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"Michael Jackson should be recognized for revolutionizing pop music" <-- Article

daphnieas

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Michael Jackson should be recognized for revolutionizing pop music

Katherine Heriges - Art and Entertainment Editor
Monday, September 08, 2008 issue
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He’s much maligned. He gets no respect. He is admittedly a little crazy. And this past week, he turned 50. Michael Jackson deserves far more respect than people give him.
When I mention interest in (well, borderline obsession with) the Jackson family in conversation, college students usually respond the only way they know how — with a Michael joke. For those born in the late ’80s and early ’90s, Michael’s popularity was dying off as they were children and leading into years dominated by controversy and problems. His relevance is questioned by many who look back on his pop career and wonder why he never demonstrated the prowess with instruments that his contemporary, Prince, did, or why he made his odd habits publicly known (befriending rats, etc.).
Perhaps there are points to be made there. However, his title as the King of Pop should never be disputed, nor should his place in music history. Michael Jackson is not just a personality or a celebrity; he produced some of the most lasting music in pop history and should be remembered as such. No one has had a life like his, from childhood traumas to global success to shameful criminal investigations.

Michael’s first gig was in his family group, the Jackson 5, with brothers Jackie, Jermaine, Tito and Marlon. Family groups were really en vogue in the early 70s, with groups like the Osmonds and the Partridge Family playing very well to teens on television. The Jackson 5 were among these groups. However, Jackson songs like “ABC” and “I’ll Be There” are still played on iPods all over America, while “Yo-Yo” is forgotten to all who didn’t live to throw their underwear at Donny Osmond. The thing that set the Jacksons apart from the rest was that they had Michael. He was incredibly talented and could even outsing Motown superstar, Diana Ross.

When he set out on his solo career, he adapted to the times. “Off the Wall,” his first solo record with Epic, had a disco feel that was appropriate for the time, but set a musical precedent that he would follow for the rest of the ’80s. He released the best-selling album of all time, “Thriller,” in 1982, which performed so well because of the incredible string of successful singles on the record and because of his now-legendary performance on the Motown 25 television special where he premiered the moonwalk dance. During his Epic years, he worked with Quincy Jones, a producer even Pharrell Williams is jealous of. He’s had thirteen number one singles and has been inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice.

So why is he so hated now? The controversy is understandable. However, those who hate him because of the bandwagon opinion are not thinking clearly. He changed pop music. No pop artist will ever have a life-spanning career that is so varied and fascinating. As his career progressed, he successfully changed with the times to fit the music at the time and his own personal style. No one can say his odd physical transformation changed his musical ability — the “Bad” and “Dangerous” records were both tremendously popular and pleasing to the ears, despite the fact that they featured strikingly pale images of the singer on their covers.

Today, he should be able to be celebrated and let his career rest in peace, but instead his numerous detractors do not allow him to live the quiet life. He’s followed by litigation and bad press. He’s made fun of regularly, though thousands of those who make jokes about him own “Thriller” or at least have “Billie Jean” on their iPods. He’s an oddball, for sure, but he’s a living music legend and should be respected as such.

Happy 50th, Michael. Stay strong.

http://dailybeacon.utk.edu/showarticle.php?articleid=53660

Very nice :D
 
Yes, I agree. This is why he is opersecuted from the get go, because he is revolutionary and he demands change. Where is Wannabe when you need her in here? lol
 
daphnieas said:
. No one can say his odd physical transformation changed his musical ability — the “Bad” and “Dangerous” records were both tremendously popular and pleasing to the ears, despite the fact that they featured strikingly pale images of the singer on their covers.
Click to expand...

Good points and so nice to see his other albums getting props for a change. Very nice article. Thx for posting!
 
Datsymay said:
Yes, I agree. This is why he is opersecuted from the get go, because he is revolutionary and he demands change. Where is Wannabe when you need her in here? lol
Click to expand...

lol, my rep. is wide or something haha.

But good article. You all know my take on this. Michael is attacked because his very presence demands change. He doesn't just preach it, but he actually lives it, much to his own misery at times, because people oppose change and anything which calls for it. They always have. They fear what and who they cannot define or relate to. What's more, they hate to be told or shown they're wrong, in any capacity. Michael sees things a certain way, in a different light then what is generally considered social normalcy, and throughout his life, while he may have been afraid to let that differing perspective show, he never let that fear stop him from expressing his views or from living his ideals. And he knew. He knew people would react badly to him. He said as much in an interview from 1983 when he expressed his fear of saying too much because he knew people wouldn't understand him and would think the things he said were strange.

People are afraid of him because of that, because just his being there forces them to look at themselves and face what's wrong with their state of living, how they do things, how they see things. It forces them to face their own prejudice against what is unlike them even. You see how people blame Michael for the way THEY treat him. They're trying to justify their bigotry. I've said this all many times before, but it runs all the way back to the early 80s, when the media and press started a campaign against Michael. It was subtle at first, but if you read articles from back then carefully, you'll see them trying to push the reader in to thinking there was something wrong with Michael. And they've used all manor of tactics to brainwash the public in to thinking so. His plastic surgery, his vitiligo, the way he talks, the way he acts, and they finally got what they wanted when he was falsely accused. They found the one thing that would do the trick in his love and compassion for children.

From what I've seen, all this bad stuff happened to Michael, essentially, because Michael is one of those people on this planet who really DOES have the capacity to change the way people live, to change the way they are, in to something better, and the powers that be knew that, they could see that, and so they started in very early on to try and stop him, because any sort of radical shift in the way people percieve and live is a threat to their control. It sounds all very conspiracy theory, but it's not. I'm not in to that. It's just an observation on human nature and society and how it all works together.
 
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Great article, except for calling him an odball! :p

Anyway, Mike's a genius, and he deserves respect for what he's done. I am so sick of peple taking a sh** all over him. He's a grown man now, he has a family, he's innocent (a-holes), and has nothing else to prove. He just wants to live in peace now, and continue living out the rest of his dreams.

I genuinely care about Michael, and I am very offended when people insult or bash him. He just doesn't deserve that.

And everything wannabestartinsomethin21 said above me, I agree with 100%.
 
I feel that people so often downplay Michael's musical achievements because they have such a warped perception of him as a person. I posted the following thought in another thread some time ago in regards to the terrible treatment he continues to recieve from the media and most of the public. I feel it applies here too because the minimization of his cultural impact is based on pure hatred IMO. So I rewrote it.

I really think that some people don't understand Michael because they don't WANT to and simply just want to hate for the sake of hating because it's the "in" thing to do. The info is there for those who really want to know the truth instead of following the wolf pack in jumping to conclusions. I personally do not believe that absolutely every single person who trashes Michael does not have the resources to really look for the truth if they want. Because of this, I think that Michael wouldn't be the subject of so many cruel jokes, monologues and articles if bashing him wasn't so readily accepted and in fact encouraged by society. The more Michael opened up in those interviews, the more people still kept asking "Why does he do this then?" and "Why did he do that then?" And since the answers didn't fit with the media's completely distorted portrayal of Michael as some kind of evil and irresponsible wierdo, they were overlooked in favor of more character asassination because haters feed off of the media crap like bees to honey. It's a shame that despite everything Michael has said to get people to finally understand him, so many people just downright refuse to listen.
 
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Yeah, Wannabe, good post. And mjfan, you too. I hear all kinds of excuses, from just plain shallow hatred, to "I don't like him, he's a bad man" (my in-laws told this to my CHILDREN!), to "he's uncomfortable in his own skin, you don't know him personally so how do you what his heart is really like", even "you ever think that maybe he does that charity stuff is because he gets tax breaks?" (both statements from my hubby). It's all a load of crap. Thing is, they aren't willing to do the research, for whatever reason. I told my hubby that rather than take my word for it, as I am not an eloquent speaker, that he do his own research, with an open, unbiased mind. Gotta look at ALL sides, and sift and discern the junk, verses the likely, and fact. He won't do it, though. Most people won't. It's HARD. When I did it, sometimes I wanted to throw up, literally. Simply because, no one should ever be treated the way that man has throughout his entire life!

Anyway, as a musician myself, I tremendously admire his talent. As a humanitarian, I greatly admire his heart. As a shy, reclusive, introvert myself, I UNDERSTAND the torture and claustrophobia he has to go through just as that type of person (although with Michael it is a magnified scale). I also understand what it's like to come out of that shell onstage! People are always asking me when I am going to sing on stage again. I quietly say, "I don't know. I hope soon." I feel like I am going to explode any day now if I don't get back up on that stage. I like living my quiet life with my kids and my writing, but I feel this fire inside to get out there and SING again, and see the smiles on people's faces.

But yes, Michael deserves to be recognized for his accomplishments, not for media garbage. I lost my trust in the media years ago. Gotta find information and truth in alternative ways. Michael's musical legacy will last for ages, in much the same way Michaelangelo's art has. All geniuses and briliiant people are viewed as "strange" and "weird" by their contemporaries. Michael understands that, and has for a long time. He has to live with those labels. It is NOT easy, it hurts like you wouldn't believe, and it drives you deeper inside yourself. But later, when the dust has settled, it will be his accomplishments that define Michael Jackson.
 
I also wanted to add, it's no wonder Michael rarely does interviews. Look what happens everytime he does one! Always SOMETHING bad. If everyone were going to scrutinize me and twist my words, and go after my money, etc. everytime I did an interview, I would just stay silent, too. it is not worth it.
 
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