Fantastic job Jason. I think that the rehearsal tape that AEG released yesterday, shot less than 48 hours before Michael's death, indicates that he was in great shape, singing well, and while not dancing as frenetically as he once did, doing way better than most 50 year-old men can do. I also think that the tape makes his death all the more mysterious. Maybe there will be conspiracy theories after all.
EightE1
· 4 months ago
I admit I was a little surprised when he didn't rise from the dead after three days.
MatthewBolin
· 4 months ago
Really, because the tape had just the opposite effect for me.
1) I could not tell where the live singing was. Most of that was all a pre-recorded backing track, and the only thing that I can say for sure was Michael's live voice are the "Ho!" and the two "Hoo!"s. The rest of it seemed to be, at best, a blend of the original studio version's backing track, along with some new studio vocals that simulated live vocals.
2) I cannot...let me repeat CANNOT believe that he was going to include the "jew me/kike me" song in the concerts. On top of that, he included GOOSESTEPPING in the choreography for that song! WTF?! Was there NO ONE around him that could have pulled him aside about either of those things?
3) The guitarist looked exactly like the person playing with him on the Bad tour. And when I mean that, I don't mean I think it was the same person, I mean it looks like the guy passed through a wormhole linking 1987 to 2009. It looked ridiculous.
And those are just the top three, from about a minutes worth of edited clips. While I doubted the concerts were ever going to really take place, if they had, and this footage was the best of what AEG had to offer the public, the O2 shows would have been a complete farce.
theroux
· 4 months ago
The "kike me" song ("They Dont Care About Us") is actually pretty rockin', aside from a few questionable lyrics. The rest of that album was a snore. Never got that controversy; it seemed pretty clear to be a statement against intolerances. The version in the rehearsal clip is nothing more than chorus. The goose-stepping however, thats courting controversy, especially if its true about his conversion to Islam. :shrugs:
Jude
· 3 months ago
The "questionable lyrics" were meant as a consciousness-raising ANTI-RACIST statement. "Jew me/ Sue me/ Everybody do me/ Kick me/ Kike me/ Don't you black or white me" was definitely not meant as some sort of anti-Semitic slur, but rather in an ironic, do-you-see-the-stupid-racist-things-people-say sort of way. He was actually very saddened and disappointed when the [Idiot] Public didn't understand his intended meaning.
Keilani Goggins
· 4 months ago
Great Chart Attack Jason! The Love You Save is probably my favorite J5 song. The reason you don't love Lady In My Life is because he was singing it to me. ;-) I also had a muscle shirt that said PYT on the back. You don't have to tell me how cool I am
JonCummings
· 4 months ago
My favorite bit of this piece is your typo -- the one toward the end of your "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)" analysis that reads, "Here’s the unremarkable song for the video." Sadly, that's largely what MJ's career had become even by '88 -- a series of ever-more-unremarkable songs that seemed mostly like excuses for elaborate videos.
Sorry to harsh all over Chart Attack! I'll lighten up now. I adore "The Love You Save," maybe more than the other early J5 singles, because it has the best wordplay and because it's just bubblegummy enough while being more clever than "ABC." (Though "ABC" gets lots of extra points for inspiring "O.P.P.")
DwDunphy
· 4 months ago
Because I love showing off how old I am,. "The Love You Save" is my favorite J5 tune, but damned if it doesn't keep rolling into the ABC/Love You Save/Want You Back medley from the closing credits of Rankin Bass' J5 cartoon series (all three songs have a suspiciously similar groove.)
kingofgrief
· 4 months ago
I kept thinking about that medley theme this past week while listening to "Mama's Pearl". I once saw a *cough* grey-area DVD of the complete series, shoulda snagged it as there's no telling what something like that would go for in this new age of $999.99 Victory albums on eBay.
Elaine
· 4 months ago
"The Love You Save" is great. The one video that keeps popping into my mind this week is the one for "Leave Me Alone," featuring a stylized animatronic Michael piloting a rocketship with a llama and Bubbles the Chimp riding shotgun, complaining that people were saying that he's weird.
Jason you're so right about Herb Ritts!
jasonhare
· 4 months ago
Great catch on the typo, Jon -- that's what I get for writing until 2:30 in the morning. But yeah, uh, I meant to do that.
EightE1
· 4 months ago
Stanley Jordan did a really good smooth jazz version of "Lady in My Life" on his debut record. Granted, it was minus the vocals and thus the lyrics, but the melody worked nicely in that context.
MJ was an insanely talented but deeply troubled man (kinda like Jason). I am, however, a bit weary of the whole thing right now. Can't wait for the toxicology report, though.
Rob EightE1
trrish
· 4 months ago
Nice job, Jason. I must say that during my time on the planet so far, I have been blissfully unaware of the "Liberian Girl" video. Thank you. I think.
jasonhare
· 4 months ago
Isn't it awesome/awful, Trrish? There are very few celebs in that video that have retained any form of cultural relevancy. My fave moment is the Travolta/Newton-John part.
Bob
· 4 months ago
I've always prided myself in being able to separate an artist's work from his personal life, but I've never been able to do that with MJ. The more bizarre he became, the harder it was for me to listen to his music. As great as much of it is, there's no joy for me when I listen to his post-Jackson 5 output -- just a vague feeling of creepiness.
DwDunphy
· 4 months ago
I get what you mean. I'm fine up to Bad, where that conflict starts a little bit. Dangerous, HIStory and Invincible are just too steeped in the controversies to get a fair shake. I know there are good songs in there, but Jackson the myth had screwed over Jackson the musician so badly by then that, yes, even the most ardent admirer has to admit the product was a bit tainted.
jasonhare
· 4 months ago
I remember looking at the cover of "Bad" and thinking, "he looks so weird" -- and yet, as he got weirder, eventually the cover of "Bad" looked normal to me. It's the same way I look at his entire persona -- yeah, the whole Bubbles/Elephant Man/hyperbaric chamber phase was weird, but not as weird as when he started walking around with a surgical mask on all the time, married incompatible women and, for all intents and purposes, stopped being a legitimate performer and became a spectacle. When you keep getting weirder, the earlier stuff seems tame by comparison.
I think a lot of people were somewhat okay with the oddities -- because that's really all they were, oddities -- until they became serious allegations of wrongdoing. I think that's really the point when Michael changed, distanced himself from his music career and became...something else, I don't know. And that's why I never gave a listen to anything after "Dangerous." But thankfully for me, everything up to that point still means something.
side3
· 4 months ago
I always loved the point in a J5 song where Jermaine would sing his short bit...it always bumped a great tune in to overdrive for me....
Jimbo
· 4 months ago
Great post. I LOVE The Lady In My Life....one of the best tracks on Thriller IMO......
dslifton
· 4 months ago
Admit it, Jason. You only included PYT because of Ingram's McD connection.
jasonhare
· 4 months ago
I picked the song before I did the research and had no idea of the Ingram thing. I swear!
dslifton
· 4 months ago
The only reason why I believe you is because otherwise would have found a way to mention it.
lovelifemusic
· 4 months ago
Michael Jackson will continue to influence people with his music for decades to come.
Sorry if I repeat comments already made, but just to make sure these issues are addressed:
1. The space costumes in the "Shake Your Body" are certainly NOT "unremarkable"! They are, in fact, spacetastic. Look how long MJ's arms are!
2. Romanek deserves extra props for finding a lighting scheme that would actually make Michael's 1995 face look kinda cool and science-fiction-y instead of just wack.
3. I think the reason that there are few to no conspiracy theories suggesting that MJ is still alive is because, as bizarre and sad as his death may be, most people, consciously or un-, are pretty relieved by it.
Geoff
· 4 months ago
Sad news. We may never see a star of Jackson's magnitude again. And as huge as he was, there will always be the woulda/coulda-beens, about the alternative universe where he did not descend into weirdness. Having said this, I do not regard the world's *artistic* loss from his death to be as big as, say, when Joe Strummer died young after having rediscovered his artistic voice and having grown as a human being; never mind as big as from those like Jim Croce who were cut down in their prime. At best MJ would have been able to offer a glimpse of his former greatness. Perhaps the rehearsal tapes will indicate whether even that would have happened.
Agree that "The Love You Save" is superior to "I Want You Back" and "ABC". The former has grown on me over time, "ABC" has most definitely not. And it might be a classic but I could never be OK with a pre-teen singing "I'll Be There". Doesn't the "Just look over your shoulder honey ..." line have some of the stalker vibe often found in the Mellow Gold canon?
Fact is I am not a big fan of the Jackson 5 catalog, period. Major, MAJOR, exception: Clifton Davis's "Never Can Say Goodbye". I would have put that at #2 on the list, the song's chart peak. Great song in and of itself and the usual amazing soulful vocals by Michael. Along with "Rock With You" and "Human Nature" maybe my favorite of all of his songs.
The only other pre-"Off The Wall" song that I really go out of my way to hear is "Dancing Machine", which also hit #2.
And since we are citing chart positions hear, a tip of the hat to the now retired Casey Kasem. An anachronism from day 1, but I listened to guy every weekend from the mid-1970s until the Top 40 got unlistenable ca. 1986-87.
rs
· 3 months ago
stupid statements such as , "The best thing Michael jackson did was die." tell that to the the families and children that millions of his dollars were used to help. I am sure they would be interested in that stupid opinion. I am so fed up with this crap. You know I knew a man who had the same skin disease as Michael Jackson. I remember it was horrible and disfiguring. I remember his facial hair and the hair on his head even became light. He seem so depressed by the way people looked at him.
Imagine this happening to an adolescent who was an entertainer. It's hard enough to get through the teenage years let alone with a disability that people make fun of. On top of that you are constantly seen by millions of people. So the man had money and he tried to look normal. Maybe he did not always succeed according to our standards. But that makes us a sorry bunch to judge someone because of their appearance.
On top of that he reached out to help others. No Michael Jackson WAS NOT A SAINT and he made plenty of mistakes. But as the mother of disabled child I would say he was a far better human being that some of the idots that make these post and those who tried to destroy him. None of you can say you gave over 300 million dollars in your life time to help others. But he can and so much of this happen before we started attacking him. hmmm!
Further regarding the molestation. I have one question why the hell did the mother of that last child leave the court room laughing.(don't believe me view the tape of her after the trial leaving the court room) If someone had really attacked my child I would not find anything funny I would be hysterical and not rest until I proved they did it and money would certainly not make me stop pursuing them. However If I was paid to attack this man either way I would be happy. She was after money and why the hell didn't we investigate this woman who encouraged a child to do this. That alone is abusive and what message has this sent to that child.
We don't like to hear the truth because it makes us examine our own prejudices. I am sick and tired of the lies. Let this man rest in peace and stop lying on him. I would suggest that to continue to attack a dead man with these lies, with no regard for his children and how this crap hurts them is a sorry commentary for us as human beings. One thing is certain what goes around comes around. Geeze accusing someone based on crap for evidence and the fact that they were disfigured. this sounds more to me like we resented the mans success (money) and perhaps something else. For once lets look at all the players in this mess and tell the truth.
As for the Doctor involved in this. Saying it was Michael's fought that a doctor gave him a drug that killed him because he was addicted is liking saying a drug pusher is innocent of supplying addicts on the street. I AM REALLY SICK AND TIRE OF ALL THIS CRAP. I THINK IT IS TIME PEOPLE SPOKE UP ABOUT WHAT IS REALLY GOING ON HERE. If you care about children as much as you claim consider the children who just lost their father.
All Comments
1) I could not tell where the live singing was. Most of that was all a pre-recorded backing track, and the only thing that I can say for sure was Michael's live voice are the "Ho!" and the two "Hoo!"s. The rest of it seemed to be, at best, a blend of the original studio version's backing track, along with some new studio vocals that simulated live vocals.
2) I cannot...let me repeat CANNOT believe that he was going to include the "jew me/kike me" song in the concerts. On top of that, he included GOOSESTEPPING in the choreography for that song! WTF?! Was there NO ONE around him that could have pulled him aside about either of those things?
3) The guitarist looked exactly like the person playing with him on the Bad tour. And when I mean that, I don't mean I think it was the same person, I mean it looks like the guy passed through a wormhole linking 1987 to 2009. It looked ridiculous.
And those are just the top three, from about a minutes worth of edited clips. While I doubted the concerts were ever going to really take place, if they had, and this footage was the best of what AEG had to offer the public, the O2 shows would have been a complete farce.
The version in the rehearsal clip is nothing more than chorus. The goose-stepping however, thats courting controversy, especially if its true about his conversion to Islam. :shrugs:
Sorry to harsh all over Chart Attack! I'll lighten up now. I adore "The Love You Save," maybe more than the other early J5 singles, because it has the best wordplay and because it's just bubblegummy enough while being more clever than "ABC." (Though "ABC" gets lots of extra points for inspiring "O.P.P.")
Jason you're so right about Herb Ritts!
MJ was an insanely talented but deeply troubled man (kinda like Jason). I am, however, a bit weary of the whole thing right now. Can't wait for the toxicology report, though.
Rob
EightE1
I think a lot of people were somewhat okay with the oddities -- because that's really all they were, oddities -- until they became serious allegations of wrongdoing. I think that's really the point when Michael changed, distanced himself from his music career and became...something else, I don't know. And that's why I never gave a listen to anything after "Dangerous." But thankfully for me, everything up to that point still means something.
BTW - Whitney Houston has a new record due out 9/1, preorder it here: http://www.amazon.com/New-Release-Whitney-Houst...
1. The space costumes in the "Shake Your Body" are certainly NOT "unremarkable"! They are, in fact, spacetastic. Look how long MJ's arms are!
2. Romanek deserves extra props for finding a lighting scheme that would actually make Michael's 1995 face look kinda cool and science-fiction-y instead of just wack.
3. I think the reason that there are few to no conspiracy theories suggesting that MJ is still alive is because, as bizarre and sad as his death may be, most people, consciously or un-, are pretty relieved by it.
Agree that "The Love You Save" is superior to "I Want You Back" and "ABC". The former has grown on me over time, "ABC" has most definitely not. And it might be a classic but I could never be OK with a pre-teen singing "I'll Be There". Doesn't the "Just look over your shoulder honey ..." line have some of the stalker vibe often found in the Mellow Gold canon?
Fact is I am not a big fan of the Jackson 5 catalog, period. Major, MAJOR, exception: Clifton Davis's "Never Can Say Goodbye". I would have put that at #2 on the list, the song's chart peak. Great song in and of itself and the usual amazing soulful vocals by Michael. Along with "Rock With You" and "Human Nature" maybe my favorite of all of his songs.
The only other pre-"Off The Wall" song that I really go out of my way to hear is "Dancing Machine", which also hit #2.
And since we are citing chart positions hear, a tip of the hat to the now retired Casey Kasem. An anachronism from day 1, but I listened to guy every weekend from the mid-1970s until the Top 40 got unlistenable ca. 1986-87.
Imagine this happening to an adolescent who was an entertainer. It's hard enough to get through the teenage years let alone with a disability that people make fun of. On top of that you are constantly seen by millions of people. So the man had money and he tried to look normal. Maybe he did not always succeed according to our standards. But that makes us a sorry bunch to judge someone because of their appearance.
On top of that he reached out to help others. No Michael Jackson WAS NOT A SAINT and he made plenty of mistakes. But as the mother of disabled child I would say he was a far better human being that some of the idots that make these post and those who tried to destroy him. None of you can say you gave over 300 million dollars in your life time to help others. But he can and so much of this happen before we started attacking him. hmmm!
Further regarding the molestation. I have one question why the hell did the mother of that last child leave the court room laughing.(don't believe me view the tape of her after the trial leaving the court room) If someone had really attacked my child I would not find anything funny I would be hysterical and not rest until I proved they did it and money would certainly not make me stop pursuing them. However If I was paid to attack this man either way I would be happy. She was after money and why the hell didn't we investigate this woman who encouraged a child to do this. That alone is abusive and what message has this sent to that child.
We don't like to hear the truth because it makes us examine our own prejudices. I am sick and tired of the lies. Let this man rest in peace and stop lying on him. I would suggest that to continue to attack a dead man with these lies, with no regard for his children and how this crap hurts them is a sorry commentary for us as human beings. One thing is certain what goes around comes around. Geeze accusing someone based on crap for evidence and the fact that they were disfigured. this sounds more to me like we resented the mans success (money) and perhaps something else. For once lets look at all the players in this mess and tell the truth.
As for the Doctor involved in this. Saying it was Michael's fought that a doctor gave him a drug that killed him because he was addicted is liking saying a drug pusher is innocent of supplying addicts on the street. I AM REALLY SICK AND TIRE OF ALL THIS CRAP. I THINK IT IS TIME PEOPLE SPOKE UP ABOUT WHAT IS REALLY GOING ON HERE. If you care about children as much as you claim consider the children who just lost their father.