In Tribute: Michael Jackson
June 26th, 2009 | 6:55 pm est |
If a death from a cardiac arrest seems too small and sudden a death for Michael Jackson, the biggest superstar in the world, it’s because no death would seem appropriate for the self-proclaimed King of Pop. At his best and at his worst, Michael Jackson never quite seemed to belong to this world -his talent too enormous to comprehend, his self-imposed fantastical seclusion too odd to understand - so envisioning an end never quite seemed possible, although in many ways the final chapter in his tragic rise and fall was written years ago. The Michael Jackson the world loved so dearly hasn’t been around for almost 20 years, starting to fade sometime after the coolly calculated Bad, then disappearing completely in the wake of scandal in 1993. It’s no great stretch to say Jackson never recovered those accusations of child abuse - some would argue he may not have deserved to - but all that ugliness somehow never managed to erase memories of Michael at his peak, whether it was the preternaturally gifted young lead singer of the Jackson 5 or the international phenomenon of the ’80s.
Those memories remained partially because they were burned into our collective consciousness - as the unprecedented worldwide outpouring of grief illustrates, there’s not a soul alive that hasn’t seen Michael moonwalking or dancing with his brothers - but because there’s no music as rapturous as Michael’s best. Even now, with the tragedy of his death fresh in mind and his sad decline all too evident, it’s impossible to hear “I Want You Back,” “ABC,” “Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough” or “Rock With You” and not get swept up in their transporting exuberance, his exhilarating brilliance preserved forever in the original productions by the Corporation and Quincy Jones. Darkness started to creep into the margins on Thriller - not through the horror movie homage of the title track, but in the paranoia that fueled “Billie Jean” and “Wanna Be Starting Something” - but it added depth and tension without stripping away the joy. And despite these deeply-felt undercurrents of tension and sadness on Thriller, something that can be traced back to the heartbreaking “She’s Out of My Life” on Off The Wall, what remains so captivating is its enthusiasm, so infectious that it seems pure, even though close inspection reveals how Jackson - with the assistance of Jones and Rod Temperton - created a clean, seamless crossover that touched upon every sound and format of the early ’80s, from electro-disco to soft rock and heavy metal.
Soon enough, those seams began to show as the joy calcified and Jackson’s desire to remain the biggest star the world has ever known slowly stifled his creativity. Bad still had a stainless steel appeal, its calculations perhaps a shade too evident yet its transparent multi-format appeal was coolly confident and suited to the tail end of the ’80s. In comparison, Dangerous seemed a bit desperate as Michael abandoned Q in attempt to sort out the ramifications of hip-hop, something that he never quite came to terms with, but that 1991 album turned out to be the last time he made music with at least one eye on the outside world. Hobbled by his personal demons, he painted himself in a corner, making wounded, vindictive, curiously compelling music that was purportedly pop but had no mass appeal: HIStory and Invincible attempted to follow the Dangerous blueprint, yet their overly labored production and crippling solipsism left them appealing only to the dedicated, of which there were still many millions.
But Michael Jackson was never meant to be a cult artist, which is one of the many reasons his music of the last two decades often struck a dissonant chord: he belonged to the masses, providing a soundtrack to billions of people around the world, from the millions that made Thriller the biggest album ever to those who never owned one of his records and yet knew all his hits. That is the Michael Jackson that has been absent for 20 years and that is the Michael Jackson that is being mourned today. His sudden death gives us all an opportunity to appreciate the enduring genius of his art but to realize that we have no musician that speaks to all of us … and that we haven’t for some time now.
I feel heavy. This is it.
Your last sentence is the most succinct and heartbreaking expression of the true loss that the world has suffered in the passing of Michael Jackson that I have yet seen. I had to read it again to really take in how much it affected me. A wonderful tribute to a remarkable talent.
Jackson set the standard for mainstream pop, but even that seems an inappropriate term. Whether it was disco, soul, funk, or straight up rock’n roll, Michael raised the bar for what was required as a performer, and what one could acclompish on one mere album.
I completely agree with every word, Mr. Erlewine. You did an excellent job of objectively and respectfully conveying the thoughts of passionate music lovers everywhere. Thanks for the great writing.
What a thoughtful tribute to the King of Pop. It reminds us why we loved Michael Jackson without being sentimental or glossing over his tragic decline.
a very well written eulogy for an unparalleled talent. RIP michael.
Thank you for your respectable and perceptive commentary, Mr. Erlewine. Michael Jackson will be sorely missed.
Well written, honest, and caring. RIP Michael.
“his talent too enormous to comprehend”
He was a good singer and dancer. Other people wrote his songs, arrangements, choreography and stage setups. Did he play any instruments?
Mr. Erlewine, this tribute is so very well written - I commend and Thank you!
Alex, do you realize that the human voice is THE greatest instrument available to humans? The finest man-made instruments can’t compare to anything that nature has provided and only the greatest and most-skilled individuals can even glimpse the grandeur that nature provides.
But, putting the ball back in your court, I’m going to point out that the vast majority of drummers and guitarists and bassists and pianists never BUILT their own instruments. Nearly all of them rely on “other people” to build the instruments.
Sinatra relied on other people to write and arrange his songs. Was he any less a talent for it? Aretha Franklin is a fairly talented pianist, but most people don’t think of “piano-player” when they hear Aretha’s name. Dolly Parton is a gifted guitarist and songwriter, but few people recognize her guitar-playing and her biggest pop hits were written by others.
People like you make me utterly sick. Ability to play an instrument is not the be-all and end-all of musical talent. But, to point out your ignorance, Michael did write many of his own songs. A few of his own recorded compositions include “Beat It”, “Billie Jean”, “Another Part of Me”, “Don’t Stop ’til You Get Enough”, plus he also wrote or co-wrote songs for the Jacksons including “Can You Feel It” and “Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)”. He also wrote “Muscles” and co-wrote “Eaten Alive” for Diana Ross and “Centipede” for his sister Rebbie. Michael also did many of his own vocal AND instrumental arrangements (he was responsible for the percussion arrangement on “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’”).
I lived in an epoch of the end of 80-s’, I remember Michael as a star a break dance, good, positive and young in thoughts and on a scene the person.
As expected as this was, it still feels surreal. Just as millions of other people, I grew up with his music, he was my first idol in music. And today it hit me - this is it, he is gone and so is my childhood. And I cried.
R.I.P. Hope you’re in better place now, Michael Jackson.
i loved mj his passing brings back memories of my pink strawberry shortcake bedroom with my poster of him in white/yellow above my bed and a poster of him with brooke shields on my door. rip michael i love you!
Not that this is the time or the place, but Joseph totally stuffed Alex - whose logic would deem Victor Borge’s music a greater gift than Jackson’s. Way to stick up for vocalists, Joe (not to mention, yeah, Jackson wrote timeless pop hits by himself). To take on the other front, “dancer” encompasses too broad a range to define what Jackson did on stage. A move which lasted less than a second of airtime at Motown’s 25th inspired an entire planet to dance!
And Mr. Erlewine, I feel like I put this in every comment, but now more than ever: I love allmusic.
Alex - yes Michael Jackson played keyboards and did a lot of arranging too (synthesisers and vocals) particularly on his last album Invincible. A truly talented individual who had honed his craft for so many years before it was cruly taken away from a world that was HIS audience. RIP Michael Joseph Jackson
I quite agree, we all mourn that Michael who may have left us for quite some time now, realizing that we have no such talent speaking to that much of us …
“It’s no great stretch to say Jackson never recovered FROM those accusations of child abuse” seems more sentence-like.
‘we have no musician that speaks to all of us … and that we haven’t for some time now’
Michael Jackson is arguably the last of the pop stars. Even Madonna had to take a semiotic detour in the beginning of the 90s to carve her own space in a fragmenting culture, adverse to universal phenomenons. I see Michael Jackson’s seclusion as a refusal to go down that very path: he aimed for no less than iconic proportions and his artistic lingering began when ‘alternative’ became the new mainstream. It was very coeherent of him not to play that game through. Jackson literally grew up in public and a niche would never be a place for him settle in.
Michael Jackson was the Elvis Presley of my generation, down to the “comeback specials”, enigmatic ranch seclusion, weird quirks and premature sad end. And what post-modernism means is that, very probably, in 20 years time, no one will have a ‘Michael Jackson of their generation’. That’s what died two days ago and that’s what people will miss.
The Pseudoscience psychiatry cult killed the King of music Michael Jackson. Psychiatry needs to be burned to the ground before they kill more great artists. RIP Michael Jackson, you are my favorite musician of all time. We will punish the psychiatric cult responsible for your death. Down with pseudoscience cult of psychiatry!.
I remember to see the Thriller video clip for the first time I had never seen anything like it, Michael Jackson will make a lot missing RIP.
Again, would you people get a life? I feel sorry for you all. Tim (and Jeff) Buckley had more talent in their middle fingers than the King of Poop.
Funny. I don’t seem to recall Tim or Jeff Buckley’s middle fingers do a moonwalk.
Or win a Grammy.
Or have a number 1 album.
Or have a song in the top 60 of Rolling Stone’s Top 500 songs.
Or be in 25th place in Rolling Stone’s Top 100 singers of all time (and, hey, while we’re at it… that first paragraph is all about Michael’s “innate talent” from as early on as 11 years old).
Or practically crash the internet when either of them died. (That’s a talent in and of itself.)
…And I’m a Jeff Buckley fan, incidentally. But I’m at least grounded in reality enough to give credit where credit is due.
Michael made his own career, Alex. Like any other pop-star he did collaborate with other writers from time to time. He was a true genious and I truly doubt that anyone will ever make such an impact on the world as he once did, and will do for years to come.
Beautiful tribute to one of our biggest shining stars. I regret that I never had the chance to see him perform, or be able to say that I was a fan during the period when he was still active. He will be missed. RIP MJ
Odd, people questioning Michael’s great talent and achievements while no other artist, ever, has accomplished this kind of phenomenal track record. Ok, you can question the man, his music and sometimes odd, childish, out of touch behavior. Just as people did with Elvis’, Janis & Jimmy’s alcohol or drug abuse and - for some - ‘over the top’ performances, Lennon’s at times naive and confronting behavior made him hated by the whole right wing, and van Gogh.. or MLK..well.. In time those critics are viewed as ignorant. You cannot deny Michael Jackson, the artist, his great talent and achievements.
“very probably, in 20 years time, no one will have a ‘Michael Jackson of their generation’.”
It’s my belief that Justin Timberlake will ascend to this role. He has a public presence that reminds me of Frank Sinatra and ironically, he based his stage persona upon Michael Jackson’s. I expect Justin to live a very long life though, as he has so far avoided the the pressures of fame that took down Elvis, John, Kurt and (very nearly) his former girlfriend.
Miley Cyrus on the other hand…
A friend commented that it’s probably the least tragic thing that’s happened to him in the last 25 years.
The allegations of child abuse were obviously groundless - muckraking by money-grabbing wastes of DNA; does anyone seriously think if there was an ounce of truth in them that Neverland wouldn’t have been swamped by thousands of grubby folk desperate for a bit of notoriety and money? Not that he wasn’t seriously weird, mind.
I’m not even remotely a fan of him or his music but it would be churlish not to grant that his music brought pleasure to millions worldwide and will continue so to do, or that he was a genuine cultural phenomenon.
Prince was better, though…
I made up my own cd yesterday of hits from his Jackson Five days along with later solo hits from Off The Wall and Thriller. Anyone who has not heard the overlooked song called “Maybe Tomorrow” by the Jackson Five should really check it out. Unfortunately his later years were marked by mental illness but he has to be up there with The Chairman Of The Board and Elvis for his importance to music. Many musical artists today were greatly influenced by his music and I will never forget the Motown Award Show that had so many great artists there and Michael stealing the show. I would compare that moment to Elvis being on the The Ed Sullivan show for historic musical importance. Michael has passed away but like the great musical artists before him his work will be listened to and appreciated for generations to come. The term greatness is probably used way to often but in this case it may be and understatement. Immortal comes to mind and that is the way I will leave it. A musical Immortal has left us.
I’m not a fan. I don’t like his music. He left nothing but few easy and pretty fun songs, nothin’that will rest in musical history. to much talk for his death only because of the vaste number of fans (that doesn’mean he make great music…also britney spears or 50 cent sell too much and have too much fans !!)
But i’m SORRY FOR THE DEATH OF A MAN, a common man, with good things iside himself (maybe) but known for the worst thing…he was born black and die white… that’s enough..no need to make a long list.
Simply the death of a man… leave him in peace.
STOP the miatic assault…every channel..every radio… !!!!
When Frank Zappa or Syd Barret died, nothing of this happened….
…but it should have happened..’cose they really could teach (even now that they’r dead) something to young people, to the guys that doesn’t know what musical extasy an culture is… how better can become a man through a song…
…now i have to hear thriller, black or withe, etc. a millions time, and listen stuff like drugs, testaments, suicide…
STOP !! MUSIC IS LIFE !!!
Long life to rock !!!!
CICCIOBECK ‘75
I wonder if “Alex” is a Prince fan? I’m a Prince fan. Prince does all his own stuff. Regardless, MJ was a force to be reckoned with, not because he had a bigger team but because his music was broader-reaching and less kinky. This is why, ultimately, Prince didn’t go MJ supernova. I wish the world would give it up for Prince the way they have for MJ, and more, but it just isn’t going to happen. It doesn’t matter who was better or had more cred, give MJ his due. Try not to feel good when one of his hits comes on, try not to be electrified when he slid across the stage and dare tell me if anyone had more soul than young Michael giving us a little bit of God when he sang ABC or any number of the other J5 jewels. Prince is my King but MJ cannot be denied.
The dude dangled a baby….
Very well said. Appreciative of the incredible music he made, acknowledges that he wasn’t what he once was and probably wouldn’t be again, and most importantly, not dismissive of his flaws.
The last sentence speaks volumes.
Thanks for the brief summary of the man whom I grew up listening to first on records, then on 4 track, cassettes and finally cds. His whole life seemed to be one of a dream where he never leave the plastic surroundings of the studio and stardom. Before our eyes Michael Jackson transformed into what seemed to be his life long passion: a fair skinned, straght haired, european facialized pop icon. Over the years of all of the pompus kept him isolated and withdrawn and when he did make appearances it was always some sort of spectacle. True over the last 20 years MJ had been absent from the brutal competative music scene, however the drama that surrounded his adulthood continued to make him appear less than normali.e. from the dangling baby incident, ect. ect. Nonetheless, during his last days it seems he was out of control, but no one came to his assistance. With financial woes looming, the king felt he could do one more last harahh that would fix everything and he could get back on top again. Gone too soon as his last song goes and that’s an understatement. Thanks Michael for all the music and thank you Mr. Erlewine
Beautiful. =]
Michael Jackson you were truly AMAZING. I will never forget you or ever stop listening to your music. You have touched me and millions around the world and shame on those who accused him of anything because he would have done nothing wrong to anyone.
RIP Michael…Legends never die and you are one, I love you.
Michael Jackson did not proclaim himself the King of Pop. That’s another false story that seems to just have legs of it’s own. It was actually Liz Taylor who first uttered those words.
He was a true Genius that will never be surpassed in Sheer talent and eccentricity.
He will be missed, may he rest in peace ……..
Thanks for the nice tribute, Stephen. Both for reflecting well our appreciation for MJ, as well for being clear-eyed. I’ve just spent 2 hours listening & watching him perform the song “Off the wall” — I love that song! Listening to him sing “Gotta leave that 9 to 5 up on the shelf, and just enjoy yourself,” I finally cried for this transcendent tormented soul, that what might have been for him will not now be. That refrain’s sprung rhythms are perfect, and yes I’m a sucker for those harmonies. John McWhorter at TNR was puzzling about his unusually high voice. In that regard he’s always reminded me of the great jazz singer Jimmy Scott. Different voice quality, and Jackson’s was distinctive, but they both had that plangent quality, evident on Michael’s ballads. Scott is probably the greater vocal talent, but Michael’s transcendent gift was his dancing. In his insouciant and effortless control of his body he reminded me of Fred Astaire. I had always nurtured the hope that one day in his middle years he would make some musical films like Astaire did, and then we would have his astonishing dancing artistry preserved forever. But I guess we would have had to catch him before he messed up his face irretrievably. Who was looking out for him in those years? WE WILL MISS HIM!
A man is dead.
Just a man, not an Artist, not a genius, the music never needed him, and nothing he gave to music.
Just a dead man.
R.I.P. mister Jackson
Why we had to see mister jackson on every channel, at every Hours, everytime, everywhere !!!
When Syd Barret Died oe when Frank Zappa leaved this world… we saw only few minutes on Tv…
…media should give to people something that could hide our soul, the music of these two genius, for example, can bring the people to a higher level, could teach us so much things, ’cause music can make the world a better place.
What can give us Mister Jackson, a message, musical extasy, sublimations of feelings, something that can turn the world in a better place…also just a litle bit ??
NO NO NO !!!
So dear MEDIA… stop this shit, and just say a prayer for a man that left this world!!
ciccio, you cannot say “he gave nothing to music” when “Thriller” and “Off the wall” exist. You simply can’t. You would be lying.
I do not pay attention on the American production, exept NYC scene(talking heads, public enemy, Lou Reed…etc), but I must say that Thriller is the ultimate album. R.I.P mr. Jackson!
RISINGSON, also britney Spears, take that, Spice Girls, Jonas Brothers, Hanna Montana..etc, EXIST. But is not music, is ShowBizz !!
Is not a “Massive Attack” against you.. but just what i think.
Dear ciccio, if you don’t get the differences between Hannah Montana albums and the “Thriller-Off The Wall” combo, it’s quite a problem of yours. It’s like saying that Nirvana did nothing to the music in the 90’s.
I loved Michael’s music until I knew Prince and Terence Trent D’arby. They composed their own songs and they didn’t have the need to be commercial. Although they didn’t hide behind their music videos, something REALLY changed in me when I listened to TTD’s Neither Fish Nor Flesh and Sign of The Times.
AND we must face that apart from his career with his brothers, he only has two good albums (Off The Wall and Thriller…and most of Bad)
I wonder what could have happened to Thriller wihout the John Landis’ music video…
King of pop? Michael’s wasn’t pop music! Was it?
As Prince once sang
“2 whomever it may concern
U must come 2 your senses
There are no kings on this earth, only princes”
yes risingson, I see the difference.. Hannah Montana is natural white, MJ turned black to fluo-white.
Well..seriously FAN is obviously not objective, but the Future will tell the truth. After the storm, when all becomes dry, no one will remember the rain.
But definitely everyone will remember a tornado…even after 30 or 50 years…remember the”Beatles” tornado ??
Maybe we could talk again about this in 2010…and again in 2015, who will remember MJ still calling him “the king of pop” ???
maybe i’m wrong…but i don’t think so !!!
Michael Jackson was always committed to being Michael Jackson. No more, no less. We should strive to be ourselves the way the King of Pop did. RIP, Michael.
Jackson put dancing, clothing, stage production and persona where I prefer music to be. He introduced/allowed all the miserable followers to dominate a scene that used to be mostly about the music. Not anymore.
I don’t consider myself a “superfan”, I own The Essential Collection. Yet, I am sure there isn’t a soul alive that hasn’t so much as bobbed his or her head to “Billie Jean”, or hummed the riff to “Beat It”. These notes in and of themselves are proof that his music will forever transcend time, gender, creed, and race.
I was a senior in high school the year that Thriller was released and still remember seeing “Billie Jean” debut on MTV. I thought at the time, and still do, that it was inoffensive MOR music - a good, not great, mix of pop, rock and soul. That it took off like it did says more about the era in which it was released than anything. It was the pet rock of its day.
I’m not that a fan (i think that Bad is more embarrassing than well made, and Dangerous is a misguided piece of eurotrash), but really you cannot just say that the mentioned Thriller is MOR: the complex rhythms, the very complex arrangements, the even more complex chord changes (have you listened to “The girl is mine” closely?) and his ability to make hooks faster than anyone makes it better than the myth, the marketing guy or whatever. If you intellectualize a bit less the Michael Jackson figure you could actually enjoy very good music that he made back then, before becoming alien.
And anyway, I don’t understand how liking Prince (who I love, despite whatever he has been doing since Diamonds & Pearls) and Terence Trent Darby (who I don’t love that much, but I do love his hits) makes you stop liking Jackson. Indeed, I don’t understand how liking Beatles, ACDC, Miles Davis, Neil Young, The Killers or Philip Glass affects liking any other kind of music.
After reading that beautiful piece on MJ by Stephen Erlewine, I realize I did not understand the artist as well as I believed I did. Very beautifully written with a nod to reality. Thank you. However Michael Jackson is gone now and his legacy of music and talent will speak for him in the future. He was truly a remarkable soul with talent overflowing. He is above all the pettiness and paltry trifling over his career as well as his personal life now. Rest in peace Michael…your music lives inside of us.
I watched the special that one of the big networks did on Michael the night of his death. I think it was 20/20… Anyway, I have to agree with you, I think that after the album “Bad” Micheal started to become something completely different than what the world fell in love with for. It was really sad to watch this strange man giving interviews explaining and defending his actions. I felt pity for him.
He was a great influence on the music industry and had a great impact on millions of people. I was one of those, and I do feel greatly saddened by his death.
So well written.
And also good posts rislingson
Could you answer what is complex about the Girl is Mine and what songs have particluarly complex arrangements?
“The Girl is Mine” is a very subtle sucession of hooks; it has the same gospel-influenced kind of voices (”mine, mine”), but what is lovely is how it mantains the tension before going to the chorus. Indeed there is a lot of tension in the bridge, and Jackson/Jones achieve that being less shouty than the usual soul ballad (putting sometimes the arrangements louder than the voices) and playing with the syncopathed nature of the combination of guitar, lead voices, synths, and whatever came to mind to the people involved there.
The most complex of all is, of course, “wanna be startin’ somethin’”. Every time you listen at it you discover another production trick that add some more to the reasons why that song never gets old: the scat, the whispers, the nearly arrythmic combination of synthetic percussions, or that bassline that carries it all. And the tension again, but this time it is different: it is not about the chorus that never quite comes, but the song that seems always too menacing and taking you fast somewhere. But even in Bad there are really good touches in those hypertechnified electrosoul numbers “Leave me alone” and “The way you make me feel”. Pity is, as I said, he understood the progression of that music in a wrong way, and when Dangerous came it sounded more like Bobby Brown or even Milli Vanilli than anything else.
Regards he-hee
i left a note in the newer blog about MJ, so i won’t repeat that here, but i will say this:
sales does not = quality. i love SOME of MJs tunes, but i don’t think ANY of them will matter a hundred years from now, whereas teh beatles, frank sinatra, and elvis will. pop music, by definition, lacks gravitas and MJs simply didn’t have the integrity of the others tunes.
and to whoever said justin timberlake was the next MJ… JT is a JOKE, and yet there are similarities, as they both are corporate, polished, and above all else COMMERCIAL ventures.
neither MJ or JT is fit to shine Frank’s shoes. what a joke to even suggest it. franks career was of a man at the top for nearly 50 years straight! only bing can compete, and only elvis and the beatles should be mentioned in the same breath.
Right MrSINATRA, i also left a note in the newer blog about MJ, ’cause reading all the notes i founde a sens eof reality only in your note and in the note of MARK.
Feed your hear with good food… we are what we eat..and also what we listen !!
Damn, ciccio, I wish I was half good as “Rock with you”.
Wow, thanks for the great explanation Risling.
Regards and Shamone!
And mrsinitra you’re talking bull.
Elvis and Sinitra’s were merely perfomers who were inferior to MJ as performers
Just listen to George Carlin.
How can their tunes have more integrity when none of its their own?
It’s laughable to say they will be rememberd and MJ won’t. MJ is far far more talented and unique than Elvis and objectively will be remembered as such.
He shoudln’t be compared to MJ.
And both their musical style is far less varied if you include MJ’s work with his brothers.
And MJ was a much bettter vocalist. He was better than them as a child.
The are ton of people who can imitate their voices but nobody can imitate MJ’S
MJ was truly special and will be remembered as such for ever.
Oh, and I notice you don’t mention any black musicans as great who will be rememberd.
Because Stevie Wonder, James Brown, Prince, Ellington and many others are far more talented and innovative than Elvis, Sinatra and Crosby
SAM,Stevie Wonder, James Brown, Prince, Ellington …really don’t have nothing to do with MJ… other planets …other levels …
IF MJ is level 10…..Stevie Wonder, James Brown, Prince, Ellington is level 10.000.000.000.000.000.000.000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
Great tribute. We could not expect less from AMG!
This is a huge loss for music.
RIP Michael Jackson
Ciccio: I agree with your last post, as annoying as it may be (with a bit less zeroes the messages could be just as clear).
The question is: so what.
Far better musicians out there who get far less recognition. Cult of celebrity gone way too far. Most of Jackson’s (or his song-writers and producers) stuff is pretty sappy or unbearably cheesy - random key change when you run out of ideas anyone? I’m with Jarvis Cocker on this one.
Give specifics, Rick. A lot of stellar artists have cheesy moments…and who’s a “far better musician” (I assume you’re counting voice) out there today who has the ability to wow a crowd like Michael did? -Of course there are artists out there today who belong in the same pantheon as Michael, but “far better”?! C’mon, man, lighten up! He was one of the greats!
And since when does Jarvis Cocker have it against Michael Jackson’s music? If you’re thinking of the incident at the 1996 BRIT Awards, he was protesting Michael’s messianic concert image - he said nothing about his music!
Well said, Mr. Erlewine, this is the best tribute I have read and it captures everything I am feeling.
Great post you have here. He will surely be missed but his music will live forever. I found this Michael Jackson comeback book that will surely become a valued collector’s item.
My painting of Michael :
http://www.kerdy.nl/
To live forever his songs must be played, sung and listened to.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JILdL2fT6NY
join me and sing out loud.
it’s now a month later since june 25 and i have still yet to overcome grief. you’re last sentence says it all, your words touched me stephen! rip mj
http://mjarocker.podomatic.com/enclosure/2009-08-25T00_13_48-07_00.mp3
cool new reggae versions behind MJ accapellas, more than a mash up check it out
I think its unfair to say he’s been absent for 20 years. ‘Dangerous’ was actually a great album, some of the best new jack swing ever made (Jam, Remember the time, In the closet, etc.). Throw in tracks like Give in to me, Who is it and Will you be there and you have a very good album. ‘History’ and ‘Invincible’ were patchy but you cant deny the brilliance of tracks like Stranger in Moscow’, Money, Butterflies, Break of dawn, etc. He never lost the ability to make great music, people were just too busy comparing it to Thriller to judge it on its own merit. People also forget the classic Jacksons albums ‘Triumph’ and ‘Destiny’ which were predominantly Michael. As a vocalist he is up there with Donny, Marvin and Luther. He had the power, range, versatility and emotion in his voice that very few have. RIP King
this is one of the best original song and videos Michael Jackson tributes i’ve seen.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkhIqLgK70s