Michael Jackson.
August 24, 2001 7:24 AM Subscribe
Michael Jackson. The man, the myth, the legend, just spent 30 Million Dollars recording a new album; has two upcoming shoes at MSG in NY where tickets are as high as $2500; and has a schedule so tight he can't even squeeze in a little time for N'SYNC.
Is he really worth all that?
Michael Jackson rules. Sure, I wouldn't pay $2,500 to see him, but I'll certainly buy the album. Of course, now that I've said that, it will probably suck.
posted by fusinski at 7:39 AM on August 24, 2001
posted by fusinski at 7:39 AM on August 24, 2001
Damn, SpellChecker misses actual words. Why can't they fix that, it knew what I meant! :)
posted by remlapm at 7:50 AM on August 24, 2001
posted by remlapm at 7:50 AM on August 24, 2001
I'm a huge Michael Jackson fan. Old Michael though. Pre-weirdo Michael. "Billie Jean" Michael, not "Blood On the Dance Floor" Michael.
posted by Mark at 7:51 AM on August 24, 2001
posted by Mark at 7:51 AM on August 24, 2001
smooth criminal michael jackson...
posted by adampsyche at 7:52 AM on August 24, 2001
posted by adampsyche at 7:52 AM on August 24, 2001
His new single ("Rock my World") is catchy as hell, and a real clock-turner back to the good old days of Off the Wall and Billie Jean, like Mark mentions here.
If the rest of the album is equally good (or even better), and he's cut down on the knee-jerking children's choir crap, he's going to be raking it in. Again.
The king of pop is back!
posted by dagny at 7:55 AM on August 24, 2001
If the rest of the album is equally good (or even better), and he's cut down on the knee-jerking children's choir crap, he's going to be raking it in. Again.
The king of pop is back!
posted by dagny at 7:55 AM on August 24, 2001
Is he really worth all that?
um...i'm gonna go with no. unless his face is going to finally melt off under the stage lights like the Nazis at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark. then...then it'd be worth it for maybe $10-$15 bucks.
posted by thc at 8:29 AM on August 24, 2001
um...i'm gonna go with no. unless his face is going to finally melt off under the stage lights like the Nazis at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark. then...then it'd be worth it for maybe $10-$15 bucks.
posted by thc at 8:29 AM on August 24, 2001
he can't even squeeze in a little time for N'SYNC
It's actually the other way around - N'Sync is rehearsing for some show, so they couldn't squeeze lil old Mikey in to go over MJ's dance steps.
Poor Michael. No respect.
posted by atfrost at 8:53 AM on August 24, 2001
It's actually the other way around - N'Sync is rehearsing for some show, so they couldn't squeeze lil old Mikey in to go over MJ's dance steps.
Poor Michael. No respect.
posted by atfrost at 8:53 AM on August 24, 2001
I long for the good ol' days, when gas was cheap and Michael Jackson was black.
(rimshot)
Thanks, folks. I'll be here all weekend, doing a couple big shoes. Don't forget to tip your waitress.
posted by msacheson at 8:56 AM on August 24, 2001
(rimshot)
Thanks, folks. I'll be here all weekend, doing a couple big shoes. Don't forget to tip your waitress.
posted by msacheson at 8:56 AM on August 24, 2001
After a career slump, organize a tribute to yourself, line up a slew of "courtiers", then make sure radio and the press give you saturation coverage. It really makes me want to check this kid out.
Then again, maybe I shouldn't judge till I've walked around in his shows for awhile...
posted by liam at 9:04 AM on August 24, 2001
Then again, maybe I shouldn't judge till I've walked around in his shows for awhile...
posted by liam at 9:04 AM on August 24, 2001
"catchy"? that song is boring as all get-out, and the high school yearbook signoff title should be the first tipoff to that fact.
posted by maura at 9:04 AM on August 24, 2001
posted by maura at 9:04 AM on August 24, 2001
Well, think about it.... cheesy pop dominates American music right now. I think it's a perfect time for a MJ comeback. Of course, regardless of what happens to his career, half the people will just make fun of his skin color.
Is it worth $30 million to make an album? Thriller sold something like 30 million copies, didn't it? That's certainly over the top but it's not as if the record company is necessarily throwing money away.
posted by kidsplate at 9:27 AM on August 24, 2001
Is it worth $30 million to make an album? Thriller sold something like 30 million copies, didn't it? That's certainly over the top but it's not as if the record company is necessarily throwing money away.
posted by kidsplate at 9:27 AM on August 24, 2001
Thriller is such a great album, so is Off the Wall. The weird thing is that that sound is coming back in now, and Michael is basically working with the new Quincy Jones (Rodney Jerkins) to get the new version of the sound Quincy invented. Not that I think Rodney Jerkins is equal or similar to Q, but he's basicaly occupying the same position as single-minded hitmaker.
posted by cell divide at 9:45 AM on August 24, 2001
posted by cell divide at 9:45 AM on August 24, 2001
I think MJ is slowly brainwashing the pop industry. Just check out today's music: Backstreet Boys copied the Thriller video, Destiny's Child biting the dance moves in Bootylcious, Alien Ant Farm covering Smooth Criminal. Pretty soon you'll see Limp Bizkit wearing one glove.
posted by What da Dilly!! at 10:16 AM on August 24, 2001
posted by What da Dilly!! at 10:16 AM on August 24, 2001
Nostalgia tends to come about in 20-year cycles. Michael Jackson has a decent chance at a comeback, if people can overcome the fact that he's a child-molesting freak. In this day and age, people can forgive (or at least forget) anything.
posted by Ben Grimm at 10:17 AM on August 24, 2001
posted by Ben Grimm at 10:17 AM on August 24, 2001
In terms of his dancing, music and image, Michael Jackson is an original... maybe even a genius. It's almost a shame that he's been slowly fading away rather than burning out in the kind of crazed finale one might expect. I haven't heard the new material but am desperate to. Perhaps that indicates that Michael Jackson still has the magic touch, even in the 21st Century.
posted by skylar at 10:17 AM on August 24, 2001
posted by skylar at 10:17 AM on August 24, 2001
The thing about Michael though is that he seems so unlikable now in a time where all the top pop-stars are attractive and lovable. The last picture of him I saw was just horrid, and I'm sorry to say that it could be a huge problem. Well, it already is a huge problem.
posted by Mark at 10:17 AM on August 24, 2001
posted by Mark at 10:17 AM on August 24, 2001
Michael may be/have been the "King of Pop", but Prince can kick his ass.
posted by msacheson at 10:30 AM on August 24, 2001
posted by msacheson at 10:30 AM on August 24, 2001
child-molesting freak
Sure, he's weird, but the child-molesting charges weren't exactly substantial.
posted by dagny at 10:58 AM on August 24, 2001
Sure, he's weird, but the child-molesting charges weren't exactly substantial.
posted by dagny at 10:58 AM on August 24, 2001
I generally find the screaming idolization of anyone to be very strange. In Mr. Jackson's case, let me quote Janet, "What have you done for me lately?"
At what point does 'what someone once did' wear off and they are judged on what they are now? There has got to be some kind of formula for this.
posted by quirked at 11:02 AM on August 24, 2001
At what point does 'what someone once did' wear off and they are judged on what they are now? There has got to be some kind of formula for this.
posted by quirked at 11:02 AM on August 24, 2001
I wish he'd forgo the album and give that $30 million to the homeless here in San Francisco... It would do the world more good on both fronts...
posted by fooljay at 12:42 PM on August 24, 2001
posted by fooljay at 12:42 PM on August 24, 2001
I liked Michael Jackson when he was a black man and not the *thing* he is now. Sometimes I wonder what the plastic to bone ratio is in his skull.
Is anyone from that family normal? Is this what happens when your childhood is stolen? Perhaps. Off The Wall and Thriller are amazing records. Dangerous wasn't so bad (no pun intended), but after that I couldn't really careless about MJ. $30 million on one record is pretty much a waste and practically insures over produced crap in my book.
There is no real R & B anymore. Long gone are the days of old Atlantic and Motown records. It's amazing how someone so talented can be such a waste. *sigh*
posted by rathikd at 12:56 PM on August 24, 2001
Is anyone from that family normal? Is this what happens when your childhood is stolen? Perhaps. Off The Wall and Thriller are amazing records. Dangerous wasn't so bad (no pun intended), but after that I couldn't really careless about MJ. $30 million on one record is pretty much a waste and practically insures over produced crap in my book.
There is no real R & B anymore. Long gone are the days of old Atlantic and Motown records. It's amazing how someone so talented can be such a waste. *sigh*
posted by rathikd at 12:56 PM on August 24, 2001
A lot of people are saying $30 million is a lot, I mean it is a lot of money, but what is spent on the average pop-star album nowwa days?
posted by Mark at 2:30 PM on August 24, 2001
posted by Mark at 2:30 PM on August 24, 2001
In this day and age, people can forgive (or at least forget) anything.
Except OJ....
posted by dincognito at 3:43 PM on August 24, 2001
Except OJ....
posted by dincognito at 3:43 PM on August 24, 2001
A lot of people are saying $30 million is a lot, I mean it is a lot of money, but what is spent on the average pop-star album nowwa days?
indeed... and with stadium concert attendance at an all-time low, $30 mil seems like a risky investment.
still, who knows how much money he has lying around for these projects? maybe he doesn't even care anymore if he recoups it.
but seriously - how many of you actually go to stadium shows? the last one i went to was in 1999, at the Shoreline, but it was free. there would be no way in hell i would go if i had to pay $50 or more for the privilege.
posted by mjane at 4:46 PM on August 24, 2001
indeed... and with stadium concert attendance at an all-time low, $30 mil seems like a risky investment.
still, who knows how much money he has lying around for these projects? maybe he doesn't even care anymore if he recoups it.
but seriously - how many of you actually go to stadium shows? the last one i went to was in 1999, at the Shoreline, but it was free. there would be no way in hell i would go if i had to pay $50 or more for the privilege.
posted by mjane at 4:46 PM on August 24, 2001
but seriously - how many of you actually go to stadium shows?
I saw Styx at the Rockland Community College Field House in 1978.
posted by ParisParamus at 5:17 PM on August 24, 2001
I saw Styx at the Rockland Community College Field House in 1978.
posted by ParisParamus at 5:17 PM on August 24, 2001
asking how many people actually go to stadium shows is a more-than-loaded question, since there are only two touring artists right now (n sync and the dave matthews band) whose tours can even think of drawing stadium-level crowds.
perhaps you were talking about amphitheater tours? if so, i'd think that economic concerns would play a factor into whether or not people will go to a show -- at the shed show i recently attended, my ticket's face value was $48.50, and that was before any ticket-ordering surcharges would have been added on. (i didn't pay for the ticket.) hell, it's a stretch for me to even think about paying to see shows at the smaller theaters in town, because tickets for those usually start at around $15 or so.
posted by maura at 7:57 AM on August 25, 2001
perhaps you were talking about amphitheater tours? if so, i'd think that economic concerns would play a factor into whether or not people will go to a show -- at the shed show i recently attended, my ticket's face value was $48.50, and that was before any ticket-ordering surcharges would have been added on. (i didn't pay for the ticket.) hell, it's a stretch for me to even think about paying to see shows at the smaller theaters in town, because tickets for those usually start at around $15 or so.
posted by maura at 7:57 AM on August 25, 2001
i just heard the new song after taking some time on audiogalaxy (warning: i only was able to find a bad quality version taken off a radio station... oh yeah, watch out for the iskander versions... things are not as they seem.)... and the song's okay i guess... nothing too special. it's no "don't stop 'til you get enough." but one has to admit, it's better than the new nonsensical Jay-Z single:
H to the izzo
V to the izzay
for shizzle my nizzle
i used to dribble down in VA
posted by lotsofno at 10:28 AM on August 25, 2001
H to the izzo
V to the izzay
for shizzle my nizzle
i used to dribble down in VA
posted by lotsofno at 10:28 AM on August 25, 2001
lol..
"M to the izzo
F to the izzay
for shizzle my nizzle
i used to roll with matt how-ay"
posted by lotsofno at 10:29 AM on August 25, 2001
"M to the izzo
F to the izzay
for shizzle my nizzle
i used to roll with matt how-ay"
posted by lotsofno at 10:29 AM on August 25, 2001
« Older Planet X spells doom for Earth in 2003. | Legalization?!? Try "zero tolerance" taken to a... Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by chino at 7:33 AM on August 24, 2001