Musical Meme II; more musings on MJ
May. 26th, 2018 05:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cjlasky7Shadowkat's musical meme faceoffs were fun. It doesn't matter which artist you prefer; there is no right answer. But it does make you think about why you like or don't like a certain artist--and that's valuable. So, in that spirit, here are ten more musical faceoffs, from the 40s to now. All opinions welcome--even if it's "They both suck."
1. Sinatra or Bing Crosby
2. Johnny Cash or Ray Charles
3. Hendrix or Clapton
4. Stevie Wonder or Marvin Gaye
5. Temptations or Four Tops
6. Diana Ross or Aretha Franklin
7. Billy Joel or Elton John
8. Britney or Whitney
9. Nsync or Backstreet Boys
10. Rihanna or Beyonce
********
In 1977, Michael Jackson was still part of
The Jacksons. They'd released a moderately successful debut album for Epic records the year before, and they seemed to be positioned as a second-tier soul act for the foreseeable future. Their father, Joe, was still managing them with his usual iron fist.
What if things stayed this way? What if Michael and his brothers faded into semi-obscurity?
Would he have been happier?
Of course, things did not stay that way. Michael--against his father's wishes--joined his old Motown stablemate Diana Ross on The Wiz. He struck up a friendship with the movie's musical director, Quincy Jones, and they quickly went to work on a solo album. The result, Off the Wall, sold 10 million copies and set the stage for one of the biggest events in popular music history.
In the end, I don't think it would have made any difference. Whether he was a nostalgia circuit has been or the King of Pop, I don't think he could've out run his demons. It was obvious to anyone that he was in great emotional pain much of the time. He tried to fight the pain by indulging in fantasy, in the childhood play that was denied him; but mostly, he channeled it into his craft.
In his music and his choreography, he was a relentless perfectionist. In that way, he was very much like Prince. And just like Prince, when his body refused to obey what his brain ordered it to do, he turned to drugs to push beyond his limits.
No matter how talented or beloved you are, nobody can do that forever.
It would have been nice if, instead of driving himself to extremes for that tour in 2009, Michael poured his energies into fixing the source of his pain. But that's not the world we live in. Bills had to be paid and no one in his entourage was trying to stop the gravy train--least of all himself.
1. Sinatra or Bing Crosby
2. Johnny Cash or Ray Charles
3. Hendrix or Clapton
4. Stevie Wonder or Marvin Gaye
5. Temptations or Four Tops
6. Diana Ross or Aretha Franklin
7. Billy Joel or Elton John
8. Britney or Whitney
9. Nsync or Backstreet Boys
10. Rihanna or Beyonce
********
In 1977, Michael Jackson was still part of
The Jacksons. They'd released a moderately successful debut album for Epic records the year before, and they seemed to be positioned as a second-tier soul act for the foreseeable future. Their father, Joe, was still managing them with his usual iron fist.
What if things stayed this way? What if Michael and his brothers faded into semi-obscurity?
Would he have been happier?
Of course, things did not stay that way. Michael--against his father's wishes--joined his old Motown stablemate Diana Ross on The Wiz. He struck up a friendship with the movie's musical director, Quincy Jones, and they quickly went to work on a solo album. The result, Off the Wall, sold 10 million copies and set the stage for one of the biggest events in popular music history.
In the end, I don't think it would have made any difference. Whether he was a nostalgia circuit has been or the King of Pop, I don't think he could've out run his demons. It was obvious to anyone that he was in great emotional pain much of the time. He tried to fight the pain by indulging in fantasy, in the childhood play that was denied him; but mostly, he channeled it into his craft.
In his music and his choreography, he was a relentless perfectionist. In that way, he was very much like Prince. And just like Prince, when his body refused to obey what his brain ordered it to do, he turned to drugs to push beyond his limits.
No matter how talented or beloved you are, nobody can do that forever.
It would have been nice if, instead of driving himself to extremes for that tour in 2009, Michael poured his energies into fixing the source of his pain. But that's not the world we live in. Bills had to be paid and no one in his entourage was trying to stop the gravy train--least of all himself.
