billyworld99
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Michael Jackson's opus is that of an American original of unsurpassed musical genius. Its greatness resides in whole spheres of endeavor, from songwriting and recording to original choreography, film, iconography, and, of course, virtuosity of performance. Moreover, Jackson's creative gifts were so varied and prolific that the world has only lately learned of his additional innate talents for the studio arts of painting and drawing. In terms of brilliant innovation that defined but was not statically bound to an era, his art's impact on our culture and the work of other artists makes for an extraordinary story.
While many people are aware of Jackson's tremendous commercial success in terms of units sold or concert attendance records broken, serious analysis of his art has perhaps been impeded by these very facts. The question goes something like this. Is it possible for great art to be wildly popular, and embraced on such an enormous scale? Is it possible to be a serious artist and also be the "King of Pop?"
Apparently it is. Efforts are now being made to understand both the meaning and the impact of Michael Jackson's art. Examples in the past few years include symposia at Harvard, Princeton, Columbia College Chicago, Schomburg Center, the Louvre, Lincoln Center and other institutions of learning. His music has received classical treatment by the London Symphony Orchestra, among many others. According to National Public Radio, one of the notable classical recordings of 2011 was a reinterpretation of "Billie Jean" by the duo Anderson and Roe.
You can see a clip here:
www.youtube.com/AndersonRoeBillieJean
Recognition of the value of Jackson's artistic output has grown apace. The short film, "Thriller," is the only music video to be selected for the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress, and Jackson himself is likely to remain the only pop star inducted into the National Museum of Dance's C.V. Whitney Hall of Fame--alongside other distinctive architects of American dance heritage like Astaire, Graham, and Balanchine.
Now the publication of books and blogs about Michael Jackson's art has begun, characterized by the kind of in-depth study that illuminates its subject, and that connoisseurs of music have been waiting for. It seems the extraordinary story is finally being told.
The following is our short list of must-reads.
1. Joe Vogel's Man in the Music: The Creative Life and Work of Michael Jackson (Sterling Press, 2011) leads the way. Vogel's book assesses Jackson's solo adult catalog 1979-2009, drawing on hundreds of sources, including archival material from Jackson's Estate, Jackson's own statements, and extensive interviews with collaborators, some of whom had never been interviewed before. Vogel has managed to construct an historic record founded on meticulous research about Jackson's creative process. At the same time, he credibly and persuasively contextualizes Jackson's masterworks within a culture that nurtured--but also extracted from him-their creation.
Man in the Music has been enthusiastically embraced by critics and scholars. It has the substance to become a seminal and definitive text about the musical composition aspects of Michael Jackson's art. Read more here:
RochesterBusinessJournal/JoeVogel
Joe Vogel's Man in the Music is available for $16 and up at Amazon and other major booksellers:
www.amazon.com/ManInTheMusic
Vogel's website has additional information and a blog:
http://www.joevogel.net/
2. A slim but powerful volume by film critic Armond White is next on the list. Keep Moving: The Michael Jackson Chronicles is a series of critical essays focused on Jackson's short films. Included is "The Gloved One Is Not a Chump," on the "Black Or White" video, which won the 25th Annual ASCAPDeems Taylor Award for music criticism in 1992. White is renowned as an exacting critic with a supreme depth of knowledge about film history in cultural context. He also has an unusual capacity to think for himself, which has sometimes made him a lightening rod for controversy. His question here is, "Has there been a more compelling cultural figure than Michael Jackson?"
In Keep Moving, White documents his perception of Michael Jackson from his spectacular heights in the 80s, as he contemporaneously critiqued his music in the press. The essays progressively reveal a growing estimation of Jackson's art and message. White initially saw Jackson as a supremely talented purveyor of "brilliant pop," while Prince appeared to be the more noteworthy artist. But White ultimately and passionately anoints Jackson as the most courageous and subtly subversive artist of his time.
White brings his expertise and fine intellect to the study of what he considers to be Jackson's most groundbreaking works, providing unique insights that make Keep Moving a joy to read. It belongs in the collection of anyone with a more than passing interest in the messages embedded throughout Michael Jackson's artistic legacy.
Armond White's book Keep Moving is available for $13 including shipping within the US (international orders $20) and can be obtained here:
http://www.resistanceworks.blogspot.com
3. "Dancing With the Elephant," a blog introduced by the MJFC in the past few months and written by Willa Stillwater and Joie Collins, consists of a thoughtful, often playful, always engaging conversation between the two as they discuss their interpretation of a number of Michael Jackson's songs and videos:
www.dancingwiththeelephant.wordpress.com
Joie Collins is one of the founding Team Members of, and has written extensively for, the Michael Jackson Fan Club (MJFC) since 1999. Willa Stillwater is the author of M Poetica: Michael Jackson's Art of Connection and Defiance, available as an ebook on Amazon.com.
www.amazon.com/M Poetica
4. Constance Pierce is another academic especially interested in the import of Jackson's global influence in the area of visual culture. A visual artist who has exhibited regionally, nationally, and in Europe and Japan, Pierce is an associate professor of fine art at St. Bonaventure University (NY). One of her essays on Michael Jackson is currently profiled on Joe Vogel's site, where you can get more information about her other work on this subject.
http://www.joevogel.net/privacy-michael-jackson-and-j-d-salinger
While many people are aware of Jackson's tremendous commercial success in terms of units sold or concert attendance records broken, serious analysis of his art has perhaps been impeded by these very facts. The question goes something like this. Is it possible for great art to be wildly popular, and embraced on such an enormous scale? Is it possible to be a serious artist and also be the "King of Pop?"
Apparently it is. Efforts are now being made to understand both the meaning and the impact of Michael Jackson's art. Examples in the past few years include symposia at Harvard, Princeton, Columbia College Chicago, Schomburg Center, the Louvre, Lincoln Center and other institutions of learning. His music has received classical treatment by the London Symphony Orchestra, among many others. According to National Public Radio, one of the notable classical recordings of 2011 was a reinterpretation of "Billie Jean" by the duo Anderson and Roe.
You can see a clip here:
www.youtube.com/AndersonRoeBillieJean
Recognition of the value of Jackson's artistic output has grown apace. The short film, "Thriller," is the only music video to be selected for the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress, and Jackson himself is likely to remain the only pop star inducted into the National Museum of Dance's C.V. Whitney Hall of Fame--alongside other distinctive architects of American dance heritage like Astaire, Graham, and Balanchine.
Now the publication of books and blogs about Michael Jackson's art has begun, characterized by the kind of in-depth study that illuminates its subject, and that connoisseurs of music have been waiting for. It seems the extraordinary story is finally being told.
The following is our short list of must-reads.
1. Joe Vogel's Man in the Music: The Creative Life and Work of Michael Jackson (Sterling Press, 2011) leads the way. Vogel's book assesses Jackson's solo adult catalog 1979-2009, drawing on hundreds of sources, including archival material from Jackson's Estate, Jackson's own statements, and extensive interviews with collaborators, some of whom had never been interviewed before. Vogel has managed to construct an historic record founded on meticulous research about Jackson's creative process. At the same time, he credibly and persuasively contextualizes Jackson's masterworks within a culture that nurtured--but also extracted from him-their creation.
Man in the Music has been enthusiastically embraced by critics and scholars. It has the substance to become a seminal and definitive text about the musical composition aspects of Michael Jackson's art. Read more here:
RochesterBusinessJournal/JoeVogel
Joe Vogel's Man in the Music is available for $16 and up at Amazon and other major booksellers:
www.amazon.com/ManInTheMusic
Vogel's website has additional information and a blog:
http://www.joevogel.net/
2. A slim but powerful volume by film critic Armond White is next on the list. Keep Moving: The Michael Jackson Chronicles is a series of critical essays focused on Jackson's short films. Included is "The Gloved One Is Not a Chump," on the "Black Or White" video, which won the 25th Annual ASCAPDeems Taylor Award for music criticism in 1992. White is renowned as an exacting critic with a supreme depth of knowledge about film history in cultural context. He also has an unusual capacity to think for himself, which has sometimes made him a lightening rod for controversy. His question here is, "Has there been a more compelling cultural figure than Michael Jackson?"
In Keep Moving, White documents his perception of Michael Jackson from his spectacular heights in the 80s, as he contemporaneously critiqued his music in the press. The essays progressively reveal a growing estimation of Jackson's art and message. White initially saw Jackson as a supremely talented purveyor of "brilliant pop," while Prince appeared to be the more noteworthy artist. But White ultimately and passionately anoints Jackson as the most courageous and subtly subversive artist of his time.
White brings his expertise and fine intellect to the study of what he considers to be Jackson's most groundbreaking works, providing unique insights that make Keep Moving a joy to read. It belongs in the collection of anyone with a more than passing interest in the messages embedded throughout Michael Jackson's artistic legacy.
Armond White's book Keep Moving is available for $13 including shipping within the US (international orders $20) and can be obtained here:
http://www.resistanceworks.blogspot.com
3. "Dancing With the Elephant," a blog introduced by the MJFC in the past few months and written by Willa Stillwater and Joie Collins, consists of a thoughtful, often playful, always engaging conversation between the two as they discuss their interpretation of a number of Michael Jackson's songs and videos:
www.dancingwiththeelephant.wordpress.com
Joie Collins is one of the founding Team Members of, and has written extensively for, the Michael Jackson Fan Club (MJFC) since 1999. Willa Stillwater is the author of M Poetica: Michael Jackson's Art of Connection and Defiance, available as an ebook on Amazon.com.
www.amazon.com/M Poetica
4. Constance Pierce is another academic especially interested in the import of Jackson's global influence in the area of visual culture. A visual artist who has exhibited regionally, nationally, and in Europe and Japan, Pierce is an associate professor of fine art at St. Bonaventure University (NY). One of her essays on Michael Jackson is currently profiled on Joe Vogel's site, where you can get more information about her other work on this subject.
http://www.joevogel.net/privacy-michael-jackson-and-j-d-salinger