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Katy vs. MJ: Who’s Bad? (Yahoo news article)

chanel05

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Im not sure exactly where this goes, but Ill post it here.

http://music.yahoo.com/blogs/chart-watch/katy-vs-mj-bad-202045494.html


In the next few weeks, Katy Perry may break a record that she now shares with Michael Jackson for the most #1 singles from an album. "The One That Got Away," Perry's bid for a sixth #1 hit from Teenage Dream, has been #3 on Billboard's Hot 100 the last two weeks. (It just needs to squeeze past LMFAO's "Sexy And I Know It" and the Rihanna/Calvin Harris collabo "We Found Love," which have locked up the top two spots for nine weeks.)
There has been some backlash to Perry tying Jackson's record. Most of it strikes me as unfair. After all, the Jackson album that held the record wasn't the ground-breaking Off The Wall or the earth-shaking Thriller, but Bad, an album that, for all its success, was widely faulted for playing it too safe; for putting commercial success ahead of artistic growth.

But it got me thinking: Are Perry's singles from Teenage Dream in the same league as Jackson's singles from Bad? I pulled out my albums and played the singles, in order, Jackson first, then Perry. I scored each round. (I invite you to do the same.) Here's my report:

First Single: "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" vs. "California Gurls."
Both artists went with a male/female pairing as the lead single. Jackson teamed with newcomer Siedah Garrett, who sang an uncredited backup vocal. Perry teamed with rap icon Snoop Dogg for a full-fledged collabo. "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" is a pretty ballad, with immaculate Quincy Jones production, but it has two strikes against it. The lyrics are beyond trite. And there's little differentiation in the vocals of Jackson and Garrett. So what was the point of bringing in another singer? You have the sense that Jackson's camp figured the first single from this long-awaited album would be an automatic #1, so they deliberately held back the stronger tracks. By contrast, "California Gurls" is one of the strongest tracks on Perry's album. It's day-glo, candy-coated fun (with a terrific video). Snoop gives the song some edge, which cuts the sweetness of the bubblegum. "California Gurls" received a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals. My grades: Jackson: B. Perry: A-. Advantage: Perry.

Second Single: "Bad" vs. "Teenage Dream."
Both artists went with the title tracks from their albums as the second single. At the risk of sounding sexist, "Bad" is all about masculine energy, while "Teenage Dream" is very feminine; flirty and sexy. The aggressive tone of Jackson's song is set from the opening line, "Your butt is mine." Jimmy Smith, a jazz organist with R&B hits dating back to 1962, played the organ solo. Martin Scorsese, no less, directed the video, which was set in a New York subway. I wish Jackson hadn't sold the song to Pepsi, because I can't hear the song anymore without thinking of the commercial. Perry's song is pure pop, a celebration of youth and sex. Both of these singles received were Grammy finalists. "Bad" was nominated for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male. "Teenage Dream" was nominated for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. My grades: Jackson: B+. Perry: B+. Let's call this one a tie.

Third Single: "The Way You Make Me Feel" vs. "Firework."
Both artists had strong releases in their third at-bats. Jackson's song was lusty and funky. The song and the accompanying video showed another, more adult side of him. The song and "Man In The Mirror" would have been welcome additions to Off The Wall or Thriller, which is high praise. Perry's song is inspiring and exhilarating. It has a great opening line: "Do you ever feel like a plastic bag/drifting through the wind…" The low-key sincerity of the opening, in which Perry is warm and nurturing, sets up the big, "boom-boom-boom" finish. Both the song and the video deal with themes of empowerment and developing healthy self-esteem. "Firework" is vying for Grammys for Record of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance. The video won a VMA award as Video of the Year. My grades: Jackson: A-. Perry: A. Advantage: Perry.

Fourth single: "Man In The Mirror" vs. "E.T."
I think this is one of the best records Jackson ever made. Grammy voters agreed. This was nominated for Record of the Year. (It really should have won. It lost to Bobby McFerrin's lightweight ditty "Don't Worry Be Happy.") "Man In The Mirror" revisits the same social consciousness theme as "We Are The World," which Jackson had co-written with Lionel Richie. But where that song is somewhat sweet and sentimental, "Man In The Mirror" has grit and soul. Siedah Garrett, the backup singer on "I Just Can't Stop Loving You," co-wrote the song with Glen Ballard. Garrett also sings background vocals on the track, along with the Andrae Crouch Choir and the Winans. They give the song a stirring gospel quality. "E.T.," Perry's collabo with Kanye West, was a giant hit. It won VMA Awards for Best Collaboration and Best Special Effects. The spacey, futuristic sound was, for many, an effective change-of-pace from Perry's pure pop hits, but it left me cold. Obviously, 4,960,000 fans (the number of people who have paid to download the song) can't all be wrong, but they hear something I don't. My grades: Jackson: A+. Perry: C-. Advantage: Jackson.

Fifth single: "Dirty Diana" vs. "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)"
"Dirty Diana" was "the rock track" on Bad. It was meant to be the album's "Beat It," but it didn't have nearly the same impact. Steve Stevens, Billy Idol's guitarist, fills in for Eddie Van Halen, who did the honors on "Beat It." Perry's song is a trifle, but it's fun. And the John Hughes-style video, featuring cameos by such well-chosen artists as Debbie Gibson, Corey Feldman and Kenny G, is a hoot. The video is so clever and appealing, it probably played a key role in pushing the song to #1. My grades: Jackson: B-. Perry: B+. Advantage: Perry.

Sixth single: "Another Part Of Me" vs. "The One That Got Away."
I don't know what Jackson's team was thinking when they released this song, especially when the superior "Smooth Criminal" was waiting in the wings. Maybe they were holding that song back for a strong finish, in the same way that "Thriller" was held back to be the seventh single from that album. If so, they were overconfident. This peaked at #11 in September 1988. It was Jackson's first solo single to fall short of the top 10 since before Off The Wall. "Another Part Of Me" isn't a bad song, but it doesn't leave a distinct impression, which is the key to a great single. By contrast, Perry has one of her stronger efforts. "The One That Got Away" is a solid, gimmick-free pop record, not unlike "Hot N Cold" from her first album. I love the line "talk about the future/like we had a clue." My grades: Jackson: B-. Perry: A-. Advantage: Perry.

Seventh single: "Smooth Criminal" vs. ???
Jackson regained lost ground, both commercially and artistically, with this sleek single. It peaked at #7 in January 1989. (If it had been released as the sixth single, it might have maintained his string of #1 hits. Momentum and a perception of hotness is crucial in pop music.) The stylish video ranks among Jackson's best. Will Perry release a seventh single from Teenage Dream? Stay tuned. My grade: Jackson: B+.

Summary: Perry wins four rounds, to just one for Jackson. But that's misleading. Perry won a few of them narrowly, while Jackson won Round 4 by a wide margin.

Jackson wrote all but one of his hits from Bad. (Ironically, the one he didn't write, "Man In The Mirror," is easily the best song on the album.) Perry has co-written all six of her hits from Teenage Dream. Top producers worked on both albums. The legendary Quincy Jones produced Bad (as he had Off The Wall and Thriller). Red-hot hit-makers Dr. Luke and Max Martin co-wrote and co-produced five of Perry's six hits from Teenage Dream.

Perry has made ambitious conceptual videos for all six of her hits from Teenage Dream. Jackson made just three conceptual videos for his Bad singles. He went with simple performance clips for "Dirty Diana" and "Another Part Of Me" and didn't make a video at all for "I Just Can't Stop Loving You."

Closing Thoughts: The attention that Perry has gotten for tying Jackson's record is really a tribute to Jackson's star power. I don't think Perry would have gotten nearly this much attention for tying the record if it had been set by Janet Jackson, George Michael, Mariah Carey, Usher, Rihanna or some other hit-maker. They're all top recording stars, but Jackson was a legend.

I think Jackson would have admired Perry's records and videos. He had similar a desire to entertain a mass audience. Would he have sent her a congratulatory note last August when she tied his record? I like to think so. Jackson, a proud and competitive man, would have hated having to share his record, but he would have respected that Perry tied it with a series of well-crafted hits; records that largely reflected his own musical values.
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I dont agree with the article at all and im sure most of you will not either.
 
Thanks for posting. But it's like numbers don't matter, and shouldn't for you either. We all know know it's whats in our hearts instead. So these types of articles don't mean a thing to me anymore. Love.
 
This guy was probably high and he wrote this.

How can someone compare Dirty Diana...to whatever Perry had released.
 
All I have to say that Michael didn't have to remix any of the 5 songs from Bad to get it to #1. She did I think twice and she might do it with this song. I wouldn't be surprised. I don't hate Katy Perry, it's nothing like that. I just don't agree with those methods. If a song is meant to be #1 it will be.
 
Jackson wrote all but one of his hits from Bad. (Ironically, the one he didn't write, "Man In The Mirror," is easily the best song on the album.)
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It's his opinion.
In my opinion I think Katy Perry's voice is not only ordinary but annoying as hell. I prefer hearing fingernails scraping across a chalk board than her voice/"music"

But don't get me wrong I don't hate KP at all, I wish her all the best :)
I just don't like her "music"/voice. :)
 
Its stupid the way the media are making mj & katy perry into like a competiton with each other . Cuz im sure if mj were alive he would be happy with her success
 
I found it's funny that so many media think Bad is a flop before. They don't even like to mention Bad had five billboard number 1 singles before and it hold record for more than 2 decades. They kept telling you MJ can't produce the same success after thriller. However, here comes the ironic part. When Katy Perry achieve the same thing last year. They started to make this achievement the biggest thing in the music history. Not too many articles mentioned that Katy need to remix many of her songs and got all the people feat in her songs and finally cut all the version of same song half price. Don't even want to mention the music industry is a whole different story from the 80s. Anyway, I am not against Katy Perry but the ironic part of the media is very interesting to observe. It's just proving again that they never treated MJ fair enough.
 
It just showed how pathetic the music world turned out to be. I think her song will reach to no1 easily, just remix it and then cut half price like she did with her other song. (btw Michael actually had six number 1 singles in his bad album)
 
Whoever rates Kathy Perry songs above MJ songs must get his ears checked. Ridiculous article.
 
I wish they'd stop with this, seriously. Also he's clearly biased. :smilerolleyes: but I kinda agree with the last paragraph. Records are meant to be broken and I won't weep if that happens. The charts mean nothing today.
 
I think it's a deliberate insult to MJ to even compare her to a flash-in-the-pan artist like Katy Perry. They try to imply he is in the same category. But this journalist goes even further: he tries to make Perry's album look like the better one! The ridiculousness of it is clear even today in the heat of Perry-mania, but it will be even clearer in a couple of years when people won't even remember Katy Perry.

But don't worry. There were articles back in the 90s comparing Oasis and Take That to the Beatles! There were always and always be idiots. This is just one of them.

By the way as I see it even the famously retarded and racist Yahoo News commenters don't agree with the article.
 
its so funny? My goodness! How can you compare Ms. Perry To MJ? Even though she had all the No.1's in Billboard Hot 100 & 200, so whaaaat?????????????? Who cares not an MJ fans? THat song doesn't sound so good anyway, her voice is like a whore, can't even hit a higher notes. I'd rather compare MJ to LG or Beyonce, d hv powerful voice n sounded good in some ways but KP, eeeeew..Comm'n? Helllo!!!!!!!!!!!!!! To all MJ fans don't lose control over this issue get ovet with it & continue HIS legacy forever because nobody could defeat Michael in the history of MUSIC. All these young folks try to discover his music & it remains as it is. There are a lot of issues to tackle not a perry song that will ruin his legacy. BS! to the media, don't let them win our hearts toward the good MJ had done in this world for us our future, our childrens future. Let those evils media damaged themselves & don't ever buy nor watch them. You only give credit to them.
 
They clearly hired an a Katy Perry fanatic to write this article. I just have a few points:

"I Just Can't Stop Loving You" is a pretty ballad, with immaculate Quincy Jones production, but it has two strikes against it. The lyrics are beyond trite. And there's little differentiation in the vocals of Jackson and Garrett. So what was the point of bringing in another singer? You have the sense that Jackson's camp figured the first single from this long-awaited album would be an automatic #1, so they deliberately held back the stronger tracks. By contrast, "California Gurls" is one of the strongest tracks on Perry's album. It's day-glo, candy-coated fun (with a terrific video)."
So the lyrics of IJCSLY are "trite" but "California Girls we're undeniable, Daisy Dukes, bikinis on top" are lyrical masterpieces? I actually liked California Girls when the song first came out but let's be real the lyrics are just as "trite" and the video was awful. I guess shooting whipped cream out of your boobs count as artistic vision these days

"Perry's song is inspiring and exhilarating. It has a great opening line: "Do you ever feel like a plastic bag/drifting through the wind…" The low-key sincerity of the opening, in which Perry is warm and nurturing, sets up the big, "boom-boom-boom" finish"
It's a catchy song but the lyrics are corny. To give this song an edge over TWYMMF is just blasphemy

"Dirty Diana" was "the rock track" on Bad. It was meant to be the album's "Beat It," but it didn't have nearly the same impact."
I love Dirty Diana and actually love the song more than "Beat It"

"By contrast, Perry has one of her stronger efforts. "The One That Got Away" is a solid, gimmick-free pop record, not unlike "Hot N Cold" from her first album."
Gimmick free? A 69 cent single and a cheaply produced remix sold at 99 cents seem like gimmicks to me. I've heard some people a bit more cynical than myself say that when those efforts failed, a convenient personal announcement that fit perfectly with the lyrics of the "The One That Got Away" was made

Songs from the Bad album sound just as fresh today as it did 25 years ago, songs from Teenage Dream already sound dated to me. There is a good change that Perry will break the record if she releases "Peacock" but there should be an asterisk next to her name. (ET ft Kanye West is not on the album version and therefore should not count as one of her #1's from the Teenage Dream album)
 
Its always about belittling mjs success and legacy. nothing changes with certain groups of the media. personally i dont even know katy perry or any of her songs.
 
lucilla said:
It's his opinion.
In my opinion I think Katy Perry's voice is not only ordinary butannoying as hell. I prefer hearing fingernails scraping across a chalk board than her voice/"music"

But don't get me wrong I don't hate KP at all, I wish her all the best :)
I just don't like her "music"/voice. :)
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LOL exactly..

I thought it might be something wrong with me, glad to hear I am not the only one .:)
 
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I don't think Michael would have mined Katy Perry tying his record of 5 No.1 singles off one album, because Michael had no issues with Carlos Santana's album tying with his Thriller album at the Grammy Awards around 2000 for winning the same 7 Grammy Awards in one night. The issue is Katy Perry had bought her way to 5 No.1's off one album, by remixing her singles with guest rappers, and having them sold at a cut price to get their. She's also had help from Billboard Magazine in hyping up her attempts to equal and now break Michael's record.

When Michael made the record of 5 No.1 singles off one album, it barely made the news. With Katy Perry is like Billboard Magazine are trying to use her to undermine Michael's success and icon status as an artist. If Katy Perry beats Michael's record and gets 6 No.1's, it still doesn't make her a music icon. Not only because she and her record company bought those No.1 themselves with cheap gimmicks, but because she will only hold one record in the music history books. Michael holds many records and still continues to break records in music history. Maybe it's just me, but apart from the song "I Kissed A Girl", I don't know the names or what any of her songs sound like. She is in my opinion just a big success in the USA and a moderate success worldwide, which is another reason the media shouldn't be hyping up her USA only No.1's. And she does just remain a singles artist not an album artist, as Michael was both, classic singles and albums that still amaze people all over the world.
 
The reality of it is as simple as this. Bad came out a good 25 years ago almost, it's been around for ages, these records are new, in an age where hype fashion and branding sell music and not actual music they desperatly need to hype up Katys records. MJ is gone now and even through countless slander and deformation, the media still prayed on him as their biggest celebrity earner, they needed him around through hidden hypocracy and now they are still trying to through his name around if possible to not only boost their own profits, but through a deal with her label, boost Katys sales. She posted it in her facebook that she beat MJ, she should be more than content with 5 number ones (not that thats half as much of a feat as back in the 80s) but oh no, it's all about trying to throw MJ's name in there wherever possible. The only realistic comparison there is perhaps california gurls to ijcsly, the others MJ destroys those tracks on imo.
 
Yahoo...blah. They always write crap about Michael.
 
Memefan said:
This guy was probably high and he wrote this.

How can someone compare Dirty Diana...to whatever Perry had released.
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Or any Michael Jackson song

Michael's worst songs are better than Katy's best songs
 
i havent read so much bullshit in one article. :crazy:
its weird and i fell shamed that the KING of Pop is compared with this untalented and poor singer. to compare with the masterpieces like

I just can't stop loving you
Bad
Man in the mirror
Dirty Diana
Another part of me
Smooth Criminal

its only another try to destroy michael jackson's legacy. by manipulating (record company, radio stations) charts to get someone number one, where she and her stupid bad song doesnt belong to be.


He had similar a desire to entertain a mass audience
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Michael Jackson: 130.000
Perry: 24.000

yeah, sure :hysterical:

FACT is Michael Jackson is the only Artist to have "5 Number 1 singles of one Album". :yes:
and noone will or can break this record in the future. cause the chart system is a totally different system. it have nothing to do with SALES.
and charts are in the opinion of a NORMAL HUMAN BEING about S A L E S. and not about interests of a company.
-_-
 
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Blah, blah, blah...... I can't stand Katy's voice, yucks! Although some of the songs have catchy tunes (my 9 yrs old daughter listen to them) but I much prefer Adele anytime.

Don't kill me for saying this but if they want to talk about record, why not talk about her short marriage, much shorter than Micael's and Lisa Marie (although I truly believe that Michael loves Lisa and vice versa and the media make it really hard for both of them). Talk about being unfair, the media seems to have so much compassion for Katy now whilst they blasted Michael's as a sham. Disgusting!

I love it that Michael is still so BIG and I guess the media is having a "in your face" situation and not liking it ....
 
elusive moonwalker said:
Its always about belittling mjs success and legacy. nothing changes with certain groups of the media. personally i dont even know katy perry or any of her songs.
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Exactly! And in 10 years not many people will even know Katy Perry made this album but DIRTY DIANA will still be kicking ass and people will still be loving the SMOOTH CRIMINAL choreography. And don't even get me started about TWYMMF! Look how many have tried to recapture the magic of that video. Not bad for such a substandard song... Jeez...smdh
 
This is one of the most ridiculous articles I've ever read. Obviously someone not only suffering from hearing loss, but also illiteracy. Sad.
 
I would prefer Gaga to have 6 no.1s to Katy...

anyway... Peoples Choice Awards... will boost interest in the song... and it will be her 6th no.1...
sadly, but... thats pure media agenda of her management...
 
Another musician who needs to be compared to Michael in order to get some headlines...
The fact that nearly every "famous" musician of today was compared to Michael at some time shows that he is on a level, no other artist will be able to reach.
I don't think that anyone will think of Perrys songs, when in 25 years, some other artist has some number one hits.
 
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Well, like ppl have mentioned before, nobody will ever know these Perry songs a few years from now. None of them will ever be classics. Also, Michael is the FIRST one to get 5 number ones. He has many, many firsts, does she?
Her single also went down to 6.

Michael is a legend and his legacy will live forever. I doubt very much she will ever be a legacy.
 
Whose music will still be played in ten years? Advantage: Jackson.
 
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