Why is Michael’s main image or look the one of the early 90s while his heyday was in the early 80s?

[filmandmusic]

It has puzzled me for a while why most impersonators adopt Michael’s Dangerous tour look and not his early 80s Thriller era look. What could be the reasoning behind this? Also in performing, they do all the 90s moves and not the late 70s or early 80s moves.

Additional interesting question. Do the Jackson 5 or young Michael have impersonators?

 

[Alaslam]

Because they’re white.

 

[mj_frenzy]

Michael Jackson when he was alive, during the Dangerous Tour for example, he performed songs also from the 'Thriller' era or from the 'Off The Wall' era.

So, a white impersonator can impersonate him for all the eras.

But a black impersonator cannot impersonate him for all the eras (for example, it would look unrealistic a black impersonator to perform songs from the 'Dangerous' era or from the 'HIStory' era).

 

[Spaceship]

I'm pretty sure most impersonators go with the "Billie Jean" look. Fedora, glittery white glove, high-cut black pants, glittery socks, and curly hair.

The reason the original Motown 25 and Victory tour versions aren't used as often as the Bad tour variant (which is basically the same as the Dangerous, History, and 30th-anniversary variants) is that it's hard to find a copy of the glittery shirts:

Much simpler to just wear a regular white V-neck shirt underneath the jacket.

 

[Galactus123]

Also in performing, they do all the 90s moves and not the late 70s or early 80s moves.

You could argue that his dancing got even better later. It could be one reason. The Billie Jean moves looked cooler starting with Bad Tour.

Also there are just more live videos available from later tours.

 

[Spaceship]

A lot of people wear the "Beat It" and "Thriller" jackets, too (often accompanied with a fedora, glittery white glove, and glittery white socks). Impersonators also go with the "Smooth Criminal" and, to a lesser extent, the "Bad" outfits pretty often.

But the most iconic MJ look of all is "Billie Jean". The "Dangerous" tour look is also iconic, mainly because that's what he wore at the Super Bowl (albeit without the infamous leotard), but it doesn't touch the "Billie Jean", "Beat It", or "Thriller" looks.

 

[SmoothCriminal1995]

I'd guess it's because that's when Mike was at his most iconic and memorable to a mainstream audience

 

[michaelsson]

Because they’re white.

 

[wonderouzmj]

I've always wondered this but like someone said...its easier to copy the costumes imo

 

[MichaelD]

Back in the day we booked an impersonator representing the Victory era and his costumes were pretty accurate.

 

[Nicnac]

Because of the iconic look it’s very obvious to copy. And they can try to make themselves look more MJ with the clothes, hat , hair, makeup. Although there is of course only one Michael Jackson . Even if they perfect the dance moves and get the look they can never ever get the essence and his pure spiritual soul. He was on a higher level.

 

[Mister_Jay_Tee]

It's probably because that's how he looked for about 30 years of his life, give and take, versus how he looked in the OTW-Thriller Era, a total of about 8.

 

[Victorious]

I think beacause he looked more otherworldly later on, with more iconic features. That makes it easier to look like 'Michael Jackson' to the general public than trying to look like the old, more real human MJ

 

[wonderouzmj]

Back in the day we booked an impersonator representing the Victory era and his costumes were pretty accurate.

That's my guy there. We're great friends on fb

 

[blair]

It has puzzled me for a while why most impersonators adopt Michael’s Dangerous tour look and not his early 80s Thriller era look. What could be the reasoning behind this? Also in performing, they do all the 90s moves and not the late 70s or early 80s moves.

Additional interesting question. Do the Jackson 5 or young Michael have impersonators?

Imo it's a largest problem in the fans in general, there are a sort of disdain about everything pre-Bad area, I mean during Thriller area the impersonators has no problems to imitate him, like you say he was far more successful during these times so that nothing to do to be more "iconic", that also the big difference with casual peoples or fans who love more his old stuffs, I think there are also the same problems in forums or website, in general it's always the "white Michael" (sorry to use that to describe him) who are used in the pictures and not the early 80's Jackson.

 

[Alaslam]

Imo it's a largest problem in the fans in general, there are a sort of disdain about everything pre-Bad area, I mean during Thriller area the impersonators has no problems to imitate him, like you say he was far more successful during these times so that nothing to do to be more "iconic", that also the big difference with casual peoples or fans who love more his old stuffs, I think there are also the same problems in forums or website, in general it's always the "white Michael" (sorry to use that to describe him) who are used in the pictures and not the early 80's Jackson.

Yea the pre bad disdain here is weird

 

[dam2040]

Yea the pre bad disdain here is weird

I'd say the opposite is true on here at the moment.

The real "disdain" goes towards MJs later work by those who strangely think MJ was only good until 1984 - which a lot of people are sick of. Look at the nonsense about MJs performing skills that gets brought up from time to time, especially surrounding things like HIStory. That level of critique is never aimed at the "pre Bad" work.

 

[flight85]

 

[Moonstreet]

Something no one understands in all the discussions about the "black Michael" the "white Michael" the pre BAD eras, the 80's 90's eras is the access to the J5, Motown, 1970's, pre Thriller music.

Until Thriller and MTV, Michaels career was mainly Black American music for a Black American audience. That type of music, the Motown sound, was just not played in many countrys. I'm using my country, Ireland as an example. My parents and their peers in the 1970's and early 1980's were not listening to Motown. It was all white peoples music, country and western, Irish folk music, or UK music like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Rod Stewart, the mods and rockers.

It was only when MTV started in Ireland, first as 3 hours on Irish TV in 1984 and then as a separate channel MTV Europe in August 1987, that Irish people had access to Black American music.

I became a fan in Thriller era when the music videos were shown on Irish Saturday morning kids tv program called Anything Goes. It wasnt until a few years later, with MTV, that I found out that the Michael Jackson in Billie Jean video had been a child star and had a huge career in the 1970's. It was really only in 1988, when I got Moonwalk book that I really found out about Motown and the 1970's.

So back to this discussion about "black Michael" the "white Michael" the pre BAD eras, the 80's 90's eras, the J5, Motown, 1970's, pre Thriller music. For a huge % of people, their first introduction to Michael, the first time they became aware of who he was, the first song they heard, the first video they saw, the first concert footage they saw was BAD era or Dangerous era.

 

[Mister_Jay_Tee]

In America, MJ of the Thriller Era is the biggest period. Anywhere else, it's pretty much a toss up. And the fandom is not a monolith, just choose your tribe and relax.

 

[zinniabooklover]

Something no one understands

That's a bit of a sweeping statement. Depends on your location, depends on your age, perhaps it even depends on your ethnic background.

in all the discussions about the "black Michael" the "white Michael" the pre BAD eras, the 80's 90's eras is the access to the J5, Motown, 1970's, pre Thriller music.

Until Thriller and MTV, Michaels career was mainly Black American music for a Black American audience. That type of music, the Motown sound, was just not played in many countrys.

Motown was huge and definitely wasn't just for Black people. J5 were huge and hugely important. Not, perhaps, in the same way as Stevie and Marvin, who were seen as very political, but J5 were very significant, imo. It's true that pop music was very much focused on the US, UK and Europe. There wasn't the global reach that exists nowadays. But Motown definitely wasn't just an American thing. Certainly in Britain it was a big deal.

I'm using my country, Ireland as an example. My parents and their peers in the 1970's and early 1980's were not listening to Motown. It was all white peoples music, country and western, Irish folk music, or UK music like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Rod Stewart, the mods and rockers.

But in Britain it was different. It could be argued that white music dominated the radio, sure. But Motown was all over the radio along with Stax and Philly stuff and all sorts of other soul / reggae / R&B stuff. Motown in particular was a huge phenomenon.

It was only when MTV started in Ireland, first as 3 hours on Irish TV in 1984 and then as a separate channel MTV Europe in August 1987, that Irish people had access to Black American music.

Ireland, of course, is a very specific example. It has a very particular culture - which is great. But this isn't how it was where I grew up. I'm not dismissing the example of Ireland, btw. Of course I accept what you're saying about the situation in Ireland. I didn't grow up there. I'm simply saying that the situation was very different across the world or even in different parts of Europe.

I became a fan in Thriller era when the music videos were shown on Irish Saturday morning kids tv program called Anything Goes. It wasnt until a few years later, with MTV, that I found out that the Michael Jackson in Billie Jean video had been a child star and had a huge career in the 1970's. It was really only in 1988, when I got Moonwalk book that I really found out about Motown and the 1970's.

So back to this discussion about "black Michael" the "white Michael" the pre BAD eras, the 80's 90's eras, the J5, Motown, 1970's, pre Thriller music. For a huge % of people, their first introduction to Michael, the first time they became aware of who he was, the first song they heard, the first video they saw, the first concert footage they saw was BAD era or Dangerous era.

No question Bad era was a real peak. It was insane and very intense. But Thriller era was crazy, also. Michael Mania wasn't just a piece of media fluff. It was a real thing. And Michael, as an individual, was already pretty significant even before that. OTW is not my fave Michael album but it carried a lot of weight.

In America, MJ of the Thriller Era is the biggest period. Anywhere else, it's pretty much a toss up. And the fandom is not a monolith, just choose your tribe and relax.

 

[filmandmusic]

I'd say the opposite is true on here at the moment.

The real "disdain" goes towards MJs later work by those who strangely think MJ was only good until 1984 - which a lot of people are sick of.

There are quite a few posters here who don’t rate Off The Wall or Motown at all. Thriller is generally liked but I would say most die hard fans go for Bad, Dangerous and even HIStory as their fave albums. I think it is a reaction to the lack of critical respect MJ got post Thriller.
I think posters like @blair, @83magic and myself are pretty rare here.

Look at the nonsense about MJs performing skills that gets brought up from time to time, especially surrounding things like HIStory. That level of critique is never aimed at the "pre Bad" work.

Well the difference between pre bad and HIStory is night and day on several levels imo. Pre bad the vocals are better, the dancing is better, the live act was better, the writing was better, the songs written for MJ were better, the looks were better, the costumes were better and dare I say Michael had a more likable down to earth personality.

That said there is still plenty I loved post Thriller like Liberian Girl, Dirty Diana, Leave Me Alone, Black Or White, Give In To Me, Who Is It, Will You Be There, Little Susie and especially Childhood etc

 

[Mister_Jay_Tee]

There are quite a few posters here who don’t rate Off The Wall or Motown at all.

I don't think it's quite a few at all. It's pretty rare for someone to dislike Off The Wall outright. Some rank it pretty low. But its about taste anyway.

It's hard to enjoy Off The Wall nowadays because it sounds so bad on streaming. And I've heard it my whole life.... It's basically peak saturation for me.

The Motown stuff, I honestly just didn't enjoy most of the ballads. There's tons of great songs though. J5 and Solo. It takes some time to listen to it all, that's the reality of it.

 

[Mister_Jay_Tee]

It's also ironic to resent Off The Wall because of Quincy, but rate Invincible highly when it's predominantly Darkchild and several other writing crews. I can't say I see that happening often.

 

[filmandmusic]

The Motown stuff, I honestly just didn't enjoy most of the ballads. There's tons of great songs though. J5 and Solo. It takes some time to listen to it all, that's the reality of it.

I still wouldn't say I know his Motown output well enough despite being a fan for 30 years. It definitely is quite tough to go through all of the compilation albums and non album tracks

 

[Mister_Jay_Tee]

I still wouldn't say I know his Motown output well enough despite being a fan for 30 years. It definitely is quite tough to go through all of the compilation albums and non album tracks

Yeah I'd rather go to the big compilation album and the funny cast offs than the main albums. That's where you find the really intriguing stuff. Like Soul-Ection! That's a cool CD.

 

[Rockin R]

God.
This was painful to watch.

 

[dam2040]

There are quite a few posters here who don’t rate Off The Wall or Motown at all. Thriller is generally liked but I would say most die hard fans go for Bad, Dangerous and even HIStory as their fave albums. I think it is a reaction to the lack of critical respect MJ got post Thriller.
I think posters like @blair, @83magic and myself are pretty rare here.

Well the difference between pre bad and HIStory is night and day on several levels imo. Pre bad the vocals are better, the dancing is better, the live act was better, the writing was better, the songs written for MJ were better, the looks were better, the costumes were better and dare I say Michael had a more likable down to earth personality.

That said there is still plenty I loved post Thriller like Liberian Girl, Dirty Diana, Leave Me Alone, Black Or White, Give In To Me, Who Is It, Will You Be There, Little Susie and especially Childhood etc

My point still stands. The tone of critique for those users is very different to those “post 1984” fans.

 

[83magic]

There are quite a few posters here who don’t rate Off The Wall or Motown at all. Thriller is generally liked but I would say most die hard fans go for Bad, Dangerous and even HIStory as their fave albums. I think it is a reaction to the lack of critical respect MJ got post Thriller.
I think posters like @blair, @83magic and myself are pretty rare here.

Well the difference between pre bad and HIStory is night and day on several levels imo. Pre bad the vocals are better, the dancing is better, the live act was better, the writing was better, the songs written for MJ were better, the looks were better, the costumes were better and dare I say Michael had a more likable down to earth personality.

That said there is still plenty I loved post Thriller like Liberian Girl, Dirty Diana, Leave Me Alone, Black Or White, Give In To Me, Who Is It, Will You Be There, Little Susie and especially Childhood etc

‘thriller’/ the early 80s is like a magnet to me, so of course I took a look at this thread lol. I was honestly trying to avoid posting in hereI didn’t want to further alienate myself, but since I was tagged..
I’ve already shared my views on most of what has been covered in this thread, and others of this nature. I even started one myself.
people should be free to like what they like for whatever reason, without being shamed or having their level on fandom questioned. unfortunately in my experience, that rule only applies if you’re opinions are aligned with the majority in the community (ie. the preference for everything post ‘thriller’).
everyone has their own experiences with michael due to their vantage point. some of this is due to accessibility, some of it is generational and race related.
I have no interest in impersonators, and I even find them to be problematic. one thing that does hurt me is the deliberate rewriting of history, that has once again made its way into this topic.

‘thriller’ was michael’s peak. not the eras that came after it. it is still his biggest selling album. studio or compilation. the idea that michael wasn’t popular outside america pre ‘87 is false and offensive. even without mtv he was able to reach millions globally. the making of ‘thriller’ also broke records as the biggest selling music vhs cassette.
the sheer pandemonium he caused during his visit to madam tussaud’s in london in 1985, was legendary in itself.

this video, also from ‘85, shows his fans all over the world holding up copies of the ‘thriller’ album.

michael’s every move made headlines. whether it was on tv, or in print. from his groundbreaking motown 25 performance, to his tragic pepsi accident. after over 15 years years in the business at that point, we knew who he was..
as mentioned before, the lies to the contrary are out of jealousy for their favourite eras not achieving that same level of success, or receiving that same critical acclaim. these are a loud minority in the bigger scheme of things, who are trying to steamroll the conversation and hi-jack the narrative at large. this may work on a few newcomers who don’t know any better, but the facts prove otherwise. as michael himself sang; ‘you can’t win’.

 

[dam2040]

‘thriller’/ the early 80s is like a magnet to me, so of course I took a look at this thread lol. I was honestly trying to avoid posting in hereI didn’t want to further alienate myself, but since I was tagged..
I’ve already shared my views on most of what has been covered in this thread, and others of this nature. I even started one myself.
people should be free to like what they like for whatever reason, without being shamed or having their level on fandom questioned. unfortunately in my experience, that rule only applies if you’re opinions are aligned with the majority in the community (ie. the preference for everything post ‘thriller’).
everyone has their own experiences with michael due to their vantage point. some of this is due to accessibility, some of it is generational and race related.
I have no interest in impersonators, and I even find them to be problematic. one thing that does hurt me is the deliberate rewriting of history, that has once again made its way into this topic.

‘thriller’ was michael’s peak. not the eras that came after it. it is still his biggest selling album. studio or compilation. the idea that michael wasn’t popular outside america pre ‘87 is false and offensive. even without mtv he was able to reach millions globally. the making of ‘thriller’ also broke records as the biggest selling music vhs cassette.
the sheer pandemonium he caused during his visit to madam tussaud’s in london in 1985, was legendary in itself.

this video, also from ‘85, shows his fans all over the world holding up copies of the ‘thriller’ album.

michael’s every move made headlines. whether it was on tv, or in print. from his groundbreaking motown 25 performance, to his tragic pepsi accident. after over 15 years years in the business at that point, we knew who he was..
as mentioned before, the lies to the contrary are out of jealousy for their favourite eras not achieving that same level of success, or receiving that same critical acclaim. these are a loud minority in the bigger scheme of things, who are trying to steamroll the conversation and hi-jack the narrative at large. this may work on a few newcomers who don’t know any better, but the facts prove otherwise. as michael himself sang; ‘you can’t win’.

You will never see the post Quincy preferrers be as vile and downright disrespectful towards MJ as those who box in to whatever was pre Thriller.

If I’m wrong, I’d love to see it.