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At one time, Robbie Fulks probably wouldn’t have been on the short list of artists most likely to do a sincere – much less sincerely great -- Michael Jackson tribute. As the songwriter says, “My style is to take things from a contrarian viewpoint,” and Jackson’s career lends itself to all sorts of contrarian sarcasm.
But Fulks says he learned a few things about the King of Pop when he was invited in 1999 to perform a birthday tribute concert to Jackson at the Cultural Center. His respect and appreciation for the singer deepened to the point where last year Fulks released an excellent Jackson tribute album, “Happy: Robbie Fulks Plays the Music of Michael Jackson” (robbiefulks.com), and will perform a Jackson-themed concert March 18 at Lincoln Hall. No doubt there will be a few humorous moments in the show, but Fulks says when removed from all the craziness around Jackson’s life, the singer’s music holds up remarkably well.
“All that celebrity pop music is so far from me now, but in the ‘60s through 1980, to be young and with my head halfway into radio, his music was part of my world,” Fulks says. “In thinking about it, listening to his music, getting more acquainted with it, it was amazing that he was always there for so long. He not only kept up with the times, he stayed a step ahead of them for 25 years. That in itself is culturally significant.”
In working out what songs to perform and later to record, Fulks developed a healthy respect for Jackson’s abilities as a singer and songwriter.
“He was the Elvis of my generation and I think he was better than Elvis,” Fulks says. “Elvis was a great singer, but Michael was a more resourceful singer, especially when younger. Add to that the dancing, production, songwriting, videos, the image-making. It was half playful, half menacing, with a little bit of a 1920s German horror movie thing, a weirdness and complexity. It was a way more inventive persona than a hip-swinging hillbilly singer.”
The 1999 performance went so well that Fulks decided to start making an album. He sunk more than $35,000 of his own money into the project, working with top-tier musicians such as mandolin player Sam Bush, banjo virtuoso Tony Trischka, pedal steel great John Hughey, post-punkers Shellac and avant-rock singer Azita. The latter two worked on what is easily the album’s most disturbing song, a noise-collage version of the latter-day Jackson track “Privacy.”
“I didn’t want the record to just be a tribute to the glorious days of my youth,” Fulks says. “There are some awful Michael Jackson records, like (the 2001 album) ‘Invincible,’ which is the worst, most conspicuous-consumption atrocity you could ever hear. But that’s where I got ‘Privacy,’ which I heard as an opportunity to explore the psychological horror landscape of Michael’s mind.”
The bulk of “Happy” is made up of undeniably great songs, including “Billie Jean” (“take away the disco beat and you have creepy, suggestive lyrics that can withstand the attention”) and “Man in the Mirror” (“a great song that has a life and majesty outside of his performance”).
Fulks shelved the record for several years while child molestation charges swirled around Jackson, but then decided to put it out himself after the singer died in 2009.
His multi-media tribute concert will include puppets, child actors in “scenes of questionable taste,” and a first-rate group of singers and musicians. One thing it won’t have is Fulks busting some MJ-style dance moves.
“No, no, I’m Caucasian and 48,” Fulks says with a laugh. “That will not work.”
http://leisureblogs.chicagotribune....ckson-has-robbie-fulks-respect-seriously.html
But Fulks says he learned a few things about the King of Pop when he was invited in 1999 to perform a birthday tribute concert to Jackson at the Cultural Center. His respect and appreciation for the singer deepened to the point where last year Fulks released an excellent Jackson tribute album, “Happy: Robbie Fulks Plays the Music of Michael Jackson” (robbiefulks.com), and will perform a Jackson-themed concert March 18 at Lincoln Hall. No doubt there will be a few humorous moments in the show, but Fulks says when removed from all the craziness around Jackson’s life, the singer’s music holds up remarkably well.
“All that celebrity pop music is so far from me now, but in the ‘60s through 1980, to be young and with my head halfway into radio, his music was part of my world,” Fulks says. “In thinking about it, listening to his music, getting more acquainted with it, it was amazing that he was always there for so long. He not only kept up with the times, he stayed a step ahead of them for 25 years. That in itself is culturally significant.”
In working out what songs to perform and later to record, Fulks developed a healthy respect for Jackson’s abilities as a singer and songwriter.
“He was the Elvis of my generation and I think he was better than Elvis,” Fulks says. “Elvis was a great singer, but Michael was a more resourceful singer, especially when younger. Add to that the dancing, production, songwriting, videos, the image-making. It was half playful, half menacing, with a little bit of a 1920s German horror movie thing, a weirdness and complexity. It was a way more inventive persona than a hip-swinging hillbilly singer.”
The 1999 performance went so well that Fulks decided to start making an album. He sunk more than $35,000 of his own money into the project, working with top-tier musicians such as mandolin player Sam Bush, banjo virtuoso Tony Trischka, pedal steel great John Hughey, post-punkers Shellac and avant-rock singer Azita. The latter two worked on what is easily the album’s most disturbing song, a noise-collage version of the latter-day Jackson track “Privacy.”
“I didn’t want the record to just be a tribute to the glorious days of my youth,” Fulks says. “There are some awful Michael Jackson records, like (the 2001 album) ‘Invincible,’ which is the worst, most conspicuous-consumption atrocity you could ever hear. But that’s where I got ‘Privacy,’ which I heard as an opportunity to explore the psychological horror landscape of Michael’s mind.”
The bulk of “Happy” is made up of undeniably great songs, including “Billie Jean” (“take away the disco beat and you have creepy, suggestive lyrics that can withstand the attention”) and “Man in the Mirror” (“a great song that has a life and majesty outside of his performance”).
Fulks shelved the record for several years while child molestation charges swirled around Jackson, but then decided to put it out himself after the singer died in 2009.
His multi-media tribute concert will include puppets, child actors in “scenes of questionable taste,” and a first-rate group of singers and musicians. One thing it won’t have is Fulks busting some MJ-style dance moves.
“No, no, I’m Caucasian and 48,” Fulks says with a laugh. “That will not work.”
http://leisureblogs.chicagotribune....ckson-has-robbie-fulks-respect-seriously.html
