Remembering Michael Joseph Jackson - (August 29, 1958 - June 25, 2009)
Categories: Obituary,Popular Music,Thriller,Michael Jackson
Tags: The Jackson 5 Obituary Motown Records Elvis Presley Michael Jackson King of Pop Rosetta Tharpe Madonna Popular Music Thriller
Les Payne
June 27, 2009
The eulogizing of Michael Jackson occasionally stoops to compare this soaring genius to Elvis Presley of the one-trick, and even Madonna of the clay-feet.
This is truly freakish.
I lived through the Elvis era and endure, as we still must,
the con of the Material Girl. Neither of these magpies had a creative pinion in
their wings. What flight they enjoyed was due mainly to mimicry, tribal lust,
and press-agentry. The base talent of Madonna, alas, can be pulled through the
eye of a needle; while that of the “king,” as compared to
All artists go through an imitative stage; the trick is to strike out boldly for one’s own territory. The creative impact an artist exerts upon his generation is measured not by hoopla but rather by the distance his work outpaces that of those who came before him.
Michael Jackson took pop music to a new frontier.
The claim he staked--with imagination, hard work and sheer will--ranged beyond rote method as his art challenged the limits and toyed even with science itself. Whether moon-walking at the 25th anniversary of Motown Records, or working a gravity illusion in the “Smooth Criminal,” video, the exuberant troubadour played tricks with the mind and teased the spirit to the delight of both.
And, oh yes,
As all such wunderkinds, he severed the umbilical with his
lodestar to burst forth free in full, creative force early on. By 14, an age that
found Elvis borrowing secretly from Rosetta Tharpe and other blues/gospel
artists,
Traveling
I took my daughter to Michael Jackson concerts and got hooked somewhat myself.
Not even the Newsday office was spared. My night national editor was a typical, compulsive-obsessive ward of the city-room paragraph factory. So set were his childhood habits that he persisted in writing on a baseball scorecard the plate appearance of every single batter of both teams for every major league game he watched. The musical range of this editor of even temper and staid habits was bracketed by Frank Sinatra of his parent’s generation and Bruce Springsteen of his own.
So it surprised me that evening in ‘83 when this middle
The mesmerizing video-work of Michael Jackson has been
running continuously on cable stations as a tribute since his death in
A few such of my observations over the years follow:
** “
Sept. 6,
1987, Newsday
** “Most of
Feb. 21, 1993,
** On
“
[What I had in mind here is that the son struck back at the
father whose generation—across racial lines--was conditioned to accept Liz
Taylor as an American standard of beauty and desire. By luring
Feb. 21, ’93, Newsday
“Why does
Feb. 23, 2003, Newsday
Michael Jackson,Otis Redding,Jean Carne,Jimi Hendrix,David Ruffin,Eddie Kendicks,Minnie Ripperton,Luther Vandross,Phillipe Wynne,Marvin Gaye,Barry White,Isaac Hayes,Sam Cooke.Lou Rawls,Sammy Davis jr,Richard Pryor,Rudy Ray Moore,Pigmeat Markham,Moms Mabley,Luther Ingram,Frankie Lymon,Minnie Ripperton,Gerald LeVert,Johnnie Taylor,Linda Jones,I hate to do this for I know that there are many I have forgot to put on the list,but the point that I am trying to make is that,these artist will never,ever be duplicated,imitated yes.Duplicated Never and they all left us all to soon.May they all Rest In Peace,and those who I forgot to mention,I know once I post this,Someone else will come to mind.I'm quite sure someone else will pick up the "gauntlet"
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Mr Payne:
I am outraged that so-called journalists on the news channels and newspapers are making a phoney nexus of Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley to Michael Jackson and his musical heritage. Let there be NO doubt that James Brown is Michael's musical godfather. The moonwalk is a take off of JB's slides across the stage on a jam like 'There Was A Time' - good God!
I am disappointed that Les Payne didn't credit JB's role in MJ's development as an entertainer in this article. I expect white talking-heads to lie about Black culture and history, but yee to Brutus? lol!
It appears that Michael Jackson sucumbed to the treachery of illegal drugs that he willingly ingested into his body in a bid for relief from pain. In the last installment the drugs ended MJ's life, and we as a society lose a muscial icon. I mourn with Michael Jackson's millions of fans, and grieve with his family especially Jermaine Jackson, who stood with his brother Michael when he faced jail time.
Michael Jackson and the great arranger/producer Qunicy Jones made some music that will live forever.
RIP, Michael Jackson.
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Your piece on the death of the enigmatic Michael Jackson hits the mark on most points: eliminate the white racial nexus associated with a Madonna or Elvis or Frank Sinatra, for that matter, and any objective observer would find that Jackson easily outstripped them all. He also did something else at great cost to himself and that was his manic attempt to "cross-over" and appeal to a white culture and a white audience. Jackson was said to be savvy; perhaps, like the famed bank robber Willie Sutton, Jackson too "knew where the money was". One need not be a musicologist to have born witness both to Jackson's widening appeal and his bizarre physical transformation over the decades. The physical transformation was both stunning and hurtful for many African-Americans initially because Jackson's rejection of himself was both so obvious and so unnecessary- he was blessed from birth with both a master talent and attractive physical gifts too- he clearly was not in need of the surgeon's scalpel, even while he believed otherwise. His linkage with the aging Elizabeth Taylor, and Elvis Presley's daughter of little talent also brought Jackson down in the eyes of the community from which he sprung, but he gained enormous wealth and fame the world over with his ground-breaking artistic gifts for visual artistry, the turn of the lyric and the range and timing of his vocals too. One can expect that Michael Jackson's death will become a "money machine" for a media that turned on him in recent years, just as predatory parents and other hangers-on exploited the troubled star for financial gain over the years. After reading the posted excerpt from The Los Angeles Times Syndicate (2-21-93) on Jackson's perception that he was "ugly", a view allegedly instigated by his father, nothing comes to mind more than one of Malcolm X's speeches in which he said the following: "When you (the white man) teach a man to hate the shape of his nose, the nose that God gave him, the texture of his hair, the hair that God gave him, and the color of his skin, the skin that God gave him, then that is the worst crime that you could have committed!" Sadly the observation made by Malcolm remained true until death for a disturbed Michael Jackson, and remains true for too many others still in the year 2009. Warts aside, we will not soon see Jackson's out sized talent again.
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The King is dead, the King is dead, Long live the King!
i grew up on Michael. i dug his music from the Jackson's Five "I want you back" to "Billy Jean" to "Bad" etc... i still argue that "Thriller" is one of the best albums ever made in all genres of music! But i was disillusioned with the sordid allegations of pedophilia. i scoffed at Michael for the nose jobs, for the bleaching of his skin. i felt sorry for Michael as i watched the world of celebrity turn a talented, charismatic teenager into a buffoon. Michael was an enigma. Icon.. Caricature..Great Entertainer who was stripped of his humanity from childhood until his death.
on the night of his death, i pulled out the "Thriller" cd and listened. i listened to one of the best albums ever made. One has to have real talent to accomplish something like that!
the King of Pop is dead, the King of Pop is dead, Long live the King of Pop!
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another excellent commentary,from you my brother.it seems that MJ"S ultimate demise"began,if its true with his own father,calling him "ugly".what kind of father/man is this,that could demean his own offspring,a blessing from god.Mind you in most instances the children come out looking like the mother,or the father,or a combination of both.michael was a handsome boy,and grew into a handsome man,until the many surgeries he had,disfigured him forever.
But again going back to JOE JACKSON,the father,what the hell could he have been thinking to say what he did to his son?
it defies logic.what was the point?anyway,the other main cause of his downfall,was when he got into a white"
bag"this is what happens to many of our people,when they "blow"up"like a michael jackson.usually,they become so big,that the only people they interact with,or come in contact with on a business/professional level are white folks.when you add a black man,already believing he is ugly,because his own flesh/blood stated such,and combine that with meteoric success,and unprecedented
financial gain,you ultimately wind up sad to say,the way MJ wound up.its truly awful,what the white folks did to him,along with many NEGROES,including his father.the white news media,print media,the tabloids,etc,broke him down, emotionally,and spiritually,with all the lies/allegations that he was a pedophile,a child molester,and a "weirdo".and a lot of our foolish black people,jumped on the bandwagon.michael was a loving,gentle spirit,a giving human being,who wouldnt have hurt a "fly"was he different?a little strange?sure he was.but when you are black,you are a "FREAK"WEIRDO",WACKO JACKO,PILL POPPER.but when you are "white"you are "ECCENTRIC".ITS no wonder MJ died of a heart attack,and was on drugs/or pain medication.his heart was crushed/broken,by all the lies,and the bad things said about him.he was made to be a MONSTER"but he was talented.The hypocrisy smells so bad,i dont want to tell you,what i really think.at the end of the day,michael was a VICTIM"OF his own father,the white news media/hollywood establishment,the parents of the "white children"he loved so much,and all the despicable people he trusted,who betrayed him,and used him.
finally,i think god took him from his family,from us the fans,and the BILLIONS who loved/admired him,for his great talent,because he had been through enough,in terms of emotional devastation,self loathing,loneliness,derision,and scorn.
He had nothing else to prove.he goes out a GLOBAL PHENOMENON!loved by the entire world!to all the haters/hypocrites,i want to say on behalf of MJ:HOW YA LIKE ME NOW?
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