Michael Jackson Passes Away

[OG]

I'm younger than you bps but I still grew up on his music. His songs meant a lot to many people past those who were growing up during the mid-80's.

Despite the lack of recent music, every single thing he did still made news (for better or worse). I'd say the worldwide outpouring of grief (the kind that hasn't been seen for a celebrity since Lennon, unless you count Princess Di) is proof of enough of how relevant he was.

 

[bps21]

This is why celebrities should just never die. He spends the last decade being the punchline to the joke...and now it's about how he was the best we had.

They should all live forever so that this doesn't happen.

 

[still fly]

Bps is right in a way. I was born in 1985, so that puts me in Generation Y. I define our generation as people born between 1981 to 1992. Like others I grew up on his music and many of my first albums were of his. When I first became aware of music, I came up listening to Dangerous in 91-92 and owned History in 1995 when I was 10, which was the tail end of his commercial musical relevance. So Michael Jackson, by the time I was in high school (1999-2003) was largely irrelevant, which is true. I hate to say this, but I consider Eminem to be to voice of Generation Y for better or worse.

Where I disagree with Bps is that Michael Jackson has retained a relevance that artists only like Elvis and the Beatles have attained. What I mean is that Michael Jackson seminal musical period (1979-1987) transcends time and eras. Thriller has attained a spot in history that is occupied by the Beatle's Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart Club and the Beach Boy's Pet Sounds among others.

 

[Jebus]

This is why celebrities should just never die. He spends the last decade being the punchline to the joke...and now it's about how he was the best we had.

Even when he was a joke, I would've gone on about how he was "the best we had" as you put it.
Actually, yup, I said it last week when he was alive and well!

I wrote to defend his musical relevance not the stuff we joked about. Have at that! He was one unusual cat...

 

[KOAB]

I consider Eminem to be to voice of Generation Y for better or worse.

Don't forget Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park!

 

[Taxman]

Talk about poor timing. The new Rolling Stone came in the mail today, and it features a short blurb about his upcoming tour with the subheading being...

The singer's upcoming 50 concerts will make him rich again - if he holds up

 

[KOAB]

Well... they were right.

 

[CBright7831]

Yeah - everything he did made news. He was mistakened for a Watchmen fan earlier this year:

Confused 'Watchmen' Fanatics Mob A Terrified Michael Jackson At Local Book Store

 

[Taxman]

At 12:30 on Thursday afternoon, Michael Jackson -- or "Jacko", as he's known in the tabloid press -- was found on his backo.

 

[Big Green]

I consider Eminem to be to voice of Generation Y for better or worse.

Don't forget Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park!

Can I opt out of this generation?

None of our music has any kind of "this is special" feel to it. I can't think of one artist today that will ever be mentioned in the same breath as The Beatles, Elvis and Michael Jackson.

 

[Byron The Bulb]

Jay-Z might be. I mean, you can't really cast him as the voice of a generation since like 90% of his music is about what it's like to be a millionaire rap mogul who used to sling crack and so it's basically impossible to read it as any kind of universalized statement about Life In The 1990s And 2000s or whatever. That said, I think it's a good bet that the circa-2030 equivalent of graying Rolling Stone writers will one day speak of "Big Pimpin" and The Blueprint in the same hushed, reverent tones currently reserved for Highway 61 Revisited and shit.

 

[Red Baron]

Jay-Z might be. I mean, you can't really cast him as the voice of a generation since like 90% of his music is about what it's like to be a millionaire rap mogul who used to sling crack and so it's basically impossible to read it as any kind of universalized statement about Life In The 1990s And 2000s or whatever. That said, I think it's a good bet that the circa-2030 equivalent of graying Rolling Stone writers will one day speak of "Big Pimpin" and The Blueprint in the same hushed, reverent tones currently reserved for Highway 61 Revisited and shit.

I thought Kanye West was the icon of this generation?

 

[Jebus]

I'm sure Kanye himself wouldn't disagree with that statement.

You know, celebs these days are too "down to earth" and not "larger than life" like they used too. You wanna be the next Icon? Then start acting like it!
At least Kanye has the ego part down...get him some weird fashion consultant and maybe a chimp too

 

[Smues]

Can a gay fish really represent a generation?

 

[MFer]

Jay-Z might be. I mean, you can't really cast him as the voice of a generation since like 90% of his music is about what it's like to be a millionaire rap mogul who used to sling crack and so it's basically impossible to read it as any kind of universalized statement about Life In The 1990s And 2000s or whatever. That said, I think it's a good bet that the circa-2030 equivalent of graying Rolling Stone writers will one day speak of "Big Pimpin" and The Blueprint in the same hushed, reverent tones currently reserved for Highway 61 Revisited and shit.

I thought Kanye West was the icon of this generation?

Miley Cyrus by default.

 

[Fökai]

I don't think of MJ as the "Generation Y" star, just a pop music star that transcends any other musician that has come after him. No one from the 90's or this decade can even hold a candle to his music sales, fan following...anything.

In my mind, this isn't the death of the man, per se, that I mourn. People, like me, are mourning their childhood and how he, with his music, shaped their youth. Same with the Beatles. Same with Elvis.

 

[Perfxion]

The big thing some people are forgetting is that his last two albums were "flops" set by the ultra high standards of people for Michael. His last album (2001/2002) sold 2.5 million copies and produced 2 top 40 hits. Most mainstream artist would kill for an album to go platinum. Yes, it only sold 6.4% of what Bad did, but then again how many albums sell 39 million copies in the US alone. And there are only two other artist/groups to sell over 700 million albums would wide, Elvis and the Beatles.

To say he was not relevant in music is just laughable. Usher, Chris Brown, Justin Timberlake, O, Marcus Houston, Ne-Yo, ect. are all just Michael Jackson knock-offs. And some do have some talent, but their whole act is just one big clone of MJ. Michael Jackson IS still big because look at the news coverage the last 48 hours. President of the United states is page 2 material. Train wrecks and plane crashes are not even blipping the mainstream news radar. Every LITTLE detail is breaking news about MJ. This guy is that big. This is like 1977 all over again with Elvis.

BTW: Generations go for 20 years:
Baby Boomers go from 1945 to 1965
Generation X goes from 1966 to 1986.
Generation Y(or Digital age) goes from 1986 to 2006.

Michael Jackson was a major pop star and icon from 1968 through 2009.

 

[KOAB]

Well, there's also the "juicy" scoops coming out that his doctor who was feeding him the painkillers was with him during the final hours and then fled the scene...

 

[OG]

In my mind, this isn't the death of the man, per se, that I mourn. People, like me, are mourning their childhood and how he, with his music, shaped their youth. Same with the Beatles. Same with Elvis.

Perfectly stated.

 

[Sabre]

Figured this should go here.

Whats the difference between Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett? About 3 hours.

 

[BUTT]

I can't think of one artist today that will ever be mentioned in the same breath as The Beatles, Elvis and Michael Jackson.

Jay-Z might be.

Byron, I'm going to get my cat to shit in your mouth.

 

[Mazto]

Jay-Z? I'm not that out of touch, but if you played a Jay-Z song I wouldn't have any clue it was him. I guarantee that half the people I work with don't even know the name. The same couldn't be said about Micheal Jackson, Elvis, or the Beatles.

 

[Incandenza]

I assumed it was a joke, since everything he said afterward undermined it.

 

[BUTT]

Way to give him an easy out, Inc.

 

[Obi Chris Kenobi]

Well, there's also the "juicy" scoops coming out that his doctor who was feeding him the painkillers was with him during the final hours and then fled the scene...

Aye my girlfriend was saying something about that, but I was guilty of falling into the pretend I'm listening routine that really pisses her off, so I'm not sure what she said fully about it.

 

[Byron The Bulb]

I can't think of one artist today that will ever be mentioned in the same breath as The Beatles, Elvis and Michael Jackson.

Jay-Z might be.

Byron, I'm going to get my cat to shit in your mouth.

I wasn't actually comparing the musical output or cultural impact of The Beatles/Elvis/MJ to that of Jay-Z. That'd be way stupid--nothing in our fractured, compartmentalized culture is ever going to have that kind of impact. I was simply positing that there's a fairly good chance that he'll be canonized in the same way they have been by middle-aged music critics. I mean, to some extent he already has been.

edit: The only artist of this generation that actually matches the creativity and innovation and cultural impact of The Beatles or Michael Jackson is obviously Lil Wayne. Duh. Too bad the establishment will never fully recognize his cracked, postmodern genius. :'(

Jay-Z? I'm not that out of touch, but if you played a Jay-Z song I wouldn't have any clue it was him. I guarantee that half the people I work with don't even know the name. The same couldn't be said about Micheal Jackson, Elvis, or the Beatles.

Yeah, but don't you live in Utah?

 

[Adam]

Posted in the Book thread but also here I guess:

From UltimateWarrior.com:

Jacko. Finally, he beat it.
By admin

I imagine all the crying about the death of this recent drug-soused entertainment freak has most to do with the unfortunate inconvenience that the other drug-soused entertainment freaks now face. They will have to look for another local, safe and reputable babysitter. No longer will they be able to drop their kids off down the street at Jacko’s to be watched for the afternoon and spend some play time with his own kids.

I hate the paparazzi, and think they should all be shot for the obsessive invasion of privacy. But I’m really going miss ALL those TMZ and Entertainment Tonight video clips of Jacko’s and other celebrity kids playing together. You ever see any of those? Weren’t they great? Didn’t they make you feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside? Worked for me. Every time I caught one it made me believe maybe he wasn’t a pedophile. After all, famous and rich entertainers, with all kinds of money to go to any expense to have things accurately checked out for themselves, wouldn’t let their own little babies near a pedophile…would they?!

Well, you gotta give him credit for one thing. He spent all his money (and then some) before he died. And that’s not an easy thing to calculate. Go ahead, ask your financial planner if he has a plan to pull it off. For all the horrific mismanagement of millions and millions and millions of dollars, here at the end, Jacko did a pretty damn good job at balancing the books in his favor. Sorry, at my new age and with the way the Obama economic plan is going, I couldn’t help but recognize this stunner.

Your Founding Father of Intense Sarcasm…

Always Believe, Warrior

 

[Migoli]

Don't think this has been brought up but skip to 2:56...inda creepy

michael jackson morphine

 

[BUTT]

Let us all remember the worst album cover of all time.

 

[Byron The Bulb]

That cover is the only cool thing Mark Ryden has ever painted.