While the vultures, thieves and naysayers pick over the bones of his controversial personal life, it is only the talent and genius of Michael Jackson that matter in the aftermath of his death. Jackson is one of the most monumental figures in the history of music. He was the ultimate performer, the self-proclaimed “King of Pop" and the master of modern entertainment. His spectacular vocal ability and knack for writing songs full of hooks, combined with a massive stage presence only boosted by unmatched fluid dance moves, remain the reasons he dominated the 80's and became one of the greatest cultural phenomena of all time.
Think back to the first time you ever saw Michael Jackson doing the “moonwalk." Easily the most imitated dance move of the modern era, no one, the best dancers included, can do it quite like Michael did back in '83. He first broke it out over 25 years ago and the footage still knocked my jaw to the ground earlier this evening. Jackson moved like he was made of rubber, varying between his ability to stiffen like a steel robot and ripple like an ocean wave. While he was a singular dancing machine (pun intended), he also engineered an entire movement of choreography for (so far) the next two waves of popular music. Michael Jackson's music is his greatest achievement; but now, in the wake of his death, it is difficult to picture him in anything other than his comfort zone: on stage, sweating and wowing his audiences with his fantastic, otherworldly physical abilities.
But the music drove the dancing.
“Thriller" has been written and spoken about so much since its release in 1982 that it seems cheap to describe its importance and impact on the entire musical realm, but it needs to be stated that it is an incredible achievement. It is a mere nine tracks and 42 minutes in length, but that provides plenty of room for Michael and producer Quincy Jones to get the job done. While brief, it is also sprawling and massive in its scope and sound, a description that serves Jackson's entire recorded output. The album effectively demonstrates Michael's greatest strength in his songwriting and musical creation: his diversity, versatility and daring willingness to explore all genres, styles and musical boundaries. The album encapsulates disco, r&b, hard rock, soul, funk, dance, blues, jazz and show tunes. The lyrical topics range from love interests to urban gang violence to horror movie fantasy to media criticism to paranoia to fanaticism on a frightening level. No matter how dated one might consider this material to be, or how schmaltzy certain tracks simply are, this music is timeless, classic and just moves the listener in a way nothing else ever has. I challenge all my readers to put on “P.Y.T." and attempt not moving once throughout the song (it is playing in my headphones right now and it is as enjoyable as it has ever been...and, oh yes, I am dancing in my chair as I write this).
While “Thriller" is Jackson's signature moment and the ultimate highlight of his 40-year, illustrious career, it is still only one snapshot of his musical universe. His role as the lead singer of the Jackson Five was his first foray into music and paranoid fear. The pressure must have been giant on little Michael's shoulders, but he handled it with grace and style, belting his way through classics such as “ABC," “I Want You Back" and “I'll Be There." Solo singles such as “Got to be There" and “Ben" and his role in the film “The Wiz" kept Jackson in the public eye throughout the 70's. 1979's “Off the Wall" proved to be the foundation of its follow-up's success, the origin of Jackson's work with Quincy Jones and the duo's love for variety and groundbreaking soundscapes. The album also produced four Top Ten singles, including the sexually-fused disco tunes “Rock With You" and “Don't Stop Til You Get Enough."
Think back to the first time you ever saw Michael Jackson doing the “moonwalk." Easily the most imitated dance move of the modern era, no one, the best dancers included, can do it quite like Michael did back in '83. He first broke it out over 25 years ago and the footage still knocked my jaw to the ground earlier this evening. Jackson moved like he was made of rubber, varying between his ability to stiffen like a steel robot and ripple like an ocean wave. While he was a singular dancing machine (pun intended), he also engineered an entire movement of choreography for (so far) the next two waves of popular music. Michael Jackson's music is his greatest achievement; but now, in the wake of his death, it is difficult to picture him in anything other than his comfort zone: on stage, sweating and wowing his audiences with his fantastic, otherworldly physical abilities.
But the music drove the dancing.
“Thriller" has been written and spoken about so much since its release in 1982 that it seems cheap to describe its importance and impact on the entire musical realm, but it needs to be stated that it is an incredible achievement. It is a mere nine tracks and 42 minutes in length, but that provides plenty of room for Michael and producer Quincy Jones to get the job done. While brief, it is also sprawling and massive in its scope and sound, a description that serves Jackson's entire recorded output. The album effectively demonstrates Michael's greatest strength in his songwriting and musical creation: his diversity, versatility and daring willingness to explore all genres, styles and musical boundaries. The album encapsulates disco, r&b, hard rock, soul, funk, dance, blues, jazz and show tunes. The lyrical topics range from love interests to urban gang violence to horror movie fantasy to media criticism to paranoia to fanaticism on a frightening level. No matter how dated one might consider this material to be, or how schmaltzy certain tracks simply are, this music is timeless, classic and just moves the listener in a way nothing else ever has. I challenge all my readers to put on “P.Y.T." and attempt not moving once throughout the song (it is playing in my headphones right now and it is as enjoyable as it has ever been...and, oh yes, I am dancing in my chair as I write this).
While “Thriller" is Jackson's signature moment and the ultimate highlight of his 40-year, illustrious career, it is still only one snapshot of his musical universe. His role as the lead singer of the Jackson Five was his first foray into music and paranoid fear. The pressure must have been giant on little Michael's shoulders, but he handled it with grace and style, belting his way through classics such as “ABC," “I Want You Back" and “I'll Be There." Solo singles such as “Got to be There" and “Ben" and his role in the film “The Wiz" kept Jackson in the public eye throughout the 70's. 1979's “Off the Wall" proved to be the foundation of its follow-up's success, the origin of Jackson's work with Quincy Jones and the duo's love for variety and groundbreaking soundscapes. The album also produced four Top Ten singles, including the sexually-fused disco tunes “Rock With You" and “Don't Stop Til You Get Enough."
For more information contact All About Jazz.
