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Michael was a legend evan before Thriller

analogue

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I've always hated how people claim that MJ became a legend when Thriller came out. Don't get me wrong Thriller obviously made him into an evan bigger legend but he was a legend before Thriller

I mean wasn't Off The Wall the biggest selling album by a male artist at one point?
 
What i am bothered with is that thriller is THE album to mention when it comes to Michael's music, don't get me wrong it is a terrific album and it DID changed the face of music but personally i don't think it is his best...
 
yeah he was. thriller made him Da Kaing of Music,but before thriller his legend was already certified. the jackson 5 are timeless and Ground breakers. those songs speak for themselves along with the charisma and persona and the live stage show,etc...
 
It's much like saying Diana Ross was already a legend by the time she did "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and did "Lady Sings the Blues" to me.
 
Yeah!

And even though I am so happy and love Thriller...there is still that bittersweet side of it - it's his biggest achievement and in a way his biggest curse.
 
Michael Jackson was a legend in black music pre Thriller, not a legend in mainstream pop music despite Michael Jackson already being a hugely successful mainstream pop artist with the biggest selling solo album of all time by an artist, and also the biggest selling black artist of all time. But Michael was only 21yrs old around the time of Off The Wall and was too young to really be considered a legend as he had to much ahead of him, despite him already be vetern.

Off The Wall turned Michael from a star to a "Superstar", but Thriller turned Michael in to a huge mainstream pop Icon that defined a generation. Remember Michael only won a Grammy Award for Best Soul Album in 1980 for Off The Wall not the overall Best Pop Album, despite it being the best and biggest selling album of 1979. Rolling Stone Magazine famously declined to do a cover story in 1979 on Michael because they said he wasn't a big enough story for them yet. So in terms of mainstream confirmation that Michael was already the dominant artist in music since 1979, Michael wasn't being acknowledge as being so because of mild forms of racism, ie black artist had to take 2nd place.

You all know the story of why Michael made Thriller the album it was with different genres of music. It did the job it was ment to do, and gave Michael the acknowledgment he deserved. With the record break sales of Thriller mainstream media and the music industry could no longer deny Michael was the biggest and most talented artist in the world. That's when Michael became an Icon.

I'd say the Bad Tour turned Michael in to a Legend, many critics hoped and wished the Thriller era just a bit of luck that would be forgotten. Yet Michael proved them wrong and came back with the Bad era which was even more exciting and intense than the Thriller era.

ajessica said:
What i am bothered with is that thriller is THE album to mention when it comes to Michael's music, don't get me wrong it is a terrific album and it DID changed the face of music but personally i don't think it is his best...
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I don't think Thriller is Michael's best album, I prefer Off The Wall and Bad. But most artists and bands most famous and biggest selling albums often aren't their best. But Thriller is an amazing album, I love it !!!
 
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Yeah, Ben, I think that's what Analogue meant.

In the black community, he was already considered a legendary performer because of his chitlin' circuit years (1966-1969), his Motown Records association (1968-1976) and his association as lead singer of the Jacksons (1966-1979).

In '76, EBONY STARS had a serious MJ on the cover with the quote: "What makes Michael Jackson a legend" or something like that.
 
troubleman84 said:
Yeah, Ben, I think that's what Analogue meant.

In the black community, he was already considered a legendary performer because of his chitlin' circuit years (1966-1969), his Motown Records association (1968-1976) and his association as lead singer of the Jacksons (1966-1979).

In '76, EBONY STARS had a serious MJ on the cover with the quote: "What makes Michael Jackson a legend" or something like that.
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I think Michael may have been introduced as a Legend on Soul Train once or twice when he performed solo songs from his own Motown album.

I've seen the cover of Ebony Stars "What makes Michael Jackson a Legend" on eBay some years ago.
 
Absolutely agreed with all the everything so far! I also hate how people think that Thriller was the first album that had Michael shattering records left and right. Do they not know that Off the Wall was also a record breaker? In the US, he was the first solo artist to have four singles from the same album in the top ten! Two of those songs were number one hits as well. Not only that, but in 1980, Off the Wall was named as the biggest-selling R&B that year. He won numerous awards for that album (not to mention his first Grammy), showing the world that even at the age of 21, he was practically already a legend already.

And he wasn't a slouch with the J5 either. Their first four singles were number one singles as well, so he was successful as a little boy, and with his brothers, right off the bat. So IMO, the earlier years were just a signal of great things to come from Michael. I always believed, too, that Off the Wall was the very start of his conquering the world, only nobody could've known it then, but the writing was 'off the wall' (pun intended) even then.
 
Plus I think because "I Want You Back", "ABC", "The Love You Save" and "I'll Be There" left such an imprint, it made his post-Motown solo success even more significant. Plus I think if his career had ended at 18, he'd be looked as the greatest child soul singer after Frankie Lymon. Or if he had ended his career with Motown Records (despite only being there for seven years), in years he and his brothers would've been branded MOTOWN LEGENDS (they are, I'm just saying). What "Off the Wall" and "Thriller" did was made his legend grow and after the success of "Bad", he basically had been heralded as a pioneer, icon, a trailblazer and the like but he was a legend since the mid-'70s.
 
troubleman84 said:
Plus I think because "I Want You Back", "ABC", "The Love You Save" and "I'll Be There" left such an imprint, it made his post-Motown solo success even more significant. Plus I think if his career had ended at 18, he'd be looked as the greatest child soul singer after Frankie Lymon. Or if he had ended his career with Motown Records (despite only being there for seven years), in years he and his brothers would've been branded MOTOWN LEGENDS (they are, I'm just saying). What "Off the Wall" and "Thriller" did was made his legend grow and after the success of "Bad", he basically had been heralded as a pioneer, icon, a trailblazer and the like but he was a legend since the mid-'70s.
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Agreed 100% troubleman84. Absolutely. :D
 
With the J5, MJ was a star; with Off The Wall he was a megastar; and with Thriller he just became Michael Jackson, the legend.
 
well you have to remember, many people were calling mj washed up at age 20. i remember a thrillercast where run dmc said that he thought mj was no longer a threat because he had nothing left. then mj went off the wall and shut everyone up.
 
Well he WAS a child star. Usually if you hit your stride at 11, you would peak at 16. That's pretty much what happened to MJ until OFF THE WALL came out in 1979.
 
I have respect for Thriller,Truely, But I am a person who does respect ALL of Michaels work from age 5 thro' infinity, as a WHOLE to me. Of course he is a Legend before Thriller..and of course he was After.. To me Michael is art. A Legend. I'll leave it with Michael's own words...

“I was a veteran, before I was a teenager.”
~ Michael Jackson
 
Yeah I hate it when some people say he became a legend with Thriller and with the help of Quincy Jones (I can't stand this phony fucker). Of course, one of their reasons is that it's the biggest selling album of all time and it seems almost the only reason they got.

B.U.TTT. (ala Mike singing it in "Get It")

Let me put it like this: to me, he became a legend when he auditioned for Motown doin the James Brown steps. Ever since the day, he's never stopped being a legend!
 
^

Lols! Michael was destined to be a legend the day he was born....

Yea, I truly believe that... ^_^
 
hotrod280 said:
well you have to remember, many people were calling mj washed up at age 20. i remember a thrillercast where run dmc said that he thought mj was no longer a threat because he had nothing left. then mj went off the wall and shut everyone up.
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:eek:

souldreamer7 said:
I have respect for Thriller,Truely, But I am a person who does respect ALL of Michaels work from age 5 thro' infinity, as a WHOLE to me. Of course he is a Legend before Thriller..and of course he was After.. To me Michael is art. A Legend. I'll leave it with Michael's own words...

“I was a veteran, before I was a teenager.”
~ Michael Jackson
Click to expand...

MySerenity5 said:
^

Lols! Michael was destined to be a legend the day he was born....

Yea, I truly believe that... ^_^
Click to expand...
:yes::yes:
 
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