Bulo’s Saturday Music for the Masses-Michael Jackson Memorial Edition

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1. Unstable Isotope says:

   June 27, 2009 at 8:18 am

   The vid of MJ performing Billie Jean at the Apollo is one of my favorites.

2. Unstable Isotope says:

   June 27, 2009 at 8:21 am

   I recommend reading this really interesting post from Feministe about the Thriller video and its deeper meaning of abuse.

   It’s never over in this video. The terror keeps returning. You think Michael’s the nice boy of his childhood career and of Off the Wall. Then he says “I’m not like other guys” and turns into a monster. Then wait, it’s not real! Everything’s back to normal. He’s teasing, being nice, telling her he’s going to protect her. Then the darkness comes again, in the form of inescapable darkness that “though you fight to stay alive” always creeps in, and he becomes a monster for the second time. Then oh, it’s just a dream! He’s nice! But the last shot of the video lets you know that actually no, he’s still a monster. She’s not crazy; she’s not dreaming. It could happen again.

   It wasn’t until ten years later that Jackson started talking about his own physical and emotional abuse at the hands of his father, about how it was so bad that he’d get sick and start to vomit at the sight of his father later in life. So many, maybe most survivors of abuse can recognize the pattern of alternating “nice, friendly comforter” and “violent monster” that permeate the Thriller video. I recognize my own father’s terrifying outbursts of rage in it too.

   The theme much stronger in that video than in most horror films. Jackson, abused throughout his childhood with fists and belts and taunts and deliberately-inflicted fear, steps into the role of abuser. In the fictional universe of the video, he’s compelled, without real choice. He tries to warn Ola Ray to get away; he tries to flee the undead and becomes possessed. “No mere mortal can resist the evil of the Thriller.” I don’t think I’m just reading all of this in, and I’m sure it’s been written about before. (But I couldn’t find any sources offhand.)

3. nemski says:

   June 27, 2009 at 8:43 am

   Downer UI.

   All I wanted to say was that I counted his moonwalk steps and, for second most famous walk in human history, there were not that many.

4. Unstable Isotope says:

   June 27, 2009 at 8:58 am

   I think it’s impossible to think about Michael Jackson and not think about his dark side or his mental health issues.

5. cassandra_m says:

   June 27, 2009 at 9:24 am

   I was talking with neighbors last night about Michael Jackson one was telling me about talking with a young person who really only knew Jackson from the scandals, the disfigurements and just plain weirdness. She said that hurt her alot and she didn’t know why. I was a little hurt too, but thought that it came from the fact that this kid didn’t know about Michael when he was young and vital and at his most creative. Before Jackson’s demons started to appear in his personal life and in his physical appearance. He was an amazing artist and is part of the soundtrack to alot of our lives — it is really a shame that the personal issues came to overshadow that.

   A guy on the radio yesterday talking about losing Jackson was like losing a big bit of our cultural DNA. That seems exactly right.

   Thanks for posting these, Bulo! I love the Apollo appearance too….

6. cassandra_m says:

   June 27, 2009 at 9:48 am

   Micheal Jackson melts the Internets.

   NB: This is Gawker, so I can’t tell you this data is solid.

7. nemski says:

   June 27, 2009 at 9:59 am

   Google thought thought the MJ spike was an attack, http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10274137-2.html

8. Mark H says:

   June 27, 2009 at 10:25 am

   Ignoring the drama and even Jackson’s videos, I find that he could write and perform one hell of a song. Eddie Van Halen’s solo on “Beat It” and the staccato baseline on “Smooth Criminal” are for me the things I’ll always remember about Jackson. With the exception of “The Wall”and “Sgt Pepper”, the only albums/CD’s I would listen to in one sitting were “Off The Wall” and “Thriller”.
   Plus , Jackson could write on hell of a hook 🙂

9. Joanne Christian says:

   June 27, 2009 at 10:32 am

   Aw geez, El Som from the Steel Pier to the Apollo, variety show, and Bandstand all in one morning…thanks for the trip. And if anyone hears of an upcoming tribute coming on TV soon, drop a line so I can snag a kid to turn it on to the right whatever using the right whatever. We’re a one television family, and I’m getting it that night!!! Thanks.