He never really did it for me musically but this clip of I want you back is pure unadulterated brilliance. Ignore the idiot at the start and go to 1 minute 20.
Michael Jackson's finest moment
He never really did it for me musically but this clip of I want you back is pure unadulterated brilliance. Ignore the idiot at the start and go to 1 minute 20.
1–2 minutes
9 responses to “Michael Jackson's finest moment”
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Good man, shamelessly driving up the hit counter.
Now, got any Charlie’s Angels footage too?
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I believe Jacko still holds the records for the biggest selling album of all time with “Thriller” and he was immensely popular at his peak.
Interestingly enough, for a cross-over artist, who a black youth once described to me as a “traitor to his race”, he retained a substantial black fan-base.
I don’t think much of his singing, but loved his dance routines.
Dying now was rock n’ roll and will probably save his reputation, as his forthcoming tour would probably have destroyed it.
Michael Jackson Presente – Shamone!LikeLike
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I’m not quite that cynical Rob. My hunch is that lots of people would find some of the discourse on this site as weird as anything Jacko ever did. However that particular clip is as poignant as it is exhilarating because when you watch you have to think about what that child became.
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While I’m not particulay sad about the death of the man, as a cultral icon he is a massive marker in many people lives so RIP Jacko. Billy Gene is the best.
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The greatest pop dancer in the history of the world. The Soul Train appearance where he unveiled the moonwalk is etched into my memory as a childhood TV moment second only to Larry Bird’s steal in the 1986 NBA playoffs.
A tragedy of American celebrity culture to shocking proportions. The lack of touch with reality, the magnification of childhood insecurities, the self-obsession and attempt to define oneself as a “hero” are all symptoms of a sick celebrity culture. This gives talented people an aura of “otherworldliness,” never challenging them to grow up or deal with people on an even playing field.
Michael was an extreme example due to the severity of his childhood problems and the racial oppression that made him ashamed of his modest background.
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Apparently all of his money had gone and he was about to do the final tour to pay off his debts.
Not an unfamiliar situation in the pop world, but it was much worse for black artists until Berry Gordy and Motown came along.In terms of his musical style, there were some clear influences:
Jackie Wilson was an obvious one. Jackson imitated his all-singing, all-dancing act. Ironically, Wilson also died young at only 49. He collapsed on stage while singing “Lonely Teardrops” and spent the following 8 years in a vegetative state.The “hiccupy” vocal style Jackson used has roots in Country Music & Rockabilly;
There are feint traces in the “blue yodel” vocals of Jimmie Rodger’s and in Hank Williams.
It’s more apparent in Elvis Presley’s 1956 “Don’t be Cruel”. George Jones’ uses it in his version of “White Lightning”, a bootleger anthem written and recorded by the Big Bopper in 1955. Buddy Holly then made the vocal “hiccup” famous in his 1958 hit “Peggy Sue”
Jackson used it extensively in his moonwalking hit “Billy Jean” in 1983.I couldn’t comment on his later fall from grace, but it strikes me he was probably an innocent who was susceptible to gold diggers.
They certainly helped to destroy him.
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Just in case you’re still accepting links to Youtube, these are some links to the above post, which are all live performance.
Elvis Presley “Don’t be Cruel” live, 1956
Buddy Holly ” Peggy Sue” live in New York, 1958
George Jones “White Lightning” live, “Hee-Haw” 1969
R& B, Soul:- Jackie Wilson “Lonely Teardrops”, live on Dick Clark Show, 1958
Michael Jackson “Billy Jean” live at Motown 25, 1983
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Just drove by the old Motown studios and of course there is a spirited remembrance party on the front lawn!
Michael Jackson was the first person I ever head tauntingly called “gay” when I was a kid. But the joke was on the young homophobes because if you dismissed MJ back then that made you the loser. He definitely twisted much of what pop culture considered masculinity at that time, and remember this is when Reagan was in office and “Rambo” was the hot movie.
His life and decline also makes me think of how misunderstood survivors of abuse (like Michael) are. All this talk about him endangering children, rarely pausing to mention that he was indeed a product of it himself. He wore the scarlet letter of “abuser”, which can be social death, meanwhile he himself was deprived much of a childhood. The moral outrage factory never rests. I’d like to see a headline-grabbing story about how poverty abuses children. I’m not going to apologize for him or his troubling demons, I just wish we could see him as complicated and a social product like all of us are.
When you consider the stress, the emotional turmoil, the dramatic fall from grace, the constant pressure, the multiple failed surgeries, the unbelievable loneliness, and the on-going addiction to pain medications, I’m actually kind of surprised he lived to age 50. It was always hard to imagine MJ living to become an old man, both physically and emotionally.LikeLike
Liam redux 
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