Hype or talent?

27 juin 2009

These articles below from the Daily Mail. Thanks for sending it, my dear. Well said, in both camps. For you to comment, though time will tell...

'It's all hype' says CHRISTOPHER HART
He made me 'believe in magic,' says P. Diddy. 'His wonderment and mystery make him legend,' gabbles Steven Spielberg. He was a 'genius', claims Justin Timberlake. Really? What, like Shakespeare and Michelangelo? With the best will in the world, I don't think anything in Michael Jackson's back catalogue can quite compare with Hamlet or the Sistine Chapel. As for those who are now comparing him to Mozart and Beethoven - on Radio 4's flagship Today programme, of all places! - the only explanation is that they have never actually listened to the great composers. Amid all the hysterical gush about Michael Joseph Jackson, including toe-curling contributions from our own celebrity suckers, Gordon Brown and David Cameron, some gentle reminders might be in order. Back in the Seventies and Eighties, Jackson wrote some pitch-perfect dance pop songs which will never be surpassed. If you've never tapped your toes to Beat It then you must have no sense of rhythm, and if you've never hit the dancefloor to Billie Jean, you haven't lived. But let's keep things in proportion. For the past 20 years of his sad and tattered life, Jackson was a walking zombie, a ghastly realised version of the living dead in his Thriller video. Life imitates art and, in this case, it was a most gruesome fulfilment. Despite the Peter Pan image, Jackson's lonely death in an LA hospital was a pure rock 'n' roll cliche. Where were his celebrity friends then? And the painkiller that he seems to have been taking just before his death, Demerol, is no junior aspirin. It's an immensely powerful synthetic morphine, chemically similar to heroin, and known to be potentially lethal. What on earth was going on? Unfortunately, a miasma of squalor, mystery and downright dishonesty has swirled about Jackson for years. Despite the weirdest and most implausible denials, we all know the star long ago set out to look like a white man - or even a white woman. Yet he and his croneys always insisted his changing skin tone was due to the condition vitiligo - this causes patchy depigmentation. It does not turn black people white. Jackson was an influential example of that terrible form of self-loathing called cosmetic skin whitening, and his contribution to the cause of black equality was wholly negative. Comparing the crumbling, ravaged pseudo-features of the middle-aged recluse with the happy, smiling little black boy of the early Jackson 5 is heartbreaking. But in Jackson's childhood, glittering with early fame and fortune but sadly lacking in the normal pleasures of careless play and anonymity, the seeds of his later ruin were sown. He spent the rest of his life trying to avoid adulthood through gross self-indulgence and vapid fantasy. Even creepier than the plastic surgery were the rumours from the Neverland ranch, the 'sleepovers' with barely pubescent boys, which he described as 'a beautiful thing'. Jackson was acquitted of child abuse in 2005, but after previous allegations in 1993, he paid out a vast $22 million to the boy's father in exchange for their silence. These uncomfortable facts have conveniently been forgotten in the Niagara of celebrity twitter, grotesque exaggeration and false sentiment that's scaling heights of mawkish sentimentality not seen since the death of Princess Diana. Madonna, Demi Moore and Britney Spears have made their feelings known - not in private, to Jackson's family, of course, but to the world. And the basic dishonesty continues. Geller, the famous spoon-bender, says his close friend Jackson had recently been 'terribly fit and basically in good shape'. No he wasn't. He had a chicken bone for a nose, was in and out of a wheelchair, and looked increasingly like Bette Davis in Whatever Happened To Baby Jane? Black civil rights campaigner Rev. Al Sharpton has hailed him as a 'historic figure', like Abraham Lincoln or Martin Luther King, and said he 'made culture accept a person of colour way before Tiger Woods'. Didn't the Rev. Al ever notice anything funny about Jackson's colour? Enough of this delusional postmortem hype, please. A handful of Jackson's tunes will last as long as people love pop music - that's no mean achievement - and at his peak he could dance like Fred Astaire. But he was also a deeply flawed individual who lived a life of consistent and cowardly denial and evasion. For whatever messy psychological reasons, Jackson could never be honest about himself. At least we should be. Or this, by Ray Conelly, printed side by side with the above, titled 'He Was A Genius' Jackson's death on Thursday might have taken his fans by surprise, but in any musical sense, the Michael Jackson who once mesmerised the world had died more than 20 years ago. At least now his deserved heroic status in popular music won't be further sabotaged by those ill- conceived ' comeback' concerts he was soon to give in Britain. Because no matter how loyal his fans might have been in overlooking Jackson's own self- destruction, they were virtually certain to have been let down had he ever taken to the stage again. Like so many other rock stars, Jacko's best work was done well before he was 30. And like Elvis (who, had he survived, would briefly have been Jackson's father-in-law) his death was preceded by years of madness, reclusiveness, financial problems, scandal and ill-health. But let us set aside the troubled personal life for one moment. Who was Michael Jackson, the musician? At his peak, in the late Seventies and early Eighties, when working with the legendary producer Quincy Jones on the magical albums Off The Wall, Thriller and Bad, Jackson was inspirational. And I mean that in the truest sense of that word.He literally inspired the following generation of rock stars to consider their music as part of a whole theatrical experience of dance, acting and costume. Without him, the captivating stage performances of singers such as Madonna and Beyonce wouldn't have been the same. But then nor would TV music channels such as MTV, which, prior to Jackson, had aired far fewer black stars. His extraordinarily inventive dancing for his Billie Jean video, when he looked like a moonwalking vaudeville artist and spinning robot combined, changed the look of rock music on TV. It was no longer enough just to stand there with a guitar and sing. Stars had to give a show - in the old-fashioned movie musical sense, aided by modern digital techniques. And no one ever did this better than Jackson. At the same time, reflecting the ever-growing change in cultural attitudes, the music Jackson performed was colourless. It wasn't black or white. It wasn't soul or rock. It was Michael Jackson music. Pop at its absolute pinnacle of expression, and timeless, as evidenced by the 38 million people who have looked at his Thriller video on the YouTube website in the past two years alone. I don't go along with describing rock stars as geniuses - and I've known a few from my four decades as a music journalist - but Jackson, perhaps because of his overall oddness, was a true original. Yet, deep down, he was also a real old-fashioned song and dance showman. In that sense, he always struck me as a leftover from another age of bornina-trunk travelling artists. Ultimately, Jackson's is the saddest of stories. Extraordinarily gifted, even as a child star singing Rockin' Robin and ABC as part of the Jackson 5, he outclassed all his musical peers - not least, his own siblings. But the seeds of his self-destruction were sowed deep within him. How much they were the result of his being famous since the age of 11, or how much his eccentricity was simply the other side of his creativity, we'll never know. One thing is for sure. All those fans who bought tickets to go and see him this summer won't be going home disappointed having seen the sad reality of Jackson's lost talent. And they'll always have their DVDs of happier times.

'It's all hype'
says CHRISTOPHER HART

He made me 'believe in magic,' says P. Diddy. 'His wonderment and mystery make him legend,' gabbles Steven Spielberg. He was a 'genius', claims Justin Timberlake.

Really? What, like Shakespeare and Michelangelo? With the best will in the world, I don't think anything in Michael Jackson's back catalogue can quite compare with Hamlet or the Sistine Chapel.

As for those who are now comparing him to Mozart and Beethoven - on Radio 4's flagship Today programme, of all places! - the only explanation is that they have never actually listened to the great composers. Amid all the hysterical gush about Michael Joseph Jackson, including toe-curling contributions from our own celebrity suckers, Gordon Brown and David Cameron, some gentle reminders might be in order.

Back in the Seventies and Eighties, Jackson wrote some pitch-perfect dance pop songs which will never be surpassed. If you've never tapped your toes to Beat It then you must have no sense of rhythm, and if you've never hit the dancefloor to Billie Jean, you haven't lived.

But let's keep things in proportion. For the past 20 years of his sad and tattered life, Jackson was a walking zombie, a ghastly realised version of the living dead in his Thriller video. Life imitates art and, in this case, it was a most gruesome fulfilment.

Despite the Peter Pan image, Jackson's lonely death in an LA hospital was a pure rock 'n' roll cliche. Where were his celebrity friends then?

And the painkiller that he seems to have been taking just before his death, Demerol, is no junior aspirin. It's an immensely powerful synthetic morphine, chemically similar to heroin, and known to be potentially lethal. What on earth was going on?

Unfortunately, a miasma of squalor, mystery and downright dishonesty has swirled about Jackson for years. Despite the weirdest and most implausible denials, we all know the star long ago set out to look like a white man - or even a white woman.

Yet he and his croneys always insisted his changing skin tone was due to the condition vitiligo - this causes patchy depigmentation. It does not turn black people white.

Jackson was an influential example of that terrible form of self-loathing called cosmetic skin whitening, and his contribution to the cause of black equality was wholly negative.

Comparing the crumbling, ravaged pseudo-features of the middle-aged recluse with the happy, smiling little black boy of the early Jackson 5 is heartbreaking. But in Jackson's childhood, glittering with early fame and fortune but sadly lacking in the normal pleasures of careless play and anonymity, the seeds of his later ruin were sown.

He spent the rest of his life trying to avoid adulthood through gross self-indulgence and vapid fantasy. Even creepier than the plastic surgery were the rumours from the Neverland ranch, the 'sleepovers' with barely pubescent boys, which he described as 'a beautiful thing'.

Jackson was acquitted of child abuse in 2005, but after previous allegations in 1993, he paid out a vast $22 million to the boy's father in exchange for their silence.

These uncomfortable facts have conveniently been forgotten in the Niagara of celebrity twitter, grotesque exaggeration and false sentiment that's scaling heights of mawkish sentimentality not seen since the death of Princess Diana.

Madonna, Demi Moore and Britney Spears have made their feelings known - not in private, to Jackson's family, of course, but to the world. And the basic dishonesty continues. Geller, the famous spoon-bender, says his close friend Jackson had recently been 'terribly fit and basically in good shape'. No he wasn't. He had a chicken bone for a nose, was in and out of a wheelchair, and looked increasingly like Bette Davis in Whatever Happened To Baby Jane?

Black civil rights campaigner Rev. Al Sharpton has hailed him as a 'historic figure', like Abraham Lincoln or Martin Luther King, and said he 'made culture accept a person of colour way before Tiger Woods'. Didn't the Rev. Al ever notice anything funny about Jackson's colour?

Enough of this delusional postmortem hype, please. A handful of Jackson's tunes will last as long as people love pop music - that's no mean achievement - and at his peak he could dance like Fred Astaire.

But he was also a deeply flawed individual who lived a life of consistent and cowardly denial and evasion. For whatever messy psychological reasons, Jackson could never be honest about himself. At least we should be.

Or this, by Ray Conelly, printed side by side with the above, titled 'He Was A Genius'

Jackson's death on Thursday might have taken his fans by surprise, but in any musical sense, the Michael Jackson who once mesmerised the world had died more than 20 years ago.

At least now his deserved heroic status in popular music won't be further sabotaged by those ill- conceived ' comeback' concerts he was soon to give in Britain. Because no matter how loyal his fans might have been in overlooking Jackson's own self- destruction, they were virtually certain to have been let down had he ever taken to the stage again.

Like so many other rock stars, Jacko's best work was done well before he was 30. And like Elvis (who, had he survived, would briefly have been Jackson's father-in-law) his death was preceded by years of madness, reclusiveness, financial problems, scandal and ill-health. But let us set aside the troubled personal life for one moment.

Who was Michael Jackson, the musician? At his peak, in the late Seventies and early Eighties, when working with the legendary producer Quincy Jones on the magical albums Off The Wall, Thriller and Bad, Jackson was inspirational. And I mean that in the truest sense of that word.He literally inspired the following generation of rock stars to consider their music as part of a whole theatrical experience of dance, acting and costume. Without him, the captivating stage performances of singers such as Madonna and Beyonce wouldn't have been the same. But then nor would TV music channels such as MTV, which, prior to Jackson, had aired far fewer black stars.

His extraordinarily inventive dancing for his Billie Jean video, when he looked like a moonwalking vaudeville artist and spinning robot combined, changed the look of rock music on TV. It was no longer enough just to stand there with a guitar and sing. Stars had to give a show - in the old-fashioned movie musical sense, aided by modern digital techniques. And no one ever did this better than Jackson.

At the same time, reflecting the ever-growing change in cultural attitudes, the music Jackson performed was colourless.

It wasn't black or white. It wasn't soul or rock. It was Michael Jackson music.

Pop at its absolute pinnacle of expression, and timeless, as evidenced by the 38 million people who have looked at his Thriller video on the YouTube website in the past two years alone. I don't go along with describing rock stars as geniuses - and I've known a few from my four decades as a music journalist - but Jackson, perhaps because of his overall oddness, was a true original. Yet, deep down, he was also a real old-fashioned song and dance showman. In that sense, he always struck me as a leftover from another age of bornina-trunk travelling artists.

Ultimately, Jackson's is the saddest of stories.

Extraordinarily gifted, even as a child star singing Rockin' Robin and ABC as part of the Jackson 5, he outclassed all his musical peers - not least, his own siblings. But the seeds of his self-destruction were sowed deep within him. How much they were the result of his being famous since the age of 11, or how much his eccentricity was simply the other side of his creativity, we'll never know. One thing is for sure.

All those fans who bought tickets to go and see him this summer won't be going home disappointed having seen the sad reality of Jackson's lost talent.

And they'll always have their DVDs of happier times.

Posté par Sarah in Romania à 13:36 - Commentaires […] - Permalien [#]

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Commentaires

sairj

04/07/2009 01:56

ladies please! Don't shoot the messenger. You are commenting on two articles taken from the Daily Mail. I have not yet given my opinion...but intend to do so forthwith. then Aless, if you still think 'Shame on you' is a good title to use aimed at the writer of this blog, then please feel free to do so. The death of this great musician and eternal child is a terrible tragedy - for music and for us as a society for it has indeed been a story of abuse and hypocrisy, but come on...let's not overdo it. LA has become a circus and he's been called 'greater than God', 'bigger than Christ'...i'll leave you to decide how much hysteria is prevalent and say no more. Rodica, I had already put your editorial on the Roumanian blog. I thought it was excellent. Bravo!

03/07/2009 21:30

Dear TD, .. when the surface kills the essence and people believe more in the opinions of some outsiders than in the precious connections and in the open souls...then they deserve their modest roles on this earth. I know that you are passionate about the romanian culture. I would recommend you to read - Titu Maiorescu,"Teoria formelor fara fond".. Michael will always be a Star of our century, even if he was just a human being, a child in his soul!

Just a girl

03/07/2009 19:12

Reading those articles made me remembered how hypocrisy is the most influential part of the human beings populating the world today. I wonder what would happen if hypocrisy would hurt..imagine millions of Homo Sapience yelling in every corner. Why people have to judge, compare and cover in shame this race? We are the most destructive beings to the date and the most evil ones!!!!! It it so hard to leave that man rest in peace and honor his music and life as he was part of this race and as human as any of us is...MICHAEL JACKSON was, is and will always be a true value to this world no matter what anybody will say or do!!!! This is a fact that nobody EVER will take away from HIM and we should face it as it is!! Why should we dig all the shit out and made him look like a monster..why???? Because we are weak and we are ashamed to recognize the fact that most of the human beings living today are certainly more "crazy and weird" than MJJ ever been! Leave the comments and the judgments because at the end of the day there is no better person walking this earth today - we are all the same and we should value the ones who really tried to make a point in this world and MJJ was a special person who did!!! That is all that should be remembered..nothing else!! Look in the mirror people and you will understand you are no better and you life is full of mistakes, misjudgments and pain!!! MJJ is an icon and will always be one because he made a CHANGE!!!! FACE IT and stop all accusations and STOP trashing a VALUE!!!!

Rodica

03/07/2009 15:34

Editorial We all killed him published in issue 4464 page 1 at 2009-07-03 We all killed Michael Jackson. He is the victim of a fanatically morbid culture that turned him into a cartoon character, exposing every detail of his life in total disrespect to a human being, who fed its sick curiosity on fabricated news when there was nothing new to report, or when facts were not so exciting as to make the front page of tabloids. We all failed him. Instead of thanking him for the wonderful gift he brought into the lives of hundreds of millions and stand by him when he was weak and vulnerable, the target of low attacks and false accusations, we all deserted him. And the outcome was a tragedy that was just waiting to happen, and which happened a week ago to the day… As brilliant as Michael Jackson’s accomplishments as an artist were, as tragic his personal destiny was. If musically speaking he is an Icon or a Legend, Michael Jackson outside the stage was just a human being. A deeply sensitive man, as depicted by those who knew him, with a big heart, with his dreams, his doubts and fears, flaws, good and bad choices, errors, incredible generosity and terrible traumas, originated in his abused childhood. As hard as the man tried to live up to his legend, he failed. And the reason for which he failed is this sick culture that creates icons and puts them on pedestals just to better destroy them afterwards. A society that refuses to believe that a man can stay beautiful and righteous until the end. A sick society that chased and dissected in the public place his every gesture and statement, in the hope that sooner or later the Icon will stumble and fall. Until eventually he did. We turned Michael Jackson into a God, denying him the right to be a human being and when he claimed back his freedom, it was too late. It happened before, and unfortunately it won’t probably stop with Michael Jackson. Unless we, as a society, make a change, report and condemn the injustice and the hypocrisy, unless we expose the leaches and the vultures who build fortunes on distorting reality and spreading lies, tarnishing a man’s dignity even when he lies lifeless in a coffin. Some say that his last years of torment and loneliness anticipating the tragic end are the ultimate price he had to pay for his unmatched successful career, fame and fortune. It shouldn’t have been like that, it’s highly unfair. We should have stopped and listen to his cry for help, all of us, starting with his family, his friends, his fellow musicians, his fans, all those who loved and respected him, the honest media.… As human nature is so predictable, now we swallow our tears in remorse, regretting the loss only when it is too late… The real tragedy is not that we lost an Icon, an artist that marked the culture and the history, or more precisely, a man who made history with his out of this world talent in music and dance, his love for humankind and this planet. No matter what, his wonderful legacy will outlive us all. The real loss, the only one that counts, is the loss of his life, so soon, so unfairly. His detractors say it was greed that drove Michael Jackson to making his comeback with the series of concerts scheduled to start in only few days in London. There’s no doubt in my mind that Michael Jackson wanted to give his fans one more spectacular, revolutionary show, to prove that he is the same fantastic performer who still deserves the admiration of his public. It was a cry for love. Michael Jackson had nothing more to prove, nothing more to give, as he already gave us everything, he exposed his soul in his art; his music, shows, videos are still so much ahead of his time, and no other living musician is even half way to equal him. Therefore, we are the ones to blame, because we forgot to thank him and applaud him, because we couldn’t stop wanting for more. We were the greedy ones. The outpour of emotion and beautiful tributes paid by people all over the planet leaves however a little hope for the survival of our humanity. Once more, in his final act on planet, Michael Jackson, brought the people of the world together, this time sadly, in grief. Irrespective of their age, nationality, colour of the skin, religion, gender identity, social background, profession, people came together to mourn and celebrate his life. And again, Michael Jackson reminded us that love is the only one that wipes away all our differences and mend things. This is the most beautiful lesson he taught us, his ultimate legacy. Sadly, these moments of sorrow, when people honour his memory, when three little kids grief the loss of their father, the only parent they ever had and loved, are again overshadowed by the ugliness of those detractors who turn a man’s dignity into a trivial tradable commodity. The tabloids didn’t even wait for the artist to be laid to his eternal rest that they started digging up the dirt, dragging him into the mud, once again. The Sun pretends got hold on an ‘autopsy report’, depicting Michael Jackson as very frail, giving gruesome details that have been proved false just a day later by the Los Angeles County Coroner. A day later, the same tabloid printed the pictures with the star rehearsing for the London show and quoting people who worked with him saying Michael Jackson was in an ‘incredible form and full of life’…, but no apologizes whatsoever… The Daily Mail printed an article by a journalist who pretends having ‘investigated’ into the last years of the mega-star with the aim of telling people ‘the truth’ about his life. The article is full of dirty allegations based on so-called sources close to Michael Jackson, obviously not named, and personal opinions of this journalist about the life of the singer. With no respect to the man’s private life, breaching all deontological rules and moral ethics, starting with the confidentiality of the medical records, this journalist lists a number of health conditions and other intimate information. Unfortunately this story will be out exactly on the day of the funerals in the form of a non authorised ‘biography’, which the media already anticipates to be “a gold mine” for its Canadian publisher... News of The World, known here for having framed to a Romanian man the kidnapping attempt of the Beckham kids, prints other dreadful allegations about Michael Jackson, told by the ex-nanny of his three children, allegations that are not corroborated by anyone else. Just to wonder where the journalistic approach in all these stories is…The same tabloid published the statements of Michael Jackson’s first wife, giving other details (if real of course) that should have stayed private Unfortunately, as much as Michael Jackson tried and, to his honor succeeded, in protecting the private life of his children, now, with him gone, these innocent kids are exposed to the gruesome reality of a merciless society, as if the trauma of losing their dad was not enough. Dragging into the mud a man who just passed away, attempting to take away his dignity when he can no longer defend himself is the lowest, most despicable and immoral thing that may exist. Unfortunately, this is an extremely lucrative business. As he is not here anymore, it is the duty of the good and honest people to defend his memory so he can rest in peace. The power of the words is huge and Michael Jackson used them for the good, to draw the attention on the injustices, prejudice, and discrimination, to spread the message of love, peace, respect and understanding. It’s time for all these vultures, all those people who come up front now selling Mr Jackson’s personal family pictures and revealing what the musician told them in confidence for a moment of elusive fame or for a handful of dollars, to look in the mirror and dissect their own consciousness this time. For the sake of us all. by Rodica Pricop PS:In my career I worked with several British newspapers, and many of the stories I have written for them have been brutally distorted without my approval or knowledge in order to present a negative, poignant and dramatic angle. Once I asked the owner of a British news agency if he can sleep at night knowing that most of the stories are twisted, simply fake or just recycled. The answer came short: “I have no scruples whatsoever when it comes to make good money’. All these to say, what Michael Jackson himself tried to say all through his too short life: “Don’t believe what the newspapers write about me. It’s junk, its trash, don't waste your money on that”. And by the way, the first kid who accused Michael Jackson for molestation just realesed a statement admitting he has lied. And that he is sorry. HiToo late... In the trial, over 140 witnesses were heard and the jury cleared Michael of all counts. So... what else do you want???? It is people like you, like the unscrupulous BRITISH journalists (UK has the worst, dirtiest press in the world) seeking sansationalism everywhere that destroyed him. How would you feel if the entire world would put you against the wall while you are innocent? Hope God will forgive them. I am confident in the divine judgement, so they will all get what they deserve. Sooner or later. RIP Michael! People with beautiful souls will always love you.

Little Me

27/06/2009 15:14

Mr Hart is very obviously a cultural snob. Comparing him disparagingly to Michaelangelo is hardly comparing like with like. MJ had as much influence on the music of his time as Beethoven did on the music of his time.