all this shit everyone is decidedly now calling "boogie" these days, he is the spark that set it all off. him and rick. that's it. everything else, though it's hot stuff for damn sure, is in it's shadow.
all this shit everyone is decidedly now calling "boogie" these days, he is the spark that set it all off. him and rick. that's it. everything else, though it's hot stuff for damn sure, is in it's shadow.
Interesting you say this. I've been thinking about how MJ was one of the last real, intergenerational pop stars we're ever going to see in our lifetime. He wasn't just big in the '80s, he practically helped define that era and for a variety of reasons, not the least of which has been changes in how media works today, it's just hard to imagine we'll see anything like that again.
Open question: besides MJ, who else is left with that kind of cultural "universality"? Madonna? Prince? (And again, notice how they're all '80s cats).
all this shit everyone is decidedly now calling "boogie" these days, he is the spark that set it all off. him and rick. that's it. everything else, though it's hot stuff for damn sure, is in it's shadow.
Interesting you say this. I've been thinking about how MJ was one of the last real, intergenerational pop stars we're ever going to see in our lifetime. He wasn't just big in the '80s, he practically helped define that era and for a variety of reasons, not the least of which has been changes in how media works today, it's just hard to imagine we'll see anything like that again.
Open question: besides MJ, who else is left with that kind of cultural "universality"? Madonna? Prince? (And again, notice how they're all '80s cats).
O-Dub, my brother!!!
MJ is so intergenerational that he is the only one of these "eighties cats" who was also a "seventies cat!"
Even though he was but a kid, the man DID have a history before Off The Wall. And he wasn't just some struggler getting his shit together.
The main difference between '70s MJ and '80s MJ is that in the seventies, for all of his youth and charisma, at the end of the day he was just another performer. Around the middle of the decade, when people were looking for the next Elvis/Beatles, they would have chosen Springsteen, Elton, even Stevie. Michael wasn't in that discussion. It was the '80s adult Michael that got him into the history books.
I cannot compare him to Elvis and the Beatles (so sue me). Prince was more original, and Thriller didn't have much that the other pop-soul albums of 1982 didn't have. But the charisma and talent took him a long way, and it probably makes more sense to stack him up against Madonna ("that heifer!," he once called her) and Prince.
I cannot compare him to Elvis and the Beatles (so sue me). Prince was more original, and Thriller didn't have much that the other pop-soul albums of 1982 didn't have. But the charisma and talent took him a long way, and it probably makes more sense to stack him up against Madonna ("that heifer!," he once called her) and Prince.
I didn't want to say this yet, or in this thread, but since it is out there...
Unlike some people he is being compared to, or some over the top statements being said...
Michael was always more of-the-moment than ahead-of-his-time.
Michael's influence as a dancing performer IS unmatched.
Dancing is an interesting part of pop music.
Michael, Mick and James electrified audience with their dancing and sold mad tickets and records because of their dancing.
But few other singers have come close in dancing skills. Madonna, Prince, Jim Morrison, Elvis, All The Motown Acts, did some moves, choreography and steps, but none of them could be called dancers. You best believe that professional dancers took notice of MM&J.
The only other singers I can think of with serious moves were Jackie Wilson and Terrance Trent D'arby.
I cannot compare him to Elvis and the Beatles (so sue me). Prince was more original, and Thriller didn't have much that the other pop-soul albums of 1982 didn't have. But the charisma and talent took him a long way, and it probably makes more sense to stack him up against Madonna ("that heifer!," he once called her) and Prince.
I didn't want to say this yet, or in this thread, but since it is out there...
Unlike some people he is being compared to, or some over the top statements being said...
Michael was always more of-the-moment than ahead-of-his-time.
Just sayin.
Makes sense to me.
I don't think we've heard the last of this. People gonh be talking Michael Jackson all summer long. If you think you were saturated with MJ back in 1984, you ain't seen nothing yet.
If you think you were saturated with MJ back in 1984, you ain't seen nothing yet.
Im afraid of this.
Listening to the radio, cats havent really gone deep into dude's catalog. I'd like to hear more of the album cuts vs the singles.
As far as "of the moment". I'd like to think of OFF THE WALL as being cutting edge for its time. It was well crafted Disco, when the sound was heading in a another direction. Great Song writing and a well balanced album. There are a handful of albums that took cues from OTW afterwards. OTW dominated Black Radio.....which in NYC was only WBLS (WBAI?). I dont think KISS Fm was around yet in 79.
Wall To Wall - Rene & Angela Ricky Sylvers - Have You Heard are examples.
Yeah OTW had a huge influence on the sound of disco and dance music in years to come. Thriller...you can hear the influences but no one could really come anywhere near that level of production, and I don't think have since then really.
Again, this isn't necessarily about him, but about everything he represents to so many different people, and the music that was made around him too - as Quincy speaks of losing a part of himself, we lost a part of Quincy too in MJs death, the idiosyncratic star with an amazing voice that the best musicians and engineers in the world spent weeks crafting songs around, with Quincy at the helm.
Cosine on digging deeper...there is so much to his career that most people haven't heard - I hope that as all these people go out and buy his music they aren't skipping over what they don't already know.
If you think you were saturated with MJ back in 1984, you ain't seen nothing yet.
Im afraid of this.
Listening to the radio, cats havent really gone deep into dude's catalog. I'd like to hear more of the album cuts vs the singles.
As far as "of the moment". I'd like to think of OFF THE WALL as being cutting edge for its time. It was well crafted Disco, when the sound was heading in a another direction. Great Song writing and a well balanced album. There are a handful of albums that took cues from OTW afterwards. OTW dominated Black Radio.....which in NYC was only WBLS (WBAI?). I dont think KISS Fm was around yet in 79.
Wall To Wall - Rene & Angela Ricky Sylvers - Have You Heard are examples.
I wouldn't argue with any thing there.
But like you say it was well crafted disco and a great lp. A personal break from Motown and kiddy star. Which certainly set it apart.
When was We Are Family? kind of comparable in overall disco goodness. 1979 (just checked) same year, about 6 months earlier. Not saying they had the same sound, just both are perfectly crafted disco lps with an albums worth of good songs.
I heard 2 things on NPR yesterday (NPR has really taken this serious as they should.) worth reporting.
One was an interview with MJ's engineer since the wiz. He made it sound like they had done a lot of recording over the last 2 years.
One was Quincy in an interview from last year on being asked about the double edge sword of having a record he produced being so successful and perhaps the artist not being ready for that level of success. He said there were 2 pitfalls waiting for successful artists: 1) The belief that you really are that great. 2) Not believing you are that great and being afraid the public will find out you are not so great.
It was deeper the way Quincy said it.
The paper today was talking about the problems of dealing with success and pointed to Springsteen as someone who has handled success well. The paper seemed to think that Springsteen has never left his working class roots. I think that might be more of shtick than a reality, but he does seem to have his feet on the ground.
If you think you were saturated with MJ back in 1984, you ain't seen nothing yet.
Im afraid of this.
Listening to the radio, cats havent really gone deep into dude's catalog. I'd like to hear more of the album cuts vs the singles.
As far as "of the moment". I'd like to think of OFF THE WALL as being cutting edge for its time. It was well crafted Disco, when the sound was heading in a another direction. Great Song writing and a well balanced album. There are a handful of albums that took cues from OTW afterwards. OTW dominated Black Radio.....which in NYC was only WBLS (WBAI?). I dont think KISS Fm was around yet in 79.
Wall To Wall - Rene & Angela Ricky Sylvers - Have You Heard are examples.
I wouldn't argue with any thing there.
But like you say it was well crafted disco and a great lp. A personal break from Motown and kiddy star. Which certainly set it apart.
When was We Are Family? kind of comparable in overall disco goodness. 1979 (just checked) same year, about 6 months earlier. Not saying they had the same sound, just both are perfectly crafted disco lps with an albums worth of good songs.
True Dat.
The Chic produced Sister Sledge album is very good, but I dont think Quincy Jones had any real consistant radio presence before OTW. Whereas Chic were already doin thangs. Plus OTW was slightly more "sophisticated" IMO compared to the field. Kathy can sing, but this was Mike on some grown man steez, which I feel bumps that album past what was happening at the time.
I heard 2 things on NPR yesterday (NPR has really taken this serious as they should.) worth reporting.
One was an interview with MJ's engineer since the wiz. He made it sound like they had done a lot of recording over the last 2 years.
One was Quincy in an interview from last year on being asked about the double edge sword of having a record he produced being so successful and perhaps the artist not being ready for that level of success. He said there were 2 pitfalls waiting for successful artists: 1) The belief that you really are that great. 2) Not believing you are that great and being afraid the public will find out you are not so great.
It was deeper the way Quincy said it.
The paper today was talking about the problems of dealing with success and pointed to Springsteen as someone who has handled success well. The paper seemed to think that Springsteen has never left his working class roots. I think that might be more of shtick than a reality, but he does seem to have his feet on the ground.
I heard 2 things on NPR yesterday (NPR has really taken this serious as they should.) worth reporting.
One was an interview with MJ's engineer since the wiz. He made it sound like they had done a lot of recording over the last 2 years.
One was Quincy in an interview from last year on being asked about the double edge sword of having a record he produced being so successful and perhaps the artist not being ready for that level of success. He said there were 2 pitfalls waiting for successful artists: 1) The belief that you really are that great. 2) Not believing you are that great and being afraid the public will find out you are not so great.
It was deeper the way Quincy said it.
The paper today was talking about the problems of dealing with success and pointed to Springsteen as someone who has handled success well. The paper seemed to think that Springsteen has never left his working class roots. I think that might be more of shtick than a reality, but he does seem to have his feet on the ground.
But was Springsteen in Japan at 14 years old?
right.
I don't know that Springsteen is well adjusted any more than I know MJ wasn't.
Despite what Inside Edition would have us think we have no understanding of these peoples private lives.
all this shit everyone is decidedly now calling "boogie" these days, he is the spark that set it all off. him and rick. that's it. everything else, though it's hot stuff for damn sure, is in it's shadow.
Interesting you say this. I've been thinking about how MJ was one of the last real, intergenerational pop stars we're ever going to see in our lifetime. He wasn't just big in the '80s, he practically helped define that era and for a variety of reasons, not the least of which has been changes in how media works today, it's just hard to imagine we'll see anything like that again.
Open question: besides MJ, who else is left with that kind of cultural "universality"? Madonna? Prince? (And again, notice how they're all '80s cats).
O-Dub, my brother!!!
MJ is so intergenerational that he is the only one of these "eighties cats" who was also a "seventies cat!"
Oh, no doubt. Believe me, I've spent the last 24 hours soaking far more in his 70s output than 80s. But MJ didn't define the 70s as a cultural figure in the same way he did the '80s.
Comments
That was fast!
Just couldn't find a way to say it any different?
Interesting you say this. I've been thinking about how MJ was one of the last real, intergenerational pop stars we're ever going to see in our lifetime. He wasn't just big in the '80s, he practically helped define that era and for a variety of reasons, not the least of which has been changes in how media works today, it's just hard to imagine we'll see anything like that again.
Open question: besides MJ, who else is left with that kind of cultural "universality"? Madonna? Prince? (And again, notice how they're all '80s cats).
The greatest:
Another great dancer:
Everyone's favorite:
On the right:
On the left:
We wish:
The neck takes it to the next level.
Michael's influence as a dancing performer is potentially unmatched.
O-Dub, my brother!!!
MJ is so intergenerational that he is the only one of these "eighties cats" who was also a "seventies cat!"
Even though he was but a kid, the man DID have a history before Off The Wall. And he wasn't just some struggler getting his shit together.
The main difference between '70s MJ and '80s MJ is that in the seventies, for all of his youth and charisma, at the end of the day he was just another performer. Around the middle of the decade, when people were looking for the next Elvis/Beatles, they would have chosen Springsteen, Elton, even Stevie. Michael wasn't in that discussion. It was the '80s adult Michael that got him into the history books.
I cannot compare him to Elvis and the Beatles (so sue me). Prince was more original, and Thriller didn't have much that the other pop-soul albums of 1982 didn't have. But the charisma and talent took him a long way, and it probably makes more sense to stack him up against Madonna ("that heifer!," he once called her) and Prince.
ITV1
9:00pm
The Michael Jackson Story
I didn't want to say this yet, or in this thread, but since it is out there...
Unlike some people he is being compared to, or some over the top statements being said...
Michael was always more of-the-moment than ahead-of-his-time.
Just sayin.
yea seriously... and that vocal riffing off the top of the track is super weak.
this is a bullshit song
Dancing is an interesting part of pop music.
Michael, Mick and James electrified audience with their dancing and sold mad tickets and records because of their dancing.
But few other singers have come close in dancing skills.
Madonna, Prince, Jim Morrison, Elvis, All The Motown Acts, did some moves, choreography and steps, but none of them could be called dancers.
You best believe that professional dancers took notice of MM&J.
The only other singers I can think of with serious moves were Jackie Wilson and Terrance Trent D'arby.
Awful news. The man should be celebrated, plain and simple.
Likely the largest reason I fell in love with records and music...
Rest in paradise, Michael.
Makes sense to me.
I don't think we've heard the last of this. People gonh be talking Michael Jackson all summer long. If you think you were saturated with MJ back in 1984, you ain't seen nothing yet.
Im afraid of this.
Listening to the radio, cats havent really gone deep into dude's catalog. I'd like to hear more of the album cuts vs the singles.
As far as "of the moment". I'd like to think of OFF THE WALL as being cutting edge for its time. It was well crafted Disco, when the sound was heading in a another direction. Great Song writing and a well balanced album. There are a handful of albums that took cues from OTW afterwards. OTW dominated Black Radio.....which in NYC was only WBLS (WBAI?). I dont think KISS Fm was around yet in 79.
Wall To Wall - Rene & Angela
Ricky Sylvers - Have You Heard are examples.
Again, this isn't necessarily about him, but about everything he represents to so many different people, and the music that was made around him too - as Quincy speaks of losing a part of himself, we lost a part of Quincy too in MJs death, the idiosyncratic star with an amazing voice that the best musicians and engineers in the world spent weeks crafting songs around, with Quincy at the helm.
Cosine on digging deeper...there is so much to his career that most people haven't heard - I hope that as all these people go out and buy his music they aren't skipping over what they don't already know.
I wouldn't argue with any thing there.
But like you say it was well crafted disco and a great lp.
A personal break from Motown and kiddy star.
Which certainly set it apart.
When was We Are Family? kind of comparable in overall disco goodness. 1979 (just checked) same year, about 6 months earlier. Not saying they had the same sound, just both are perfectly crafted disco lps with an albums worth of good songs.
Nobody made the moonwalk look more spell-binding than MJ. He really took it to another level.
One was an interview with MJ's engineer since the wiz. He made it sound like they had done a lot of recording over the last 2 years.
One was Quincy in an interview from last year on being asked about the double edge sword of having a record he produced being so successful and perhaps the artist not being ready for that level of success.
He said there were 2 pitfalls waiting for successful artists:
1) The belief that you really are that great.
2) Not believing you are that great and being afraid the public will find out you are not so great.
It was deeper the way Quincy said it.
The paper today was talking about the problems of dealing with success and pointed to Springsteen as someone who has handled success well. The paper seemed to think that Springsteen has never left his working class roots. I think that might be more of shtick than a reality, but he does seem to have his feet on the ground.
True Dat.
The Chic produced Sister Sledge album is very good, but I dont think Quincy Jones had any real consistant radio presence before OTW. Whereas Chic were already doin thangs. Plus OTW was slightly more "sophisticated" IMO compared to the field. Kathy can sing, but this was Mike on some grown man steez, which I feel bumps that album past what was happening at the time.
U need to check that Shalamar Thread and Utube some West Coast Pop lockers.
As much as MJ globalized the "Moonwalk", cats gotta know that shit was being done ALOT way before MJ.
Word.
We all learned to moonwalk.
None of us were electrifying when we did it.
My sister could do the splits but she weren't no James Brown.
But was Springsteen in Japan at 14 years old?
right.
I don't know that Springsteen is well adjusted any more than I know MJ wasn't.
Despite what Inside Edition would have us think we have no understanding of these peoples private lives.
THANK ROD TEMPERTON
Oh, no doubt. Believe me, I've spent the last 24 hours soaking far more in his 70s output than 80s. But MJ didn't define the 70s as a cultural figure in the same way he did the '80s.