Passages

[knives]

Just listened to Off the Wall and it truly is one of the best albums ever.

[HerrSchreck]

MJ was the Waylon Jennings of pop music.

During his peak he WAS pop music, not some subsect of it. Apparently he's still moved more units than anyone else in pop history. And with the advent of digital/sharing crushing the whole process of album sales, and album sales tracking, it's not likely to be surpassed, ever.

[knives]

I'd say he is still pop music, and at least for our lifetimes will be. Even most if not all of US pop is just an attempt to touch Thriller.

[Cinephrenic]

This is too surreal. I can't believe we won't hear any more crazy rumors or scandals. It was still good to know he was around. It was too soon for him to go.

[souvenir]

Take a gander at the Amazon music top sellers. Over half of the top 50 and over a third of the top 100 is Jackson-related, including the first 14.

[flyonthewall2983]

This is too surreal. I can't believe we won't hear any more crazy rumors or scandals. It was still good to know he was around. It was too soon for him to go.

I loved the SNL skits they did on it around that time, like the one where Ted Koppel (played by Darrell Hammond) was trying to get MJ to say "Wacko Jacko is on his Back-O".

[erezija]

Poor guy. Hope he's at peace now. I remember this routine by Fry and Laurie had me in hysterics.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Yasuharu Hasebe

TOKYO, June 20 (Kyodo) — Film director Yasuharu Hasebe died of pneumonia on June 14, a film distributor said Saturday. He was 77.

A native of Tokyo, Hasebe mainly filmed action movies such as "Nora Neko Rock (Stray Cats Rock)" when he worked at film studio Nikkatsu Corp.

After becoming independent in 1980, Hasebe expanded his scope by directing for television, including the popular police drama series "Abunai Deka (Dangerous Detectives)" in the late 1980s.

[Barmy]

Umm, this self-hating wreck (who nevertheless was a corporate tool) did precisely 4 listenable songs (Don't, Off, Billie and Beat)--all 30 years ago or whatever. The remainder is syrupy nasty narcissistic dross. His 50-show thing was transparent money-grubbing rubbish necessitated by a paedo asshole who spent millions on shite despite being a "parent" of 3. I just hope his Katrina charity single finally comes out. Good riddance to bad rubbish.

[domino harvey]

Even if you aren't really Armond White, you might as well be for how predictable your responses are

[knives]

Even if you aren't really Armond White, you might as well be for how predictable your responses are

agreed

[domino harvey]

And if for some reason you want the real thing

[tavernier]

And if for some reason you want the real thing

Armond = Biff Henderson?

[domino harvey]

He is such an ineffectual public speaker and so clearly a huge dork that I'm embarrassed I ever gave him any credit at all for even being a contrarian. It's more like he's a spurned AICN commentator with a cushy job

[HerrSchreck]

Umm, this self-hating wreck (who nevertheless was a corporate tool) did precisely 4 listenable songs (Don't, Off, Billie and Beat)--all 30 years ago or whatever. The remainder is syrupy nasty narcissistic dross. His 50-show thing was transparent money-grubbing rubbish necessitated by a paedo asshole who spent millions on shite despite being a "parent" of 3. I just hope his Katrina charity single finally comes out. Good riddance to bad rubbish.

To momentarily borrow the eloquence of Mike Kerpan (from another thread, in a similar situation of a room-silencing comment)--

You sir, are a blithering idiot.

[Barmy]

The girl is mine
The doggone girl is mine

Sheer genius

[The Elegant Dandy Fop]

It's dance/pop music.

If you're looking for lyrics on par with Das Lied von Der Erde, you're looking in the wrong place.

That's a poor reason to attack it.

[Mr Sausage]

Pretty pathetic, using someone's death as an excuse to troll for attention. Why hasn't this guy been banned yet?

[fiddlesticks]

I'm certainly no fan of Michael Jackson or any of his music, but that doesn't mean I feel it is necessary to spit on his grave. RIP.

[tavernier]

Ditto....and I'm surprised it took Barmy nearly 24 hours to prepare his thoughts on Michael Jackson's musical and cultural legacy.

[Michael]

Pretty pathetic, using someone's death as an excuse to troll for attention. Why hasn't this guy been banned yet?

Not the first time that question's been brought up. It's a mystery why he's still around dropping turds all over the place. Apparently some folks here think he's funny or something but in my eyes, he's a troll. No less. It's perfectly fine to speak ill of the art but not of the dead. To spit out something like that, Barmy has zero class and is immature.

The Infighting and Navel Gazing section belongs mostly to Barmy - what a waste of space.

[exte]

Pretty pathetic, using someone's death as an excuse to troll for attention. Why hasn't this guy been banned yet?

Swimming Horses got banned forever but not this guy? Put it to a vote already.

[jbeall]

I was over on one of my lefty sites and saw numerous comments similar to Barmy's. Classless behavior truly cuts across the political spectrum. Honestly, if you've got nothing nice to say, don't say anything. It's not rocket science.

I've been pondering MJ's death a bit today, and a propos a forum dedicated to cinema, I believe that if they were to remake Citizen Kane, they'd have to cast Michael Jackson in the lead role. Eerily similar career/life arcs, especially the stunted emotional development resulting from being ripped from childhood at a too-young age. And on some level, the tragedy of it all is exactly why his death has affected so many people.

I would argue, however, that we shouldn't define him solely by the less pleasant persona we got during the last decade and a half of his life. Lest we forget, MJ was an impassioned spokesman for greater HIV/AIDS research and care at a time when it was still dismissible as a "gay disease." I still remember the appearances he made with Ryan White, the two of them doing much to put a human face on an illness few knew anything about. Perhaps they got along because both of their childhoods were cut short (Jackson's by his abusive father, White's by AIDS). Whatever folks want to say about his increasingly eccentric behavior over the years--and let's remember that he was never found guilty of child molestation--this was a guy who took advantage of his public forum to speak out for what he thought was right.

[domino harvey]

Could be worse

[Fiery Angel]

I love that the remark that MJ was a great musical talent was what set someone off!