Spike Lee
✔ @SpikeLee
ENJOY YOURSELF. #BKLovesMJ
21:12 - 28. Juli 2017
Remembering Michael on his birthday 2017
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soulmum
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Remembering Michael on his birthday 2017
Spike Lee
✔ @SpikeLee
ENJOY YOURSELF. #BKLovesMJ
21:12 - 28. Juli 2017
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soulmum
- Utente certificato
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Re: Remembering Michael on his birthday 2017
getTV will "turn back time" to celebrate the 59th anniversary of the birth of the "King of Pop," Michael Jackson, on August 28 with four one hour episodes of Cher's 1970's variety series--with and without Sonny--featuring guest appearances by Michael and his siblings. getTV will kick off its Michael Jackson birthday party at 9PM ET with a 1976 "THE SONNY AND CHER SHOW" episode with special guest stars The Jacksons-Michael and brothers Jackie, Tito, Marlon and Randy--and legendary comedian Bob Hope. The brothers appear in some comedy sketches and perform "Enjoy Yourself." Originally known as The Jackson 5, they became The Jacksons when their Motown contract expired and they went to Columbia Records, minus Jermaine, who was married to the daughter of Motown founder Berry Gordy.
At 10PM ET, getTV will air a 1975 episode of Cher's solo variety series, "CHER," in which The Jackson 5 (plus 2)-Michael, Jackie, Tito, Jermaine and Marlon, with youngest brother Randy and little sister Janet-appear along with comedienne Lily Tomlin. Cher and Janet share a brief interview segment, the guys perform "I Am Love," and then Cher joins the guys for a medley that includes "I Want You Back," "I'll be There," "Dancing Machine," "Never Can Say Goodbye," and "The Love You Save."
At 11PM ET, a 1974 episode of "THE SONNY AND CHER COMEDY HOUR" will be shown, with the couple, when they were still married, welcoming The Jackson 5, "All in the Family"'s Sally Struthers and country musician Tennessee Ernie Ford. The 5 perform "Dancing Machine."
Michael's birthday celebration concludes at 12 midnight ET with a "Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour" episode from 1972 with The Jackson 5 and then-Governor Ronald Reagan. The Jackson 5 perform "Looking Through the Window," and Michael sings "Ben."
Sonny and Cher's first TV series, "The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour," began as a summer replacement series in 1971, but was so successful that the network brought it back that fall, and it continued to air until 1974, when the couple separated. The following year, Cher headlined her own series, "Cher," for a season and a half, and then, post-divorce, she and Sonny reunited in early 1976 for "The Sonny and Cher Show," which lasted another season and a half. Over the years, the shows received a total of 22 Emmy nominations, including three for Outstanding Variety Series, one for Outstanding New Series and one for Outstanding Single Program - Variety or Music, and received one Emmy award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Variety or Music in 1972.
For a complete schedule, visit http://www.get.tv/schedule.
http://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwtv/a...ksons-20170811
At 10PM ET, getTV will air a 1975 episode of Cher's solo variety series, "CHER," in which The Jackson 5 (plus 2)-Michael, Jackie, Tito, Jermaine and Marlon, with youngest brother Randy and little sister Janet-appear along with comedienne Lily Tomlin. Cher and Janet share a brief interview segment, the guys perform "I Am Love," and then Cher joins the guys for a medley that includes "I Want You Back," "I'll be There," "Dancing Machine," "Never Can Say Goodbye," and "The Love You Save."
At 11PM ET, a 1974 episode of "THE SONNY AND CHER COMEDY HOUR" will be shown, with the couple, when they were still married, welcoming The Jackson 5, "All in the Family"'s Sally Struthers and country musician Tennessee Ernie Ford. The 5 perform "Dancing Machine."
Michael's birthday celebration concludes at 12 midnight ET with a "Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour" episode from 1972 with The Jackson 5 and then-Governor Ronald Reagan. The Jackson 5 perform "Looking Through the Window," and Michael sings "Ben."
Sonny and Cher's first TV series, "The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour," began as a summer replacement series in 1971, but was so successful that the network brought it back that fall, and it continued to air until 1974, when the couple separated. The following year, Cher headlined her own series, "Cher," for a season and a half, and then, post-divorce, she and Sonny reunited in early 1976 for "The Sonny and Cher Show," which lasted another season and a half. Over the years, the shows received a total of 22 Emmy nominations, including three for Outstanding Variety Series, one for Outstanding New Series and one for Outstanding Single Program - Variety or Music, and received one Emmy award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Variety or Music in 1972.
For a complete schedule, visit http://www.get.tv/schedule.
http://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwtv/a...ksons-20170811
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soulmum
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Re: Remembering Michael on his birthday 2017
UPDATE: Announcing the schedule of events for the Michael Jackson Birthday Celebration!
3:00 – 4:00 pm – The Michael Jackson ONE Theater will be open for all guests. During the hour, the visitors will get a chance to:
– Get a sneak peek at actual Artist Training/Rehearsal for two of the featured acts in the show.
– Participate in a Q&A with the cast and artistic team.
– Play a game of Michael Jackson ONE Trivia. Prizes will be given to the winners.
-Enjoy a special performance by the cast members created especially for Michael’s birthday.
-There will be a commemorative T-shirt available to each person coming to the special afternoon celebration
4:00 p.m. – Annual Michael Bush Book Signing at the Michael Jackson ONE Boutique.
-Mr. Bush will be available to sign copies of his book about his years spent working with Michael Jackson, “King of Style”.
5:30 – 6:00 p.m. – Meet & Greet Reception
-Meet and Greet in the theater lobby with The Estate team members, Jamie King, Rich & Tone and any other VIPs
-Cake to celebrate Michael’s birthday
-Step and repeat photo opportunity with artists
-Guests will have an opportunity to leave a birthday video message for Michael
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soulmum
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Re: Remembering Michael on his birthday 2017
Aug, 20 th
Questlove's Michael Jackson Celebration at Grand Park LA
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/questlo...17509?aff=estw
On Sunday afternoon, August 20th, we will host our SIXTH installment of "Remember the Time"; Proudly honoring the legacy of everything Jackson.
We've got Questlove. We've got food trucks. We've got a cash bar. We've got LA weather. This will truly be a one-of-a-kind event!
This event will be taking place on the Grand Park - Block 4 Event Lawn (Between Broadway & Spring) in Downtown Los Angeles.
Parking is available in Lot 10 on North Broadway between First Street and Temple Street. Parking lot address is 145 N. Broadway, Los Angeles with entrances on Broadway and on Hill St.
Also consider taking the Metro Red or Purple Subway Line to Civic Center/Grand Park Station, which is across the streent from the Block 4 Event Lawn.
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soulmum
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Re: Remembering Michael on his birthday 2017
officialspikelee
https://www.instagram.com/p/BX-5sA_jseR/
ONE WEEK FROM TODAY
FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
OUR 9TH ANNUAL
BROOKLYN LOVES MICHAEL JACKSON + SHE'S GOTTA HAVE IT
BLOCK PARTY
SAVE THE DATE: Saturday, August 26th from 12P-7P
Do The Right Thing Way
(Stuyvesant Avenue between Lexington Avenue & Quincy Street)
Hosted by Rosie Perez & Spike Lee
Music by @DJSPINNA
https://www.instagram.com/p/BX-5sA_jseR/
ONE WEEK FROM TODAY
FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
OUR 9TH ANNUAL
BROOKLYN LOVES MICHAEL JACKSON + SHE'S GOTTA HAVE IT
BLOCK PARTY
SAVE THE DATE: Saturday, August 26th from 12P-7P
Do The Right Thing Way
(Stuyvesant Avenue between Lexington Avenue & Quincy Street)
Hosted by Rosie Perez & Spike Lee
Music by @DJSPINNA
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soulmum
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Re: Remembering Michael on his birthday 2017
‘Michael Jackson ONE’ throws a free party and performance for the King of Pop’s birthday
By Brock Radke - https://lasvegassun.com/news/2017/au...-celebration-/
Monday, Aug. 21, 2017
It’s not exactly a Las Vegas secret, but you probably didn’t know Cirque du Soleil has been teaming up with the estate of Michael Jackson for a special birthday celebration each year at the “Michael Jackson ONE” Theater at Mandalay Bay. This year’s free and open-to-the-public event takes place on Jackson’s actual birthday, August 29, and it’s jam-packed with behind-the-scenes fun any MJ fan wouldn’t want to miss.
It begins at 3 p.m. with a sneak peek at a rehearsal of Cirque’s “Michael Jackson ONE,” now in its fifth year at Mandalay Bay. There will be a Q&A session with acrobats from the show and a chance to win prizes playing Michael Jackson trivia. There will also be a book signing with “The King of Style: Dressing Michael Jackson” author and designer Michael Bush starting at 4 p.m. in the show’s gift shop, and a meet-and-greet birthday cake reception with officials from Jackson’s estate and the show’s cast and crew starting at 5:30 p.m. in the theater lobby.
But the highlight has to be a brand-new choreographed number not included in the show, to be performed during the rehearsal, also free of charge. “This year we’re doing it to ‘Blood on the Dance Floor,’ and there will be some aerial stuff and a lot of dancing,” says David Gomez, the show’s artistic director. “It’s so much fun to put together every year because the artists get to choreograph it on their own and light it and really build a new act, something different. This is always a really fun time of year for us.”
Gomez, who performed in Cirque’s “The Beatles LOVE” at Mirage and also worked as artistic director for “Mystére” at Treasure Island, says executing the tightly orchestrated choreography in “Michael Jackson ONE” in a way that honors the King of Pop can be a high-pressure task for the cast. And that makes this annual celebration performance even more important, as a way to let loose and try something new while renewing the energy behind the show.
“There would always be pressure any time you have a cast of 63 artists from 17 different countries, top-notch people that each bring their own specialty and discipline to the show,” he says. “But there’s obviously a lot of signature choreography that we need to make sure is clean and precise, and keeping Michael’s spirit and intent and energy alive. That is the goal for me, to keep what the show’s creators put together intact, and we’re also creating some little moments to make sure the evolves in the right direction and stays relevant.”
Just like every Tuesday, “Michael Jackson ONE” has two shows that night, at 7 and 9:30 p.m. Tickets for those shows are on sale at cirquedusoleil.com.
By Brock Radke - https://lasvegassun.com/news/2017/au...-celebration-/
Monday, Aug. 21, 2017
It’s not exactly a Las Vegas secret, but you probably didn’t know Cirque du Soleil has been teaming up with the estate of Michael Jackson for a special birthday celebration each year at the “Michael Jackson ONE” Theater at Mandalay Bay. This year’s free and open-to-the-public event takes place on Jackson’s actual birthday, August 29, and it’s jam-packed with behind-the-scenes fun any MJ fan wouldn’t want to miss.
It begins at 3 p.m. with a sneak peek at a rehearsal of Cirque’s “Michael Jackson ONE,” now in its fifth year at Mandalay Bay. There will be a Q&A session with acrobats from the show and a chance to win prizes playing Michael Jackson trivia. There will also be a book signing with “The King of Style: Dressing Michael Jackson” author and designer Michael Bush starting at 4 p.m. in the show’s gift shop, and a meet-and-greet birthday cake reception with officials from Jackson’s estate and the show’s cast and crew starting at 5:30 p.m. in the theater lobby.
But the highlight has to be a brand-new choreographed number not included in the show, to be performed during the rehearsal, also free of charge. “This year we’re doing it to ‘Blood on the Dance Floor,’ and there will be some aerial stuff and a lot of dancing,” says David Gomez, the show’s artistic director. “It’s so much fun to put together every year because the artists get to choreograph it on their own and light it and really build a new act, something different. This is always a really fun time of year for us.”
Gomez, who performed in Cirque’s “The Beatles LOVE” at Mirage and also worked as artistic director for “Mystére” at Treasure Island, says executing the tightly orchestrated choreography in “Michael Jackson ONE” in a way that honors the King of Pop can be a high-pressure task for the cast. And that makes this annual celebration performance even more important, as a way to let loose and try something new while renewing the energy behind the show.
“There would always be pressure any time you have a cast of 63 artists from 17 different countries, top-notch people that each bring their own specialty and discipline to the show,” he says. “But there’s obviously a lot of signature choreography that we need to make sure is clean and precise, and keeping Michael’s spirit and intent and energy alive. That is the goal for me, to keep what the show’s creators put together intact, and we’re also creating some little moments to make sure the evolves in the right direction and stays relevant.”
Just like every Tuesday, “Michael Jackson ONE” has two shows that night, at 7 and 9:30 p.m. Tickets for those shows are on sale at cirquedusoleil.com.
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soulmum
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Re: Remembering Michael on his birthday 2017
http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2017/...-birthday.html
More than eight years following his death, Michael Jackson, the King of Pop, continues to entrance music fans, and his legacy remains strong. Here we look at his continued posthumous success, as well a timeline of key dates in the popstar's life.
Michael Jackson would have turned 59 next week. More than eight years after his death, the King of Pop remains as popular as ever.
Need proof? On August 30 – one day after his birthday – Michael Jackson’s Thriller 3D will premiere at the 74th Annual Venice Film Festival. A television special featuring the King of Pop’s music is planned for October.
Director John Landis announced plans earlier this month to re-release the music video in 3-D. Landis directed the original video, which was released December 2, 1983.
Music fans remain entranced by the King of Pop, and his legacy remains strong. Thriller continues to break ground. Billboard announced August 11 that Thriller became just the 16th album to spend 300 weeks on the Billboard 200 – that’s nearly six years.
According to Billboard: Thriller debuted on the list dated December 25, 1982 at No. 11, and rose to No. 1 on the February 26, 1983 list. It spent 37 weeks at No. 1 – the most weeks at No. 1 for an album by an artist. (Only the soundtrack to West Side Story spent more weeks atop the list: 54.)
Album sales of Thriller, released November 30, 1982, have exceeded 105 million.
Jackson’s birthday isn’t the only important milestone next week. August 31 will mark the 30th anniversary of Bad, his third solo album.
“Bad is a portrait of the artist in peak form – bold, creative and confident,” the Atlantic reported in a story about the album.
His death “…prompted the world to focus on his genius and an enormous body of work (beginning with his days as a kid with the Jackson 5) left behind,” Rolling Stone reported last week.
The King of Pop also has inspired generations of musicians.
“I wouldn’t be who I am today without Michael Jackson,” Usher said in a CBS interview following Jackson’s death.
Last year, The Weeknd credited Jackson with creating music that inspired him to become a singer.
“Michael, man, that guy was the star. He invented the star. There will never be another Michael,” he told the Los Angeles Times. “I want to make it very clear that I’m not trying to be Michael. He’s everything to me, so you’re going to hear it in my music. Off the Wall was the album that inspired me to sing.”
Happy birthday, Michael.
MICHAELPALOOZA 8TH ANNIVERSARY BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION
AUGUST 25-AUGUST 31, 2017
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/michael...ts-36890628864
WE HAVE PLANNED A WONDERFUL WEEK LONG CELEBRATION. EIGHT IS THE NUMBER OF REJUVENATION MEANING A NEW BEGINNING . IN FOLLOWING THE LEGACY AND TRADITION OF THE KING OF POP INGENIOUS CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION.
DISCLAIMER: THESE LINE UP OF EVENTS ARE NOT AFFILLIATED WITH THE JACKSON FAMILY OR MRS. KATHERINE JACKSON OR JOSEPH JACKSON OR MICHAEL JACKSON'S CHILDREN. MRS. JACKSON DECIDED TO TAKE A BREAK THIS YEAR AND NOT PARTCIPATE. HOWEVER YOU CANNOT CANCEL MICHAEL JACKSON'S BIRTHDAY AND SINCE FANS WERE COMING TO CELEBRATE WE WANTED TO HAVE SOMETHING FOR THEM TO ENJOY. BECAUSE IT IS THE FANS THAT SUPPORTED THE JACKSON 5, THE JACKSONS, AND MICHAEL JACKSON AND IT'S THE FANS AND SUPPORTERS THAT KEEP THE LEGACY ALIVE FOR GENERATIONS TO COME.
http://klewtv.com/news/entertainment...-pops-birthday
In celebration of the world’s most beloved and iconic entertainer, Michael Jackson ONE by Cirque du Soleil will join forces with the Estate of Michael Jackson to celebrate the King of Pop’s birthday. One of the most anticipated events of the year, the annual celebration will take place on Jackson’s actual birthday, Tuesday, Aug. 29, at the Michael Jackson ONE Theater at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.
Beginning at 3 p.m., guests are invited to get a rare, sneak peek “behind the curtain” of the acclaimed show, enjoying a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to observe ONE cast members as they rehearse for the evening’s performance. They will also get an exclusive inside look at what it takes to make a scene change onstage. During the open rehearsal, there will be a Q&A with acrobats from the show and the chance to win prizes during a short game of Michael Jackson ONE trivia. Guests will take home a commemorative t-shirt in celebration of the special day.
As part of the celebration, the cast of ONE will also dazzle guests with a never-before-seen, one-time-only performance to Michael Jackson’s “Blood on the Dance Floor.” Following the performance, guests will be invited to the Michael Jackson ONE Boutique for a special book signing by Michael Bush, Jackson’s designer and dresser for 25 years. Concluding the festivities will be a meet-and-greet birthday cake reception with members of the Estate, their VIP guests and cast members from the show.
All of the birthday festivities are free and open to the public. Those wishing to see the performance that evening may purchase tickets to the 7 p.m. or 9:30 p.m. shows at www.cirquedusoleil.com. In recognition of the special occasion, a limited-time offer for up to 15-percent off rooms at Mandalay Bay is also available, Aug. 29 – 31, 2017. Book now by visiting www.cirquedusoleil.com/mjbday or calling Mandalay Bay Hotel Room Reservations at 877-632-7800 and mentioning “MJ Birthday.”
More than eight years following his death, Michael Jackson, the King of Pop, continues to entrance music fans, and his legacy remains strong. Here we look at his continued posthumous success, as well a timeline of key dates in the popstar's life.
Michael Jackson would have turned 59 next week. More than eight years after his death, the King of Pop remains as popular as ever.
Need proof? On August 30 – one day after his birthday – Michael Jackson’s Thriller 3D will premiere at the 74th Annual Venice Film Festival. A television special featuring the King of Pop’s music is planned for October.
Director John Landis announced plans earlier this month to re-release the music video in 3-D. Landis directed the original video, which was released December 2, 1983.
Music fans remain entranced by the King of Pop, and his legacy remains strong. Thriller continues to break ground. Billboard announced August 11 that Thriller became just the 16th album to spend 300 weeks on the Billboard 200 – that’s nearly six years.
According to Billboard: Thriller debuted on the list dated December 25, 1982 at No. 11, and rose to No. 1 on the February 26, 1983 list. It spent 37 weeks at No. 1 – the most weeks at No. 1 for an album by an artist. (Only the soundtrack to West Side Story spent more weeks atop the list: 54.)
Album sales of Thriller, released November 30, 1982, have exceeded 105 million.
Jackson’s birthday isn’t the only important milestone next week. August 31 will mark the 30th anniversary of Bad, his third solo album.
“Bad is a portrait of the artist in peak form – bold, creative and confident,” the Atlantic reported in a story about the album.
His death “…prompted the world to focus on his genius and an enormous body of work (beginning with his days as a kid with the Jackson 5) left behind,” Rolling Stone reported last week.
The King of Pop also has inspired generations of musicians.
“I wouldn’t be who I am today without Michael Jackson,” Usher said in a CBS interview following Jackson’s death.
Last year, The Weeknd credited Jackson with creating music that inspired him to become a singer.
“Michael, man, that guy was the star. He invented the star. There will never be another Michael,” he told the Los Angeles Times. “I want to make it very clear that I’m not trying to be Michael. He’s everything to me, so you’re going to hear it in my music. Off the Wall was the album that inspired me to sing.”
Happy birthday, Michael.
MICHAELPALOOZA 8TH ANNIVERSARY BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION
AUGUST 25-AUGUST 31, 2017
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/michael...ts-36890628864
WE HAVE PLANNED A WONDERFUL WEEK LONG CELEBRATION. EIGHT IS THE NUMBER OF REJUVENATION MEANING A NEW BEGINNING . IN FOLLOWING THE LEGACY AND TRADITION OF THE KING OF POP INGENIOUS CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION.
DISCLAIMER: THESE LINE UP OF EVENTS ARE NOT AFFILLIATED WITH THE JACKSON FAMILY OR MRS. KATHERINE JACKSON OR JOSEPH JACKSON OR MICHAEL JACKSON'S CHILDREN. MRS. JACKSON DECIDED TO TAKE A BREAK THIS YEAR AND NOT PARTCIPATE. HOWEVER YOU CANNOT CANCEL MICHAEL JACKSON'S BIRTHDAY AND SINCE FANS WERE COMING TO CELEBRATE WE WANTED TO HAVE SOMETHING FOR THEM TO ENJOY. BECAUSE IT IS THE FANS THAT SUPPORTED THE JACKSON 5, THE JACKSONS, AND MICHAEL JACKSON AND IT'S THE FANS AND SUPPORTERS THAT KEEP THE LEGACY ALIVE FOR GENERATIONS TO COME.
http://klewtv.com/news/entertainment...-pops-birthday
In celebration of the world’s most beloved and iconic entertainer, Michael Jackson ONE by Cirque du Soleil will join forces with the Estate of Michael Jackson to celebrate the King of Pop’s birthday. One of the most anticipated events of the year, the annual celebration will take place on Jackson’s actual birthday, Tuesday, Aug. 29, at the Michael Jackson ONE Theater at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.
Beginning at 3 p.m., guests are invited to get a rare, sneak peek “behind the curtain” of the acclaimed show, enjoying a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to observe ONE cast members as they rehearse for the evening’s performance. They will also get an exclusive inside look at what it takes to make a scene change onstage. During the open rehearsal, there will be a Q&A with acrobats from the show and the chance to win prizes during a short game of Michael Jackson ONE trivia. Guests will take home a commemorative t-shirt in celebration of the special day.
As part of the celebration, the cast of ONE will also dazzle guests with a never-before-seen, one-time-only performance to Michael Jackson’s “Blood on the Dance Floor.” Following the performance, guests will be invited to the Michael Jackson ONE Boutique for a special book signing by Michael Bush, Jackson’s designer and dresser for 25 years. Concluding the festivities will be a meet-and-greet birthday cake reception with members of the Estate, their VIP guests and cast members from the show.
All of the birthday festivities are free and open to the public. Those wishing to see the performance that evening may purchase tickets to the 7 p.m. or 9:30 p.m. shows at www.cirquedusoleil.com. In recognition of the special occasion, a limited-time offer for up to 15-percent off rooms at Mandalay Bay is also available, Aug. 29 – 31, 2017. Book now by visiting www.cirquedusoleil.com/mjbday or calling Mandalay Bay Hotel Room Reservations at 877-632-7800 and mentioning “MJ Birthday.”
-
soulmum
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Re: Remembering Michael on his birthday 2017
40Acres&AMuleFlmwrks @40AcresBrooklyn
We have a Kid Zone with lots of activities for children #BKlovesMJ @ Do The Right Thing Way https://www.instagram.com/p/BYQYkfAAGtG/
40Acres&AMuleFlmwrks @40AcresBrooklyn
#BKlovesMJ @ Do The Right Thing Way https://www.instagram.com/p/BYQs_oHA40a/
We are getting ready for the 9th annual BK
MJ Block Party. It's going to be a thriller. #BKlovesMJ
We have a Kid Zone with lots of activities for children #BKlovesMJ @ Do The Right Thing Way https://www.instagram.com/p/BYQYkfAAGtG/
40Acres&AMuleFlmwrks @40AcresBrooklyn
#BKlovesMJ @ Do The Right Thing Way https://www.instagram.com/p/BYQs_oHA40a/
We are getting ready for the 9th annual BK
MJ Block Party. It's going to be a thriller. #BKlovesMJ-
soulmum
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Re: Remembering Michael on his birthday 2017
#mjdancepartysummer2017 #MichaelJackson
25/08/2017 MJ's Legacy Memorial Munich
The flowers have started arriving at Forest Lawn
25/08/2017 MJ's Legacy Memorial Munich
The flowers have started arriving at Forest Lawn
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soulmum
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Re: Remembering Michael on his birthday 2017
Michael Jackson's birthday isn't until Tuesday—he would have been 59 this year—but on a sunny Saturday in Bed-Stuy, Spike Lee threw his annual block party honoring the King of Pop with a joyous afternoon of loud music and exuberant dancing.
As usual, the festivities were held on the street where, in 1988, Lee filmed much of his seminal movie Do the Right Thing (this stretch of Stuyvesant Avenue was co-named after the movie two years ago), and neighborhood folks came out in droves to enjoy the scene.
Jackson impersonators were on hand of course, and they entertained the crowd with MJ's signature moves up on stage or just busting it on the street. Rosie Perez, who made her movie debut in Do the Right Thing, joined Lee as co-emcee, and DJ Spinna kept everyone moving with hours of Michael Jackson songs, though Janet's hits popped up now and again, as did some crowd-pleasing '90s stuff by the likes of Kriss Kross and Naughty by Nature.
Talib Kweli made a surprise appearance about midway through the event, performing, among other things, an abbreviated rendition of Get By. In general, lots of Brooklyn love was spilled from the stage, and Lee even gave a shout-out to the growing protest against what he called the "fake bullet hole bar", Summerhill.
The party also featured corporate-sponsored giveaways, a free photo booth, lots of kids' activities, and a big Spike Lee merchandise tent. Residents of the block did brisk business selling plates of food from their stoop, and roaming nutcracker hawkers kept busy as well.
https://www.instagram.com/officialspikelee/
Good Sunday Morning. I Want To Thank The Masses That Came Upon DO THE RIGHT WAY Yesterday For The 9th Annual BK MJ Block Party. It Was Epic. Love Shout To Da Co-Host Rosie Perez, DJ Spinna And Our Sponsors. Check Out #bklovesmj.Witness Da Lovefest For MJ That Was In Da Republic Of Brooklyn. SHAMON.
As usual, the festivities were held on the street where, in 1988, Lee filmed much of his seminal movie Do the Right Thing (this stretch of Stuyvesant Avenue was co-named after the movie two years ago), and neighborhood folks came out in droves to enjoy the scene.
Jackson impersonators were on hand of course, and they entertained the crowd with MJ's signature moves up on stage or just busting it on the street. Rosie Perez, who made her movie debut in Do the Right Thing, joined Lee as co-emcee, and DJ Spinna kept everyone moving with hours of Michael Jackson songs, though Janet's hits popped up now and again, as did some crowd-pleasing '90s stuff by the likes of Kriss Kross and Naughty by Nature.
Talib Kweli made a surprise appearance about midway through the event, performing, among other things, an abbreviated rendition of Get By. In general, lots of Brooklyn love was spilled from the stage, and Lee even gave a shout-out to the growing protest against what he called the "fake bullet hole bar", Summerhill.
The party also featured corporate-sponsored giveaways, a free photo booth, lots of kids' activities, and a big Spike Lee merchandise tent. Residents of the block did brisk business selling plates of food from their stoop, and roaming nutcracker hawkers kept busy as well.
https://www.instagram.com/officialspikelee/
Good Sunday Morning. I Want To Thank The Masses That Came Upon DO THE RIGHT WAY Yesterday For The 9th Annual BK MJ Block Party. It Was Epic. Love Shout To Da Co-Host Rosie Perez, DJ Spinna And Our Sponsors. Check Out #bklovesmj.Witness Da Lovefest For MJ That Was In Da Republic Of Brooklyn. SHAMON.
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soulmum
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Re: Remembering Michael on his birthday 2017
•rileykeoughHappy Birthday mimi .
https://www.instagram.com/p/BYZbVQ2j...by=rileykeough
•brettratBack in the day when people used to call home numbers #MichaelJackson use to call my house #HilhavenLodge looking for me and my grandmother @princessfanita who lives with me would answer the phone. Michael would tell me later when we would finally speak that #Fanita and he would talk on the phone for two hours! I would tell him that he didn't have to speak to Fanita for so long, and that he should just tell her he was busy and had to go! I couldn't imagine what their conversation was about!!! Michael was so sweet, he would say "Brett, I could never hang up on your grandma, I love Fanita. She is so funny, she made me laugh the whole time we speak and she loves you so much. I love hearing how much she loves you and how proud of you she is. I could of stayed on the phone with her all night!" I Love you Fanita with all my heart! We both miss you and love you Michael, Happy Birthday!
https://www.instagram.com/p/BYZ2VM2j...en-by=brettrat
Happy birthday to my friend, @michaeljackson. Loved seeing him laugh more than anything. Missing that smile today.https://instagram.com/p/BYYeS-sF0a_/ Brooke Shields
I've looked up to you & wanted to be like you ever since I can remember. I will always honor you and love you more than words can say. -Meho TJ Jackson
Happy Birthday #MichaelJackson! Such an HONOR to work w/him. Watching him rehearse brought me to tears. He didn't just dance-he TRANSFORMED. Paula Abdul
Happy birthday dear friend.
19:47 - 29. Aug. 2017 Brad Sundberg
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soulmum
- Utente certificato
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Re: Remembering Michael on his birthday 2017
29/08/2017 MJ's Legacy Memorial Munich
Happy 59th Birthday Michael
Taj Jackson
@tajjackson3
Uncle Michael. You are the strongest light I know, and your love and light is still illuminating my path and many others today. Love u more.
03:07 - 30. Aug. 2017
Jaafar Jackson
@JaafarJackson
Still hard to believe it's been 8 years without you here. Happy birthday I love you https://www.instagram.com/p/BYYZg8MD2JP/
17:34 - 29. Aug. 2017
orianthi
@orianthi
Happy birthday @michaeljackson wish u were still with us https://www.instagram.com/p/BYZJpCmgkP9/
00:35 - 30. Aug. 2017
TARYLL
@tarylljackson
Incredible talent, beautiful heart. My idol, hero and friend. I love you always. #happybirthday… https://www.instagram.com/p/BYZEQCCnKfH/
23:47 - 29. Aug. 2017
Paris Hilton
@ParisHilton
Happy Birthday @MichaelJackson OneOfAKind Magical Legend Miss you & think of you often. Love you
Moscow
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soulmum
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Re: Remembering Michael on his birthday 2017
Melanie321 @Mellie4Justice
John Branca at #MJOne meet & greet @ Michael Jackson ONE by Cirque du Soleil https://www.instagram.com/p/BYbGR1AFGw7/
Bill Whitfield Michael Jackson's bodyguard @ Ri Ra Irish Pub, Las Vegas https://www.instagram.com/p/BYbGigjl2-p/
An amazing day in Vegas happybirthdaymichaeljackson https://www.instagram.com/p/BYbDoMillTU/
As promised by the Michael Jackson Estate and Cirque du Soleil, those present in Las Vegas for celebrating Michael Jackson Birthday on August 29 were there for a big one!
Hundreds of fans turned up at the Mandalaybay Hotel & Casino to celebrate the King of Pop Birthday! Not only fans could see the massive HIStory Statue in the lobby of the hotel, The Smooth Criminal Outfit in the theatre MJ ONE but also were treated to a special show from the Michael Jackson One casts who performed “Blood On The Dance Floor”
Video: https://www.facebook.com/MJONE/?hc_r...suljTTYN6KUOkQ
Michael Bush, Jamie King and the Estate were all there to speak to the fans during the day around a cake specially made for the occasion.
Joseph Jackson @Joe5Jackson
Celebrated my son’s Birthday http://www.jwjackson.com/celebrated-my-sons-birthday/ …
20:49 - 30. Aug. 2017
Celebrated my Son’s birthday! Attended his Show MJOne with Cirque Du Soleil. He would be proud of it. The Best show on the Las Vegas Strip and the highest Earning Resident Show in America. Enjoyed watching the show and thanks to all the fans, friends, Cirque du Soleil family and my son’s Estate for setting this up.
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soulmum
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Re: Remembering Michael on his birthday 2017
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MICHAEL JACKSON, WHO GAVE US ‘THRILLER,’ ‘OFF THE WALL’ AND MUSICAL MAGIC
http://www.newsweek.com/celebrating-...jackson-653513
Newsweek published this story under the headline of “The Peter Pan of Pop” on January 10, 1983. To commemorate what would have been Michael Jackson's 59th birthday, Newsweek is republishing it.
It's a giddy and glamorous sound. Hands clap, horns blare. A carnival of percussion erupts. Electric guitars chatter like a corps of African talking drums. A voice gasps and then chants a chorus. So go the first few seconds of "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'," six minutes of musical frenzy from a new Epic album called Thriller. The show-stopping style could come from only one star—Michael Jackson.
For nearly 14 years Jackson has been making his own breathless brand of show-business history. He first burst into view in 1969, as the 10-year-old dancing dynamo who dipped, spun and sang for the Jackson 5, a quintet of buoyant young brothers. Over the next decade he helped sell more than 90 million records, both with that group and as a solo artist. Heir to a great tradition of black stagecraft, he has become a whirling dervish of the modern recording studio. In 1979, he helped bring black music into the '80s with Off the Wall, a luminous set of high-tech dance hits, including four Top 10 singles—the most from any one album by any solo performer in the history of recorded music.
Supercharged: Now, at 24, Jackson seems poised for another surge. He wrote and produced Diana Ross's recent Top 10 hit, "Muscles." He narrated and sang a song for the storybook album of E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. And for Thriller, his long-awaited sequel to Off the Wall, he has fashioned a supercharged pop classic for the '80s—flashy, futuristic, floridly upbeat.
Despite his showy style, Michael Jackson remains something of an enigma. Onstage in one of his sequined jump suits, he's a flamboyant picture of grace, a sleek jaguar ready to pounce. In photographs he's a creature of sweet sensuality, beguiling, angelic, androgynous. In person, though, he's quiet and reserved, a gangling young man of cagey reticence, with a childlike aura of wonder.
He lives with his mother and two younger sisters in a Tudor-style estate in the San Fernando Valley. On the grounds he keeps a small menagerie that includes a llama named Louis, a boa constrictor named Muscles and a sheep named Mr. Tibbs. "I think they're sweet," says Michael in his willowy whisper of a voice. "I like to pry into their world and watch the way they move about. I just stare at them." He is equally fascinated by the world of children: "When I'm upset about a recording session, I'll dash off on my bike and ride to the schoolyard, just to be around them. When I come back to the studio, I'm ready to move mountains. Kids do that to me. It's like magic."
Magic is the key. It's a word that Jackson uses with disarming frequency, as if to conjure up a never-never land of constant enchantment. Beethoven, Rembrandt, Charlie Chaplin—all these things to him are magic. It was certainly magic when he met E.T.: "He grabbed me, he put his arms around me. He was so real that I was talking to him. I kissed him before I left." And the magic doesn't stop there: "I have dreams to this day about flying," he says, explaining his love for Steven Spielberg's airborne extraterrestrial. He pauses and leans forward: "We can fly, you know. We just don't know how to think the right thoughts and levitate ourselves off the ground."
Michael Jackson as Peter Pan? The notion sounds ridiculous -- until you consider Michael's point of view. His saga has the flavor of a modern-day fairy tale.
Growing up in the dingy ghetto of Gary, Indiana, the fifth child in a family of eight, he virtually stepped from his crib to the stage. He was coached by his father, a crane operator who had once played with the Falcons, an early rock band. "There was a big baseball park behind our house," recalls Michael. "You could hear the cheers of the crowd. But I never had any desire to play baseball. I would be inside working, rehearsing." At the age of 5 he played his first paying gig with the Jackson 5. "When we sang, people would throw all this money on the floor," says Michael—"tons of dollars, 10s, 20s, lots of change. I remember my pockets being so full of money that I couldn't keep my pants up. I'd wear a real tight belt. And I'd buy candy like crazy."
Rewarded: The group began to win talent shows. Back home in Gary they took time to perform at benefits for Muigwighania, a local black-pride organization led by a man named Richard Hatcher. When Hatcher later became the city's first black mayor, he rewarded the Jacksons by spotlighting them at a 1968 civic "Soul Weekend" starring Diana Ross and the Supremes. "He won me over the first moment I saw him," Ross told Newsweek in 1970. "I saw so much of myself as a child in Michael. He was performing all the time. That's the way I was. He could be my son." She convinced her boss, Berry Gordy, to audition the group for his legendary Motown label.
By 1968 Gordy's company had become one of the largest black-owned enterprises in the United States—an empire built on black music sweetened for white ears. The Jackson 5 were the perfect Motown act: a band of boys so cuddly and cute that no one could feel threatened by their sexy antics or their black skin. Best of all, their pint-size lead singer had mastered every nuance of the soul singer's art—the heartfelt histrionics of Jackie Wilson, the pleading romanticism of Smokey Robinson, the kinetic energy of James Brown. Gordy carefully groomed the group and then handed them "I Want You Back"—one of the greatest rock 'n' roll tracks ever made. The record explodes like popcorn. Americans of all ages went scrambling in response, snapping up more than 2 million copies of the single and turning the Jackson 5 into instant superstars.
Michael was now 11, a seasoned trouper and a fan-club pinup at a time when most boys still dream only of idling away summer days on a sandlot. He was whisked from the sooty snow of Gary to the smoggy glitter of Hollywood. "When we got there, we went to Disneyland," he recalls. "It was freezing in Indiana. It's freezing right now in Indiana. The sun, the swimming pools, a whole other image, a whole other life. It was magic."
In fact, the "magic" involved a lot of hard work, hammering out hits on Motown's assembly line of soul. "We're labeling it 'soul-bubblegum'," declared Gordy in 1970. "It's a style that appeals to the younger teens." The exact formula was, as usual, strictly controlled by the company. "We provide total guidance," explained a Motown vice president. "We provide their material, set their basic sound and work out the choreographic routines." They also set a 9:30 curfew.
Influence: For three years the regimen worked. The Jackson 5 became the fastest-selling act in Motown's history, eclipsing such solid-gold predecessors as the Supremes and Miracles. For several years Michael could watch his own animated self frolic on a Saturday-morning network-television cartoon show, The Jackson 5. Despite such vivid proof of his own astonishing influence, Michael throughout these years remained wrapped in a cocoon, surrounded by bodyguards, tutors and his immediate family circle—a child at sea in a world of adults, expected to sing love songs he could scarcely understand. Growing up in this fantasyland of make-believe romance and real-life adulation left its mark. "I hate to admit it," says Michael, "but I feel strange around everyday people. See, my whole life has been onstage. And the impression I get of people is applause, standing ovations and running after you. In a crowd I'm afraid. Onstage I feel safe. If I could, I would sleep on the stage. I'm serious."
"Jacksonmania" gradually subsided. As he grew older, Michael's plangent soprano plunged an octave. Finally, in 1976, the group left Motown for a new label, Epic. In 1978 Michael made his movie debut, playing the Scarecrow in The Wiz. That year the Jacksons' sagging musical career also got a fresh boost from a record called Destiny—the first album entirely written and produced by the group itself. The dance hit "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)" featured Michael, 19 and newly confident, filling the air with impatient squeals. A few months later, when the veteran jazz arranger and film composer Quincy Jones produced Off the Wall, Michael's first solo album in five years, he added a classy veneer of urbane elegance to the singer's nervous new style. The album sold more than 5 million copies—and suddenly Michael Jackson was back at the forefront of American popular music.
Try as he might to escape it, he has been in the limelight ever since. Rumors surround his every passing romance. Three years ago the talk concerned Tatum O'Neal. This year it's about Brooke *******. Michael himself has hinted that he'd like to marry Diana Ross. He maintains close friendships with a dazzling—and unusual—array of stars: Katharine Hepburn, Liza Minnelli, Jane Fonda. Yet he leads a sober and disciplined life, fasting every Saturday and dancing for 30 minutes by himself every Sunday. He doesn't drink, smoke or swear: since even the word funky seems to him a little off-color, he uses the word jelly instead. He has followed in his mother's faith and become a practicing Jehovah's Witness, convinced, as he sings on his 1979 solo hit "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough," of "the force" within--a divine, pure, healing instinct for love, expressed through his own musical gifts. "The thing that touches me is very special," he says. "It's a message I have to tell. I start crying and the pain is wonderful. It's amazing. It's like God."
Enthusiasm: "Michael's a truth machine," says Quincy Jones. "He's got a balance between the wisdom of a 60-year-old and the enthusiasm of a child." At a recent recording session, Michael spent five hours fine-tuning an upcoming single, patiently jotting down technical notes for his engineer, carefully calibrating the sound. Finished at last, he leaped up, yelled, "It's jelly time!"—and started a food fight.
He remains painfully shy. During a reporter's visit to his home, the doorbell rang. Michael froze in his seat, remembering that his bodyguard and assistant were both away. Cautiously, he approached the door and peered through the peephole. He went to the window and peeked through the blinds. His voice trembled. "I never do this," he said, opening the door. On the step a messenger had left a package of new sheet music.
Put this timorous man-child onto a stage, though, and he will bring 50,000 people out of their seats. Give him a sotto voce note at the end of a ballad and he will steal their breath. "That note will touch the whole audience," says Michael. "What they're throwing out at you, you're grabbing. You hold it, you touch it and you whip it back—it's like a Frisbee."
The same impish delight—and musical command—shines through on Thriller, Michael's new album. The title track sets the tone. With a "rap" by Vincent Price, Hollywood's master of the macabre, and the use of elaborate sound effects—a creaking door, a whistling wind—the song evokes a child's laughing dash through a haunted house. And this isn't the only roller-coaster cut. The entire album is a farrago of startling tricks: phased synthesizers, swirling voices, a bevy of what sounds like sing-along chipmunks.
These grabby stunts soon pale—and we're left to marvel at Michael's four new compositions. Each one is quirky, strange, deeply personal, with offbeat lyrics that hint at Michael's own secret world of dreams and demons.
Wicked Vixen: His most seductive new song, "Billie Jean," is about a paternity suit pressed by a cunning temptress. "Billie Jean is not my lover," wails Michael, singing as if his life depended on it; "the kid is not my son." The same wicked vixen—"talkin', squealin', spyin'"—appears in "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'," a roiling lyric full of screwball lines. For example: "You're a vegetable/Still they hate you.... You're just a buffet.... They eat off of you." "Beat It," a blustery foray into macho hard rock, counsels the listener to run away from bullies—advice sung to the accompaniment of a bullying guitar solo. And then there is the current Top 10 hit, "The Girl Is Mine," a duet with Paul McCartney. It sounds very pretty and perfectly innocuous—until you begin to think about the lyrics. Have American radio stations ever before played a song about two men, one black and the other white, quarreling over the same woman?
Every one of these lyrics could be faulted for elliptical lines, awkward phrases, even the occasional malapropism. But as Paul McCartney pointed out last spring, shortly after recording "The Girl Is Mine," such complaints miss the point. "The song I've just done with Michael Jackson, you could say that it's shallow," McCartney explained. "There was even a word—doggone—that I wouldn't have put in it. When I checked it out with Michael, he explained that he wasn't going for depth—-he was going for rhythm, he was going for feel. And he was right. It's not the lyrics that are important on this particular song—it's much more the noise, the performance, my voice, his voice."
And what a voice Michael Jackson has. On ballads he is hushed, reverent, trembling, his tenor arching into a supple, pure falsetto. On up-tempo dance tunes he's hoarse, ecstatic, possessed—his singing an awesome repertoire of pops, clicks, squeaks, gurgles, moans, almost any sound that can be juggled rhythmically. Michael's voice haunts these songs, gives them heart. It transcends all the electronic gimmickry. It is what will make this music endure.
On their last tour together, in 1981, the Jacksons opened each concert by showing a videotape made under Michael's supervision. Set to the music of "Can You Feel It," a hymn to human unity composed, in part, by Michael himself, the tape consists of images inspired by Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Busby Berkeley's gilded Depression-era musicals. At one point we see the Jacksons drift to Earth, each encased in his own bubble. In another sequence, the Jacksons, portrayed as superhuman giants, lift a rainbow, light the heavens and sprinkle stardust on the cities of the Earth, causing small children of all colors to glow with gratitude, bathed in rainbow hues, reaching out to touch and hold one another. These images, which betray a naive megalomania, have an undeniable poignancy. Here is a black giant who sacrificed his childhood to become a pop idol, a demigod detached from his fellow men, now sealed in a transparent bubble—a lonely prophet of salvation through the miracle of his own childlike, playful, life-giving music.
http://www.newsweek.com/celebrating-...jackson-653513
Newsweek published this story under the headline of “The Peter Pan of Pop” on January 10, 1983. To commemorate what would have been Michael Jackson's 59th birthday, Newsweek is republishing it.
It's a giddy and glamorous sound. Hands clap, horns blare. A carnival of percussion erupts. Electric guitars chatter like a corps of African talking drums. A voice gasps and then chants a chorus. So go the first few seconds of "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'," six minutes of musical frenzy from a new Epic album called Thriller. The show-stopping style could come from only one star—Michael Jackson.
For nearly 14 years Jackson has been making his own breathless brand of show-business history. He first burst into view in 1969, as the 10-year-old dancing dynamo who dipped, spun and sang for the Jackson 5, a quintet of buoyant young brothers. Over the next decade he helped sell more than 90 million records, both with that group and as a solo artist. Heir to a great tradition of black stagecraft, he has become a whirling dervish of the modern recording studio. In 1979, he helped bring black music into the '80s with Off the Wall, a luminous set of high-tech dance hits, including four Top 10 singles—the most from any one album by any solo performer in the history of recorded music.
Supercharged: Now, at 24, Jackson seems poised for another surge. He wrote and produced Diana Ross's recent Top 10 hit, "Muscles." He narrated and sang a song for the storybook album of E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. And for Thriller, his long-awaited sequel to Off the Wall, he has fashioned a supercharged pop classic for the '80s—flashy, futuristic, floridly upbeat.
Despite his showy style, Michael Jackson remains something of an enigma. Onstage in one of his sequined jump suits, he's a flamboyant picture of grace, a sleek jaguar ready to pounce. In photographs he's a creature of sweet sensuality, beguiling, angelic, androgynous. In person, though, he's quiet and reserved, a gangling young man of cagey reticence, with a childlike aura of wonder.
He lives with his mother and two younger sisters in a Tudor-style estate in the San Fernando Valley. On the grounds he keeps a small menagerie that includes a llama named Louis, a boa constrictor named Muscles and a sheep named Mr. Tibbs. "I think they're sweet," says Michael in his willowy whisper of a voice. "I like to pry into their world and watch the way they move about. I just stare at them." He is equally fascinated by the world of children: "When I'm upset about a recording session, I'll dash off on my bike and ride to the schoolyard, just to be around them. When I come back to the studio, I'm ready to move mountains. Kids do that to me. It's like magic."
Magic is the key. It's a word that Jackson uses with disarming frequency, as if to conjure up a never-never land of constant enchantment. Beethoven, Rembrandt, Charlie Chaplin—all these things to him are magic. It was certainly magic when he met E.T.: "He grabbed me, he put his arms around me. He was so real that I was talking to him. I kissed him before I left." And the magic doesn't stop there: "I have dreams to this day about flying," he says, explaining his love for Steven Spielberg's airborne extraterrestrial. He pauses and leans forward: "We can fly, you know. We just don't know how to think the right thoughts and levitate ourselves off the ground."
Michael Jackson as Peter Pan? The notion sounds ridiculous -- until you consider Michael's point of view. His saga has the flavor of a modern-day fairy tale.
Growing up in the dingy ghetto of Gary, Indiana, the fifth child in a family of eight, he virtually stepped from his crib to the stage. He was coached by his father, a crane operator who had once played with the Falcons, an early rock band. "There was a big baseball park behind our house," recalls Michael. "You could hear the cheers of the crowd. But I never had any desire to play baseball. I would be inside working, rehearsing." At the age of 5 he played his first paying gig with the Jackson 5. "When we sang, people would throw all this money on the floor," says Michael—"tons of dollars, 10s, 20s, lots of change. I remember my pockets being so full of money that I couldn't keep my pants up. I'd wear a real tight belt. And I'd buy candy like crazy."
Rewarded: The group began to win talent shows. Back home in Gary they took time to perform at benefits for Muigwighania, a local black-pride organization led by a man named Richard Hatcher. When Hatcher later became the city's first black mayor, he rewarded the Jacksons by spotlighting them at a 1968 civic "Soul Weekend" starring Diana Ross and the Supremes. "He won me over the first moment I saw him," Ross told Newsweek in 1970. "I saw so much of myself as a child in Michael. He was performing all the time. That's the way I was. He could be my son." She convinced her boss, Berry Gordy, to audition the group for his legendary Motown label.
By 1968 Gordy's company had become one of the largest black-owned enterprises in the United States—an empire built on black music sweetened for white ears. The Jackson 5 were the perfect Motown act: a band of boys so cuddly and cute that no one could feel threatened by their sexy antics or their black skin. Best of all, their pint-size lead singer had mastered every nuance of the soul singer's art—the heartfelt histrionics of Jackie Wilson, the pleading romanticism of Smokey Robinson, the kinetic energy of James Brown. Gordy carefully groomed the group and then handed them "I Want You Back"—one of the greatest rock 'n' roll tracks ever made. The record explodes like popcorn. Americans of all ages went scrambling in response, snapping up more than 2 million copies of the single and turning the Jackson 5 into instant superstars.
Michael was now 11, a seasoned trouper and a fan-club pinup at a time when most boys still dream only of idling away summer days on a sandlot. He was whisked from the sooty snow of Gary to the smoggy glitter of Hollywood. "When we got there, we went to Disneyland," he recalls. "It was freezing in Indiana. It's freezing right now in Indiana. The sun, the swimming pools, a whole other image, a whole other life. It was magic."
In fact, the "magic" involved a lot of hard work, hammering out hits on Motown's assembly line of soul. "We're labeling it 'soul-bubblegum'," declared Gordy in 1970. "It's a style that appeals to the younger teens." The exact formula was, as usual, strictly controlled by the company. "We provide total guidance," explained a Motown vice president. "We provide their material, set their basic sound and work out the choreographic routines." They also set a 9:30 curfew.
Influence: For three years the regimen worked. The Jackson 5 became the fastest-selling act in Motown's history, eclipsing such solid-gold predecessors as the Supremes and Miracles. For several years Michael could watch his own animated self frolic on a Saturday-morning network-television cartoon show, The Jackson 5. Despite such vivid proof of his own astonishing influence, Michael throughout these years remained wrapped in a cocoon, surrounded by bodyguards, tutors and his immediate family circle—a child at sea in a world of adults, expected to sing love songs he could scarcely understand. Growing up in this fantasyland of make-believe romance and real-life adulation left its mark. "I hate to admit it," says Michael, "but I feel strange around everyday people. See, my whole life has been onstage. And the impression I get of people is applause, standing ovations and running after you. In a crowd I'm afraid. Onstage I feel safe. If I could, I would sleep on the stage. I'm serious."
"Jacksonmania" gradually subsided. As he grew older, Michael's plangent soprano plunged an octave. Finally, in 1976, the group left Motown for a new label, Epic. In 1978 Michael made his movie debut, playing the Scarecrow in The Wiz. That year the Jacksons' sagging musical career also got a fresh boost from a record called Destiny—the first album entirely written and produced by the group itself. The dance hit "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)" featured Michael, 19 and newly confident, filling the air with impatient squeals. A few months later, when the veteran jazz arranger and film composer Quincy Jones produced Off the Wall, Michael's first solo album in five years, he added a classy veneer of urbane elegance to the singer's nervous new style. The album sold more than 5 million copies—and suddenly Michael Jackson was back at the forefront of American popular music.
Try as he might to escape it, he has been in the limelight ever since. Rumors surround his every passing romance. Three years ago the talk concerned Tatum O'Neal. This year it's about Brooke *******. Michael himself has hinted that he'd like to marry Diana Ross. He maintains close friendships with a dazzling—and unusual—array of stars: Katharine Hepburn, Liza Minnelli, Jane Fonda. Yet he leads a sober and disciplined life, fasting every Saturday and dancing for 30 minutes by himself every Sunday. He doesn't drink, smoke or swear: since even the word funky seems to him a little off-color, he uses the word jelly instead. He has followed in his mother's faith and become a practicing Jehovah's Witness, convinced, as he sings on his 1979 solo hit "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough," of "the force" within--a divine, pure, healing instinct for love, expressed through his own musical gifts. "The thing that touches me is very special," he says. "It's a message I have to tell. I start crying and the pain is wonderful. It's amazing. It's like God."
Enthusiasm: "Michael's a truth machine," says Quincy Jones. "He's got a balance between the wisdom of a 60-year-old and the enthusiasm of a child." At a recent recording session, Michael spent five hours fine-tuning an upcoming single, patiently jotting down technical notes for his engineer, carefully calibrating the sound. Finished at last, he leaped up, yelled, "It's jelly time!"—and started a food fight.
He remains painfully shy. During a reporter's visit to his home, the doorbell rang. Michael froze in his seat, remembering that his bodyguard and assistant were both away. Cautiously, he approached the door and peered through the peephole. He went to the window and peeked through the blinds. His voice trembled. "I never do this," he said, opening the door. On the step a messenger had left a package of new sheet music.
Put this timorous man-child onto a stage, though, and he will bring 50,000 people out of their seats. Give him a sotto voce note at the end of a ballad and he will steal their breath. "That note will touch the whole audience," says Michael. "What they're throwing out at you, you're grabbing. You hold it, you touch it and you whip it back—it's like a Frisbee."
The same impish delight—and musical command—shines through on Thriller, Michael's new album. The title track sets the tone. With a "rap" by Vincent Price, Hollywood's master of the macabre, and the use of elaborate sound effects—a creaking door, a whistling wind—the song evokes a child's laughing dash through a haunted house. And this isn't the only roller-coaster cut. The entire album is a farrago of startling tricks: phased synthesizers, swirling voices, a bevy of what sounds like sing-along chipmunks.
These grabby stunts soon pale—and we're left to marvel at Michael's four new compositions. Each one is quirky, strange, deeply personal, with offbeat lyrics that hint at Michael's own secret world of dreams and demons.
Wicked Vixen: His most seductive new song, "Billie Jean," is about a paternity suit pressed by a cunning temptress. "Billie Jean is not my lover," wails Michael, singing as if his life depended on it; "the kid is not my son." The same wicked vixen—"talkin', squealin', spyin'"—appears in "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'," a roiling lyric full of screwball lines. For example: "You're a vegetable/Still they hate you.... You're just a buffet.... They eat off of you." "Beat It," a blustery foray into macho hard rock, counsels the listener to run away from bullies—advice sung to the accompaniment of a bullying guitar solo. And then there is the current Top 10 hit, "The Girl Is Mine," a duet with Paul McCartney. It sounds very pretty and perfectly innocuous—until you begin to think about the lyrics. Have American radio stations ever before played a song about two men, one black and the other white, quarreling over the same woman?
Every one of these lyrics could be faulted for elliptical lines, awkward phrases, even the occasional malapropism. But as Paul McCartney pointed out last spring, shortly after recording "The Girl Is Mine," such complaints miss the point. "The song I've just done with Michael Jackson, you could say that it's shallow," McCartney explained. "There was even a word—doggone—that I wouldn't have put in it. When I checked it out with Michael, he explained that he wasn't going for depth—-he was going for rhythm, he was going for feel. And he was right. It's not the lyrics that are important on this particular song—it's much more the noise, the performance, my voice, his voice."
And what a voice Michael Jackson has. On ballads he is hushed, reverent, trembling, his tenor arching into a supple, pure falsetto. On up-tempo dance tunes he's hoarse, ecstatic, possessed—his singing an awesome repertoire of pops, clicks, squeaks, gurgles, moans, almost any sound that can be juggled rhythmically. Michael's voice haunts these songs, gives them heart. It transcends all the electronic gimmickry. It is what will make this music endure.
On their last tour together, in 1981, the Jacksons opened each concert by showing a videotape made under Michael's supervision. Set to the music of "Can You Feel It," a hymn to human unity composed, in part, by Michael himself, the tape consists of images inspired by Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Busby Berkeley's gilded Depression-era musicals. At one point we see the Jacksons drift to Earth, each encased in his own bubble. In another sequence, the Jacksons, portrayed as superhuman giants, lift a rainbow, light the heavens and sprinkle stardust on the cities of the Earth, causing small children of all colors to glow with gratitude, bathed in rainbow hues, reaching out to touch and hold one another. These images, which betray a naive megalomania, have an undeniable poignancy. Here is a black giant who sacrificed his childhood to become a pop idol, a demigod detached from his fellow men, now sealed in a transparent bubble—a lonely prophet of salvation through the miracle of his own childlike, playful, life-giving music.
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soulmum
- Utente certificato
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- Iscritto il: 31 maggio 2016, 12:43
Re: Remembering Michael on his birthday 2017
As promised by the Michael Jackson Estate and Cirque du Soleil, those present in Las Vegas for celebrating Michael Jackson Birthday on August 29 were there for a big one!
Hundreds of fans turned up at the Mandalaybay Hotel & Casino to celebrate the King of Pop Birthday! Not only fans could see the massive HIStory Statue in the lobby of the hotel, The Smooth Criminal Outfit in the theatre MJ ONE but also were treated to a special show from the Michael Jackson One casts who performed “Blood On The Dance Floor”
Video: https://www.facebook.com/MJONE/?hc_r...suljTTYN6KUOkQ
Michael Bush, Jamie King and the Estate were all there to speak to the fans during the day around a cake specially made for the occasion.
Hundreds of fans turned up at the Mandalaybay Hotel & Casino to celebrate the King of Pop Birthday! Not only fans could see the massive HIStory Statue in the lobby of the hotel, The Smooth Criminal Outfit in the theatre MJ ONE but also were treated to a special show from the Michael Jackson One casts who performed “Blood On The Dance Floor”
Video: https://www.facebook.com/MJONE/?hc_r...suljTTYN6KUOkQ
Michael Bush, Jamie King and the Estate were all there to speak to the fans during the day around a cake specially made for the occasion.
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soulmum
- Utente certificato
- Messaggi: 9304
- Iscritto il: 31 maggio 2016, 12:43
-
soulmum
- Utente certificato
- Messaggi: 9304
- Iscritto il: 31 maggio 2016, 12:43
