I keep having people ask me when I'm gonna write about Michael Jackson on my blog.
You wrote about Ed, they say. Farrah, too.
Don't forget Bea Arthur, I hear.
So, all right already.
But you may not like it.
I didn't like Michael Jackson. His music, I mean; I didn't know the man personally so........Sorry. King of Pop is a name he gave himself. I may dub myself Grand Poobah of Smallville, but it would not make a difference. When you anoint yourself king or queen or grand poobah of something, are you really the king? I think not. But I digress.
Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5. Loved them. I'll Be There. Michael Jackson Off The Wall. Loved it. Thriller? Loved it. Never owned it; but liked what I heard on the radio or MTV.
After that, though, not so much.
It all became too weird, with the crazy outfits, the changing skin tones, the plastic surgery that was obvious but never admitted. Surgical masks. Pajamas in the courtroom. It was more side show than show business. And I won't even get into the child molestation thing. it's all hearsay and innuendo and, unless you were a child who had been molested by Michael Jackson, or Michael Jackson himself, then, well, shut up about it. Because you just don't know.
I'll give you that he was talented; he was very talented. Was he the best ever? That's a subjective question. If you didn't enjoy his music and performances then he wasn't the best. If you did, he was; that's how it goes. But I do get tired of people saying that without Michael Jackson there's be no Usher or Timberlake or NeYo. That's simply negating the talent of anyone who came after Jackson. They have talent; maybe they borrowed a move or a beat or a glove, but that doesn't make them any less gifted, or that they wouldn't be here without Michael Jackson.
If that's the legitimate line of thought then nobody in the music business would be here without the guy, or girl, in the cave a few million years back who began to beat a drumstick on a rock and dance around in a fur outfit.
But no one is thanking him.
Am I sorry Michael Jackson passed away?
Silly question. We are all affected by death whether we knew or liked the person who died. Their death leaves a hole in our collective hearts.
I just don't think the hole is as big or as deep as it's being made out.
Amen and hallelujah.
ReplyDeleteI think the hullabaloo that is going to come after is going to eclipse everything - the debt, the lawsuits for money owed, child abuse committed by his father, the custody, questions of paternity, the mystery mother of the youngest boy, more accusations of molestation, the drug use, the cashing in. Going to be very ugly for a long time.
ReplyDeleteThe other names stood in for the good, the latter was an unpunished child molester. Propz Pilgrim
ReplyDeleteHere here!
ReplyDeleteI'm with ya, Bob, even to the point when our feelings turned from "yeah, that's some fun, danceable music" to "okay, the guy's getting way too weird." I think the kicker for me was last night, hearing Celine Dion (a great authority, doncha know) call into Larry King and compare Jackson's death with that of...President Kennedy. I kid you not.
ReplyDeleteI never were a particular fan of MJ either, nevertheless it's hard to ignore his impact on the music scene. Then, there's the rest whether it's true or not.
ReplyDeleteBtw... Hi there!! :)
that's sad you were pressured to write about MJ. I would feel the same way about Madonna
ReplyDeleteMe, too, Wonder Man, me, too.
ReplyDeleteAmen......feel the same. Enough already people. Let's move along to somebody that is still alive.
ReplyDeleteAs you say: "Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5. Loved them. I'll Be There. Michael Jackson Off The Wall. Loved it. Thriller? Loved it." Well, that a HUGE amount of work, and you loved it. Why not celebrate it? As for his influence and importance, I'm not sure that you can understate the significance of what he did not just as a pop star, but as a black pop star. He was the one who opened MTV to black musicians, just for starters. Also, for clarification, he did not label himself the King of Pop. That monicker was given to him by Dame Elizabeth Taylor.
ReplyDeleteWould the gay rights movement have existed without Harry Hay? Sure, in some manner. Does that negate the importance of Harry Hay? No.
But the way, who is Timberlake? Do you mean Timablake? As for NeYo and Usher, they've both said in recent days that they wouldn't be where they are without Michael. Are they, in your opinion, too stupid to know what they're talking about?
Again, I would ask, after all the love that you profess for Michael's work from 1969 through 1982: where is the love?
David,
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by, but you aren't reading the post correctly, my friend.
I say right in the post that he was talented, quite talented, and yes, he did quite a lot for pop music and black people in music. But so did Sam Cooke and Otis Redding, the Temptations, Nat King Cole and dozens of others; he wasn't the first, last or best, in MY opinion. I do not negate his importance, but his was not the only contribution.
Timberlake is Justin Timberlake.
As for Usher and NeYo, I said, if you read the post, that maybe they owe him some debt, but to say that they would have not had a career in the music business without Jackson negates their own talents. And THAT'S stupid.
As for the King of Pop, I read eons ago that the title was given to him by Bob Jones, his longtime publicist.
I didn't profess my love for Jackson, I said I loved his older stuff. I repsect what he did, but sheesh, he wasn't the greatest thing ever.
He was just a man.
My primary interest in Miss Jackson is observing her as the self-loathing developmentally arrested crazy little fucked up trainwreck that she was who for some reason resonated with gazillions of people. The poor guy. I almost feel sorry for him...just like he always wanted.
ReplyDeleteI am, however, the Grand Duchess of the Dust Bunnies because the title was bestowed on me by none other than David Dust himself. :-)
ReplyDeleteVery sensible. I agree.
ReplyDelete