theSun | MONDAY JUNE 29 2009 19

in memory MICHAEL JACKSON: Aug 29, 1958 - June 25, 2009

soul. Jones and Temperton
knew what they were doing:
Beat It, cannily, crossed over
with the rock market thanks
to its Eddie Van Halen riff, and
Thriller itself redefined music
video. I’m just the right age to
remember sneaking into clubs
and seeing the place stop dead
when the 15-minute zombie
flick was played on the big
screen.
What Jackson wasn’t, in
the context of 1980s megapop,
is a “genius”. Unlike Prince or
Springsteen, he wasn’t a self-
sufficient auteur, and unlike
Madonna, he didn’t create his
persona through sheer force
of will. What he was – and
there’s no shame in this – was
an incredible entertainer, an
untouchable song and dance
man.
Speaking of which, even his
dance routines weren’t self-
generated. He may have tried to
copyright the moonwalk as his
own, but anyone with a sharp
memory knows it was actually
premiered by Jeffrey Daniel of
Shalamar on Soul Train.
Post-Thriller, the Jacksons
temporarily reunited, most
memorably with the video for
Can You Feel It, on which the
brothers, 100ft tall, stood atop
the Golden Gate bridge, scatter-
ing fairy dust on the mere mor-
tals below. Less celebrated, but
equally great, is the rock-funk
scorcher they recorded with
Mick Jagger, State of Shock.
Michael relished these celebrity
duets, and his oft-overlooked
Paul McCartney collaboration,
Say Say Say, features one of his
most electrifying vocals.
The unimaginable wealth
which Thriller brought him
led to Jackson’s mad emperor
phase: the Neverland ranch,
the chimpanzee companion, the
diamond glove, the Moonwalker
movie, the oxygen tent, the
insistence on the sobriquet
“King of Pop”, the facial
surgery.
Five years passed before
Jackson released another
album. By the time of Bad,
whose title track had a leather-
clad Michael playing an uncon-
vincing street thug in the video,
the singer’s skin was very, very
white (due, it was claimed to
widespread scepticism, to the
condition vitiligo). Despite some
superb tracks – notably the
breathless urgency of Smooth
Criminal – the writing was, like
the album’s pseudo-graffiti logo,
on the wall.
As Michael’s life continued
to spiral out of control, from
gruesome photos in which he
appeared to have no nose to the
scandal involving his strange
relationship with 13-year-old
Jordan Chandler, so the quality
of his music deteriorated.
He was still capable of putting
out the occasional great record,
such as Black or White from
1991’s Dangerous, which also
featured the minimal, robotic
New Jack Swing of the Teddy
Riley-penned In the Closet, but
Jackson’s 1990s were defined
by the likes of the schmaltzy
Heal the World and the
pompous Earth Song.
His antics became increas-
ingly bizarre, from arriving on
stage via jetpack to presenting
himself as a Christ figure at the
Brits (prompting Jarvis Cocker’s
legendary stage invasion) to the
giant effigy of himself he floated
down the Thames to promote
1995’s half-hits, half-new album
HIStory. A second child-abuse
scandal broke out in the new
millennium, exacerbated by
On record
MICHAEL Jackson, the King of Pop
who began his
career as part
of the Jackson
5, recorded nine
solo albums
between 1972 and
2001, including
Thriller, the top-
selling album of all
time.
The Jackson
brothers released
their first album
with Motown in
1968, and Michael
released his first
solo album, Got to
Be There, with
the legendary
black music label
in 1972.
He switched
Martin Bashir’s documentary to Epic in 1976,
and by Jackson, unfathomably, releasing his
dangling his baby out of a Berlin first album under
hotel window. that label the
Although he was never same year, Off
found guilty, Jackson’s reputa- the Wall, which
tion never recovered among was produced by
the “no smoke without fire” Quincy Jones.
brigade. Much of which comes In 1995,
down to a simple failure of J a c k s o n
imagination. What if Michael released
really did pay off the Chan- HIStory, Past,
dlers because he just wanted Present,
the whole thing to go away? Future, a
What if Michael really was so double album of old and new
innocent he merely wanted to singles. His last album, Invincible,
recapture his childhood with was released in 2001.
those sleepovers? What if, when Thriller, which came out in
he told Bashir “when I look at 1982, remained at the top of the
children’s faces, I see God”, he charts for two years and was at
was being sincere? What if, in No.1 for 37 straight weeks. Ac-
short, Michael really was – to cording to industry experts, it
quote his own Thriller video n sold between 50 and 60 million
“not like other guys”? copies.
The lynch mob had made up A number of other compila-
its mind, and Jackson’s audi- tions and singles were also
ence had shrunk. And, harsh as released over the course of his
it may sound, this was probably career.
no great loss: 2001’s Invincible They include The Essential
doesn’t suggest the world has Michael Jackson, Micheal
lost a productive talent, and it’s Jackson King of Pop and
perhaps for the best that we Remember the Time.
never found out what the This Jackson sold some 750
Is It tour would be like. million records during his ca-
Nevertheless, Michael Jack- reer, according to US figures. – dpa
son is still loved for what he once
was, his influence impossible MJ Discography
to ignore. Right now, the more Friends » 1972 – Got To Be There, Motown
speculation and scum-slinging and fellow » 1972 – Ben, Motown
I hear, the more I feel drawn
artistes » 1973 – Music & Me, Motown
back to the purity of that four- » 1975 – Forever, Michael, Motown
decades-old a capella vocal. You remember » 1979 – Off the Wall, Epic
and I must make a pact/We must MJ » 1982 – Thriller, Epic
bring salvation back/Where there
pg 20 » 1987 – Bad, Epic
is love, I’ll be there... It’s hard to » 1991 – Dangerous, Epic
assimilate the knowledge that,
from this moment on, he won’t.
» 1995 – HIStory, Past, Present,
Future, Epic
– The Independent » 2001 – Invincible, Epic

Thriller legacy that lives on

MICHAEL Jackson was one of
the biggest stars in the history of
music along with the Beatles and
Elvis Presley, thanks in a large part
to his top-selling album of all time,
Thriller.
With his high-pitched voice and
extraordinary dance skills, Jackson
left his mark on modern music,
selling a total of 750 million records
according to US statistics, a record
for a solo artiste.
When Thriller came out in
December 1982, Jackson, who was
then aged 24, was already a star,
having made his debut at age four
alongside his brothers in the funk
group, the Jackson 5. But it was
Thriller, Jackson’s sixth solo album,
that was his breakthrough.
The album spent 80 weeks in the
top 10 in the US, including 37 weeks
at No.1. It went platinum 27 times in
the US, and is the only album to be
the top-selling album two years in a
row (1983-1984).
Thriller went platinum in 16
countries, including Britain, France
and Japan. Seven of the album’s nine
songs were released as singles.
It was in a performance of one of
those songs, Billy Jean, in a May 1983
televised performance for the 25th
anniversary of Motown, that he first
performed his signature “moonwalk”
dance move.
The legendary black music label
first launched Jackson’s career as
part of the Jackson 5 in 1968. But it
was Thriller, Jackson’s second solo
album produced by Quincy Jones,
that pushed him and black music in
the mainstream.
A mix of soul, disco-funk and
pop, the album benefited from
collaboration with a number of top
artistes, including former Beatle Paul
McCartney (on The Girl is Mine) and
guitarist Eddie Van Halen (Beat It).
The success of the album was
also due to social factors. It came
out at the height of the vinyl era and
the beginning of the MTV era.
Music videos provided a perfect
format for Jackson’s dancing skills.
His ingenious videos helped fuel the
success of the channel, which in turn
helped crown him the King of Pop.
The video for the single Thriller, a Market demand
13-minute horror film spoof directed SONY Music Malaysia is preparing
by John Landis, revolutionised music to release more copies of Michael
videos with its choreographed Jackson’s albums currently available
zombies dancing with Jackson. in the market, including his all-
But Jackson was never able to time bestseller, Thriller (the 25th
match the success of Thriller with anniversary re-release), The Essential
his following albums. Bad (1987), Michael Jackson as well as the DVD,
Dangerous (1991) and Invincible Michael Jackson, Live in Bucharest:
(2001) generated less and less critical Dangerous Tour.
interest and sales. So far, the company has received
Child sex abuse allegations orders for some 5,000 units of
and his changing appearance also Jackson’s albums, which will be on
damaged his career. – AFP sale soon.