Michael Jackson R.I.P.

[adma]

Perhaps that stuff seemed bigger because it had more of an influence on you personally, or suited your personal tastes.

And on the whole, it may also say more about how the old boomer-era monocultural, universal notion of "mass culture" has broken down in recent decades, i.e. unless we're active students of broad-range mass media and popular culture, what we perceive as "big" is more and more the result of the specific environment we grow up in and are conditioned by.

Sort of like, the fact that Garth Brooks was the biggest-selling artist of the early 90s would be lost on anyone who grew up in a major urban centre...

 

[syn]

Ah yes - and suddenly he's influential. Why haven't I heard this in the last 20 years?

"Suddenly"? Jackson has been hailed as one of the most influential musicians/stars for decades. It's pretty evident too when you look at many of the acts that have appeared over the last 20 years or so.

 

[gabe]

That's all i have heard the last 20 years is about MJ being the greatest or most influential pop star of all time. I Always found that a little strange since he only had 4 or so good albums in his entire career, while other better artists like Prince and James Brown got ignored

 

[syn]

That's all i have heard the last 20 years is about MJ being the greatest or most influential pop star of all time. I Always found that a little strange since he only had 4 or so good albums in his entire career, while other better artists like Prince and James Brown got ignored

Well, he was a child prodigy - his early Jackson 5 work is classic. He may not have pumped out albums at the same rate as other stars, but what he did produce was of great quality.

 

[doady]

That's all i have heard the last 20 years is about MJ being the greatest or most influential pop star of all time. I Always found that a little strange since he only had 4 or so good albums in his entire career, while other better artists like Prince and James Brown got ignored

Both the Velvet Underground and the Pixies only released 4 albums each also... does that mean they were not influentual?

Hell, the Sex Pistols only had made one album...

 

[adma]

In terms of Toronto, what I find interesting is how Yonge/Dundas Square's become a de facto ground zero for the MJ memorializing--almost like the space's perfect fulfilment, as a nucleus for the kind of classic pop-cultural vibe long embodied by Michael Jackson...

 

[nfitz]

I Always found that a little strange since he only had 4 or so good albums in his entire career, while other better artists like Prince and James Brown got ignored

Which is rather odd ... as both seemed more important during the 1980s.

 

[Mr.Colley]

Yes both were rather important but did either dangle their baby out the window, or get an obscene number of nose jobs? Or the other random surgeries? Or marry The King of Rock and Roll's daughter? The media hyped these. There for MJ as a whole was hyped. It's advertising my friend. And there some of the oldest tricks in the book. Attention is attention. And bad attention usually brings sales.

 

[Urban Shocker]

A few bits of memorabilia for sale at the St. Lawrence antique market yesterday - albums, and books, and a ticket stub to a concert he apparently gave here. Nothing like the amount of Di frass we got in '97 though - all those china plates and books and dolls and stuff.

R.I.P. Michael Jackson, 1958-2009. Predeceased by his career. Survived by Billie Jean.

 

[khris]

That's all i have heard the last 20 years is about MJ being the greatest or most influential pop star of all time. I Always found that a little strange since he only had 4 or so good albums in his entire career, while other better artists like Prince and James Brown got ignored

Quality, not quantity.

 

[Mr.Colley]

Yah, I can see that. But then again. Even those albums only had a few top hits. Those were the days you bought an album or cassete for one song. Not just hop online and download it. *sigh*

 

[urbandreamer]

I spotted another MJ tradition on Saturday in Chinatown: making $ off of MJ.

What joke did I make the day after MJ died?

To my musician friends, I recalled the first MJ album I listened to when it was a hit: Bad.

I said, I'm gonna cover that song, only sing "I'm dead, I'm dead."

 

[Mr.Colley]

HaHAHA ok. Amazing. Not supprised in any sense of the word but hay, if it works for them then why not right....

 

[adma]

A few bits of memorabilia for sale at the St. Lawrence antique market yesterday - albums, and books, and a ticket stub to a concert he apparently gave here. Nothing like the amount of Di frass we got in '97 though - all those china plates and books and dolls and stuff.

How does it compare to JFK Jr stuff in '99?

 

[syn]

Yah, I can see that. But then again. Even those albums only had a few top hits. Those were the days you bought an album or cassete for one song. Not just hop online and download it. *sigh*

Including the Jackson 5, I believe Jackson released 10 albums.

If you're looking just Off The Wall, Thriller, Bad and Dangerous, those albums each contain more than just a few hits.

Thriller alone has more hits than most artists have in a lifetime. I believe he had 13 #1 hits as a solo artist, which is among the most ever. I believe only the Beatles and Elvis are ahead. Unlike Elvis, he wrote, composed and arranged much of his own material.

I can appreciate if someone may think he's overrated, but to argue he was less influential and/or important than the likes of Duran Duran is just ridiculous.