The Michael Jackson thread, v. Shamone

[rumborak]

Either my search foo failed on me, or we really don't have a dedicated Michael Jackson thread!

Been listening to MJ quite a bit the past few days. So much good stuff. I also listened a bit to his pre-OTW Motown phase, but honestly that's rather boring (or rather, it's probably good, but I don't connect with it).

A really weird thing is also watching some older single videos (Rock with you, Don't stop til you get enough), where he is still a regular black teenager. You can't help but compare that to his later days where he was totally irrecognizable from those early days.

[hefdaddy42]

Off The Wall and Thriller are two of the greatest albums of all time, regardless of genre.

[Adami]

The Way You Make Me Feel literally just came on shuffle.

[Polarbear]

Off The Wall and Thriller are two of the greatest albums of all time, regardless of genre.

Also, very important albums if you happen to be interested in the history of Pop music.

[Kotowboy]

Actual genius who pissed it all away.

He was a complete fuck up at the end. Taking anaesthetic to go to bed and another drug to wake him up. He hadn't slept properly in something crazy like a week or more which is how he died.

[rumborak]

I can never make up my mind whether I should feel sorry for him or not. He clearly could have pulled the plug on all of it and lived comfortably off his money some time in the 80s. I think even the most diehard paparazzi would have eventually given up covering Michael Jackson buying groceries.

[splent]

Off the Wall is amazing. Thriller is amazing too but gets all the love. Off the Wall in that regard is underrated. That blend of soul, R&B, and disco is just perfect.

[bosk1]

Dance Machine, 1973:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SXG5MzY7BE

[hefdaddy42]

Watch me get down, watch me get down

[Accelerando]

I tried making an MJ thread years ago, but it wasn't getting much chatter back then. Im glad that you made one though, Rum

Michael Jackson is one of my top artists, and whose music has been with me since i was very young boy. I was born in 87, and my first introduction to this man was "Will You Be There" because of Free Willy! Still one of my favorite MJ songs.

Actually, that song came from Dangerous, which has become my favorite MJ solo record. I think it's his most musically ambitious and dynamic record as he incorporated heavier licks and industrial sounds to his upbeat and rhythmic pop hits he's known for. Give In To Me, In The Closet, Why You Wanna Trip On Me, Black and White, Who Is It, Remember The Time....fantastic songs

[Mebert78]

"Ma ma se, ma ma sa, ma ma coo sa!
Ma ma se, ma ma sa, ma ma coo sa!"

[Bertielee]

"Ma ma se, ma ma sa, ma ma coo sa!
Ma ma se, ma ma sa, ma ma coo sa!"

Too bad it wasn't MJ who created these lines!

To the OP : MJ has probably been my first favorite singer ever. I became a fan with Thriller : that album blew me away. Bought it again on reissue and was still blown away. Such a talent!

B.Lee

[rumborak]

"Ma ma se, ma ma sa, ma ma coo sa!
Ma ma se, ma ma sa, ma ma coo sa!"

Naku Penda Piya-Naku Taka Piya-Mpenziwe....

[hefdaddy42]

I tried making an MJ thread years ago, but it wasn't getting much chatter back then. Im glad that you made one though, Hef

I'm glad that rumborak made one.

[Accelerando]

I tried making an MJ thread years ago, but it wasn't getting much chatter back then. Im glad that you made one though, Hef

I'm glad that rumborak made one.

I ain't even gonna make an excuse

[Kotowboy]

SHAM E ON

[Progmetty]

I think Off The Wall through History and the new songs on Blood on The Dance Floor are all brilliant, I still revisit them at least once a year.
I also really enjoyed his second posthumous album Xscape, the album MJ's ex-producers put together from unreleased material. The album is excellent in my opinion, it fits in somewhere between Bad and Dangerous. Slave To The Rhythm, Chicago and the title song are superb IMO.
The first posthumous album though I didn't like and couldn't get into, felt too different from what MJ would have released, although there's been the fakery claims that turned me off about it.

[rumborak]

To me, Dangerous was already the beginning of the end. In OTW, Thriller and Bad he was essentially operating in his own musical genre, and he completely owned it. With Dangerous he started trying to "stay relevant", foraying into rap and other musical styles. The songs weren't bad, but the influences felt forced and calculated.
The album overall was still pretty good, but in the overall timeline of his career, I feel Dangerous was the moment where the King of Pop was no longer invincible.

[Cool Chris]

I never cared for MJ's singing style. Too many extraneous sounds, or non-words.

[rumborak]

I can totally see how it could be perceived as annoying, yeah. And for later MJ I even agree, I felt he plugged those things in because they were kinda his trademark.
In the beginning they were very natural though, kinda like beatboxing almost. And it was part of other stuff that was just thrown in for fun, e.g. the "Yeehaw" in Wanna be starting something.

[Kotowboy]

The album overall was still pretty good, but in the overall timeline of his career, I feel Dangerous was the moment where the King of Pop was no longer invincible.

I C what U diD THERE

[Kotowboy]

Here's a Q.

Did Michael play any instruments ? Did he write any of his music ? Or did he just do vocal melodies / lyrics ?

[rumborak]

Holy shit, I never knew this about MJ. He couldn't read or write music, and only poorly could play instruments. So, he wrote music like this:

https://youtu.be/eZeYw1bm53Y

Yes, that's the actual demo. 

[Kotowboy]

Is that the totally acapella stuff ? I've heard that before.

*sidenote. I find it amusing when people marvel that their fave musicians can't read or write music.

Well.. You don't need to. it's not a requirement. I'd go as far as to say that being able to read /notate music doesn't mean you're a better composer at all.

It just means you can write it down.

" Jimi Hendrix could not read music ! OMFG ! "

Whoop de do Neither can James Hetfield, Bono or The Edge, Noel Gallagher, Paul McCartney etc.

But Steve Vai and Satriani can and their music is boring as fuck.

[rumborak]

I'm definitely not making the case that it's a requirement to be able to read/write music. But man, assembling songs the way MJ did is sure painstaking.

[Kotowboy]

I'm definitely not making the case that it's a requirement to be able to read/write music. But man, assembling songs the way MJ did is sure painstaking.

Yes onto tape. Before digital / sequencing. Nowadays it's a piece of piss.

Back then he'd have to do the entire song one track at a time and not make any mistakes.

( assuming he was even using an 8 track tape machine or something ).

[mikeyd23]

Holy shit, I never knew this about MJ. He couldn't read or write music, and only poorly could play instruments. So, he wrote music like this:

https://youtu.be/eZeYw1bm53Y

Yes, that's the actual demo. 

That is freaking awesome.

[Bertielee]

Holy shit, I never knew this about MJ. He couldn't read or write music, and only poorly could play instruments. So, he wrote music like this:

https://youtu.be/eZeYw1bm53Y

Yes, that's the actual demo. 

That is freaking awesome.

You bet!

[erwinrafael]

Holy shit, I never knew this about MJ. He couldn't read or write music, and only poorly could play instruments. So, he wrote music like this:

https://youtu.be/eZeYw1bm53Y

Yes, that's the actual demo. 

SLOW CLAP

[Progmetty]

" Jimi Hendrix could not read music ! OMFG ! "

Whoop de do Neither can James Hetfield, Bono or The Edge, Noel Gallagher, Paul McCartney etc.

But Steve Vai and Satriani can and their music is boring as fuck.

Hetfield actually can, I didn't know until his recent podcast interview with Marc Maron, he said he can read and write music cause his mom made him take piano lessons.

[Kotowboy]

My point is - learning theory and notation doesn't make you a better musician if you have no inherent musical ability.

[Progmetty]

Oh yeah I agree with you, just wanted to correct you on the Hetfield thing.
However, learning theory does make life a shit ton easier for a musician. I've been playing guitar since 2006 and I can learn songs from tabs and play them well enough but ask me to improvise a jam with other musicians and I'll just spend the whole time staring at their instruments trying to guess which notes I could play without going off the scale they're playing. And failing to do so.

[Kotowboy]

The best thing about knowing one scale is that you really know 7 scales.

C Ionian can be D minor E minor F major G dominant A minor and a cheeky B half diminished.

[rumborak]

Yeah, that's why I always say, as a guitar player, learn the major scale, and the function chords. Absolutely nothing will ever compare in terms of usefulness.

[Kotowboy]

Yeah, that's why I always say, as a guitar player, learn the major scale, and the function chords. Absolutely nothing will ever compare in terms of usefulness.

I think the CAGED system is pretty useful.

Learning 5 chords in 5 shapes - it will help with your neck knowledge greatly.