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MJ, R.I.P
He's one of the few musicians I've been listening to since I was six years old. I've long thought I Want You Back is one of the best songs, period. She's Out of My Life has for a long time been a personal favorite, as is Girlfriend. Billie Jean survives being overplayed on muzak. Off the Wall is an underrated album, as is History. His personal legacy is perhaps a dubious one, but he was one of the great dancers and entertainers of his century and it is a shock to read of his passing. The J. Randy Taraborelli biography, despite stopping in the early 90s, is very good.
Today was not a good day for the 1980s (Fawcett, McMahon).
Posted by Tyler Cowen on June 25, 2009 at 06:59 PM in Music | Permalink
Comments
Not to be rude so soon after his death, but: "perhaps"?
Posted by: dvd at Jun 25, 2009 7:05:34 PM
Ditto and well put, He was a great artist, able to blend extraordinary song writing, dance and singing abilities, into one tapestry, to create those rare powerful wow moments that command your attention and appreciation of our capabilities as humans. And his songs to this day hold their own as highly crafted, original and entertaining music. I too was surprised by how impressive his last album, a point at which i was a MJ skeptic and thought him over the hill.
That said most of his personal foibles were forgivable as human failings, but I personally can't get past the molestation issues, which were followed closely by my hometown newspaper the Los Angeles Times, and despite my attempts at giving him the benefit of the doubt, the evidence against him was damning. R.I.P.
Posted by: nyongesa at Jun 25, 2009 7:19:49 PM
I'm surprised how sad I am at this. Being born in 1978, MJ and my childhood are intertwined all over the place. My very first "adult" LP was Thriller, and my first CD was Bad. I haven't listened to them for years, but I'm realizing today that they are still very much in my consciousness. RIP.
Posted by: zampano at Jun 25, 2009 7:20:07 PM
RIP
another piece of my consciousness RIPpped away.
Posted by: babar at Jun 25, 2009 7:28:01 PM
RIP.
Posted by: Neuroskeptic at Jun 25, 2009 7:44:23 PM
I wonder if my generation is more familiar with his personal failings than with his musical legacy. I've heard him (and used him) as the butt of many jokes over the years but I've only really heard a couple of his songs.
Posted by: Josh at Jun 25, 2009 8:25:34 PM
I am surprised Tyler was shocked at his passing. This had to be one of the least surprising early celebrity deaths of all time. If you're under 25 years of age, his impact is probably lost on you somewhat. Before Thriller ever graced MTV for the first time, he had been a household name for over well over a decade. His worldwide popularity was greater than The Beatles or Elvis, but I don't believe people felt the same intensity for MJ as they did for John, Paul, George, and Ringo.
Posted by: Shaun at Jun 25, 2009 8:53:26 PM
I was actually listening to the Alien Ant Farm cover of "Smooth Criminal" just a few weeks ago, and ended up reading a bit about the various ways the anti-gravity lean was accomplished on Wikipedia; very clever.
Posted by: Nic Smith at Jun 25, 2009 9:09:11 PM
agreed that he was a worldwide star. i spent a year in kenya (88-89) and as my name is michael and i'm from america people would frequently ask me if i knew michael jackson or michael jordan.
Posted by: babar at Jun 25, 2009 9:20:32 PM
I don't believe Goldblum is dead. This site says it's a hoax: http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/jeff-goldblum-death-report-hoax-2808279
Posted by: Jody at Jun 25, 2009 9:41:03 PM
Jeff Goldblum? Surely you hoax.
Posted by: Just Sayin' at Jun 25, 2009 9:43:41 PM
.
Good riddance to the king of pop pap. An icon of bad taste and abusive celebrity. Should have been locked up long ago, for abuse of his own children if not molestation of other people's. A lifelong creep.
And Jeff Goldblum is not dead.
.
Posted by: cosanostradamus at Jun 25, 2009 9:58:11 PM
I have removed the Goldblum reference, thanks for the updates on that...
Posted by: Tyler Cowen at Jun 25, 2009 10:00:15 PM
Goldblum isn't dead - he's off downloading the virus from his powerbook into the alien mothership. He'll be back shortly, along with Will Smith.
As for MJ: RIP. Great songs, sad life. I agree you don't realize just what a monster star he was until you leave the US, and see poor village kids in western China wearing MJ T-shirts.
Posted by: Foobarista at Jun 25, 2009 10:03:17 PM
Goldblum is still with us. It was a hoax.
Posted by: Mike at The Big Stick at Jun 25, 2009 10:46:40 PM
Goldblum is still with us. It was a hoax.
Posted by: Mike at The Big Stick at Jun 25, 2009 10:46:57 PM
Tyler, I hope that picture is not of something you own.
Posted by: anon at Jun 25, 2009 10:51:38 PM
Despite MJ's off-the-stage infamy, it is gladdening to see the outpouring of support he still has. Thriller was the music I grew up with, and I think Off The Wall is another amazingly good album. Perhaps the world does acknowledge genius, even when it is warped...
Find peace in your afterlife or next life, Michael.
Posted by: Krish Swamy at Jun 25, 2009 10:55:41 PM
End of an era Tyler. I can remember sitting with my folks watching the Ed Sullivan show when the Jackson 5 performed (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjLGEZZ7CG4) and my Mom turned to me and asked --- "why can't you do that?"
To me 1969-1970 pop icon were the end of my brother and sister childhood --- retirement of Mickey Mantle from the Yankees (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrW3c9To-vI) and the break up of the Beatles (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oZYqAeIdYk&feature=fvw) but Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5 were the awakening of a new pop icon for our generation.
Great success, but very troubled life. Wonder how he will be remembered.
Posted by: Peter Boettke at Jun 25, 2009 11:48:20 PM
Bad was one of the best albums ever!
Posted by: =( at Jun 25, 2009 11:52:14 PM
"End of an era Tyler."
I think the reason there's such a deep and wide reaction over the death of this controversial yet gifted man is that he in fact spanned two, or even three, eras, and had a profound impact on multiple generations.
Previous commenters have noted the resonance of the Jackson 5 on their formative years. The Ed Sullivan show was before my time, but I am well aware of its place in American cultural history. Michael Jackson now joins Lennon, Harrison, and Morrison as among that show's performers that passed on too soon. The 60s loses another child.
For me, the era that is over is the '80s. When I was 7, in 1985, EVERY kid in my class was a Michael Jackson fan. We were too young then for irony, and the decade itself was much more sincere than the '90s would end up being. It was the '80s, and we loved Thriller, and never thought for a moment that there was anything uncool about that. On the contrary, nothing could be cooler than MJ.
Finally there is the third era. Having been deservedly crowned as the "King of Pop," Michael entered the final phase of his career, wherein the youngest generation came to know him best not through his music but through tabloids. Now the butt of jokes, even many older fans began to question their allegiance to their childhood hero as the 2000s wore on.
Despite the events of recent years, however, many of us realized today that what happened in the '60s, '70s, and '80s between us and Michael Jackson was real and today we can embrace that old feeling and listen to those formative songs once more, and remember a whole other era, and how his place in it and ours connected and merged, and mourn the fact that that memory is all that is left now.
Posted by: zampano at Jun 26, 2009 1:21:24 AM
David Carradine, Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson.......what does this mean!?!?
Dollar crisis coming!? Anyone? Hello?
Posted by: Hong at Jun 26, 2009 1:39:27 AM
I don't think any western musician has reached more people all over the world as MJ had during the 80s and 90s. Speaking personally he was western music for most indians in the 80s and 90s. Everybody had to do the moonwalk and some of his other moves to show off their dancing chops in school :). May he RIP...
Posted by: vik at Jun 26, 2009 1:46:33 AM
Drug addict, child molester, freak. Mike had his issues. i'll always remember him for never letting go of his crotch, dangling that kid over the balcony and being such a generous host at the Neverland ranch to thousands of little kids. Hope that wasn't the Best of the 80's
Posted by: jerry at Jun 26, 2009 5:10:21 AM
O/t Why isn't Matt Taibbi's article in Rolling Stone (about Goldman Sachs) Topic A all over the internet(or at least the financial segment thereof)? At the end of the day, do you really care or don't you?
Posted by: middyfeek at Jun 26, 2009 6:34:11 AM
