we didn't care about music at all? I mean, basically, we were saying rock and progressive rock were better than disco.
Oh, and can we never mention Eric Clapton again.
Um, whatever you say, bro.
"If the US government enforced its banking laws like it did its park regulations, we wouldn't be
in this damn park in the first place." OCCUPY.!!
thats MJ. He was an adorable child.
I remember when Elvis died. I remember where I was, what I was doing and I remember the shock. It's the same for Michael. I have many memories of him (I turned 51 last May) and it's of my oldest daughter, in diaper, crawling on her fours, getting her self up in front of the speaker wiggling her little butt to "Beat It". The louder the music, she more she wiggled!!!
I want to remember the good Michael. The talented Michael. Just like Elvis, I want to remember the good Elvis. The talented Elvis.
But then again, I wouldn't have wanted to see an old Elvis or an old Michael.
"A black belt is not what you were, it is what you become"
What my nephew liked whilst still in the crib:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5zFsy9VIdM
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
I was a fan of the Jackson 5 music, other motown hits, and family bands were a big trend back then. Remember the Cowsills?
Now don't flame me for "comparing" the J5 to the Cowsills. I was young and had no idea of what talent was really. I just knew I liked those hits.
My musical tastes turned to cowboy rock like Allman Bros in my teens when MJ was hitting it really big. There is NO denying his stardom and showmanship. Michael Jackson was a superstar, no matter what your musical tastes are/were. MTV was just starting and his vids changed what a musical video could be. That was his promotional and business sense and artistry at work. Was I a huge fan? not really. But I admired his talent.
And the dancing. The Dancing!!! What a showman! Really. The moonwalk, the constant high energy. How many pro athletes can maintain that kind of peak physical effort into midlife? Why do we expect MJ to do that? He didn't simply walk on stage and sing. He performed to the max.
His personal life creeped me out. We can all debate on the whys and wherefores, about abuse, drugs, enablers. I do remember reading that Quincy Jones did visit him several times to address the issues that threatened to kill his career. He tried to reach him that way. But some of his odd behavior was too compulsive to be stopped, imo. He had a complicated life, to say the least.
I agree with what someone above said: that his life at the end became sadder than his passing. May he find peace at last.
The Cowsills were essentially ripped-off by the Partridge Family.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qD__a9mFN-4&fe...
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
Michael Jackson, like Bobby McFerrin, was feel-good pabulum to aid in anesthetizing the American public during the ray gunn years.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bNE-5TVAmg
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
..with my opinion, which doesn't add up to a whole helluva lot, but here it is.
Good music and performances, a portion of his body of work. Most of it I found to be very, very derivative, though. Ripped off from Smokey Robinson and James Brown, for the most part.
Nasty, nasty messed-up individual, any way you want to slice it. The boy/man had a lot of emotional problems and that is always very sad if you believe as I do that you only get one shot at this game of life.
Rest in peace, Michael, and I mean that.
I remember watching him on tv with the Jackson Five. The Beatles, Tom Jones, Petula Clark, The Stones, Iron Butterfly, Steppenwolf,
Smokey Robinson, The Supremes, The Temptations, the Doors, The Lovin Spoonful, and so on.
I'm two years older than MJ.And I remember thinking,(way back when )(Late 60's early 70's) wow, he's already working. That stuck with me for some reason.
I always liked the songs and tunes that the Jackson 5 kept coming out with. Thriller was in every dance hall and bar across this country. That album went global with a bullet. But something happened to MJ.
I can't explain it. And I won't delve into it because he just passed. Fame takes another one.
Rest In Peace Michael.
What is your conceptual, continuity?
Some stars keep shining, even when we can't see them anymore. RIP.. and may your tortured soul be at ease.
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