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Michael Jackson He Came He Moonwalked He Conquered

I am going to have a mishmash of WBSS' and mello1's views. Sometimes the obvious needs re-stating for those who would like to forget and for those who don't know but, by the same token, it is time that Michael get more recognition for the works of art he created post-Thriller.
 
I don't comprehend how saying that you can't appreciate music without appreciating MJ's contribution to it, or MJ being the definitive star of the 80's, or how MJ set the standards for music videos, or how MJ is his own unique brand or that MJ's music is still relevant can possibly be boring. No, it wasn't some long, deep articulate, symbolistic composition, but there was nothing Legend stated that wasn't true, however wack you thought it was. Further, it is HIS opinion about what HE believes is the definitive portion of MJ's work and what he felt MJ represented as a child artist. What about his other works? What about his artistry or his singing as an adult? What about it? However you may feel about all of the other things that you find as important, you miss the point here.

During these days, it is rare that any artist would take the time to write anything of any length about the significance of Michael Jackson as an artist. More importantly, anyone at that level who would do so would not likely be such a connoisseur of all things MJ like the peeps who choose to follow everything that he ever does on a daily basis. We cannot get into any deeper discussion about this guy with those who aren't hardcore fans without them understanding the basics first. What is so obvious to you and I is a revelation to those who don't give it much thought.

And to that, I'm glad that John Legend took the time to recognize.[/b]
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And what I predicted would be said just was. You're condecending, as usual.

It's boring because it's unperceptive and reads like a "Did you know?" fact sheet. He did get the bit about the moonwalk wrong, that wasn't true, so... kind of kills the whole title, lol.

The point in my critisism of the article is that, it's been heard many a times before, "Off The Wall" and "Thriller" are constantly harrolded by the media and press, but it is done so constantly, that people may be led to believe that those two albums were the only solo efforts Michael ever produced. It's sad, I think. It's so easy to talk about how great Michael "used to be", these days, it's much easier to act as though he didn't exsist after 1984. You don't have to be a "connoisseur" of all things MJ to know he made albums post-Thriller.
 
And what I predicted would be said just was. You're condecending, as usual.

It's boring because it's unperceptive and reads like a "Did you know?" fact sheet. He did get the bit about the moonwalk wrong, that wasn't true, so... lol[/b]
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I'm not being condescending. You are overreacting, as usual.
 
I am going to have a mishmash of WBSS' and mello1's views. Sometimes the obvious needs re-stating for those who would like to forget and for those who don't know but, by the same token, it is time that Michael get more recognition for the works of art he created post-Thriller.[/b]
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I think that MJ deserves more recognition....period. That is why the last part of Legend's op piece is so unfortunate because it blocks MJ from getting his just due in these discussions of great music influences....
 
That article spoke the truth about many things. I have to agree though on the ending, I don't really see Michael doing the Vegas act, not that there's anything wrong with that....I just can't see him doing it.

Legend really does have a strong sense of what a artist is. I'm thankful we have those around who can set the record straight.

Thanks for posting this BTW. Alwas love hearing the truth spoken from other artists. :heart:
 
The article was nice, but ended with such a depressing tone. It's clear that Michael is trying or has intentions to come back to his artistry in some way. I think he wants it, but putting himself out there is probably harder than it used to be.

Anyway, I'm glad John Legend wrote that. Clearly he's a fan, and so what if he didn't say Michael was a perfect musical entity that the entire industry should bow to. (Well..you know he kind of did) What more do people want, you know? Not everyone is so biased to where they can only say good things. The respect that he has for Michael shows and that's what is important.

Nicole, did John Legend diss you at some point? You've always been so negative towards him and it just seem unwarranted and strange.
 
I just think he's a boring artist. I didn't like his comments particulary. He got some facts wrong, he was predictable and took the safe rout, imo.
 
I just think he's a boring artist. I didn't like his comments particulary. He got some facts wrong, he was predictable and took the safe rout, imo.[/b]
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A few months ago we got an article about Chris Tucker. Chris was asked about when he testifed during the trial and he basically said that he wasn't there to take sides, he was just there to do what he had to. That's a very safe answer on his part because you know he wanted to say more.

But still you cheered him on and said he was great.

You seem to be mixing your feelings about him as an artist into how you feel about what he said. If he were someone you already liked, I have a feeling you'd be less worked up about it.

John Legend may be boring to you, maybe mello piano music isn't your thing. But he has all the qualities of a talented musician. So he's not your cup of tea. You don't have to eat him alive for it.
 
Did I praise Tucker for that? If I did, then I didn't mean it, I was probably saying that so as not to piss certain members off, you'd be surprised how often I do that. I think that's a lame answer on Chris' part, but truth be told, I know Chris was saying that for his own benifit and didn't mean it, as of late, he's been uber supportive of Michael.

Anyway, I'm not saying that because I don't like Legend as an artist. I'm saying that because that's what I think. I think his comment at the end sums up his feelings towards Michael. He's made another iffy comment regarding Michael in some clip someone posted here a few months back, I forget exactly what he said, but it was weird. He's on the fence, fine, but what bugs me more is his neglect for Michael's other work. That's something that irks me in every write up about Michael, whether supportive or not. It aggitates me that he never gets any recognition for that work. The article itself was poorly written and not very expressive, thus I feel it had no real impact. He has the qualities of a skilled musician, not a talented one. His voice is average, at best, his piano playing is average, at best, his songs are average, at best. That's all my opinion.
 
Ahh there you go with the elitist everyone is average but Michael stuff. I'm pretty sure he could outdo Michael on the piano anyday.

Goodnight then. Tada.
 
For real, give me a break. I mean he's average compared to the likes of say, Elton John. Did I mention ANYWHERE in that post that Michael is a better piano player? No, don't put words in my mouth. You make an awful lot of assumptions Vicky.
 
the typos you mention are actually " and ' being altered sometimes when ytou cut and paste from some pages depending on the original code and alphabet used (like you have é and è or also € in Europe).

anyway here is a correct repaste I hope:

Michael Jackson
He came. He moonwalked. He conquered.

By John Legend

You can't appreciate music and not appreciate Michael Jackson. If you listen to the recordings he made as a kid, his pipes were truly incredible. The precision clarity and extent of the range he could sing at, without changing his vocal style, is just incredible. To be able to reach those high notes... He wasn't just good for a kid; he was amazingly good for anybody. Watch those early Jacksons Variety Shows when he sings Rockin' Robin, and you'll see he had a gift. No one had ever sung like that before. And no one has been able to sing like that since.

For anyone who grew up in the '80s, Michael Jackson was the definitive star of our childhoods. Obviously Thriller was a monstruous hit, one of the biggest ever. But I feel, creatively, Off The Wall has the edge - Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough, Rock With You and Off The Wall itself, I think that's such a beautiful song. Off The Wall smashed records [Jackson became the first artist to score four US Top 10 singles from the same album], but at the time Michael said he wasn't satisfied. He knew he could do better. That was one of the things that was new with him: ambition. His family clearly had something to do with that - you hear reports about his father being a tough guy. I don't know whether his family worked him too hard. We'll leave that up for debate. First off, there was clearly something in his genes that made him have a voice like that, but the family obviously cultivated what was there. I understand that. I understand what it's like to grow up and be surrounded by it: I come from a very musical family, too. To grow up and be surrounded by other musicians and people who love music; that can have a big effect on a child.

The other way Michael changed music was with his videos. Throughout the '80s, his videos were events. He was one of the first artists where network television would break away from regular programming to premiere a video. I was having dinner with Kanye West the other night and we were exactly talking about that fact: it was a television event when his videos came out. And, of course, it really made MTV. Michael was one of the first ones that opened up the doors for black performers. You have to remember that MTV was a rock channel up to that point. Their philosophy was to treat it like a radio station, where you focus on one format and you get the best of that format. Michael opened the door with Thriller and then rap started to make its way onto MTV. Then MTV became more of a multi-format station for the whole younger generation. But for a while, Michael was all we had on MTV. Videos have really been in decline ever since. The era of the super-mega-budget video, where people justified spending lots of money, that's pretty much over today.

Michael was one of the first pop stars to really understand how to turn himself into a unique brand. It would have been enough for him to sing those songs, but then he delivered them in such a unique way: with amazing dance routines. Michael will always be known as one of the greatest dancers in pop history. When he did Billie Jean on the Motown TV Show [1983's Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever, the first public performance of "the moonwalk"], that was just incredible. Speaking as someone who can't dance himself, I always respected and envied that. It's part of your job as an entertainer to work out how to connect with your audience, and no one connected like Michael.

But it seems like the set of circumstances [that gave us Jackson] won't ever happen again. The way the media is now, I don't think the world's attention will ever be focused on one artist again. Plus, he was an experiment of one; a sample size of one. Unless you're there yourself, no one can know what it feels like to be, from a child, one of the most important and watched individuals in the world. I don't want to psychoanalyse him - I don't really know him well to do that - but you can only imagine what impact growing up in the public eye like that is going to have on you.

Today I think his music still holds up. You can play Thriller at a party and people get excited. You hear him sampled a lot and he’s influenced quite a few male pop stars - Justin Timberlake, Usher and Ne-Yo, you can see it in their writing and their choreography, that Michael Jackson '80s influence. But his personal life has tarnished his legacy. It's natural that people don't separate them. He's not held in the same positive light and I don't think that will ever change. Every artist has their ups and downs. But I think being accused of molesting children is a little bit extreme, even for a star.

I would love to see him come back. You know, Prince has done [a residency in Las] Vegas, as has Céline Dion and Toni Braxton and Elton John - so why not? You never know. But people really have to be in the right frame of mind for that. To want it and to want to do all the work, the promotion that's involved. And I don't know if he wants to do it anymore. We'll see.

John Legend is a five-times Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter and pianist.

© Q Magazine

Source: Q / MJ data bank

[url=http://mjdatabank.com/english_version/news...ain_current.htm t=_blank]http://mjdatabank.com/english_version/news...ain_current.htm[/url][/b]
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Bluefromfrance if you return to my original post with the link, you will see that it is the same link you used. The article was on line at: http://mjdatabank.com/english_version/news...ain_current.htm

They printed it exactly like John Legend wrote it mistakes and all. Or maybe it was typed with mistakes by MJDataBank. I understand the transferance
being altered sometimes when ytou cut and paste from some pages depending on the original code and alphabet used (like you have é and è or also € in Europe).
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 But what is the big deal about that? You can read it can't you and understand what he is saying? You even made a mistake in reposting: he’s

What is wrong with the last paragraph? He is just voicing what all the world is wondering. Will he make a comeback?

Some of you people just feel obsessed with finding some iddy bitty negative thing in everything. Here we have some positive thoughts for Michael from a respected member of the artistic community and a contemporary of Michael's.

Why can't you just take it as it is and enjoy it?[/b].
 
MJDatabank is BluefromFrance's site. I'm guessing he's the one who typed the article. Can we get over this already?
 
I'll have to admit as well that though it was positive, I found myself SCANNING instead of reading.. I had to force myself to read (SOME PARTS).. lol! So I can see where they are coming from, but that does not really bother me..

If it will be printed some MJ haters, and MJ non fans, will read it and that's all that matters to me.. 'Cause we fans don't need the article, we know what he's about and what he has done..
 
I'm gonna stray from the majority here, but that was some regurgitated, boring ass sh**. Yeah, yeah, it was positive, and that's always nice, since we get few articles which are actually supportive of Michael, but man, John Legend isn't showing any kind of great perception here in regards to Michael, his impact of the affects his childhood may have had on him. He's just throwing up the same stuff that's been said for years, he isn't saying anything new or meaningful. This guy is way boring. His comment at the end about Michael being accused of "molesting little children" and that being a bit extreme, even for a star, is insulting to me, he's saying that there's no way to get passed that and that people shouldn't. Actually, there is, Michael was proven innocent in a court of law, leave it at that. That's getting passed it. On top of that, this guy doesn’t understand the affect that Michael has on people, the instant they see this man on a stage, or in person, or on TV dancing, they forget every bad thing that’s ever been said about him, even if just for that time, in that instant, all they become aware of is Michael’s passion and emotion. He’s THAT great of an entertainer. In the end, it won't be the alligations that people remember, it will be Michael's work, both as an artist and as a humanitarian. Bringing it up only serves to distract people from what's really important. Boring article and badly written too, sorry John, you need to stay away from Michael, before we get put into a state of comatose. The only thing I agree with is that there won't ever be a superstar on Michael's level again because the way the industry is now isn't condusive to that occuring, it's become quantity over quality.

Now you all can tell me I'm a jerk and complain that I should just be happy someone wrote something positive. Yeah, yeah, lol. I'm sorry, but I just had to say it.[/b]
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I absolutely agree with you. :flowers:
 
I agree with Moon, everybody is waiting on this comeback, for lack of a better phrase.

And I agree with WBSS....the article IS a little boring. Not really saying much. But you can tell that John Legend is a true fan. I like John Legend. Dude can't dance, but he sure can drop some good R&B.
 
Some of y'all are just overreacting as usual but what can I say? Michael fans loooooooove drama. As much as some of you complain about people being negative about MJ, i've noticed some of you live for the drama so of course some of you look for the negative in everything. John Legend did not even have to write that article you know and if he prefers OTW and Thriller then so be it. That's his preference. A lot of r&b singers prefer those albums over his later ones so I don't know why some are suprised by that. Anyway, like I said it is HIS preference. Sure it would be great if Michael's later albums got more recognition, but John Legend doesn't have to praise "Dangerous", "History" and whatever else seems to be the fan favorite on Michael fan boards. He is allowed to have his opinion just like everyone else.


And there is nothing wrong with what John said for the most part IMO. He is just telling the truth. Those allegations have damaged MJ's career no matter who wants to deny this so I think John is just being realistic here which is something some of you obviously can't deal with.
 
Some of y'all are just overreacting as usual but what can I say? Michael fans loooooooove drama. As much as some of you complain about people being negative about MJ, i've noticed some of you live for the drama so of course some of you look for the negative in everything. John Legend did not even have to write that article you know and if he prefers OTW and Thriller then so be it. That's his preference. A lot of r&b singers prefer those albums over his later ones so I don't know why some are suprised by that. Anyway, like I said it is HIS preference. Sure it would be great if Michael's later albums got more recognition, but John Legend doesn't have to praise "Dangerous", "History" and whatever else seems to be the fan favorite on Michael fan boards. He is allowed to have his opinion just like everyone else.


And there is nothing wrong with what John said for the most part IMO. He is just telling the truth. Those allegations have damaged MJ's career no matter who wants to deny this so I think John is just being realistic here which is something some of you obviously can't deal with.[/b]
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I agree with this. I love the article. I rest to have an article like this of someone expressing HIS OWN view in a true and postive way than compare to someone like RF. Take your pick.
 
Overall a good piece, its nice to get something a little bit extra other than the odd paragraph into how artists feel about MJ. But as usual, Michaels career only seems to have consisted of OTW and Thriller and I'd love some of Michaels lifelong fans to at least pay homage to his later albums. Post Thriller seems to consist of plastic surgery and child molestation claims to many people in general. John Legend as much as he's a fan seems to have followed this pattern too...why though? Its a bit disappointing. Q is a music magazine, and like JL says he's not there to psycho-analyze mj so to make this a truly great piece would've been to stick to just the music imo.
 
Overall a good piece, its nice to get something a little bit extra other than the odd paragraph into how artists feel about MJ. But as usual, Michaels career only seems to have consisted of OTW and Thriller and I'd love some of Michaels lifelong fans to at least pay homage to his later albums. Post Thriller seems to consist of plastic surgery and child molestation claims to many people in general. John Legend as much as he's a fan seems to have followed this pattern too...why though? Its a bit disappointing. Q is a music magazine, and like JL says he's not there to psycho-analyze mj so to make this a truly great piece would've been to stick to just the music imo.[/b]
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I agree. And think alot of the "abuse claims" are more dwelled on in the eyes of the media than the overall public, which I will agree that the public are more in tune to dwell on his face than the claims.
 
I think the claims damaged his reputation compare to damaging his career (he still can come back and have the top selling cd of the year, be the best artist in the music biz, and have top singles on the charts go higher than before. Remember, in 1995, Michael's song "You are not alone" debute at NUMBER ONE something he did not do with singles from Thriller, Bad, or Dangerous. That went into the history books).
 
Overall a good piece, its nice to get something a little bit extra other than the odd paragraph into how artists feel about MJ. But as usual, Michaels career only seems to have consisted of OTW and Thriller and I'd love some of Michaels lifelong fans to at least pay homage to his later albums. Post Thriller seems to consist of plastic surgery and child molestation claims to many people in general. John Legend as much as he's a fan seems to have followed this pattern too...why though? Its a bit disappointing. Q is a music magazine, and like JL says he's not there to psycho-analyze mj so to make this a truly great piece would've been to stick to just the music imo.[/b]
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Well that's fair enough and you do make some good points but those allegations against Michael are always like "The elephant in the room", it's very hard to ignore it and John Legend was talking about MJ's music and legacy so like it or not, those allegations have had a huge effect on the way people view Michael and will always be talked about when talking about MJ's career, it cannot be ignored but some people can't seem to seperate the music from the man and that is unfortunate.

One thing I agree with what you said is about people viewing post-Thriller Michael in a very negative light. The thing is that a lot of people seperate Michael into as if he were two different people almost. The "Good" Michael who most people seem to love was on top of the world during Thriller, had the squeaky clean image and back when everything he touched went to gold and pretty much had the whole world at his feet and above all he was "black'. That's what really makes the difference with people i'm sorry to say. A lot of people just cannot get past MJ's appearence. Then there's the MJ post-Bad who some people just think changed into this completely different person overnight and all of a sudden turned into this horrible monster who goes around harming kids so because of that they think his music after the 80's went downhill because it's not the Michael they like or are used to seeing.

I really believe the reason Michael's post-Thriller music doesn't get a lot of recognitition is because even more than those allegations actually, people just cannot get past his appearence and associate that with him somehow losing his talent and making music that does not compare with his earlier work as ridiculous as it may sound.

With all that said though, I still don't see what was wrong with what John Legend said. It's his right to prefer OTW & Thriller over MJ's later works. I love all of MJ's music but happen to like his earlier work better also but I don't understand why fans are suprised by things like this. Just like how Prince will always be associated with "Purple Rain" and Whitney Houston will always be associated with "I Will Always Love You", Michael will always be associated with "Thriller". That's never going to change.
 
And as for "reputations", I think we as a society are starting to become numb to this. It now seem like anyone can try and destroy your "reputation" if they do not like it (look at Youtube where everything get put out there and look at our media who lies over and over). People get tired and people do not care anymore. I am looking David Copperfield's issue right now with the rape accusations. NO ONE CARES. Same old mess. That is what folks are saying regardless if it is true or not. See, people get tired of the "crying wolf" sooner or later and will not listen to the media on people. People are saying they still will go to see David unless it is proven to be true. yes, ago, people would not support you even at the claim of such a thing. it is now tiresome and no one cares to see Nancy GRace, Wendy Murphy, etc with their views no more especially after the Duke Lacrosse.
 
<<<A lot of people just cannot get past MJ&#39;s appearence>>> I think this is where he is effect more in terms of the public. Not so much about the claims because many do not believe the claims; and the few people who do believe the claims ALREADy did not like him from the start so the claims only gave them more mug to throw at Michael.
 
Remember what Tom Sneddon said, "I never listen to that kind of music". So why look for understanding from people who ALREADy have this belief about a person?
 
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