Carman Fox

M.J Greatest pop star ever?

athaire

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Aug 18, 2006
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Land of the living skies
I thought it was cliche-ridden...

part Dr. Phil, part Oprah Winfrey...
I found it a little more balanced than Humperdink's or some of the others.....
 

kalel

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Sep 16, 2006
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MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice obviously :p

He did have some moves.....the moon walk is always a classic and it never gets old watching white drunk dudes at weddings doing it. :)
not even close. i like hammer better but he couldn't move like michael. and ice should never be mentioned in the same league.
 

Oldfart

Long Standing Member
Mar 31, 2003
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Still lost in the '60s
George Carlin liked MJ

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Purrr VertIcal

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Oct 4, 2008
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One of the things that will detract from his historical importance was that there was no message to his music; it was all about "let's boogie".
Huh??? - (!!!!!!!!!!)
As if Elvis (etc) recorded anything of profound meaning or substance?

Foremost, and least remembered/accredited, he was solely responsible for organising the "USA for Africa" movement, to alleviate the famine and starvation in the Ethioipia region, recording the hit collaberation, "We Are the World".

Michael Jackson was a first "crossover" artist that gave Blacks mass appeal and exposure. If you remember history, MTV refused to play his videos until the record company threatened to pull ALL of their video licenses unless they allowed black artists and genre on.

Artists like Bob Marley etc were in a categoory of much more specialized style, narrow. Thus they do not have the same type of broad "king"-worthy notariety. People of all walks of life, all colours, all cultures around the world loved Michael's music, talent, and style.

MJ may not have recorded equal quantity to Elvis, but he was his cultural equal for his time.
That says a lot.
 

Karl Blues

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Oct 13, 2004
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Huh??? - (!!!!!!!!!!)
As if Elvis (etc) recorded anything of profound meaning or substance?
I don't understand why you have to put Elvis down to make MJ bigger. Who cares if one is better than the other? And what exactly is the scoring system?

Elvis recorded lots of great music. Songs like "If I Can Dream" still give me the chills to this day. "In The Ghetto" was a fabulous recording. There are many many others. Gospel music that had lots of "substance" depending on your point of view. He did lots of benefit concerts.

Elvis was also a pioneer. He brought black music to a world-wide audience. Some call it watered down, but in the 50's it was considered heretic and obscene. Elvis' dance moves were legendary. Some say that without Elvis they may never have been rock'n'roll as we know it today. Like MJ, everyone knew Elvis all over the world.

But the bottom line is they were singers. Music is about the reaction it causes in one's own brain & body. Mj was a great entertainer, singer, dancer extraordinaire. I enjoyed both Elvis & MJ without comparing the two. I just love great music.

And the bottom line is both of them left us with lots of it.
 

Karl Blues

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No matter what a person writes, there's always one in the crowd that will read it wrong. There's always the "half-empty" interpretation.

Sorry you read it wrong.
Iread it as "Elvis never recorded anything of substance". That comes across as a put-down. What exactly did I read wrong?
 

HankQuinlan

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Sep 7, 2002
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I also have a problem with his legacy -- there are lots of stories about how how MJ's influence is all-pervading in modern music. The big problem with that is that all those influenced by Michael Jackson keep churning out crap.

The Justin Timberlakes, Ushers, Chris Browns, and on and on, produce generic, faceless, boring music. Pop music for the last 20 years has been a mess. The Madonna wannabes are just as bad. Maybe there are some catchy tunes here and there, but the MTV influence has pretty much stifled creativity.

Michael's hits may last (and it is not his fault that his followers are useless), but it is difficult to imagine that there will be an audience for the current pop stars in the future.
 

kalel

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Sep 16, 2006
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I also have a problem with his legacy -- there are lots of stories about how how MJ's influence is all-pervading in modern music. The big problem with that is that all those influenced by Michael Jackson keep churning out crap.

The Justin Timberlakes, Ushers, Chris Browns, and on and on, produce generic, faceless, boring music. Pop music for the last 20 years has been a mess. The Madonna wannabes are just as bad. Maybe there are some catchy tunes here and there, but the MTV influence has pretty much stifled creativity.

Michael's hits may last (and it is not his fault that his followers are useless), but it is difficult to imagine that there will be an audience for the current pop stars in the future.
yes, and i here 3 elvis songs on the radio on my drive to work every morning :rolleyes:

who listens to elvis or the beatles now? same logic could be put forth towards figuring out what kind of people will listen to pop music in the future - the ones who listened to it when it was cool and on the radio.

as far as creativity is concerned i would have to agree, there's alot of remakes going on and it's getting pretty boring listening to a guy trying to get his girl to "kiss me thru the phone".
 

sonoman

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May 14, 2005
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who listens to elvis or the beatles now? ... the ones who listened to it when it was cool and on the radio.
Kalel, surely you jest? There's not been a generation since the Sixties that's escaped the influence of either - whether they like it or not.

As for earlier posts likening Michael Jackson to Elvis... there is no comparison. Elvis' music might now appear 'superficial' against the message-driven '60s, but rock 'n' roll was just emerging in the Fifties: it wasn't meant to preach messages, it was meant to be rebellious. Elvis' first appearance on the Ed Sullivan show was probably the most polarizing moment in rock history.
 

smackyo

pimp supreme
May 18, 2005
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your mom says hi.
all the artists mentioned are great and i love most all of them. thing is though i really don't think you can deny the numbers.

simple and sweet.

thriller is the number one selling album of all time. someone mentioned about the time in history and there wasn't the ways to get music then as there is now but i do know that thriller sold 28 million records that year in a time when going gold and selling 500 000 was considered incredible.

as for the other poster that said michael never really put out any music that really said anything beyond lets groove, i'll give this example.

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michael actually put out quite a few songs later in his career where the lyrics delt with issues beyond having a good time and dancing.

as for elvis, he was awesome. this is my favourite song of his. very underrated song in my opinion.

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also lets not forget bob marley. my favourite song of his. the video has footage of his jamaica unite concert held just days after he was shot by a would be assassin who was thought to have been in cahoots with one of jamaica's presidential incumbents. the country fell into what could almost be described as a civil war over this presidential election. bob brought both men up on stage and basically made peace right there.

he was an amazing man and more then just a doobie smoking reggae star that many people write him off as being.

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all three men were icons and perhaps all three were taken from us too soon.
 
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HB40

Condom User
Jul 30, 2008
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To the right
as for the other poster that said michael never really put out any music that really said anything beyond lets groove, i'll give this example.

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Good example, what a killer groove! ;)

Awesome post Smackyo, I had never heard that MJ song before, and the other two are faves of mine as well. :)
 

manni

Well-known member
Apr 14, 2006
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MJ is one of the best for sure, don't know about best ever though.
every generation produces its phenom.

Elvis
Dylan
Madonna
Beatles
Sinatra
Marley
Davis Jr
Stevie Wonder
Prince
 

jim

New member
May 11, 2002
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Over 2 hands plus a mouthful big
He's still at it

Thanks for your post Smackyo.

According to a CNN
According to Nielsen SoundScan, Jackson-related titles dominated the top nine positions on Billboard's Top Pop Catalog Albums chart released Wednesday, a feat never before accomplished.

Billboard said that with his "Number Ones" album at No. 1 on the chart with sales of 108,000 (an increase of 2,340 percent), it marked the first time a catalog album has sold more than the No. 1 current set on the Billboard 200 albums chart by outselling the Black Eyed Peas' "The E.N.D." which was No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart with 88,000 sold in the past week.

This is what the NYTimes had to say:

NY Times

Back to the original thread, I like to add that describing MJ simply as the greatest pop star ever does not do the artist justice.

This Billboard article gives some interesting information about his reach.

How M J's Thriller Changed The Music Business
 
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