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Michael Jackson

JamonBull

JamonBull

macrumors 6502
Original poster
I really miss Michael Jackson. I'm not even joking. The music industry is so boring without the King of Pop! It's been a year since he died and I still find myself searching for MJ related music news online! Apparently there's an album of unreleased material coming in November of this year, which will be great. Any other MJ fans on Mac Rumors?
 
You sound like my boyfriend.

I liked his music but didn't feel the same level of attachment to him that some people did, I guess.
 
He was a dude who sang well. (well enough to earn him his title)

Now he is dead, people need to move on.... there is always the next big thing. Exact same thing happened to all the Selena fans out there.
 
Yeah, actually. I'm a huge fan of him...not as big as my gf though. Oh God, she goes CRAZY over him....relates everything in the world to Michael Jackson and/or Johnny Depp.

Even in History class, she remembers important dates/years by events that happened in relation to him.
 
MJ had his first prime time with the Jackson 5, and then then through the 80s and 90s on his own. His last stuff wasn't that good I don't think. He was hardly influential in his last decade.

But whatevs... The only thing for the die-hard fans to do now is buy all the MJ merchandise they can and keep listening to his music. 🙂 History will certainly not forget his popularity, pop influence or real-life antics.
 
We could spin this argument a bunch of ways, without Elvis music is dead. When was the last time Jackson had a new album, he was old news. It isn't like all of his music suddenly vanished.

If Jackson died in his prime then yes there would be an argument that we lost his talent. But he died really at the end of his career. This isn't like when Kurt Cobain died and we wondered what else he could have done. We already know what Jackson did...
 
MacNut said:
If Jackson died in his prime then yes there would be an argument that we lost his talent. But he died really at the end of his career. This isn't like when Kurt Cobain died and we wondered what else he could have done. We already know what Jackson did...
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You could say that about so many musicians: Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, etc. So many actually did die when they were still popular. Michael only kept himself in the public eye through his lifestyle, not his music.
 
Melrose said:
You could say that about so many musicians: Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, etc. So many actually did die when they were still popular. Michael only kept himself in the public eye through his lifestyle, not his music.
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Music wise Michael Jackson was already done, he had nothing new on the table. It was just his act that he had done for years. He could have lived another 20 years and there would not have been anything new. The only reason he kept going was because he needed the money.
 
He had his good hits. Other than the few that I actually liked, I don't care for Michael Jackson.
 
MacNut said:
Music wise Michael Jackson was already done, he had nothing new on the table. It was just his act that he had done for years. He could have lived another 20 years and there would not have been anything new. The only reason he kept going was because he needed the money.
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I agree and disagree. He was definitely musically 'done' by the end. He had huge influence in the 1970's, 1980's and 1990's within a variety of genre's, but yes you are right, in the 2000's he was very much over. Whether this was because he was failing as an artist, plagued by external factors, or just wanted to focus on raising a family after forty years on stage, is yet to be decided. Fast forward to 2010 and he was definitely asserting himself again, not music wise, but live performance wise. Have you seen the music documentary This Is It? MJ was on the cutting EDGE of technology and live performance. I'm convinced that the show he was working on when he died would have been the best concert tour to ever take place. If only he had gotten to London. Sigh.

arts-jackson-this-is-it-584.jpg
 
I only really got into his music once he died, which is a shame since his music was the first I remember ever listening to (used to run around as a 3 year old singing Bad).
I don't normally bother with new music releases but I'll be first in line if there is a CD of his unreleased work.
 
MacNut said:
Music wise Michael Jackson was already done, he had nothing new on the table. It was just his act that he had done for years. He could have lived another 20 years and there would not have been anything new. The only reason he kept going was because he needed the money.
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That's just my point.. I was agreeing with you. If he had died in 1988, or heck, even 1995, it would have been altogether different.
 
Reality check: flash back to 13 months ago and Michael Jackson was a creepy has-been. It's only his untimely death that has brought about feelings typical of the OP's.

I never got the whole Michael Jackson thing. Even when he was alive I was astonished at his success. Maybe he was a good pop song writer. His voice post-1975 was nothing special. He could dance. Like that's what you want in a singer - the ability to dance 🙄
 
Melrose said:
That's just my point.. I was agreeing with you. If he had died in 1988, or heck, even 1995, it would have been altogether different.
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As far as I'm concerned, he DID die in the mid-80s. For the last 25 years or so he was just a washed-up, strange shell of what used to be a great performer.

I don't miss Neverland, Dangerous, alleged sexual abuse, hanging children over balconies, History, white MJ, his marriage to Lisa Marie Presley, MaCaulay Culkin, or any other creepy crap he was involved in or linked too.

May he rest in peace, but IMO he didn't contribute anything of significant value to the music community in a long time.

That being said, I do miss pre-weird MJ from the early 80s. He was a game changer, but I've been missing that guy for a long, long time.
 
grapes911 said:
As far as I'm concerned, he DID die in the mid-80s. For the last 25 years or so he was just a washed-up, strange shell of what used to be a great performer.

I don't miss Neverland, Dangerous, alleged sexual abuse, hanging children over balconies, History, white MJ, his marriage to Lisa Marie Presley, MaCaulay Culkin, or any other creepy crap he was involved in or linked too.

May he rest in peace, but IMO he didn't contribute anything of significant value to the music community in a long time.

That being said, I do miss pre-weird MJ from the early 80s. He was a game changer, but I've been missing that guy for a long, long time.
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Your post is slightly contrived. I get where you're coming from, but to draw a clear line between 'black' MJ and 'white' MJ is pretty silly, and even slightly racist. That wasn't the product of weirdness, it was the product of a skin disorder called Vitiligo that he definitely had. I agree that in the last ten years of his life he had some major issues, but in the 90's Michael was almost as big a musical powerhouse as he was in the 80's. Dangerous and HIStory are two of hist best albums (both sales wise and critically). It was in the 90's that MJ, Teddy Riley and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis' collabs broke ground in terms of creating the new music genre that was New Jack Swing (melding of Soul, Pop and Hip Hop).

It's easy to compartmentalise his life and wipe off anything after the Bad era, but the fact is, in the 90's MJ was just hitting his straps in a lot of areas. He had begun producing his own material, really experimenting with new sounds and genres, embarking on what still stands as the worlds largest concert tour, debuting album trailers in CINEMAS (see below video, just think of seeing something like this these days from Justin Beiber or some crap, not going to happen), still revolutionising the music video industry and most importantly I think, really carving out a fashion niche for himself. It was in the 90's that MJ began experimenting with his military look heavily. No star since MJ in the 90's has been more influential fashion wise. In my opinion, MJ was definitely not AS influential in the 90's as 80's, you are right there, but that shouldn't belittle what he did accomplish then. I think it really was around the turn of the millennium that he began losing his touch, up until 1999 he was very focused, successful and influential.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c93o05SrWzE
 
StellarSoul said:
Your post is slightly contrived. I get where you're coming from, but to draw a clear line between 'black' MJ and 'white' MJ is pretty silly, and even slightly racist. That wasn't the product of weirdness, it was the product of a skin disorder called Vitiligo that he definitely had.
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Racism? Really? That's what you took out of that? He could have had elephantiasis (large MJ?) or leprosy (leathery MJ?) and I still would have made a comment. In a vacuum any disorder/condition/disease is sad. In the context of Michael Jackson, its another strange thing to add to the list.

I agree that in the last ten years of his life he had some major issues, but in the 90's Michael was almost as big a musical powerhouse as he was in the 80's.
. . .
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I remember the anticipation for History. A friend and I purchased it on release day. We listened to the entire album straight though. When it was over we both looked at each other with WTF eyes. We were grossly disappointed. I'm sure others loved it, but not I.

My favorite aspect of music, or any art form, is that it is subject to opinion. All the points you made probably support your opinion to you. To me, his music, fashion, etc of the 90s was average at best and just a sad reminder of what he used to be.
 
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