For Michael

[greatbear]

I guess I should broach the much talked about subject these days of Michael Jackson. Even at an early age, I had a fairly sophisticated taste in music, tending towards classical music (I played violin in school and was damn good at it until I gave up in middle school because of the sucky music teacher) and progressive and heavier rock. I still immersed myself in constant music from the radio, and that meant hearing a lot of the Jackson 5 and later on MJ's solo stuff. Here was well produced, catchy pop music that a lot of people felt accessible. Heck, even my Mom used to like some of his stuff. The numbers of the time don't lie, all the way through Thriller his popularity grew worldwide, and the moniker of "The King of Pop" was deserved.

People who become famous in relatively benign ways such as music, movies, writing, etc. tend to handle their fame in many ways. Some burn out early. Some freak and take their lives. Others deal wonderfully through their lives and downplay their fame for a greater good. And some tend to exaggerate odd behavior and if not brought back to a generalized reality they will head off into a world of crazy-go-nuts. This is where MJ ended up. The reasons have been all put forth time and time again. Abusive father. No childhood. Vitaligo. Blackmail. Etc. With all that static no one will ever know the truth. And MJ surrounded himself with lots of enablers that can also foot at least part of the blame.

All in all, I will simply separate the man's life from the man's career. His musical legacy will be around till the end of time. What he's done in his private life essentially is of no concern anymore except in an academic sense. Unfortunately, people will keep dredging up the latter as long as there's a buck to be made from it, and those busybodies who have nothing of interest in their own lives will be there to poke their noses in as usual.

Turning this completely around, upon hearing of Gary Glitter's sexual pecadillos with children and subsequent airtight conviction thereof, I was not-so-secretly hoping that this would finally rid the music and sports world of that horrid "Rock and Roll Pt. 2" song once and for all. And it did so for a while. Now it's back as strong as ever. People have limited memory capacity when it comes to things like this. The product will always tend to separate from it's creator. This is what will always be the case with Michael Jackson and his career of hits, his stage and screen personality and his legacy. The music industry will profit from his work, and the tabloid industry will profit from his life, the latter living parasitically on conjecture, lies and very little truth. As long as there is a market for either of these, it will thrive. History will remember the music most.

Comments

[ciddyguy.livejournal.com]

The whole bust with Gary Glitter was something I think I heard a little bit of but I've been well aware of his hit, Rock and Roll Pt 2 since I think 4th grade or so and yes, I like it even though it's not the best there is out there but it's part of what I call the late bubblegum era of the likes of Vanity Fair, Steeler's Wheel, Tommy Roe etc.

As for MJ, I liked a lot of what the Jackson 5 did, a lot of great stuff there and Off the Wall is not a bad album but Thriller killed it for me after that, I then never cared for his work from then on although a few of the tracks from Thriller were good - in the day but today? Meh with Billy Jean being about the best of the lot IMO.

And it was the super popularity of Thriller that never seemed to die was what did for me and I recall thinking in 1984 if I hear one more hit from that album, I'm a gonna scream.

[kdotdammit.livejournal.com]

Such a perfectly well-stated post! And this is so profoundly true: The product will always tend to separate from it's creator. Bravo. Well done.

[greatbearmd.livejournal.com]

True. The US was not subjected to a barrage of tabloid news for a long time after that whole mess took place. It was quickly forgotten, and it seemed that playing that damn song became permissible again. I think things are different in the EU.

[greatbearmd.livejournal.com]

I tend to reject a lot of music that becomes overly popular and becomes radio and video fodder every waking moment. Thriller was one of many. Yeah, the video was cool, the production incredible, etc. I am able to look back on songs from years ago I rejected back then and be able to appreciate them with a different ear.

[ciddyguy.livejournal.com]

To a degree that's the same with me, but I've never been able to get over MJ's music as a whole since that LP.

[greatbearmd.livejournal.com]

It makes sense. The 'product' in this case, a hit song, becomes fixed in the moment it is recorded and released. Since we live in an age of recorded music, that moment in time can be replayed over and over, no one has to perform the song again. Now with MJ gone, the music, those moments in time and the feelings and memories they evoke remain. In fact, many people will tend to hold those recordings a lot more dear now that the creator is no more. So, even though the product and creator are mostly separate, one becomes more valuable when the other is no longer there. This is especially true in the art world.

[fingertrouble.livejournal.com]

Oh yes. Him and Jonathan King (who as far as I can tell is not a paedophile in the traditional sense of liking pre-pubescent children - that I really do not understand - but has a thing for chicken of the barely legal and illegal sort (14/15/16) so I feel he was wrongly jailed as you can give consent at that age, in fact the age of consent is now 16) are seriously verboten here...people might play the music, but MJ had a similar stigma attached apart from the really big early dance hits you had to be careful what you played.

But Glitter is beyond a joke, reviled and hated, and his music is rarely played here, if it is it's part of something like Doctorin' the Tardis which is genius.

I like Rock and Roll pt 2. Shame about it's creator...same cannot be said for all MJ tracks post Bad, and even then...

[fingertrouble.livejournal.com]

The irony of some of the production is that they are stock Emu-lator sounds. Very little has been done to them, esp. in the case of Beat It - the bell sounds, the drums etc. are stock samples that come with the synth/sampler.

Not to detract too much from Quincy, he is a genius...but the 'groundbreaking' part of MJ is not really true, apart from the colour bar on MTV. Even the moonwalk wasn't his.

As always the genius was in synthesising what was there and making it acceptable to middle America and those who don't like disco or rock or whatever. A lot of MJ's music is quite bland, really. More talented or creative or out there people didn't make it - cos they didn't appeal to that core demographic, the ones that light candles to the wrong star on Hollywood Boulevard or think that parading his children at a concert where he's onstage in a gilded coffin is OK.