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essential media: charting the demise of MJ through his music

mjben.jpgEveryone has seen those pictorials that mark the change in Michael Jackson's face from adorable little boy to scary elephant man. But isn't it what's on the inside that counts? Of course it is. And that's why I am going to show you the slippery slope of MJ's psyche over the course of his recording career. We'll skip over the Jackson 5 era; obviously his mental state was clearly controlled by his father during those years (which, by the way, lends great explanation to his behavior today).

Let's harken back to 1972, when the fresh-faced young boy released his first album, Got To Be There. Look at that face, that smile. You just want to pinch his cute little cheeks! At this early point in his career, Michael had yet to develop the large ego that would allow him to build Neverland later on. This is evidenced by the selection of songs on the album. There are quite a few cover songs. Obviously, Michael wasn't self-assured enough to put out a solo album of his own songs. And it's obvious from the song titles that Michael was ready to embrace life on the wings of love.

Just eight months later, Michael released Ben. Already we see signs of stardom going to his head. Eight months? Who releases two albums in the same year? Even more disturbing, the title song is an ode to a rat. An evil, fictional rat. Was this a precursor to his monkey fetish? The rest of the album is filled with covers and generic pop songs but people, enticed by the sweet sound of MJ's voice singing to his rodent, bought the album in droves. MJ had made his solo mark in the world.

And another eight months later (was Michael a workaholic, or was he being forced into Motown slave labor by a cartel of sequined-jacket record producers?) he released Music and Me. Here is where things start to get interesting, as if Michael was leaving a musical trail of his path to child-obsession. Two titles, With a Child's Heart and Too Young clearly show that MJ, just fifteen at the time, was starting on the downward spiral to Neverland.

Obviously weakened by dismal record sales of Music, Michael waited two years to release another album. Forever, Michael wasn't much of a chart-buster either. You can tell by the lackluster performance on this record that Michael wasn't feeling it. Clearly, there was an underlying force at work here; Michael was obviously saving up his energy for something. He spent the next four years plotting to take over the world.

And he nearly did. In 1979, Jackson released Off The Wall. Was that title trying to tell us something? Did Michael already feel like he was losing his grip on reality? This album was pure disco. It was Michael strutting his stuff and doing his crazy little dance. Get on the floor, girlfriend and burn this disco out! Jackson started writing his own songs on this effort. Obviously, his ego was growing. And, as his ego grew, so did his popularity and his ability to hypnotize people just by looking into their eyes and saying, don't stop 'til you get enough. Ah, yes. That's a little known fact about Michael. How do you think he got all those girls to scream for him even though he was clearly stealing Jermaine's style? It was at this point that the old, cute-as-a-button, sane Michael Jackson left the building.

The sea change for Jackson came in 1982, when Thriller was released. He no longer had the Jermaine fro, opting instead for some Luther Vandross love god look. Look at those eyes. They are saying, come hither.

This is where we part ways with Michael Jackson and say hello to the King of Pop. Thanks to this new-fangled invention called Music TV, Jackson became a meteor in the industry. And while people danced and made love to Thriller, no one was really paying attention to the subtle messages on the album. Paranoia, anger, illicit love all reared their ugly heads in the lyrics. Looking back at the video for Thriller, one thinks that Michael might have felt a bit too comfortable in all that make-up. The descent was in full swing. Out came the white glove and red leather jacket. There was the change in hairstyles, the lighter tone of his skin and all that jumping in the air and waving his hands around like Liza Minelli on a bender.

Things got even weirder with Bad, released five years later. Jackson spent most of the five years in between albums collecting awards for Thriller, developing an aging-celebrity fetish and morphing into a freak of nature.

The first line sung on Bad is: your butt is mine. Hello, ring-ring-ring, does anyone hear an alarm going off?

I know, I'm pushing this idea too far and I've probably bored you by now. But let it be known that the signs were all there, and not just in the transformation from cuddly kid to plastic surgery addict to adult man living in a kiddie world, but in the progression of his songs and albums. You can see the ego growing, the mania ensuing, the penchant to hang around little kids getting stronger and stronger. He built an amusement park in his backyard, people. Does this not remind anyone of a certain wicked witch who decorated her house with candy in order to lure children in?

Let us all learn a lesson from this story. Never trust a man who wears one glove.

Added: Jimbo reminds us of HIStory, which was basically Michael's ode to himself and can now be viewed as the tell-tale heart in his career.

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Comments

heh. remember the self diefication of "history?"

i swear i think he's a castrato. explains a lot about his voice, his demeanor, his fascination with young boys...

Not boring at all. Very good indeed. I never really thought about the songs and as I was reading, it was like yeah man, too true. May I just say, he is so fucked man. He is going down this time and there ain't no way out for the self titled king of pop. Police have just been waiting for the perfect evidence and it sounds like they got it the way they have all been smiling around. Damn.

Okay, MTV history buffs, we all know that the Thriller video was not the first off the album, but I can never remember:

Was it Billy Jean or Beat It that was first?
(and really set the standard for MTV video production)

It was Billie Jean. The videos, after that one, got progressively better. Billie Jean, Beat it, then Thriller.

What about the kid version of "Bad" called "Badder" (or something like that)? Shouldn't that be a major mark in Michael's descent?

When he was at FAO Schwarz (where I work) in Caesars Forum Shops a few weeks ago, just his immediate presence gave me the willies.

Even after he left the store, he was seen to invite a kid (fortunately, he also invited the kid's mother) into his limo. {{{shudder}}}

For that matter, I can't believe "Have You Seen My Childhood" hasn't been mentioned yet.

Isn't the title "Smooth Criminal" more appropriate than ever?
;)

Did nurture or nature make him screwed up? I think it has to be nurture, myself.

Eight months? Who releases two albums in the same year?

The Beatles, every year from 1963 to 1966. Their contract specified it: Two albums and four non-album singles per year.

Excellent piece, Michele.

When it comes to Michael Jackson, I don't think I've ever seen anyone become so unhinged and repulsive.

The Beatles, every year from 1963 to 1966. Their contract specified it: Two albums and four non-album singles per year.

No wonder they turned to weed.

Racism triumphs again! Because Michael is a progressive and rich Minority, the racist powers are threatened and will do anything to bring him down. Michael has become yet one more political prisoner of the racist climate of America!

Free Michael!
Free John Muhammed!
Free Mumia!

H, you ceased being amusing ages ago. One more and your IP gets banned.

The Beatles and MJ weren't the only ones releasing two (or more) albums a year. It was very common for artists to be required to release several albums a year. Elvis did it, Elton did and many more did too. Even in the 80's it was wierd for an artist not to release an album every year or so, or to release less than 4 or 5 singles from an album. The way music is marketed has changed greatly since the 50's, 60's and 70's and now bands spend a whole year on the road supporting one album while getting ready to write the next one.

Others, like Kate Bush and Alison Moyet, seem content releasing one album every decade.

I'm with Phil and Bob here - you've forgotten your history. Think Michael was overworked? Creedence released 7 albums in 2 years at one point. And frankly, I think the work ethic of those acts was good for their overall quality, even if it meant putting out a few tracks of filler on each album (recall that 'Beat It' and 'Billie Jean' only got written because Quincy Jones sent Michael back to the drawing board because he thought Thriller needed more good songs).

In fact, I'd argue that the point where he really go wierd was when he had five years off after Thriller to just hang with his ego. Kinda like Mike Tyson stayed out of trouble when he was fighting every six weeks. Devil's workshop and all, y'know.

ITHINK YOU PEPLE ARE PUSHING MICHELE JACKSON A LITTLE OFF THE DEEP HERE THET CUTE HANDSOME YUNG MAN DID NOTHING WRONG HE IS RELL HARD WORKER
AND IT IS NOT RIGHT FOR YOU PEOPLE TO BE JUDGING
HIM ALOT OF PEOPLE WOULD DIE FOR THAT MAN BECAUSE THEY LOVE HIM AND NOT JUST BECAUSE HE IS A SINGER OR EVEN A GREAT DANCER THEY WOULD DIE FOR HIM BECAUSE THEY LOVE HIM AND YOU PEOPLE NEED TO WATH THE JACKSON 5 THEN YOU WILL NO WHY MICHELE IS THE WAY HE IS NOW AND HIS BOOK THAT WILL MAKE YOU CRY
YOU GUES HAVE TO REALISE HOW HURT HE WAS WEHN HE WAS LITTLE HE DID NOT EVEN HAVE CHILDHOOD

ITHINK YOU PEPLE ARE PUSHING MICHELE JACKSON A LITTLE OFF THE DEEP HERE THET CUTE HANDSOME YUNG MAN DID NOTHING WRONG HE IS RELL HARD WORKER
AND IT IS NOT RIGHT FOR YOU PEOPLE TO BE JUDGING
HIM ALOT OF PEOPLE WOULD DIE FOR THAT MAN BECAUSE THEY LOVE HIM AND NOT JUST BECAUSE HE IS A SINGER OR EVEN A GREAT DANCER THEY WOULD DIE FOR HIM BECAUSE THEY LOVE HIM AND YOU PEOPLE NEED TO WATH THE JACKSON 5 THEN YOU WILL NO WHY MICHELE IS THE WAY HE IS NOW AND HIS BOOK THAT WILL MAKE YOU CRY
YOU GUES HAVE TO REALISE HOW HURT HE WAS WEHN HE WAS LITTLE HE DID NOT EVEN HAVE CHILDHOOD