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Marlon Jackson Album Appreciation

Re: marlon jackson album appreciation

Marlon only had the one solo album (Baby Tonight) right?

My fav songs from that album are:
* Baby Tonight
* Don't Go
* When Will You Surrender
* She never cried
 
Don't Go remix

This track reached #2 on Billboard's R&B chart in 1987
 
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Re: marlon jackson album appreciation

His album reached double platinum status but by the late 80s, actual albums sales of a number of r&b artists were understated
 
Re: marlon jackson album appreciation

He did an interview with Arsenio Hall back in 1987 that's very telling
 
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Re: marlon jackson album appreciation

Bringing Brighter Days said:
He did an interview with Arsenio Hall back in 1987 that's very telling
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I remember watching that interview and have watched it a few times since. He also has a good one on that Video Soul show that I didn't see back in the day because I didn't have cable yet.

I've always liked Marlon and I think his music is good-although I admit I didn't buy his album. Actually, after BAD, I hardly bought any albums unless something just really hit me. But I got a pretty bad crush on him during the Variety Show days-he's really talented and became a really good singer and dancer. I'm sorry it didn't work out for him, but with Michael so big, I don't think any of the other kids really had a chance. But all the kids became really good at writing, producing and singing their music and they prove it with Triumph.


In fact, I read something the other day that talked about other big acts like the Commodores, Earth Wind and Fire, etc. and they were ALL pushed out of the spotlight by Michael after Thriller.
 
^^I don't think Thriller hurt the Commodores. What really hurt their popularity is Lionel Richie leaving the group and Motown promoting him more than the group. Post Lionel, they only had one big hit Nightshift. Even before he left, after a certain point, mainstream wise, Lionel's ballads became the sound the group, when before they had more funky songs as singles. On their very early records, most of the leads were by the drummer Walter Orange and Lionel was playing saxophone or keyboards. Lionel became a superstar, Motown's most popular act of the 1980s. Others like Rick James didn't really crossover. Stevie Wonder still had success up till 1985, but Top 40 pop radio pretty much ignored his albums after that. I think Motown was trying to make El DeBarge a big crossover act, but it didn't really work out for him. El signed with Warner Brothers in the 1990s.

The rise of hip hop also hurt the popularity of the old funk bands. The majors stopped signing the big bands in the mid 1980s, and many of the ones still around downsized and/or dropped the horn sections.
 
Re: marlon jackson album appreciation

http://articles.latimes.com/1987-10-10/entertainment/ca-8637_1_marlon-jackson

What's it like to be a Jackson?
That, said singer Marlon Jackson of the noted Jackson clan, is a question he's asked all the time, and he repeated his stock reply.
"It's like being a Smith or a Jones or any other average person. . . . We're just like anybody else. But when I say this, people don't believe me. "
You can't blame them. It's like saying the Reagans are just plain folks.
"I don't feel any different from anybody else," Jackson insisted during a recent interview. "I've lived my life that way, sort of on the fringe of this whole thing."

That's true to an extent. Though Jackson, 30, has been a star since the Jackson 5 surfaced 17 years ago, he hasn't had much acclaim. Brothers Michael and Jermaine have gotten most of it. Now sister Janet is swimming in it. But maybe it's Marlon's turn.
His new solo album, "Baby Tonight," is one of many Jackson family solo albums. Now, only Randy and Tito haven't recorded solo albums.
Marlon's album may push him to the forefront and pull him out of his shell. "Yes, I have been living in sort of a shell," he admitted. "I'm the mystery man. Nobody knows that much about me. I've been married for 12 years and have three kids. But not many people know that. I'm the background Jackson."
But why does he all of a sudden want to be in the foreground? "It's not the fame," he replied. "I don't need that. I get recognized sometimes, but I can come in a restaurant like this and not get mobbed. I prefer it that way. The point of all this is that I have talent as a singer and a songwriter. I just want an outlet for it."
Though the trim, smallish singer claimed he's usually happy and upbeat, he was very serious that afternoon. He was businesslike, hardly smiling. Often his voice was so soft you had to strain to hear him.
"I'm very quiet," he admitted. "It runs in the family. Everybody in my family is quiet. I like to listen to people rather than talk a lot."
As he talked about the pressure of being a Jackson, he seemed extraordinarily serene and detached:
"I do feel the pressure. I want to do well. I want this album to do well. If it doesn't people will say, 'I knew he couldn't do it.' The pressure is from pride in myself and my family. I feel pressure to make it because I don't want those people to be right--those people who think I can't do it, those people who'll say I'm not as good as the other Jacksons.
"This is not a normal situation. People expect a lot from you. The standards are high. The family standards are high. It's not like being a regular solo artist making a first album. Everybody's watching what you do. I'm in a fishbowl."
Since the Jacksons' circus-like "Victory" tour in 1984, Marlon has been in relative obscurity. Probably most people don't know that he hasn't been a member of the Jacksons since the end of 1985. "They didn't want me to leave, but I had to," he explained. "They were all surprised. They tried to stop me. But it was time for me to do something different."
Executives of Epic Records, the Jacksons' label, didn't want him to quit the Jacksons either. "At first they said I couldn't leave," he recalled. "But I called Michael and talked to him about it. He helped me get out of it. They listened to him. Epic finally let me go."
Jackson might have stayed on Epic if the company had let him record a solo album. But there was no interest. "That didn't hurt me," he said. "They said they wanted a group album, not a solo album from me. The Jacksons are recording an album now--without me. I knew if I was ever going to do a solo album I had to get away from the Jacksons and Epic to do it. I didn't want to wait."
So Jackson spent all of last year writing and co-producing an album in his home studio. "Baby Tonight" (on Capitol) consists mostly of dance music--some of it quite scintillating. But the music, not his vocals, carry the tracks. Critics will probably have a field day rapping his voice, which is neither powerful, distinctive nor expressive.
"The Body," a track on the 1984 "Victory" album, marked the first time he'd ever sung lead. As a producer and songwriter he's had no major credits, though he did produce and co-write songs for an obscure 1981 Betty Wright album, and wrote two songs on one of sister Janet's early albums. Even the Jacksons weren't impressed by his songwriting.
"I would write songs for the albums, but they weren't used," he said. "I felt my songs were strong but they didn't think so."
His album, by the way, features no other Jacksons. "They wanted to be on it, but I didn't want them," he explained. "There's no animosity. I just wanted to do this myself. I wanted to sink or swim alone. You have to be part of a big family like this to really understand what that means."

 
apparently Marlon is a meme now. :rofl:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">No idea why I watched this and pictured Marlon Wayans instead of Marlon Jackson and made myself cry real tears laughing <a href="https://t.co/XqvNe9JhhP">https://t.co/XqvNe9JhhP</a></p>&mdash; Big Sister 6inch heels (@Tweetleschantae) <a href="https://twitter.com/Tweetleschantae/status/1021962566166142976?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 25, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Hey <a href="https://twitter.com/Marlon_Jackson?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Marlon_Jackson</a>, can you tell us what was going through your mind? Black Twitter wants to know. I&#39;ll take the answer off the air.. <a href="https://t.co/PlB2aLA65g">https://t.co/PlB2aLA65g</a></p>&mdash; Reece &#127483;&#127464; (@Nu_PeRSoNA) <a href="https://twitter.com/Nu_PeRSoNA/status/1022252202210066433?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 25, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Lol this is jimmy in real life <a href="https://t.co/wUBZieIRSr">pic.twitter.com/wUBZieIRSr</a></p>&mdash; Jo-B (@Mr_EveryThing32) <a href="https://twitter.com/Mr_EveryThing32/status/1022605518844690434?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 26, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Lol every one was confused including mikes baby hair</p>&mdash; Tyle® No Perry (@WhtsUpYoung) <a href="https://twitter.com/WhtsUpYoung/status/1021991030365847552?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 25, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Yo why I read that in his voice lmao</p>&mdash; Giovannithadon (@Dongiovannix69) <a href="https://twitter.com/Dongiovannix69/status/1022275349378461698?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 26, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
I've always liked Marlon. He's so funny, so honest about things, he never trashed Michael, dances very well, maybe his voice wasnt the best but next to Michael he's my favorite.
 
I don't know much about his music but the first I heard was Body and I liked it. Reminds me of Wanna be Startin Something.
 
I've always liked Marlon. He's so funny, so honest about things, he never trashed Michael, dances very well, maybe his voice wasnt the best but next to Michael he's my favorite.
 
DuranDuran;4226931 said:
apparently Marlon is a meme now. :rofl:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">No idea why I watched this and pictured Marlon Wayans instead of Marlon Jackson and made myself cry real tears laughing <a href="https://t.co/XqvNe9JhhP">https://t.co/XqvNe9JhhP</a></p>— Big Sister 6inch heels (@Tweetleschantae) <a href="https://twitter.com/Tweetleschantae/status/1021962566166142976?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 25, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Hey <a href="https://twitter.com/Marlon_Jackson?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Marlon_Jackson</a>, can you tell us what was going through your mind? Black Twitter wants to know. I'll take the answer off the air.. <a href="https://t.co/PlB2aLA65g">https://t.co/PlB2aLA65g</a></p>— Reece &#127483;&#127464; (@Nu_PeRSoNA) <a href="https://twitter.com/Nu_PeRSoNA/status/1022252202210066433?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 25, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Lol this is jimmy in real life <a href="https://t.co/wUBZieIRSr">pic.twitter.com/wUBZieIRSr</a></p>— Jo-B (@Mr_EveryThing32) <a href="https://twitter.com/Mr_EveryThing32/status/1022605518844690434?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 26, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Lol every one was confused including mikes baby hair</p>— Tyle® No Perry (@WhtsUpYoung) <a href="https://twitter.com/WhtsUpYoung/status/1021991030365847552?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 25, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Yo why I read that in his voice lmao</p>— Giovannithadon (@Dongiovannix69) <a href="https://twitter.com/Dongiovannix69/status/1022275349378461698?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 26, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Click to expand...

My God I laughed so hard when I found this on YouTube! This was planned or not?
 
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