goodbye Michael Jackson

ChrisC said:
-- and in music you're absolutely correct, one generally builds on the body of work of others, but Elvis was not Chuck Berry in terms of being a pioneering influence on music the way we speak of people like Robert Johnson, Bill Monroe, or Armstrong.
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Coincidentally, I have converted most of my CDs to FLAC files on a hard drive over the past month (I think I'll tackle the vinyl over the next winter), and I have several CDs of each of those artists you mentioned (the 2 CD Box set of RJ is everything he did, maybe they found one song since then). I've often thought that it was Bill Monroe who was really the most original - although Bluegrass builds on other styles, it really has some unique and (AFAIK) previously unknown components. I'm not enough of a musicologist to say that with any authority, just an impression of mine. I would say that Monroe's music was a bigger step away from the predecessors/contemporaries that was Johnson or Armstrong. But all are fantastic artists with a lot of originality.


It's all a matter of musical taste; like a poll in 2005 that had this somewhat obscure singer ahead of Elvis.
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Well, Eva Cassidy was an amazing interpreter of some classic songs. And her sad story helped her to connect (posthumously) to the public. To get back closer to the OP, I'll take anything Cassidy recorded over anything MJ recorded, any day. As you say, a matter of taste and personal preference. But then, I can't dance ;)

-ERD50
 
Michael Jackson died on June 25. The news media, promoters, lawyers, attention-seekers, fans, memorabilia whores, ticket scalpers and other assorted leeches have worked their magic for 11 days and he will finally be buried tomorrow. The TV networks have devoted hundreds of hours to his death and the aftermath and will provide wall-to-wall coverage of the "big event" tomorrow.

Pardon me if I seem callous, but the attention paid this "man-boy" is beyond my comprehension. I can't help but wonder what the now adult children who spent some time in their youth 'entertaining' Mr. Jackson in his bedroom think about all this hoopla...
 
REWahoo said:
Pardon me if I seem callous, but the attention paid this "man-boy" is beyond my comprehension. I can't help but wonder what the now adult children who spent some time in their youth 'entertaining' Mr. Jackson in his bedroom think about all this hoopla...
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I keep wondering that myself. Where are all the tell-all books? Where are his many accusers now? Where are the pictures and videos and such?
 
REWahoo said:
Michael Jackson died on June 25. The news media, promoters, lawyers, attention-seekers, fans, memorabilia whores, ticket scalpers and other assorted leeches have worked their magic for 11 days and he will finally be buried tomorrow. The TV networks have devoted hundreds of hours to his death and the aftermath and will provide wall-to-wall coverage of the "big event" tomorrow.

Pardon me if I seem callous, but the attention paid this "man-boy" is beyond my comprehension. I can't help but wonder what the now adult children who spent some time in their youth 'entertaining' Mr. Jackson in his bedroom think about all this hoopla...
Click to expand...

My grandmother, born in 1895, was pretty disgusted with Jerry Lee Lewis because his third "wife" was only 13 years old and his cousin, to boot. She considered him to be an admitted child rapist, forcing incest on her to boot (not to mention Satan in the flesh, I could go on). I was not allowed to play his music (even at home!), or to talk about him. Many times I had my ears and/or eyes covered by my relatives if there was a chance that I would even see his photo, hear his name, or (heaven forbid) hear his music. Many people felt that way back in the 1950's. But as time has passed, what we remember is his music...
Similarly, I tend to think that we will remember Michael Jackson for Man in the Mirror, Billie Jean, and the moon walk, not for his bedroom activities.
 
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Want2retire said:
I tend to think that we will remember Michael Jackson for Man in the Mirror, Billie Jean, and the moon walk, not for his bedroom activities.
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I don't disagree with this at all. What I do disagree with is the circus atmosphere surrounding the aftermath of his death - and the fact it has dominated the "media" for two solid weeks as if he were someone really important. :)

Where is that puke emoticon...
 
Want2retire said:
My grandmother, born in 1895, was pretty disgusted with Jerry Lee Lewis because his third "wife" was only 13 years old and his cousin, to boot. She considered him to be an admitted child rapist, forcing incest on her to boot (not to mention Satan in the flesh, I could go on). I was not allowed to play his music (even at home!), or to talk about him. Many times I had my ears and/or eyes covered by my relatives if there was a chance that I would even see his photo, hear his name, or (heaven forbid) hear his music. Many people felt that way back in the 1950's. But as time has passed, what we remember is his music...
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I tend to take a middle ground here. On one hand, I know how the death of a celebrity (and indeed, almost everyone in their usually puny sphere of influence) tends to accentuate the positive and gloss over the seamy underbelly.

But on the other hand, even where I think *relatively* minor relative character flaws relative to their overall body of work (see Steve McNair) can be somewhat de-emphasized, Jackson's transgressions and flaws were serious enough that even death shouldn't cause their whitewashing and sugar-coating.

I tend to separate art from behavior, and to me judgment of MJ the sometimes bizarre and possible criminally sick person doesn't mean invalidation of MJ the musician and entertainer.

Having said all that, I think it's a shame that so many other big names who were probably bigger people in terms of behavior and human decency are seeing their own normally notable passings almost being a footnote. And I am tired of the borderline deification of an extremely flawed man, as if the problems were minor like a shoplifting charge when someone was 14.

One of the funny things to me about your story is that you mention your grandmother was born in 1895, and back then it wasn't that unusual (particularly in areas where farming was important) for girls to marry by age 16 or even younger. As an avid amateur genealogist I've seen it repeatedly.
 
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REWahoo said:
I don't disagree with this at all. What I do disagree with is the circus atmosphere surrounding the aftermath of his death - and the fact it has dominated the "media" for two solid weeks as if he were someone really important. :)

Where is that puke emoticon...
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I agree that it is now way over the top. And I've been largely ignoring it except for seeing the headlines online. :nonono:
My sense of all this is he was a product, not a person, and people continue to cash in on his passing. That is the saddest part of all.
I was pretty young when Elvis died, but I do remember the same type of hoopla going on. It is the nature of the business. :(
 
REWahoo said:
I don't disagree with this at all. What I do disagree with is the circus atmosphere surrounding the aftermath of his death - and the fact it has dominated the "media" for two solid weeks as if he were someone really important. :)

Where is that puke emoticon...
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My question to you would be, why would you expect anything different?
 
Michael Jackson's concerts always were difficult to get tickets to, but that's nothing compared to the pop star's memorial service.
On eBay, bids for tickets for Tuesday's event were reaching as high as $1,000 and $3,000, though it was impossible to verify the seriousness of those bids. Others on Monday were submitting offers more in the $100-$200 range.
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Buying opportunity? Selling opportunity? Ya gotta' love capitalism.

Tix to Jackson memorial being sold for thousands
 
ziggy29 said:
One of the funny things to me about your story is that you mention your grandmother was born in 1895, and back then it wasn't that unusual (particularly in areas where farming was important) for girls to marry by age 16 or even younger.
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Believe it or not, she married my grandfather and gave birth to my father when she was 14. I would point that out to her when she was so livid and furious about Jerry Lee Lewis. THAT didn't help my cause much! :) My parents would hush me and say that was different on a farm in the Ozarks so many years ago. My grandparents were happily married until the day my grandfather died, nearly 75 years later.
 
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REWahoo said:
I don't disagree with this at all. What I do disagree with is the circus atmosphere surrounding the aftermath of his death - and the fact it has dominated the "media" for two solid weeks as if he were someone really important. :)

Where is that puke emoticon...
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Well, ya got a point there.... :flowers:
 
We all have our own opinions about him and every other subject that can be imagined. That's what this forum is all about. I've made a comment about him once before, but I'm going to add this last comment regarding Michael Jackson.....

It hurt my heart when he died.
 
REWahoo said:
I don't disagree with this at all. What I do disagree with is the circus atmosphere surrounding the aftermath of his death - and the fact it has dominated the "media" for two solid weeks as if he were someone really important. :)

Where is that puke emoticon...
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You insensitive pig. ;) Ask and you shall receive.
img_833035_0_0be738f377907f56c918729540d0b79b.gif
 
I was very sad to hear of MJ's death. Even so, nothing will compare to what I felt when John Lennon died. The only celebrity I ever cried for.:-[
 
He probably was more important than Princess Diana and look at the coverage of her death. Slow news season, lots of air time to fill, and at least he was a symbol of success to a lot of the population, coming from Gary, Indiana as he did with no connections. So I can live with tbe coverage.

(I liked Shy Di and no offense to Diana's memory but she had the accidental fortune/misfortune of marrying a crown prince and then divorcing him--her later good works re AIDS and landmines were no more newsworthy than those of thousands of others and really, would she have done any of them had she not been the trophy bride in a position to do so?)
 
REWahoo said:
I'm not insensitive to the sadness of his death. I'm just sick of the over-the-top treatment and media overexposure in an attempt to profit from his demise.
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Imagine the three-ring hoopla erupting if it turned out that Elvis was really dead...
 
REWahoo said:
I'm not insensitive to the sadness of his death. I'm just sick of the over-the-top treatment and media overexposure in an attempt to profit from his demise.
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Ignore it. It really will go away. I just flip the channel or turn the page.
 
Notmuchlonger said:
Ignore it. It really will go away. I just flip the channel or turn the page.
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But if you live in No. Cal. within 500 miles of Stockton! It won't go away. Back in the old days (last year) when I visited Stockton, the talk was always about the heat, how many days has it been over 100 degrees. No more but my stump will go on....?
 
Bestwifeever said:
He probably was more important than Princess Diana and look at the coverage of her death. Slow news season, lots of air time to fill, and at least he was a symbol of success to a lot of the population, coming from Gary, Indiana as he did with no connections. So I can live with tbe coverage.

(I liked Shy Di and no offense to Diana's memory but she had the accidental fortune/misfortune of marrying a crown prince and then divorcing him--her later good works re AIDS and landmines were no more newsworthy than those of thousands of others and really, would she have done any of them had she not been the trophy bride in a position to do so?)
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So, he gets a total pass on the last 15 years of his life, with the child molestation charges, etc? You have a big heart!
 
Bestwifeever said:
I said I can live with the coverage--I missed where I said the above, FD.
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I guess I misunderstood, soory.........

I don't understand why he's more or less important than Princess Di. They both were celebrities.........
 
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