5 On A Friday : MJ 1958-2009

June 26, 2009 by -tom
Filed under: Uncategorized 


RIP Michael Jackson 1958-2009
Although his eccentricities of the last few years were getting most of the spotlight time, Michael Jackson’s musical influence over the past 40 years or so is undeniable, from his early days with his brothers in The Jackson 5 as an integral part of the Motown Sound to his impact on the dance music of the 80’s with his Off The Wall album and subsequent mega smash Thriller to his part in the MTV video revolution.  Who else could crown themselves The King Of Pop and actually having it stick.  The man leaves behind a pretty impressive musical legacy.

1: Graham Parker And The Rumour - I Want You Back(live)
Buy Squeezing Out Sparks + Live Sparks
2: The Jackson 5 - ABC
Buy Hitsville USA
3:Chris Cornell - Billie Jean
Buy Carry On
4: Michael Jackson - Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough
Buy Off The Wall
5: The Replacements(w Barrence Whitfield on Vocals) - I’ll Be There
Live 06.18.86 at The Channel Boston MA

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Comments

One Comment on 5 On A Friday : MJ 1958-2009

  1. Deiter on Fri, 26th Jun 2009 7:55 pm

    2. As you may’ve heard by now, the crown of “greatest selling album of all time” goes to The Eagles Greatest Hits. Sorry, Jacko.

    As one who grew up with The Jackson 5 and MJ through all the changes of his career, IMHO the reason for the stellar success of Thriller was the singles: Not merely limited to typical and softer R & B/Disco outings of Human Nature and PYT. Beat It was rocker (and the best video of its time) and Billie Jean had (obviously) enormous crossover appeal. I think that was key. Under no circumstances could anything from Off The Wall taken him to such heights. That was the genius of him (and/or his handlers). Maybe Q had something to do with it as well. Bad and Smooth Criminal brilliantly continued in the same vein. After that, the vein seems to have gone pretty much empty. To say it was a great run is an understatement.

    Music aside, he was an entertainer who stood on the shoulders of forebears like James Brown and took the brand into a stratosphere that no one in the world could’ve imagined. For that he gets the crown (his personal life notwithstanding). He, like Elvis before, was merely human. That he was elevated to a god and asked to do more than was more than humanly sustainable we can’t fault him for. He gave us some great work and he fell apart. How did he even last this long? is maybe what we should be asking.

    R.I.P., brother.

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