According to the LA Times, Michael Jackson has died. Well, what choice did he have?
Although he was supposedly organising a world tour, we all know that would never have got off the ground. Not only would he never again reach the levels of adulation that he reached at the peak of his career, there were very strong doubts over whether he would have a career at all.
And yes, we all know why.
Those rumours, those reports, those stories, those court cases, meant that most people had made up their minds about him and the simple truth was, not enough people were going to feel comfortable about showing up at a Michael Jackson gig to bop along, or even (especially) feel very comfortable about letting their kids go along either.
And let’s face it, no-one was exactly hanging out for the new Michael Jackson song or the new Michael Jackson film clip, so the possibility of him simply having a recording career that anyone cared about was pretty remote too.
Could he have reinvented himself and staked out a post-plastic surgery career as some sort of middle-aged crooner with a regular gig in Vegas and on the talkshow circuit, with maybe the odd criticially acclaimed CD release, the occasional song picked up for a movie soundtrack, or even an unexpected cameo in, say, some Sophia Coppola or Cohen Brothers’ movie somewhere down the track?
Ah, no.
It’s all very tragic. Or comic-tragic. Or something. Someone on my Twitter feed this morning said something like they would rather remember the incredibly talented kid than the weird adult he became and that’s probably not a bad instinct.
At the end of the day, he was an amazing performer, an innovator in his field and across mediums, and a great songwriter. Though I must admit, finding nice things to say about him feels a bit like that line people sometimes use: well at least Mussolini got the trains to run on time. Sort of like, yeah well, there were all those accusations and court cases, but hey, the guy could moonwalk!
Anyway, it’s easy to forget how big he was, what a phenomenon. I was out of music retail by the time Thriller came along, but I’d seen plenty of the adulation people threw at him from back in the Jacksons’ day. Destiny and Triumph were big albums. And it wasn’t just that people came in and bought these albums; they rushed in and grabbed them and held them to their breasts as if they had been given the keys to eternal life. They wore his clothes, or their versions of them, and they did his dance steps as they brought the records to the counter to pay.
When Thriller was doing it’s thing, I was in Readings in Hawthorn one day, as non-Michael Jackson a record shop as you could imagine, but even they had a big display of the ubiquitous disc. I said to the manager, who I knew through work, that I was surprised to see MJ getting such prominence in such a store and he looked at me like I was mad. “Tim,” he said. “If you aren’t selling Thriller, you aren’t in the record business.”
So we will all sit back while the news cycle does what it does. The stories, the rumours, the stories and rumours no-one would publish while he was still alive. I guess we’ll eventually find out how he died, and will anyone really be surprised if it turns out to be self-inflicted?
Michael Jackson is dead and for American music, for music generally, that is a big deal.
I always really liked this song.
(If someone can find a better version, let me know.)
12 Comments
I blame it on the boogie. Thus far, sunshine, moonlight and good times have proven inconclusive.
I also hear his family are planning to have his body melted down and turned into toys so kids can play with him for a change.
Well done. I didn’t think you should do this but am now happy you did, because of the way you did it. Great work Tim
All fair points Tim.
A weird, distorted, dysfunctional and sad life, in which it would seem Michael was the first victim, and may have gone on to make other victims at his own hands. As someone pointed out at work this morning, “good for his kids”. One can only wonder what sort of life they will have.
That song is in my top 3 MJ picks this morning, along with “Don’t Stop TIl You Get Enough”, and the unfortunately named but groovy tune “PYT”.
MJ was responsible for my first dance with a boy at a school disco, aged 12. As the boy attempted to impress me with the requisite moonwalk, Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough was the song on the turntable (yes, we’re that old).
The world won’t miss the wacko loony of recent times. But we will always have the extraordinary music that he created to remind us that he was in fact truly gifted.
David Eastwood, before you jump to make your jokes – which anyone on twitter could have (and did) read at 7 o’clock this morning – perhaps you should engage with the post in some minor way. Because otherwise you just look like a twerp angling for an opportunity for a cheap joke at a dead person’s expense.
Yep, good article Tim.
Though it’s a surprise that you didn’t mention his massive London tour involving 50 concerts, and the reports suggesting these ALL sold out in just hours after their release. Which blows a bit of hole in your theory that a world tour would never have got off the ground and that people don’t really care about him anymore.
Early quote I read was that this was ‘the day pop music died’. A bit twee perhaps, but even including consideration of his strangeness and severe failings, pretty spot on.
Assuming he didn’t assault children(he didn’t, officially, Not guilty means you didn’t do it) isn’t this just one more of the continuous stream of people who overdose?
Happens everyday, in every town.
He lived an amazing life, good on him, but at the end of the day…
Tim, when I heard the news, strangely enough, I thought of your previous blog about you working in a record store the day Lennon died.
47 songs on the top 100 in the usa itunes? I’m thinking your boss would’ve been getting you to quadruple your order.
Read your Twitter just now Tim. Gotta say I feel the same. What does one say of Michael. I dunno! An obvious talent, a terrible upbringing. What choice did he have indeed! Mere mortals do not work collaboratively with Quincy Jones. Micheal did just that.
Sad to lose Micheal. RIP
Ahhh! Almost forgot. Michael allegedly owned the rights to the Beatles back catalogue of great tunes, which he purchased from the Holmes’aCourt family of WA in 1985.
Last I heard, Sony were attempting to get their hands on that treasure chest. Let us hope those songs (the rights to) are returned to their rightful owners, i.e. the members and families of the Beatles.
Sad loss of a great hardworking and talented artist, not just for many fans but also for some big names of showbiz, right across genres, rappers, long time stars, big names like Madonna – who wouldn’t respect that sort of credibility (don’t answer, I don’t want to dwell on the banal and the ordinary – we already see too much of that).
I don’t know too many men who would have two special women speak so well of an ex.
Grog, I definitely had the same thought. He’s not in music anymore, but I bet he did too!